Thunderbolt over Texas

either. Not really. It was more a chemical thing. A very powerful chemical thing.

Not that he could tell Kyle he’d slept with Sydney. How suspicious would that look?

“It’s under control,” he said to Kyle.

“You telling me you’re not falling for her?”

“We’re faking it for Katie.”

“You and I shared a room for fifteen years, Cole. Quite frankly, you’re not that good an actor.”

“So, what are you suggesting? I call it off? Kick her out?”

“I’m just suggesting you watch your back. Don’t trust her too far too soon.”

“Fine.”

“I’m serious.”

“I said fine.”

“Just think about the possibilities.”

Cole dug in on the upper frame. “What part of fine didn’t you understand?”

He would think about the possibilities. He was thinking about the possibilities. Because he didn’t know Sydney.

Yeah, he felt as though he knew her. But she had an agenda, and that agenda included getting him to the altar.

What he’d interpreted as sweet, sexy vulnerability, could have been cold, calculated manipulation. Maybe she was hot for him, or maybe she was playing to his ego.

As bad as it sucked, Kyle had a point. What were the odds of a woman like Sydney wanting to sleep with a man like Cole after only two days?

Katie had offered Sydney the use of Kyle’s office phone to contact the museum. Sydney’s heart thumped in her chest as she dialed Gwen Parks’s number. Saying it out loud was going to make it real.

“Gwen, here,” came her friend’s voice over the phone line.

“Hey, Gwen. It’s Sydney.”

“Hey, Sydney.” There was a smile in Gwen’s voice. “How’s the hunt going?”

Sydney took a deep breath. “Well. I found it.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. “Define ‘it.’”

“The Thunderbolt of the North.”

Gwen squealed and Sydney jerked the phone away from her ear.

“You actually found it? Where are you? Where is it? What happened?”

“I’m in Texas.”

Another silence.

“Who’d have thought,” said Sydney.

“Did you bring it over from Europe?”

“It’s been here the whole time.”

“Oh, wow. When are you coming back?”

Sydney lowered her voice. “Not right away. It’s complicated. Can I get you started on the show?”

“Without you?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course. But you do have the Thunderbolt, right?”

“It’s in a lawyer’s office in Wichita Falls. But don’t tell a soul. Bradley Slander is still gunning for me, and I don’t want him getting wind of this until it’s a done deal.”

“If it’s not a done deal, why am I setting up the show?”

Sydney twisted the phone cord around her hand. “It is. Sort of. Well… I have to marry the owner.”

Another silence.

“It’s a complicated inheritance thing.”

“You’re going to marry into the Thunderbolt family?”

“It’s a marriage of convenience.”

“Don’t you think that’s above and beyond?”

“It’s the only way. I’m pretending to fall…” Sydney hesitated over the details. “Anyway, we’ll divorce as soon as the show’s over.”

“I don’t know, Sydney.”

“Trust me on this. I’ve got it under control. My notes on the other antiquities are in my computer, along with the contact names. I’m going to reserve the front gallery.”

“You’re making me nervous.”

“I can do this.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

She had to do this. She had no choice but to do this. It didn’t matter how complicated her feelings got for Cole. Nor did it matter how much she was starting to love this crazy Texas ranch.

She was here to do a job. Once she got back to New York it would all fall into perspective. She’d be hailed a hero, and her professional reputation would be saved.

“Okay.”

“Great. Talk to you in a few days.” Sydney let out a sigh of relief and hung up the phone.

It was going to happen. It was truly going to happen.

Then she glanced up, and there was Katie, white-faced in the doorway.

Damn. She opened her mouth, but Katie turned on her heel.

“Katie!” Sydney scrambled around the desk, sprinting to the door. “Katie, it’s not what-”

“Don’t!” Katie gritted her teeth, her hands balling into fists as she stomped down the hallway. “You lied to me. You lied, straight-faced, and I let you into my family.”

“Cole knows.”

“Yeah, right.”

“He knows.”

Katie shook her head, her voice quavering. “No, he doesn’t. But he’s going to. Right now.”

She stormed out the door and Sydney took off after her.

The plan was ruined. Sydney had screwed up everything. She should have talked quieter. She should have closed the door.

Cole was going to kill her, and so was Kyle, and now Katie would be more stressed than ever.

“Katie, listen,” she gasped, rushing through the open doorway and struggling to catch up. She tried running, but her pace in heels was no match for Katie in her boots. Katie easily outdistanced her to the toolshed.

“She’s a con artist and a liar and thief,” yelled Katie as Sydney rapidly approached the three.

Kyle dropped a tool onto the ground and wrapped his arms around his wife. “What the hell?”

“She overheard me,” Sydney called as she made her way through cacti and range grass.

“She’s pretending to fall in love with Cole.” Katie’s voice broke. “I heard her. She’s only after the Thunderbolt.”

Cole stuffed a hammer into his tool belt and moved toward Katie, laying a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Katie. I know that already.”

“How could you know that?” she sniffed. “She’s lying to you. She’s lying to all of us.” She shot Sydney a look of venom.

“I am so sorry,” said Sydney, her voice shaking, a sick feeling swirling in the pit of her stomach.

“I’ll just bet you are,” Katie snapped.

“Sweetheart.” Kyle spoke against her hair in a soft voice. “This is all my fault.”

Katie tipped her chin to look up at him. “How is it your fault?”

Sydney wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Katie was such a wonderful human being. She didn’t deserve this heartache. She deserved Kyle’s love every minute of every day, plus a whole troop of little Ericksons running around her house.

“I did something really stupid,” said Cole.