Page 20 of Rocky Mountain Home

“Just considering how I can take advantage of your mathematical genius,” she lied. “I barely made it through Math 30, and don’t ask me to explain my work.”

Jesse leaned back on an elbow, long legs stretched in front of him. “I’m game to help you, any way I can.”

He wasn’t talking about arithmetic, damn him anyway.

Dare ignored the innuendo best she could. “Tell me something about your family.”

His expression lost a little of the shine, and she wondered if they were treading into dangerous territory. The email from his sister-in-law had seemed good-natured enough, but sometimes it was hard to tell what was at the root of family problems.

Jesse rallied, taking a swig of his pop before answering her. “Lots of brothers, just like you. In fact, I beat you by one.”

“Ginny would tell you she’s as tough as any guy.”

He grinned. “I like her already.”

Dare poked him with her foot. “Five brothers. Let me guess. You’re the youngest.”

He frowned. “What’s that mean? I’m not the youngest.”

She shrugged. “The fact you’re here and not there makes me think you’ve got more freedom than some of the others, that’s all. I mean Caleb would cut off his arm before he’d leave Silver Stone, but Luke went on the rodeo circuit for a few years. Walker is there now, and I figure Dustin will head out at some point for a while.”

He nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. Maybe there’s something about being the oldest that hits them harder about home and hearth. My brother Blake is like that—I told you about him. He’s the one married to Jaxi. They took over the house I grew up in. They’ve got four kids and another on the way.”

Dare swore. “Ambitious woman.”

“Coleman are a fertile lot.”

Great to know. “Thanks for warning me ahead of time, asshole.”

But she patted his hand to let him know she was teasing before urging him to go on.

“Next oldest is Matt. His wife owns a quilt shop, and they had their first kid last November. Middle brother is Daniel, and he married a woman with three older kids he’s adopted.”

“Middle?” She was going to need to write this down to remember it, but that made no sense. “You said there are six of you—”

“You’ll understand in a minute,” he promised. “Travis comes next, and he is a bit of— Hell, a wild card?”

“Black-sheep-of-the-family kind of thing?”

Jesse shook his head. “A Travis kind of thing. He lives with his boyfriend and girlfriend, and they’re expecting a kid this summer.”

Curiouser and curiouser.

“Whoa, that’s—” She was struck by something, counting on her fingers. “Six brothers, and three babies on the way, counting ours? You weren’t kidding about the fertile thing.”

“I’m glad to know it’s the baby thing that snagged you, not the fact my brother is in a permanent threesome.”

“Hey, whatever turns his crank, but damn—the babies…”

“There’s at least one set of twins every generation,” he informed her. “I’m a twin, and the firstborn, therefore not the youngest.”

Panic gripped her. “You’re kidding. You’ve got a twin?”

“Identical.”

Awesome, just what she didn’t need—two of Jesse messing with her hormones. They had to be devastating standing side by side, but even that image was rapidly overlapped by a bigger, more vital concern. “Is it catching?”

Jesse laughed. “Is what catching? Being a twin?”