Page 49 of Steal My Heart (Prosperity Ranch 2)

“Good, then we’re on the same page.” His lips found her neck, and like last night, her pulse skyrocketed. The scruff of his chin tickled, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Someone’s gonna pull over and see if we need help,” she said.

“Then you can introduce me.” He lifted his head to gaze at her with amusement. “As your date.”

This sobered her. “You know my family, they’re going to make a big deal out of this.”

Carson seemed to sober, too, but he didn’t pull away, didn’t release her. “Yeah, my grandad warned me.”

Evie frowned. “Really?”

Carson released a sigh as his fingers trailed along her arm, then linked with her hand. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss there. “He doesn’t want anything that happens between us to affect the relationship between our families. Reminded me that your dad is the mayor, and—”

Evie put two fingers to his lips. “Stop. I know it all. I’ve grown up with it. My great-grandparents settled this town. My dad’s the mayor. My brother Knox a rodeo legend.” Her eyes burned, and her voice trembled. “And apparently, I can’t have a life, date anyone, or have a boyfriend without everyone putting in their two bits and telling me what to do.”

“Hey,” Carson said in a whisper, pulling her close.

“I’m twenty-two, Carson,” Evie said. “I had my first kiss last night. And I can’t be under everyone’s thumb all the time.” She drew away from him, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. “You’re amazing, and you listen to me, and I have a huge crush on you, but maybe . . . maybe we need to end this now before it gets farther down the road. Dating you is just going to bring out the panic in everyone, for whatever reason, starting with your grandad. He’s a great guy, and I have nothing against him, but if he’s already worried—”

“Evie,” Carson said, running a thumb over her cheek because her tears had started. “Ignore them all. I’m going to. We can date if we want to. Casually. No expectations. No promises. You can call things off whenever you want. No hard feelings. It will be good for your family to see you making your own decisions about a guy. We don’t even have to talk about your family if you don’t want to.”

“We’re in Prosper.”

His smile was slow. “Yeah, but not for long.”

“True.”

His fingers moved to her jawline, still caressing, still warm.

Evie closed her eyes at his touch. “What happens when we get back to San Antonio?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll take it a day at a time, okay?”

She opened her eyes to find his dark ones on her. “Okay.”

“And I wouldn’t mind if you want to keep kissing me,” he said, smiling now.

She moved closer again, and leaned her head against his shoulder. She wrapped her arms tightly about him, and he wrapped her up in warmth and steadiness. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Carson, or use him, and she couldn’t make any promises. But if he didn’t need any, then she’d be happy to take things one day at a time.

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