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he said easily. Then before she could argue, he continued. “I’m not looking for a battle here, Penny. I’m just saying, your business could use a good boost—and taking pictures for King’s Extreme Adventures would give you that.”

      She slumped back in her kitchen chair. Sunlight fell through the windows and lay across the table and the old oak flooring. “Yes, because nothing says ‘I’ll take great pictures of your toddler’ like doing a photo spread of an insane man jumping off a volcano.”

      A wry grin touched his mouth briefly and she felt the punch of it to her middle. But she wouldn’t be seduced again.

      “Colt, I didn’t ask for your help and I don’t need it.”

      “That’s a matter of opinion.”

      “But mine is the only one I’m concerned with.”

      He sprinkled a few Cheerios onto the twins’ tray tables and finally turned to meet her gaze squarely. “I’m offering you a job. It pays well. And,” he added with a slow smile, “there are other benefits.”

      That swirl of something hot and wicked punched her low again and even melted a couple of the ice knots. But enough of them remained to keep her on course.

      “We are not taking the babies on an excursion to a volcano. And no,” she added, “I don’t want to take pictures of you risking your safety, much less have my children witness that. Do you want them scarred for life?”

      He snorted. “I don’t remember you being so squeamish. When we met you were into sports photography. You wanted to travel the world, capturing danger and excitement with your camera.” Shaking his head, he looked at her quizzically. “Now you’re happy to take pictures of suburbia? What happened to all of the big dreams?”

      “I became a mom,” she said, trying to make him understand, though she doubted he ever would. “Plans change. Dreams change.”

      Her words were soft but powerful, and he acknowledged that with a brief nod for her. Then Colt looked at the twins and she watched his features soften and his eyes warm. She knew that his children had reached him in a way she’d never been able to. But she also knew that this time in her cottage was a blip on his radar screen. It didn’t matter how much he cared for the twins.

      Colton King, as he’d told her himself, was not the staying kind.

      * * *

      Friday morning, Rafe King from King Construction was at Penny’s house bright and early. Colt was glad for the distraction. Since his brilliant plan had been shot down the day before by Penny, the two of them had been staying out of each other’s way. Which wasn’t easy in a house no bigger than a good-sized garden shed.

      Carrying two cups of coffee with him, Colt strode out of the house and met his cousin as he climbed down from his truck.

      “Coffee.” Rafe grinned as he reached for it. “You always were my favorite cousin.”

      “And your wife’s my favorite cousin-in-law.” Colt looked past Rafe into the cab of the truck. “Did Katie take pity on me and send cookies?”

      Rafe’s wife, widely known as “Katie King the Cookie Queen,” ran her own business out of her home while taking care of their daughter, Becca, and their newborn son, Braden. She also baked cookies for the legions of King cousins who adored her.

      “Nice to see you, too,” Rafe said wryly. After taking a sip of coffee, he reached into the truck and came back out with a white bakery box stamped “Cookie Queen.”

      Colt made a grab for it but Rafe whipped it out of reach. “Not for you,” he said, and seemed to enjoy the moment. “Katie sent these to Penny. Along with her commiseration on being involved with a King.”

      Scowling, Colt pointed out, “Doesn’t say much for you, does it?”

      “Nah,” Rafe said with a grin and a shrug. “She likes me.”

      “Great.” His gaze locked on the pastry box. “What kind?”

      “White chocolate macadamia.”

      “That’s just mean,” Colt said.

      “My wife’s good.”

      “That she is.” Colt looked at Rafe and thought about it. Not that long ago, Rafe had been as determinedly single as Colt was and yet now he was happily married to a great woman and had two kids. He thought about taking a step back just in case commitment was contagious. On the other hand, he was already hip-deep in familyland, wasn’t he?

      “How’s Katie and the new baby?”

      Rafe’s grin got wider. “Amazing. He’s gorgeous and Katie’s...even better than amazing. We’re gonna have a big party for the christening. You and Con’ll be there, right?”

      “Absolutely.” Colt had been to more christenings in the last few years than he had in all the years before. But every King birth was celebrated. Every new member to the family had to be welcomed with a barbecue and lots of food and laughs.

      Which reminded him, he should talk to Penny about introducing the twins to the rest of the Kings. Not that they could have a King-size party at the cottage. They’d never be able to shoehorn everyone in. But they could hold it at his place. God knew there was plenty of room.

      Funny, he’d never realized before that the house he bought three years ago was really meant for a big family. He’d thought at the time that it was a good investment. It still was, of course, but now he had to wonder how Penny and the twins would like it there. It would be better for them, he thought. More room. Big yard. Close to the beach.

      He gave his head a hard shake. Seriously, he was beginning to worry about himself.

      Rafe asked suddenly, “So, how’s your new baby? Wait a minute. Babies.”

      “Not exactly new,” Colt said. “They’re eight months old.”

      “Right.” Rafe leaned against the truck. “Con told me. That couldn’t have been easy.”

      “No, it wasn’t.” And it wasn’t getting any easier, either.

      He was feeling nothing but conflicted about this whole situation. He wanted those kids happy and safe. But to keep them that way, he knew that he couldn’t stick around. He couldn’t be here, let them learn to count on him only to risk letting them down when they most needed him. The thought of not being there to hear their first words or to watch them learning to walk tore at him. The thought of never seeing Penny again hit him much harder than he wanted to admit.

      But there was no place for him here in this tiny house with a family. Because to stay would mean that they would come to depend on him. And he would, eventually, let them down. Hell, that’s the one thing he could agree with Penny on. She was worried that he would disappoint his children—and so was he.

      “How you doin’ with all of it?”

      “I’m all right.” And not interested in talking about this. Even with a cousin. “Really appreciate you moving on the roof this fast.”

      “Not a problem. Anything for a King.” Rafe shot a look at the roof on Penny’s cottage and frowned. “That roof’s in sad shape.”

      Hell, most of the house was in sad shape. He knew Penny loved it, but he had to wonder if the real reason she was living there was because it didn’t cost her anything. The rooms were too small and the twins were going to outgrow it soon. There was no room for them to play and with only one bathroom, things were going to get ugly at some point.

      And why was he suddenly thinking about things like that? When did he ever do future planning or worry about yard size or whether a roof was going to make it through another winter? What the hell was happening to him?

      Scowling to himself, he muttered, “Check for termites too, will ya? I’ve got a feeling this place is a buffet lunch for the damn things.”

      “Okay,

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