.

Lies, lies. If he were poor, she wouldn’t be so worried about what he could do to her life. But no, he just had to be one of the richest men in California. “I pay my bills with my money.”

      One black eyebrow quirked. “Not lately, you haven’t.”

      Her gaze swept the embarrassingly tall stack of bills that he slapped one big hand on top of.

      “Things have been a little slow lately businesswise, but it’s about to pick up.” Defensively, she folded her arms across her chest. “Just butt out, Colt.”

      “Nope, can’t do it,” he said, lifting his gaze to hers at last.

      His features were cold, hard, and his eyes glinted like chips of ice in the sun. He looked out of place in her bright, sage-green kitchen with its yellow cabinets and old scarred floors.

      “By the looks of this mess, you’re in deep and sinking fast.”

      Who knew there was more humiliation to be felt, Penny thought. Lying awake nights worrying about how to pay her bills was her business. She hated that now he knew all about it, too. With no other choice in how to handle the situation, she stiffened her spine, lifted her chin and did what she always did when she was faced with immutable facts. She brazened her way through.

      “I’m building a business,” she argued. “That takes time. Something you wouldn’t know about, I’m guessing, because the Kings don’t have to actually work for a living.”

      Inwardly, she winced at the snide tone in her voice. She even knew that what she said wasn’t true. But more than that, waving a red flag in front of an already-raging bull was never a good idea. Still, was she supposed to simply stand there and be made to feel like a failure?

      As she watched, the chips of ice in his eyes grew flintier. More forbidding. “The Kings have money, yeah,” he said, every word covered in frost. “But we’re expected to work. To build our businesses, and we do. Every last damn one of us works our asses off and we’re good at it.”

      She flushed. “I know. But you don’t know what it’s like to do it all alone, do you?”

      He took a breath, scrubbed one hand across his face, then nodded. “Fine. You might have a point.” His gaze fixed on hers, he added, “But that’s only more reason you should have contacted me. I would’ve helped.”

      “That’s what you don’t get. I didn’t want your help,” she reminded him and realized that she sounded like a whiny child.

      Irritated at herself as well as him, she crossed the room in a flash and grabbed for the closest pile of papers.

      Colt was faster. He snatched them up and flipped through them with a casual ease that made her even more furious.

      “Electric, gas, phone, cable...” He paused and looked up at her. “Credit cards. You were behind on all of them.”

      “I make payments,” she said, embarrassment tangling with outrage and getting lost in the shuffle.

      “Does the phrase ‘paid in full’ mean anything to you?” he asked, voice quiet, controlled.

      “Not really. I pay them what I can when I can.”

      “Well, now you don’t owe anyone,” he said flatly.

      It would have been really wrong of her to actually experience a sweep of relief, so of course, she didn’t allow herself to feel anything like that at all.

      “Except you,” she pointed out and felt the heavy weight of that little fact settle onto her shoulders.

      She really was going to have to kill Robert, she told herself firmly. And her brother probably suspected that was her plan since he hadn’t come around in a while. If he hadn’t gone to Colt none of this would be happening.

      “You already owe me,” he said, bringing her up out of her thoughts.

      “For what?” He’d already swept her ordinary world into oblivion. What more could he possibly expect from her?

      He just stared at her as silence grew and thickened in the air between them. “Time. I lost eight months with the twins. And the nine months you were pregnant. I didn’t see their birth. Didn’t see their first smiles or see them crawl for the first time.” He shook his head slowly, his gaze still pinning her like a bug to a board. “So don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. You kept my children from me, Penny. I’m not forgetting that.”

      “Neither am I,” she said softly, as a flicker of shame joined the tumult of emotions rattling around inside her. She still believed she’d done the right thing, but seriously, the way Colt had reacted to the news of the twins’ existence had really surprised her. She hadn’t thought he’d be interested enough to come and see them, let alone stay there, in the house, taking care of two babies who could bring a grown man to his knees.

      But even as she thought it, she knew that his actions now didn’t mean he would stay.

      “That doesn’t mean you get to stick your nose into every aspect of my life. How I live is none of your business, Colt.”

      “It is when it concerns my children,” he countered neatly. “I looked through your bills because your brother told me you didn’t have health insurance. I was worried about the twins. But it seems they’re covered and those payments are up to date.”

      “Of course they are,” she told him hotly, making another grab for the papers he held in his hand. “I would never take chances with the twins’ health.”

      “But you do with your own.”

      “I never get sick.”

      One black eyebrow lifted again and his gaze dropped meaningfully to the fresh scar on her abdomen, now hidden beneath her T-shirt.

      Her eyes rolled practically to the back of her head. “Appendicitis is something different. That could happen to anyone.”

      “Which is why we have health insurance,” he said, tone so calm and patient she wanted to shriek.

      “I can take care of myself, Colt. I’ve been doing it most of my life—” She closed her mouth fast before she said more than she wanted to about that. Her past wasn’t the point here anyway. Staring at the pile of bills he still held in one tight fist, she thought of something else to throw at him, as well. “You had no right to pay off my hospital bill, either.”

      “Again,” he pointed out, “someone had to.”

      “But that someone doesn’t have to be you.”

      Two days, she told herself. He’d been back in her world about two days and already, things were turned upside down. She didn’t want to be indebted to him and if he kept this up, she’d never be able to repay him.

      “This cottage is paid for—that’s good,” he was saying. “But when I took the twins into the yard this morning, I noticed you need a new roof.”

      “Yes, it’s on my list and I’ll get to it as soon as I can.” That list was miles long though, and the roof was much closer to the bottom of that list than the top. With any luck, rain would be scarce again this winter and she wouldn’t have to worry about the roof for another year.

      “The roofer will be here on Friday,” he said.

      Control, like a single, slippery thread, was sliding out of her hands and Penny kept grasping at it fruitlessly. Colton King was a tank. A gorgeous, sexy tank. He simply mowed over whoever or whatever stood in his way, flattening everything in his path.

      And she knew that he would do the very same to her if she tried to stand between him and the twins. But what kind of mother would she be if she didn’t try to protect her kids from having their little hearts broken? No. She had to hold her ground, not give him another inch, or he would completely take over her life.

      “You can’t buy me a new roof,” she said, keeping her voice quiet