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the tiled veranda.
“Hot dog!” he bellowed jubilantly. “Y’all are here! Welcome to the
Triple P.”
    Mitch smiled. “Thank you, sir. It’s quite a
home you have here.”
    Les beamed at the compliment. “All the little
woman’s doin’. Can’t say that I had a lot to do with it, except for
the financing, of course.” He shot Mitch a wink and laughed at his
own joke, then turned to Annie. “Why, Ms. Witherspoon, you look
lovely this morning. I dare say this Texas climate agrees with
you.”
    Mitch watched in amazement as Annie smoothly
transformed a pained look into a professional smile. “Thank you,
sir,” she said. “I’m inclined to agree.”
    Mitch snorted at the lie, soliciting a sharp
jab in the ribs from Annie.
    “ Well,” Les announced with a
slap on his palms. “No sense lollygaggin’ around out here all day.
I know you two kids are anxious to get settled in, but come inside
and meet the family first.” Les barked a few orders at the driver,
then in his customary take-charge fashion began to herd them
inside. Mitch noted that Annie watched, seemingly concerned, when
the driver loaded their bags onto a golf cart and drove away with
them. He nudged her into motion.
    Hell, Peters made this sound like a
honeymoon. Frankly, Mitch was more concerned with getting down to
business than settling in.
    In fact, the sooner he wrapped this “contest”
up, the better. Though he’d made light of the sleeping
arrangements, Mitch didn’t like the situation any better than Annie
did. Despite reason, logic, everything, Mitch found himself
incredibly attracted to her. Spending any amount of time with the
desirable Annie would be a test and, considering he was already in
the middle of one important pop quiz, thanks to his uncle, he
didn’t need another.
    “ Cora!” Les bellowed as they
entered the cavernous entry hallway. “Y’all come and meet our
guests.”
    Within seconds, two rambunctious youngsters
came barreling down the grand staircase Annie had been covertly
admiring. A small tow-headed boy jumped onto the railing at the
landing and slid all the way down until his feet hit the expensive
antique carpet that covered the marble floor. Beside him, Annie’s
jaw had gone slack. The little girl, her hair the same color as her
brother’s, made the same enthusiastic entrance.
    Les guffawed happily and beamed at the little
hellions. “Mitch, Annie, these young ‘uns are my Pride and
Joy.”
    “ Our Pride and Joy,” a
petite brunette echoed as she sailed into the room. A welcoming
smile wreathed her pretty face as she extended her small bejeweled
hand. “I’m Cora Peters. It’s nice to meet you.”
    Mitch and Annie exchanged introductions.
“Lovely children,” Annie said. “Are they twins?”
    Cora grinned fondly. “Our second set. You’ll
meet Rhett and Scarlett later in the week. They’ll be in from
college on Thursday, for the reunion.” She gave a wry look at the
duo before her. “These two are out of school today. We’re having
parent-teacher conferences today, so I’ve got to go down to the
school right now, but I’ll be back after a while and we can get
acquainted.” She smiled regretfully. “Why don’t y’all plan on
joining us for dinner?”
    “ Of course they’ll join us,”
Les boomed before Mitch and Annie could answer. “Dinner’s at seven
and Cookie gets real upset if anyone’s late.”
    “ We’ll be on time,” Annie
said.
    “ Speaking of time, I’ve got
to go.” Cora gave them a warm smile. “I look forward to seeing
y’all this evening. Pride, Joy,” she called. “Come and give Mama a
kiss.” The two little scamps abandoned the drapes they were
attempting to climb and obligingly gave their mother a peck on the
cheek. As soon as their mother had gone, they returned to their
climbing. If Les noticed, he didn’t say anything.
    “ Okay,” the little cowboy
announced, “let’s get y’all settled in.” He began to lead them
through the impressive house.