Page 8 of The Rancher's Wedding Betrayal
"Are you being defensive?"
Oh my gosh, how could he even...
"No," she finally burst out. "None.Nada.I've never even had a boyfriend! Never even dated! I'm pure as the day I was born—"
"So, my stepsister is still a virgin."
"Former," she couldn't help but correct in a snarl, "and so what if I am?" Eve refused to look away even as she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Why had she even admitted that? Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut whenshe was supposed to? Why, oh why were her emotions always too...toouncontrollablewhere this man was concerned?
Hunter slowly rose from his chair as that one word ricocheted through his mind and unleashed something...forbidden inside of him.
Virgin.
His Evelline was still a virgin.
Eve started in shock when she realized Hunter was suddenly standing in front of her, and he was now pulling her to her feet, and the look on his gorgeous face—
"W-What—"
His mouth crashed down on hers, one hand tangling in her hair while the other pressed against the small of her back, molding her body to his.
His Evelline tasted exactly as he’d imagined. Sweet, with an underlying fire that threatened to consume him. Her hands pushed against his chest,weakly.It was almost as she was forcing herself to struggle, but already he could feel her starting to surrender as he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue.
Eve could only moan as his kiss deepened, and her body betrayed her, his stubble scraping deliciously against her skin as his mouth moved over hers—
Wait! Stop! Why am I letting this happen?
Eve managed to wrench away as she shoved Hunter off. "You—"
"Did what was necessary."
She sputtered in shock.
"I had to check if we can pull it off—"
"Pullwhatoff?"
“Being married.”
What did he just say?
She opened her mouth, intending to ask if he had lost his mind—
"Would you say you've already learned your lesson, Evelline?"
Or maybeshewas the one losing her mind because she was just completely lost. Where did those words even come from?
"Because I'd like to see you choose to do the sensible thing for once...once I tell you my offer."
"Are you asking me to work for you?"
"No, darling."
Eve's world turned upside down with just those two words.
"I'm asking you to marry me."
And it stayed that way, too, after what he had just said.
