Cathy Gillen - The Texas Cowboy's Triplets

THEY’RE BOTH IN TRIPLE TROUBLE!

Some cowboys are meant to be family men, and Deputy Dan McCabe is one of them. Only, this eligible bachelor just can’t seem to find the right woman. Or rather—he has found her. But single mom Kelly Shackleford just keeps turning him down as if she’s immune to his charms. What could be the only way to Kelly’s heart? Her rambunctious, adorable toddler triplets!

Kelly knows that sexy cowboys and romance don’t mix in any lasting way. Dan is just a friend, thank you very much. But a spark of attraction is turning “just friends” into something warmer and much, much deeper. Kelly doesn’t want a husband or a broken heart...so why can’t she stop falling for this heartbreaker of a cowboy?

CATHY GILLEN THACKER is married and a mother of three. She and her husband spent eighteen years in Texas and now reside in North Carolina. Her mysteries, romantic comedies and heartwarming family stories have made numerous appearances on bestseller lists, but her best reward, she says, is knowing one of her books made someone’s day a little brighter. A popular Mills & Boon author for many years, she loves telling passionate stories with happy endings and thinks nothing beats a good romance and a hot cup of tea! You can visit Cathy’s website, www.cathygillenthacker.com, for more information on her upcoming and previously published books, recipes and a list of her favourite things.

Also by Cathy Gillen Thacker

The Texas Cowboy’s Baby Rescue

A Texas Soldier’s Family

A Texas Cowboy’s Christmas

The Texas Valentine Twins

Wanted: Texas Daddy

A Texas Soldier’s Christmas

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Texas Cowboy’s Triplets

Cathy Gillen Thacker

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07780-4

The Texas Cowboy’s Triplets

© 2018 Cathy Gillen Thacker

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

“Guess my legendary Texas charm finally paid off.”

Dan McCabe didn’t know how true those words might have been if Kelly Shackleford had been in the market for a man in her life. Thankfully for both of them, she wasn’t.

Reassuring herself that she was not on a fool’s errand, Kelly emerged from her SUV and sauntered toward the irrepressible lawman slash cowboy. Sizing him up all the while. Six feet four inches. Mesmerizing blue eyes. Thick dark hair. A body to die for. And a face so ruggedly handsome it nearly took her breath away.

“What makes you think that?” she asked, stopping just short of where he appeared to be working on extending the height of the fence on some kind of livestock pen. He lifted a fistful of T-shirt and wiped the sweat from his face, giving her an all too brief but tantalizing view of his powerful pecs and taut abs. As the fabric dropped to his waist, she caught a mouthwatering glimpse of the dark strip of hair that arrowed down into the fly of his faded jeans.

He waited until her gaze returned to his eyes before he answered her question with a lazy grin, “You came all the way out to my new ranch to see me.”

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Her heart skittering in her chest, Kelly returned his flirtatious smile. “You’re right. I did,” she murmured, regarding him innocently.

Apparently her false cordiality struck a chord in him. A wrong one. He eyed her skeptically. “Any particular reason why?”

She tightened her fingers on her car keys. “You’ve been saying we should get to know each other better. I’ve decided you’re right.” She flushed beneath the intensity of his gaze, took a deep breath, and plunged on. “Becoming better acquainted could be beneficial to both of us.” And, more importantly, to others as well.

A brief silence fell, in which she feared that he was going to see her awkward explanation as an open invitation to try to sweet-talk her into the one thing he’d been wanting from her, ever since she had moved to Laramie, Texas, the summer before.

A real date.

“I see.” He flashed her an enticing smile. “Is this going to happen before or after you go out with me?”

Kelly tore her eyes from the sensual shape of his lower lip and gave him an exasperated look. “Now, Dan, we’ve been over that.”

She’d fallen hard and fast for a sexy cowboy from a wealthy family once before. Only to be dumped just before giving birth to triplets. No way was she opening herself up to further heartbreak. Never mind with one of the most eligible—and sought after—bachelors in the county.

“We have.” He turned and went back to pounding tall metal stakes into the ground on the outside of the existing pen fence, then slanted her a glance over his brawny shoulder. “But never to my satisfaction.”