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THREE HOURS LATER and too many drinks to remember, they’d each learned a lot about their respective families. Ty lived on a sprawling ranch with a big close-knit family while Dex was a doctor who managed a huge medical conglomerate with his grandfather.
Finally, Ty convinced Dex of the only reasonable explanation. Dex Montgomery was not only his brother, but his identical twin. They’d both missed their flights home, but neither cared. Dex had phoned his financial advisor to brief her on his change of plans, and Ty had phoned his family, then his neighbor Leanne who’d planned to pick him up.
The stories of their parents’ whirlwind courtship, marriage and tragic deaths matched down to the dates. Dex was told, as Ty had been, that he had no other family. Ty could just imagine his grandparents’ reaction when his mother had married a banker’s son. Dex had been told nothing about their mother, Ty had been told zilch about his father.
“What I want to know,” Ty said, his tongue thick in his mouth, “is how the hell they decided who would take whom.”
For one long moment they simply stared at each other. Ty couldn’t believe his loving family had lied to him. An image of his twin nephews surfaced. They seemed to have a special bond; he couldn’t imagine anyone separating them. Yet that was exactly what his family had done to him and Dex. His family had pounded into his head ever since he could remember the importance of family and togetherness. He’d always felt a part of himself was missing, yet they had torn him away from his identical twin and told him he’d died.
Would he and Dex have had a special bond if they had been raised together?
On the heels of that disappointment, he wondered what his life would have been like if the other grandparents had chosen him? Would he be a different man today? Would he wear suits and make his living crunching numbers, sitting in countless boring meetings like those he’d had to endure the past three days?
He shuddered at the thought.
Dex cleared his throat. “My grandfather—”
“Our grandfather,” Ty corrected.
Dex frowned. “Yes, our grandfather Montgomery will go ballistic when he finds out we met. He likes control.”
“You think he was behind the separation?” Ty asked.
Dex nodded. “One-for-me, one-for-you—that sounds like his kind of scheme.”
“So what do we do now?”
Dex drained his glass. “We should show up together and stage a confrontation.”
Ty grinned. Both their families deserved to be shaken up. “You may have something there. I say we give ’em a taste of their own medicine.”
A flash of concern darkened Dex’s Scotch-hazy eyes. “What do you have in mind?”
Ty motioned to the waitress and then pointed to their empty glasses once more. “I’m talking about trading places, brother. For just a little while,” he added quickly. “Just long enough to teach our families a lesson. And we’d get to meet the other side of the family.” Ty had to admit he was curious about the Montgomerys. And his father. Maybe meeting them would help him feel closer to his dad.
Dex hesitated at first, but finally a smile slid onto his face. “Yes, that’s good. All we have to do is bring each other up to speed on how to act and what to do.” He flared his hands and inclined his head in a gesture of nonchalance. “It’s simple on my end. You leave the business decisions to the old man. I have a secretary and a financial advisor who take care of things at the office. They’ll keep you straight on the day-to-day schedule.” Dex paused. “If a problem does come up and you need to make a financial decision on your own, just use your own discretion. After all, technically you are a Montgomery, too.”
Only in blood, Ty thought. He had nothing in common with those ritzy people. Family meant everything to him. Money meant nothing, except it was a necessary evil, he reminded himself, if he was going to help his grandfather.
“What about the Coopers?”
“You shouldn’t have any problems either,” Ty assured him. “Between Chad and Court and the ranch hands, they can handle things at the Circle C. It’ll be good for both of us. We can get to know the other side of the family.”
Dex nodded. “All right, then. I guess I could use a little rest and relaxation in the country. Kick back and get away from the grindstone.”
Ty chuckled. He thought ranching would be restful? Hell, his brothers would probably wear him out. “Yeah, and I’ll enjoy sitting on my butt in the air conditioning for a change.”
Dex laughed. “We have ninety minutes before the next flights leave for home,” Dex said. “Let’s do it.”
Ty folded his arms across his chest. “You go first. I have a feeling your folks are a lot more complicated than mine.”
Dex ordered another round of drinks. “All right. Here’s everything you need to know in order to be Dex Montgomery.”
Chapter One
Jessica Stovall had cold feet.
Not in bed, as her ex-husband had once said, but cold feet about meeting Dex Montgomery. She was seriously considering turning her car around and heading as far away from the Atlanta airport as possible.
Had she actually volunteered—no insisted—she’d pick up Dr. Montgomery from the airport?
She must be a glutton for punishment.
Her 1985 VW Bug hit the curb as she parked in the short-term parking area, and she coasted backward, wincing when the gears ground together. She parked on a slight incline, then removed the rock from the floorboard and placed it behind the front wheel to keep the car from rolling. Someday, she had to get that emergency brake fixed. Her ex-husband had wanted her to sell the car a long time ago. But Nellie had been with her forever.
Just as she’d once thought her husband would be.
Only, Nellie hadn’t let her down the way he had. A hollow emptiness pulled at her, the old pain re-surfacing. He had left her when she’d needed him most. She kept Nellie because she needed to know something was constant in her life, that she wouldn’t lose everything.
She hopped out, crossed the busy crosswalk, dodged a taxi and stumbled into the baggage claim area where Dr. Montgomery’s financial advisor had told her to meet him. This morning she’d knocked on his office door, hoping to beg him to reconsider his decision about funding the new children’s wing at the hospital, but the doctor’s gorgeous assistant, Bridget Holmes, had greeted her with a cool smile instead. Bridget was supposed to pick up Dex, but she planned to call a limo service for him. Jessica had jumped at the chance to give him a ride. Since she’d gone out of her way to make a trip to drive him home, he’d have to feel indebted to her and listen to her spiel.
At least she hoped he’d listen.
Dex Montgomery, doctor turned entrepreneur, was a shrewd businessman and seemed to have a heart for nothing but stock dividends and flow charts.
Jessica was the opposite. She loved her patients, the children at the hospital who needed tender loving care along with medical treatment. And she intended to see that they received the best of both. After all, the kids were her family now. The only one she would ever have.
She couldn’t let them down.
According to Dr. Epstein, she only had two weeks to get the money, too, or the plans for the children’s wing would be cut off completely. Besides, there were a few children who desperately needed money for treatment now.
Gathering her composure, she straightened her suit jacket and searched the crowd flooding the baggage-claim area for Dr. Montgomery. She was a respected pediatrician, a woman who’d risen from poverty to make a good life for herself by caring for others and keeping them from suffering. She refused to let Dex Montgomery intimidate her or reduce her to a jittery female.
His six-foot-plus, Armani-clad self would appear any second. All she had to do was play nice, dig deep enough to unearth his compassionate side, and ask him for money.
Piece of cake.
Yeah, right.
Facing a firing squad might be easier than getting money from a Montgomery.
A DEEP SENSE of panic mushroomed inside Ty as the plane coasted to the runway. Two hours and a few drinks ago, this trading places idea had sounded like fun.
But now his beer-induced bravado had worn off and reality had hit with the force of a two-by-four.
This charade was a mistake.
He should get off the plane and book a return trip to Bozeman. And fast.
The plane screeched to a halt, rolled to the gate, and when the seat belt sign dinged, impatient passengers flooded the aisles, obviously anxious to return to their lives.
His stomach twisted. He should be getting back to his life—in Montana. Mending fences and herding cattle. Trying to figure out a way to improve things.
Not playing dress-up in this uncomfortable suit and choking tie. How did Dex stand it?
Because he’d never known anything else.
An ache, soul-deep, settled in Ty’s chest. Somewhere in midair, he had contemplated what his family had done to him and to Dex, and his shock had dwindled, turning into anger and hurt. His loving grandparents, the ones who’d drilled into him his entire value system, had lied to him, had denied him knowledge of his own brother and his other grandparents.
He wasn’t sure if he could forgive them.
Not only had they denied him knowledge about his father, but they’d robbed him of knowing his identical twin brother. What would his parents have thought if they’d known their boys had been split up after their deaths?
Maybe he would find out when he arrived, and maybe he’d learn a little about the man who’d fathered him.
And about why the Montgomerys had wanted nothing to do with him.
People rushed down the aisle, and Ty finally stood, reaching overhead for his beat-up duffel. Instead, his hand brushed over the soft leather garment bag Dex had shoved in his hands. He couldn’t forget that damn briefcase, either. Dex had gotten so riled when Ty had almost left it in the bathroom after they’d exchanged clothes, a vein had bulged in his forehead. Apparently, Dex guarded the hunk of leather, along with his cell phone, as if they were his life. Ty scoffed. The bag alone cost more than he paid his ranch hands in a day. He wiggled his cramped toes inside the custom-made Italian shoes and almost tripped. The stupid shoes gave no support to his ankles. He certainly couldn’t ride with them.
Of course, Dex didn’t need a horse; he had cars and limos and taxis.
No, Dex had money. The kind that could have helped the Coopers.
But Ty didn’t want their money. He simply wanted some answers about his past. The Montgomerys had given him up without batting an eye, and they’d written off Ty’s sweet, loving mother because she was a rancher’s daughter. Apparently they’d thought the Coopers weren’t good enough. Just as Paula had thought he wasn’t good enough for her.
The old pain haunted him.
I could never live on a ranch, she had said.
And he couldn’t live anywhere else.
Besides, Dex seemed to have some strange ideas about his wealth himself. What was the last thing Dex had told him? Be wary of everyone, especially the women. They all want me for my money.
Ty could only imagine. No one had ever wanted him for his money. But he had certainly been exploited by a woman. Again, he thought of Paula. Just the sound of her name brought back bad memories.
Yes, he’d better be on his toes.
The ones that were now pinched and aching inside Dex’s stiff Italian loafers. He slowly made his way out of the plane towards the gate. Thank goodness Dex’s financial advisor planned to meet him in baggage claim. He’d follow her lead and let her show him the ropes. And when he met his other grandparents, maybe he would understand how they could keep one grandson and throw away the other.
JESSICA WRUNG HER HANDS together, trying to calm her nerves as she saw Dex Montgomery’s tall, commanding presence rise above the crowd. The man was so darned good-looking he would stand out anywhere. His dark sexy gaze caught hers and a twitch of a smile actually pulled at the corner of his mouth, then he scanned the crowd without speaking.
Her stomach quivered, her pulse clamored and perspiration beaded her forehead.
She assured herself it was simply nerves.
She had too much riding on this project.
His chin lifted, and he strode right past her as if he didn’t even know her.
Sure, he expected Bridget, but did he have to pretend she didn’t exist? She called his name, fighting irritation, “Dr. Montgomery.”
He continued looking across the crowd, oblivious.
She threaded her way between an overweight man and some teenagers until she stood behind him. “Dr. Montgomery.”
He still didn’t respond, so she gently caught his arm. “Dr. Montgomery, I’m here to pick you up.”
His startled gaze swung back to her, a moment of heat splintering through her as he stared into her eyes. His ruggedly handsome face sent a flutter through her stomach, and his eyes were so dark they reminded her of chocolate kisses. She loved chocolate.
“Bridget couldn’t make it,” she said, shaking off the unsettling feeling. “Something about a business dinner. I offered to pick you up instead.”
He stared at her as if he didn’t recognize her, his thick dark brows drawn together. He’d let his hair grow, too, about a half-inch longer than she remembered, giving him a rugged, primitive appearance. He probably wouldn’t use an out-of-town barber, she thought, dismissing the slight difference and its effect on her. “Do you have more luggage?”
He shook his head, indicating the garment bag. “I carried on.”
She nodded. “Come on, then. I parked in the short-term lot.” He headed toward the MARTA sign and she frowned. What was wrong with him? He’d been in the Hartsfield airport at least a thousand times.
“It’s this way.” She laid her hand on his arm again. “Are you all right, Dr. Montgomery?”
He tipped his head and started toward the exit. “Yeah, just tired. It’s been a long day.” He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture she’d never seen him use. The movement spiked the ends, sending a lock over his high forehead. Somehow it made him seem vulnerable. “I fell asleep on the plane. I guess I’m not awake yet.”
“Yes, I heard your flight was delayed.” She led him through the doors toward her trusted VW. “Don’t worry. I’ll have you home in no time.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Worry laced his deep voice. “After all, it’s awfully late for a woman to be downtown alone.”
Jessica faltered, surprised by his concern. Maybe Dr. Montgomery really had a soft side hiding beneath that steel business veneer. “No, I don’t mind at all. In fact, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you on the way.”
Trepidation filled her, but she gathered her courage. She’d just have to use the old trick her speech teacher in college had told her about—she’d picture him naked while she gave her sales pitch about the children’s wing. Then she wouldn’t be so nervous.
TY FELT NAKED without his Stetson.
Was that the reason this sexy little slip of a woman kept looking at him the way she did? Had he somehow already blown his new identity?
No, she couldn’t possibly know.
Except he hadn’t recognized her, and he obviously should have. But the noisy airport had his head swimming.
Who the hell was this knockout woman, anyway?
A co-worker? Friend? Lover?
She was a little bitty thing, probably about five-three, and she had enormous grass-green eyes and auburn hair with flecks of red and orange that reminded him of a Montana sunset. Soft pink lips created a pouty little mouth that begged to be kissed, and the outline of her jacket showcased breasts that would just fit into the palms of his hands. Heat curled low in his belly, the pool of hunger undeniable.
Taking a deep breath to gather his control, he followed her through the dimly lit parking garage, his eyes feasting on the sway of her hips and the way that dark-blue skirt framed her behind. She had shapely legs, too, as if she exercised regularly, although he couldn’t imagine her wearing dusty jeans or doing hard work on a ranch, like the women he’d grown up with, the type of country girl he’d probably marry one day.
This woman was more like Paula. Educated, prissy, soft.
He’d learned his lesson dating a city girl a long time ago. Once burned, twice shy.
