Tempted by the Wrong Twin (Texas Cattleman's Club: Blackmail 8)

“Okay, that is juicy.” She turned to Harper. “I’m impressed—you make good gossip.”

Chuckling, Harper raised her glass to her, said, “Thanks,” and sipped the amber liquid, hoping the conversation would flow in another direction. She was in no state to chat coherently. After all, she’d only just realized she was in love with her husband.

“Now, Chelsea,” Sophie said, “your turn. What have you got that will go well with this glass of bubbles?”

“Okay, there is something.” She took a mouthful of her champagne, then grinned.

Harper grinned back, feeling a little light-headed. The drink was nonalcoholic, so it had to be from her realization about Nick, but she liked Chelsea already, so she was happy to share her good mood. “Anything you say won’t go any further,” she said and touched a finger to her lips. “Our lips are sealed.”

“Well—” Chelsea glanced around, clearly trying not to smile “—I’ve been seeing a fair bit of Gabe Walsh since we’ve been doing the best man–maid of honor duties for the wedding.”

“Gabe is another man who’s seriously gorgeous,” Natalie said, poking her head around the door from the other room.

Chelsea bit down on her lip and seemed to lose herself for a moment before continuing. “We were out at Brandee’s Hope Springs Ranch the other day, doing a few things for the wedding, and there was...how about we say there was a little extracurricular activity.”

“Did you kiss him?” Sophie asked, her eyebrows raised in happy surprise.

“I will say this,” Chelsea said with a dreamy look in her eyes. “That man has a mouth made for kissing.”

There were several happy sighs around the group seeing the expression on Chelsea’s face, then conversation moved on for a few minutes until Natalie refilled their glasses and said, “So, any news of Maverick? I haven’t heard anything lately.”

“Still seems to be quiet,” Sophie said with a shrug.

Chelsea glanced around. “Actually, I have something to confess on that front.”

“You figured out who he is?” Sophie asked, her eyes wide.

Chelsea shook her head. “The next best thing. I called an old friend, Max St. Cloud, to come help with the investigation.”

“What could this Max do that the town’s not already doing?” Natalie asked as she came out and took a measurement of Chelsea’s shoulders before disappearing again.

“I used to do a bit of hacking when I was younger, and so did Max, which is how we met. Honestly, he’s a genius.” Chelsea’s smile held a small flicker of pride in her friend.

“Actually,” Harper said, thinking the case through, “he could really help. Since Maverick has been stalking and threatening people through email and on social media and he’s obviously stolen files to use as blackmail, an ex-hacker on the team is a great idea.”

“Any new tactics are worth a shot,” Sophie said. “Maverick has already caused too much damage.”

“Hear, hear,” Natalie said coming back out to the main room. “And on that note, I’m done. Chelsea, you’re free to go.”

“Thank, Natalie,” Chelsea said, reaching for her bag. “I can’t wait to see the finished dress.”

Sophie stood. “Chelsea, you’re more than welcome to join us for lunch if you’d like.”

“That’s so sweet of you, but I have a couple of other maid of honor duties to take care of, so I’ll take a rain check. See you all later!”

As Chelsea swept through the door, Harper turned to look at her friends and had a moment of blissful satisfaction. Everything in her life was going so well. She had a wider circle of friends than she’d ever had, her pregnancy was progressing nicely, things with Ellie were going great and her marriage with Nick had never been better. In fact, she was in love with him. Which was more than she’d dreamed possible for their fledgling relationship. It was as if the pieces of her life were all falling into their slots, and a sense of bone-deep contentment and happiness settled over her.

The only thing that could make her life even better was to share her feelings with Nick. Now she just needed to find the perfect way to tell him.

* * *

Nick stood as his ex-wife joined him at a corner booth in the Royal Diner. Now that things were going so well with Harper and he could see them making a family with the babies, he’d decided it was time to do something about Ellie’s custody situation, too. He’d asked Melissa to meet him—just the two parents, on their own, looking out for their kid’s best interests. He’d mentioned the idea to Harper for a lawyer’s take, and she’d said it made a lot of sense. What surprised him was that Melissa had agreed to it.

Not knowing how to greet her, he stuck his hand out. This was new territory for them. In the past, they’d dated and been newlyweds, expectant parents, spouses in a crumbling marriage, then exes at war. What were they to each other now? Only time would tell.

Melissa looked at his outstretched hand, then reluctantly took it for a few seconds before dropping it.

“Thanks for coming,” he said as they took their seats.