by Joanne Rock
“That’s not what I meant. At all.” He lowered his voice. “I just know that everything went to hell when we came out of there. I didn’t expect to feel so much so fast and I didn’t know what to do with that—”
A nurse breezed into the room, staring at her paperwork, dark ponytail bobbing. “I hear someone’s ready to go home.”
Talk about timing. Emma sighed inwardly.
The woman, dressed in bright blue scrubs and a friendly smile, moved around the bed on the opposite side from Carson. She directed her attention to him. “I’m just going to pull off the monitors and go over the discharge instructions with Emma. Do you want to bring your car around while I call the orderly? We’re going to take her down in a wheelchair because of the concussion.”
Carson looked back to her, his eyes troubled. “Emma, is that okay with you?”
She had to return to the ranch one way or the other. And she couldn’t deny she wanted to hear whatever he’d been about to say before the nurse walked in.
“Yes.” At her nod, he straightened from her bedside.
“I’ll see you outside then.” He lingered for a moment—or was she imagining that?
She didn’t imagine the tender kiss he brushed along her forehead, though, gentle as a whisper.
The nurse’s eyebrows rose as Carson strode out the door. The woman—Celeste, according to her name tag—gave Emma a conspiratorial wink.
“Handsome fella you’ve got there,” she observed, making some notes on her papers. “You let him take good care of you, honey, after the day you’ve had.”
Emma knew it would be too easy to just forget about her reservations and do just that. But one way or another, she needed to find out if there were deeper feelings behind Carson’s protective streak.
* * *
Night had fallen.
Emma tipped her throbbing head against Carson’s truck seat as he drove out of the hospital parking lot. No matter what else happened tonight—if she ended up returning to her accommodations at the White Canyon Ranch—she’d need to pick up her things from Carson’s house first.
They drove in silence for a few moments as Carson steered northwest out of town, toward the Creek Spill.
The rain had cleared, leaving the night sky full of stars. A twinkling canopy perfect for wishing.
But Emma knew this was the real world, and just wishing for Carson’s affection wasn’t going to make it happen.
“Are you warm enough?” Carson had given her the blanket he kept in the jump seat.
“I feel fine, just a little sore,” she assured him. “But I’d like to return to what we were talking about before the nurse came in.” Even if it hurt, she needed to know what Carson was feeling. “All afternoon, when we were with your family, I was trying not to think about how you’d pulled away from me. How you hadn’t even wanted me to join you at your father’s house in the first place, but Maisie kind of invited me anyway.”
“It wasn’t that I didn’t want you there, Emma,” he told her firmly, glancing her way as he rolled to a stop at a four-way intersection.
She waved off the semantics impatiently. “You wanted to give us space then, Carson. Please don’t deny it because it was glaringly obvious. I know what I saw, and I know how you behaved.”
“I pulled away after the sauna because I knew I was in over my head,” he told her then, not mincing words. “I felt myself sliding into deeper feelings and that’s—not something that I let happen to me.”
That hurt so much it left her breathless.
On the one hand, he’d neatly vindicated her argument. She now understood the situation too damned well.
She’d be spending the night at the White Canyon Ranch after all, so she could nurse her broken heart without an audience. Before she could tell him that, he continued to speak, seemingly unaware of the hurt he’d caused.
“My whole life,” he said, staring out the windshield at the dark road ahead, “I’ve avoided meaningful relationships with women. I wasn’t even very aware of it until Maisie pointed it out to me this week.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, a frustrated pounding. “I’m not proud of being shallow with people. I’ve just been focused on other things. My career. Healing from all the bull riding mishaps.”
She found it difficult to reconcile the image he painted with the man she knew. But she’d had hints of that reputation. She recalled how his family thought of him as the reckless twin while his brother was the responsible one.
“I’m the last person to judge someone based on their prior relationships,” she said drily.
Because even if Carson didn’t love her, she still found a lot to admire about him. He was a good man. A kind and giving man. He’d spent days helping her improve her riding when he could have just as easily told Zoe that Emma was unfit for the stunt.
“I never gave much thought to what I was doing. I was just—living. Doing my thing.” His voice sounded tight. Tense. “But I know now—after seeing what happened today—I was keeping people at arm’s length to avoid the kind of hurt that my mom’s death caused.”
She hadn’t expected that. She glanced at him in the dim light of the dashboard as he turned into the long driveway that led to the Creek Spill Ranch. Carson’s face was pale. Serious.
Certain.
“I know you lost your father at a young age, too, in a traumatic way.” He turned to look at her now that they were on the quiet access road. “So maybe you can relate when it comes back to hurt in new and surprising ways, even years later when you thought you had it handled.”
“You never handle it,” she admitted. Understanding.
Her throat burned with empathy for Carson and the boy he’d been. And for the pain her accident must have caused him today. She hadn’t really put that together until now.
“Never,” Carson agreed. “And when I saw your horse trotting back toward my father’s stable without you today, I had about fifty simultaneous realizations, all while I was scared out of my mind for you.”
As much as she hated to think about what her actions had put him through, she couldn’t deny a small flicker of hope at his words. Because being scared out of your mind wasn’t the kind of emotion you had for people unless you cared about them.
“I’m sorry I went out on the horse. I should have never done that when I was so upset.” She knew better. “I was just so afraid of falling apart in front of you.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I hurt you today, and I regret that more than I can ever say. But seeing you in the woods, and knowing you’d been thrown, brought back a whole other nightmare.” He stopped the truck, making her realize they were in front of the main house at the Creek Spill Ranch.
She blinked back tears, regretting what he’d gone through. Wishing she hadn’t gone out on horseback. Slipping off her seat belt, she turned toward him in the darkened cab.
She covered his hand with hers, squeezing.
“And it was...bad.” He slid off his seat belt, too, and shifted closer. “But I realized that I’d been trying to avoid that kind of hurt my whole life. Yet when it happened, when I was confronted with the worst scenario, I decided that living in a vacuum and having shallow relationships had all been a giant waste. I hadn’t avoided hurt. I’d just wasted a whole lot of time with people who didn’t matter much to me.”
Emma listened carefully, trying to follow what he was saying, knowing that her accident had had a strong impact on him. She could hear it in his voice. See the depth of feeling in his blue eyes.
She clutched the binding of the wool blanket tighter, wishing she figured more into his revelation but knowing she couldn’t wish his love into happening.
“I understand,” she said finally, her voice hoarse with unspoken emotions.
“Not yet, you don’t. Because I haven’t told you the most important part. I kept thi
nking, what if I lost you before I got to tell you how much you mean to me? Before I got a chance to tell you that I’m all-in for this.” He gestured back and forth between them. “For you. For us being together.”
That sounded...so good.
Could she trust those words? Especially on a day when she’d hit her head?
“I don’t want to misunderstand.” She heard the break in her voice. Knew she was showing all the emotions that she’d tried to lock down earlier today in the stable. But he seemed to be sharing his, so she wasn’t going to hide hers. She licked her lips and tried again. “I worry the concussion is making me confused.”
Carson took both her hands in his.
“Then I’m going to say this very simply.” He leaned closer to her, his eyes locked on hers. “You are the most important person in my whole world, Emma Layton. I’m falling in love with you. Please don’t leave me. Not tonight. Not ever.”
Hope sparked into full flame, roaring through her with a bright glow. She leaned her forehead against his, the motion dislodging a tear to roll down her cheek.
“I don’t want to leave.” She edged closer to him, until he slid her carefully onto his lap. “Because, truth be told, I’m falling in love with you, too.”
Sitting in his truck, wrapped in his arms, felt like the sweetest homecoming she’d ever had. She tipped her cheek to his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m so glad you’re okay. And I’m so damn glad you’re here with me.” He said the words into her hair while he stroked her back.
The fear and tension of the day drained away. Hope and love for this man flowed over her.
“I know it’s soon to feel so much—” she began.
“Is it?” Carson edged back to look at her, a smile hitching at his lips. “Maybe it’s just that what we have is so much more powerful than what other people have, it’s too strong to deny.”
She smiled, too, happy from the inside out. Happy because he was.
“Maybe it is,” she agreed, looping her arms around his neck.
“My brother told me tonight that you shouldn’t push someone away just because love is a risky proposition.” Carson stroked her cheek as he gazed into her eyes.
“Wise advice. And since when do we fear risk?”
He laughed. “Never. But let’s take future risks together, okay? At least whenever possible?”
“No more being the reckless twin?” she asked.
“No. From now on, I’m only taking calculated risks.”
“Such as?”
“Sex without a condom?”
It was her turn to laugh. “You wild man. I’m not sure I can help you with that one. It’s going to be difficult enough following doctor’s orders to avoid too much excitement while I heal.”
Carson’s expression turned serious. “No trips to the sauna for a while. I will make sure we follow directions to the letter to get you well. That much, I promise you.”
She fell a little more in love with him. It was going to be so easy to fall deeper every day. Even with a concussion. And doctor’s orders not to get excited.
“Will you take me home now?” she whispered, brushing kisses along his jaw.
He captured her chin in his hand, his touch tender. “I’m going to love watching over you all night long.”
Her heart gave a contented sigh.
He kissed her thoroughly, threading his fingers into her hair, capturing her lips with his. Boldly claiming her, sealing their commitment to make this work. Because a future without him? Well, that wasn’t one she wanted to consider.
When he edged back to look at her, she laid her hand on his chest, his heart pounding as fast and hard as hers.
“Remember when you said you wished we could rewind this day?”
“Go back to after the sauna and do it all over? I remember.”
“I don’t want a do-over since I don’t think today turned out so badly after all.” She snuggled closer, resting her cheek on his shoulder again, already looking forward to when her head was less fuzzy and she could lose herself in him.
Carson kissed her forehead before reaching behind her to lever open the passenger door. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Emma Layton.”
She closed her eyes, feeling a wave of tiredness mingling with the happiness.
“Mmm. I second that,” she told him as he carried her inside. Across the threshold. Ready for a fresh start. “You’re an amazing development in my life, too.”
He brought her up the stairs and paused.
“Where would you feel most comfortable?”
She glanced between her door and his. “Would you mind if I sleep in your bed?”
His feet were already heading that way.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make you choose that every day for the rest of your life.” He backed into the dim room and settled her in the middle of his mattress.
She closed her eyes, and for an instant, an image of Paige McNeill’s locket flashed through her mind, bringing a wave of fresh anxiety. She needed to call her mother. To ask what she knew about the troubled actress Barbara Harris. Emma would do anything she could to help Carson find answers about his stepmother’s mysterious past.
To help them locate a blackmailer.
But for tonight, she only needed to revel in the love of the best man she knew.
“Do you think kissing would be too much excitement for me?” She wanted to wrap herself around him and fall asleep that way.
Reaching for him, she pulled him down next to her.
“Just for a minute. And then you need your rest,” he warned, in his most overprotective voice.
Making her smile.
“That’s sixty whole seconds, you know. Don’t cheat me of a single one.” She pressed herself to him, looking forward to every day with Carson McNeill.
He tilted her face to his, his eyes blazing with an emotion no woman could miss.
“Never,” he promised.
* * * * *
Brock McNeill steps up to find the blackmailer
before scandal wreaks havoc in the family, but will a beautiful actress with secrets of her own derail him before he can uncover the truth?
Don’t miss the final installment of the
McNeill Magnates,
One Night Scandal
Available September 2018
from Joanne Rock
and Harlequin Desire.
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of Harlequin Desire! #harlequindesire
Keep reading for an excerpt from Craving His Best Friend’s Ex by Katherine Garbera.
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Craving His Best Friend’s Ex
by Katherine Garbera
One
Ethan Caruthers opened the door to find Crissanne Moss standing there, face pale, biting her lower lip the way she did when she was worried. What was she doing here? She had her camera bag flung over one shoulder and a suitcase on the step behind her, and a taxi was pulling away from the curb. She pushed her sunglasses up on her head, and a strand of her silky, straight long blond hair slipped free in the late summer breeze. She parted her lips and blew the strand away. As always, he had to force his eyes away from her mouth.
With some women he’d met, he could easily ignore the fact that they were female. But from the moment he’d been introduced to his best friend’s girl, it had been a struggle to control his intense attraction to her.
He had felt so disloyal to Mason yet at the same time had been powerless to control his attraction. He’d wanted her from the moment he’d seen her and he’d hesitated...
“Well, hello there. I wasn’t expecting you, was I? I mean, Cole’s Hill, Texas, isn’t your normal neighborhood,” he said, holding the door open for her to enter before going to get her suitcase. She’d been living in LA with his best friend, Mason, for the better part of the last three years.
“No, you weren’t expecting me, and when you hear why I’m here I won’t blame you if you tell me to hit the road,” she said.
Crissanne had a Northwestern twang to her speech that he’d always found endearing. He couldn’t imagine anything she could do that would make him send her away. “I’m a lawyer and have heard some pretty outrageous things over the years. I doubt you’ll shock me.”
She gave him a sweet smile that didn’t reach her clear gray eyes and then reached over and hugged him. “You’ve always been the best, Ethan. Frankly, I didn’t know where else to go...”
Intrigued, he put her suitcase against the wall near the front hall table and then closed the front door before turning to face her again. He wanted to ask where Mason was, but also thought he remembered something about his best friend heading to Peru to film his extreme adventure survival show.
