Steal My Heart (Prosperity Ranch Book 2)

by Heather B. Moore

  Carson didn’t miss the sincerity of Holt’s tone, which shifted the entire mood of their conversation. He looked down at the dirt on his hands and absently brushed at them. “I’m not gonna lie, Holt. It’s a possibility.” He met the man’s gaze again. “Whatever happens, it’s a privilege to be friends with your sister. And if she never returns to Prosper, well, there will definitely be a hole in my heart.”

  Holt eyed him. “Yet, you’re not going to influence her decision in whether to move back?”

  “Not unless it’s just my good looks and charm that convince her.”

  Holt laughed, and Carson couldn’t have been more relieved.

  Then, to his astonishment, the Prosper brother stuck out his hand.

  Carson gripped Holt’s hand, and the two men shook.

  “All I’m gonna say is that my sister’s a spitfire,” Holt said, “but if you break her heart, you’ll have me and half the town to answer to.”

  Carson swallowed, both pride and humility burning in his chest. “Yes, sir.”

  As Holt headed off the property, Carson didn’t move for several moments, reviewing the conversation in his mind. Things had gone well, right? It was almost like he had permission from Holt to date his sister. Not that he needed it, and not that Evie needed permission, either.

  Yet . . . he felt lighter. He felt amazing. If he wasn’t so dirty and sweaty, he’d head over to Prosperity Ranch right now and talk to Evie. Gingerly, he pulled out his phone from his pocket. Still no reply from her.

  Carson trudged to the back patio and tugged off his boots. Inside, he found Grandad with the TV blaring, but he muted it as soon as Carson stepped in.

  “So?” Grandad said.

  “I didn’t back down, and he shook my hand,” Carson said.

  Grandad nodded, then unmuted the TV.

  So . . . conversation over. By the time Carson got out of the shower, he was more impatient than ever about Evie not texting him back. Had Holt returned and reported? Was she even at the ranch?

  He sat on the edge of his bed and called her number, unable to calm the thumping of his heart. Grandad still had the TV blaring, and was likely taking one of his covert naps he claimed to never need. Relief zinged through Carson when Evie answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey.”

  He’d been fully prepared to ask her if she’d talked to her mom, or even if she knew about Holt coming over, but instead he said, “Wanna go on a picnic?”

  “What? Are you serious?” The laughter in her tone was plain, but he only smiled.

  Carson had no idea where the suggestion had come from, but now that he thought about it, it would be the perfect getaway from her family, the town’s eyes, and his grandad.

  “Yeah, I’m serious,” he said, still smiling. “Don’t I sound serious?”

  “I guess.” She laughed.

  His body warmed at her sweet laughter.

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “You choose. I’ll bring the picnic, and you tell me where to drive.”

  “Carson . . . do you even have a picnic basket?”

  “Do we need one?” he said, then backtracked. “I’m sure there’s one around here somewhere, or I can grab one.”

  “Okay, give me an hour.”

  Carson grinned as he hung up. He was going to need every minute of that hour to put together a picnic.

  Evie rested her arms on the arena fence as she waited for Holt to come talk to her. She knew he’d gone to the Hunts’, and when he returned, he said he needed to talk to her, but he had to get through a couple of phone calls first.

  So, here she waited in the partial shade. Carson would be arriving in about thirty minutes, and she hoped whatever Holt wanted to talk to her about would be cleared up by then.

  Her mom had just barely awakened when Evie had returned that morning. She’d told her mom, matter-of-factly, that she’d been on a breakfast date with Carson. Her mom had only smiled. “Good for you, Evie. He’s a nice man.”

  That was it?

  Evie had finally texted Becca to tell her that she’d been kissed. Then she spent the next twenty minutes texting back and forth with her friend. And an email had arrived on her phone. Evie had stared at the subject line for a long moment before opening it and reading it through.

  She’d been asked for an interview at the San Antonio Daily News. A major publication, and one on her top five list. And the email wasn’t a standard reply, either. The marketing directors referred to Evie’s resume multiple times.

  Oh boy. Evie’s mind had started spinning in all directions. This was good—very, very good. Right? But the only thing she could think of was how her mom would react . . . and Carson. What would he do?

  Evie had replied to the email and set up an interview time for the day after spring break ended. She didn’t know how things would work with Carson once they were back at school. They’d take things one day at a time, though. That was all she could hold onto right now. Regardless, she had to tell her brothers that she was dating Carson.

  Either that, or one of them would find out through the Barb gossip chain.

  So, her heart thumping, she’d gone to the barn to find Holt and tell him the same thing.

  Holt hadn’t been so easy-going. In fact, he’d drilled her with quite a few questions, then he strode off.

  Sometime later, he’d gotten in his truck and left. Evie had sensed her brother was going to talk to Carson.

  What had Holt said to him? By his phone call, it appeared that whatever had been said between the two men, Carson hadn’t been scared off.

  And that thought made a horde of butterflies zing through her body.

  “Sorry for the wait,” Holt said, and Evie turned to see him approach.

  He joined her at the railing. She could tell he was biding his time, trying to decide how to tell her what he’d come to talk to her about, as he gazed out over the arena.

  “Had a talk with Carson Hunt.”

  Evie held her breath. Was she about to defend her choice of men she wanted to date?

  “Well, I had a talk with him, and then he had a talk with me.”

  Evie studied her brother, her pulse racing. “What do you mean?”

  Holt turned to face her fully. He took off his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his brown hair. “Seems there’s been a misunderstanding between us, Evie, and I apologize for that.”

  Then, her brother proceeded to tell her what Carson had said to him. How Carson had told Holt that the family needed to trust Evie and have more faith in her.

  Evie could only stare at her brother as he repeated the conversation with Carson. At the end of it all, she still had no words.

  Holt placed a hand on her shoulder. “I believe in you, and I trust you, sis,” he said. “You’ve made the entire family proud, and I hope you can forgive my blockheadedness. I’ll let Lane and Knox speak for themselves. But as far as I’m concerned, Carson Hunt is a good man, and even though you don’t need my permission or anyone else’s, I’m in your corner.”

  Evie blinked back the stinging tears, then she stepped forward into her brother’s arms.

  Holt held her tight.

  “What’s goin’ on here?” her dad asked as he walked toward them.

  Evie pulled away. “I’ll let Holt tell you. I have a date to get ready for.”

  And without any other word of explanation, she ran toward the house, her heart thumping with gratitude and awe. She wished she could have been a witness to Carson and Holt’s conversation. Had he really said all that stuff about her? Stood up for her?

  She hurried into the house, calling out to her mom, “I’m going on a picnic with Carson.”

  Her mom said something, but Evie was already in the bathroom. She added a little makeup and lip gloss. Then she went into the front room to wait for Carson.

  “Where are you going?” her mom said, looking up from her mystery novel that she was reading in the
living room.

  “A picnic,” Evie said. “I don’t know where yet.”

  Her mom nodded. “You seem very . . . eager.”

  Evie shrugged.

  Her mom put a bookmark in the novel, and closed her book. “Isn’t Carson moving here soon?”

  “Yes . . .”

  Her mom lifted an eyebrow.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Evie said. “And don’t say what you’re going to say.”

  “All right.” Her mom smiled, though. “I think it’s great. I mean, Carson Hunt will be an excellent neighbor.”

  Evie groaned. She didn’t want to think about the future right now. She wanted to think about what Carson had said about taking things a day at a time. But when she heard the rumble of his truck approaching, her pulse skittered all over the place, and she was out the door before he could pull to a stop.

  She had to force herself to walk slowly, casually, down the steps. Her eyes were glued to the man who climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around the truck to open the passenger door for her. He wore a white T-shirt and faded jeans. And, yep, cowboy boots and his hat.

  Okay, so he was beautiful, but that didn’t mean she needed to ogle him. He might get too big of a head.

  “Ready?” he said as she neared, his gaze perusing the length of her.

  “Yep.” She smiled, and he smiled back. Which melted her heart, if there was anything left to melt.

  She moved past him and climbed into the truck, but not before he’d put his hand at the small of her back. She wanted to pause and breathe him in, but she was pretty sure her mom could see them through the living room window. And who knew where her dad and brothers were.

  She settled onto the seat, and while Carson walked around to the driver’s side, she clipped on her seatbelt.

  He climbed in and glanced over at her before shifting into drive.

  “Hungry?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Did you give up on the picnic?”

  “Nope,” he said. “There’s a basket in the bed of the truck.”

  She turned to see that, sure enough, a wicker basket was in the back. “Wow, I’m impressed.”

  “Just wait until you see what’s inside.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  She laughed, then she reached for his hand—a bold move on her part. And her heart flipped as he easily linked their fingers.

  When they reached the end of the lane, he said, “Where to, sweetness?”

  “Left.” She suddenly knew where she wanted to take him. In high school, she used to walk through the park and to the river that ran past all of Prosper. There was a section where she could always find alone time. Once she got back home, family and chores and homework would take up every moment of her thinking time.

  It wasn’t long before they reached the end of the road. “We’ll have to walk a little way,” she said as Carson pulled to a stop.

  “No problem.”

  She climbed out of the truck before he could come around and open her door.

  When he lifted the picnic basket out of the bed of the truck, she said, “Can I peek inside?”

  “No way,” he said, keeping the basket closed as he grabbed a blanket from the back of the truck as well. Then with his other hand, he grasped hers. “Where are we going?”

  “Just a place I used to come to a lot—you know, when I didn’t want to be found.”

  Carson glanced down at her. “You’re showing me your secret hideout?”

  “Yep.”

  His smile was slow as he drew her close. “Why?”

  She leaned even closer, her clothing brushing against his. “Holt told me about your conversation, and I figured that a man who could put my brother in his place is a man who gets the real tour of Prosper.”

  Carson’s smile widened. “Well, then I’m honored, ma’am.”

  She raised up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. They didn’t embrace or hold each other—just a soft, tame kiss between them. But it was perfect.

  Then, Evie snatched his hat and plunked it on top of her own head.

  Carson grabbed for the hat, but she leapt away, laughing.

  “Fine,” he said. “You look better in it anyway.”

  Evie smirked and continued walking. She led him through a few trees, and soon, they’d arrived at the river, where she approached the bank and watched the meandering water. Memories flashed through her mind as she remembered some of the times she’d come here. Times of distress, anger, and even times of happiness, like when she’d found out she’d gotten into college on an academic scholarship. Or the time after prom when she’d been so mad at her brothers. And the time she came to sit and think for a couple of hours after finding out about her mom’s cancer.

  The memories were all there, shifting and moving like the flow of the river.

  And now, she’d make a new memory. She looked over her shoulder to see Carson spreading a blanket on the ground, then setting the picnic basket in the middle. She still couldn’t believe he’d suggested a picnic. It was so . . . quaint and sweet.

  His gaze met hers, and she felt her cheeks heat up, but she didn’t shift her gaze as he approached. Carson slipped an arm around her from behind, then he lifted the hat from her head.

  She laughed, and he tossed it toward the blanket.

  “I think we’ve got plenty of shade here.”

  And they did. The temperature was perfect, neither cold nor hot, and the river only added to the ambiance of the clear blue sky above.

  Carson’s other hand slid around her waist, and he drew her against him. She leaned back and closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of his warm chest and arms around her. New memories—this was good.

  “This place is beautiful,” Carson said, resting his chin on her shoulder so that his voice rumbled next to her ear.

  A warm shiver sent goose bumps across her skin. “Yeah, I think it’s my favorite place in Prosper.”

  His hold tightened, and she rested her arms on top of his. They didn’t speak for a moment, only the sound of the river between them.

  “Thanks for talking to my brother,” she said.

  “You’re welcome,” Carson said, a smile in his tone. “I wasn’t sure how that little conversation was going to go. Whether I might have to take the topic to your dad.”

  “Would you have done that?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Evie turned in his arms, and rested her hands on his shoulders. “You know, I should be fighting my own battles.”

  “Oh, you already are,” Carson said, his dark eyes fastened on hers. “But I’m also going to defend what’s mine.”

  She quirked a brow. “You did not just say that, Carson Hunt.”

  “What if I did?” he asked in a low, teasing tone.

  “Then I’d say you’re worse than my brothers.”

  He slid one hand up her back, then stopped at the nape of her neck. “Your brothers have good hearts and good intentions,” he said. “But like I told Holt, your decisions have to be yours, and yours alone. No matter what.”

  “So, you don’t care where I accept a job or decide to live?”

  “Oh, I care very much.” Carson winked.

  “Hmmm. Good to know.” She loved the amusement in his dark eyes, but she saw something more there, something deeper, more permanent. “Are you going to try to convince me to move back home?”

  “Will it make a difference?” he asked, his mouth curving.

  Evie released a small sigh. “One day at a time, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Does this mean you’ve told your grandpa you’re working for him?”

  “All I’ve told him so far was that this spring break is for me to gather information and consider my options.” Carson’s hand threaded through her hair, and the sensation of his touch fluttered across her skin. “Nothing has been decided or promised.”

  Evie ran her fingers along his smooth jaw. “You shaved.”

  “I did.”

/>   She kissed him then, because it was impossible not to. Carson’s mouth was warm and welcoming as he kissed her back. The sound of the river, the stillness of the air all created a brand new memory. One that she’d cherish always. She never thought the man who kissed her first would be the man she wanted a relationship with. Boyfriend, girlfriend . . . that sounded too serious, too permanent. It meant that things would be more complicated and feelings would be involved. And hearts.

  As it was, her heart was skipping every other beat right now.

  Carson’s other hand anchored at her hip, and she pressed into him, wanting this moment, this memory, to last forever. She loved being in his arms, loved the way he made her feel, but was she wearing rose-colored glasses? Becca told her to not stress over it, to just enjoy being with a hot man who was also sweet.

  Which, of course, Carson was. But he hadn’t backed down from Holt. And it was pretty obvious that Carson liked her. If the way his kissing made her feel like the only woman in the world was any indication.

  She had no one else to compare him to, but she didn’t need to. Carson Hunt was the real deal. But he was most likely moving to Prosper to work for and take care of his grandad. And . . . she had to tell him about the email from the San Antonio newspaper. Because if he knew, then he might not be taking her on picnics and arguing her case against her brothers.

  Her rumbling stomach caught Carson’s attention.

  “Okay, okay, we’ll get you fed.” He chuckled as he drew away.

  She grabbed his hand, though, and he squeezed. She was already missing being in his arms, which was ridiculous. This crush was doing crazy things to her mind and emotions.

  Carson knelt over the picnic basket and began to unload it. Two water bottles, a couple of sandwiches, which Evie discovered were turkey and lettuce, and a few red apples.

  “Sorry it’s not more fancy, but you didn’t give me much notice.”

  “Whatever,” Evie said with a laugh. “You’re the one who suggested a picnic. Plus, this is perfect.”

  “Nothing’s better than turkey on white.” Carson unwrapped his sandwich and took a huge bite.