Chapter 1
"It's my fantasy man!" Cari Todd pressed her nose to the window from inside Karim Bakes, the pastry shop in the small mid-west town of Karim City, Texas.
"Real or imagined?" Her twin sister, Annabel, who was sitting in a window booth with her twin, glanced up at the two men who were standing just outside the pastry shop.
"He's real all right." Cari stared at the tall, dark-haired man, noticing his well-formed musculature, his cargo army pants and the dog tags that hung around his neck. Wow! Thank you for your service.
"This is the first time since... Well the first time you've commented on a man in two years." Annabel smiled, pressed her nose against the cafe window too and waved at the men with enthusiasm.
"Do you know them?" Cari asked.
"Sure. The man with the blue hair is Jet Mak. His people go right back in this town."
Cari wrinkled her nose. "Can't say I like that blue hair."
Annabel leaned in close to Cari. "His wife Lucy owns this bakery, so please keep your conservative English teacher voice down. The other man, wearing cargo-army pants, is Ryan."
Cari glanced at the pretty blonde behind the counter and quickly looked back at her twin before she caught Lucy Mak's eye. "I have to be conventional. I'm the new English teacher at Karim Academy not a well-known model like you."
"Phmph! Don't be a bore. Ryan could clear a few cobwebs. He's single, hot and a great guy," Annabel teased, her voice too loud for Cari's liking. Annabel pushed her flame-colored bangs from her eyes and raised one beautifully shaped eyebrow in challenge.
Even though they were identical with wide-set blue eyes, a pert nose and lush lips, to Cari, her sister was the flamboyant twin, where everyone called her the cute, quiet twin. "Shush Annabel!" Cari slapped her twin's arm with a playful gesture then turned back to stare at the guy. "He's perfect. A guy I could dream about."
"That's all you do, honey. You live totally in your head. I'm worried about you. You go to school and come home and that's it. I had to drag you out today. You weren't like this in New York until Rob died."
"It's like my joy left with Rob," Cari said quietly. "I can't get it back."
Annabel put down her coffee cup. "You're too anxious. You need to get out more. You need to date. I tell you what, Ryan's heading in this direction, so why don't you introduce yourself to him? I think he'd suit you."
Cari pushed back in her seat, gripping her diary to her chest, heat flushing up her throat until she could feel her cheeks burning. "I can't do that."
"Why not? It's time you stopped writing your erotic stories in that diary you're clutching and go have some fun. It's been two years, Cari. Look at that book. It's falling apart. All you do is write about what you'd like to happen instead of doing it." Annabel reached forward and tried to pull it out of Cari's hands.
The battered spine tore and Cari squealed, pulling away from her twin. "Writing keeps me sane."
Annabel leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "Then I'll give you something to write about. Jet Mak runs The Club and I've seen Ryan in there too."
Annabel had a quizzical look on her face. "What club? The bowling club?"
A tinkle of laughter left Annabel's lips just as Jet Mak and Ryan strode in.
"Annabel." Jet leaned down and kissed her on both cheeks. "Great to see you. Thank you so much for your modeling job last night. The patrons loved it. No one could have pulled it off like you did." His gaze flicked over to Cari.
Annabel had left home last night wearing a crop top, tight leather pants and white sneakers, which looked fashionable. Somehow Cari couldn't see her daring twin fitting in with bowling club patrons, but then these men looked cool and lots of young people did bowling these days. Her gaze flicked over to Ryan and her body trembled with nerves. His presence was too commanding. His look: too gorgeous. If she believed in auras, which she didn't, this man could fill the whole