Page 54 of Steal My Heart (Prosperity Ranch 2)

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?”

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