Page 4 of Steal My Heart (Prosperity Ranch 2)

Devon’s gaze swung to his date, and she wrenched out of his grasp.

Before either guy could say anything, she fled the room. Carson had guessed right. The woman had wanted to backpedal the second Devon brought her to the party.

But now Carson had an angry quarterback on his hands. Not that anyone could intimidate Carson, who had a good two inches on the guy. And although he hadn’t played football for nearly two years, Carson hadn’t slacked off on conditioning.

And it only took another two seconds to slam Devon against the wall. “First of all,” Carson growled, “whoever that chick was, I hope she steers clear of you. And second of all, you’re about three minutes away from getting expelled from school.”

Devon’s eyes popped wide.

“That’s right,” Carson said. “Consider this a courtesy visit. I expect you to show up Monday morning in Dr. Purcell’s office with a full confession.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

Carson shoved harder, and Devon clamped his mouth closed.

“Good boy.” Carson scowled. “Now, I suggest you get this pigsty cleaned up. Oh, and you might want to tell your friends to go home. I think someone has called the cops, and I have no doubt there’s a few underage drinkers downstairs.”

As if to emphasize Carson’s words, a drunk couple stumbled into the room, lips locked.

“Get out,” Carson ground out.

The couple stumbled out of the room.

Carson was done. He’d gotten his message across, and now the next move would be Devon’s, and hopefully, he’d do the right thing. Carson headed out of the bedroom and down the hall, and by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, his mind was on the woman again—the one who’d taken off.

He could only hope she’d stay away from Devon from here on out. Why Carson was worried about one of Devon’s fans, he had no idea.

He headed out into the cool spring night. San Antonio was usually warmer in March, but the weather had been cool this week. He strode away from the football house and its lights and laughter and shouting. He’d once been one of those guys, having fun all the time, but that had changed his junior year on the football team. His older brother, Rhett, had died in a motorcycle accident, and Carson’s world had been rocked.

He’d gone home for the funeral, and when he’d returned to school, it was all he could do to keep his head above water. School, practice, games. That was it. He had no emotional strength left for his then-girlfriend or any of his other friends. Yeah, Stacee had eventually dumped him, and his friends outside of the football team had faded off.

But life went on. He was about to graduate in a couple of months with a master’s, then he’d be taking over his grandad’s business.

Carson squinted against the series of street lamps when a familiar figure came into view up ahead. Well, a familiar dress, to be exact. It wasn’t like he’d forget that blue summer dress in just a few minutes. Or the woman with the long waves of hair.

Where was she going? And didn’t she have a car?

Maybe she lived in the dorms that were across campus, which would explain why she was walking. Did that mean she was a freshman? Carson was nearly to his truck when he saw the woman stop, then spin around.

She set her hands on her hips and said, “Are you following me?”

Carson halted, stunned. She could only be talking to him. “Um, no. My truck’s right there.”

Her gaze shifted to the midpoint between them, where, sure enough, his white truck was parked. About ten years old, it had seen better days, but Carson kept it in good shape.

The woman folded her arms now. “What are you, a cowboy or something?”

He frowned. Her tone had been full of animosity. “Got something against cowboys, sweetness?”

She groaned. “You are a cowboy.” She shook her head like she was truly annoyed with him, then turned and began to walk again.

Carson had no idea what had just happened.

He continued on to his truck and had unlocked it when he realized she’d stopped again. She was watching him, and he felt her hesitation coming off of her in waves, even though they were standing about twenty feet apart.

He didn’t know why she’d stopped or why she was currently staring at him, but he felt compelled to ask, “Are you okay?”

When she said nothing, he continued, “Did Devon . . . hurt you?”

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