Page 10 of Seasoned with Love (Prosperity Ranch 4)

“And you can call me Mia.”

Cara smiled at that. “Of course.”

Roman realized he might be staring a little too much at Cara and her easy, natural smile.

“Time for bed, sweetie,” he told Mia. When she protested, he scooped her up in his arms.

Mia giggled, then called out a good night to Cara.

She echoed it back.

After Roman tucked his daughter in her bed, he walked into the front room. The single lamp was the only other light besides the Christmas tree. Satisfaction shot through him. The tree really did look great, and even though the Christmas music was no longer playing, the atmosphere of the whole room had seemed to change. The snow outside only added to it, and he crossed to the windows. Turning the blinds so he could see more outside, Roman was surprised that there were several inches already coating the ground.

He sensed that tomorrow, Mia would be spending a lot of time in her snowsuit.

A clinking of dishes caught his attention. The sound had come from the kitchen. Roman wasn’t quite ready to hole up in his bedroom, so he headed toward the kitchen. Instead of Lila, he was surprised to see Cara.

Well, he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Oh.” She looked up. “Sorry, Lila told me to help myself. Do you want a sandwich?”

“No worries, I’m not hungry,” Roman said. “Looks impressive. What is it?”

“A veggie sandwich,” Cara said, stacking sliced cucumbers then avocado onto bread she’d already piled with tomatoes and lettuce.

“No meat? You’re a vegetarian?”

“Not at all,” Cara said. “This keeps things lighter for this time of night.”

Her cheeks pinked. He wondered if it was because she felt embarrassed being caught so late in the kitchen. He hoped not.

“Makes sense.” He settled on a bar stool as she continued to craft her sandwich.

She gave him a couple of furtive glances, and her cheeks remained flushed. When she finished making the sandwich, she cut it in half and found two small plates. She set one half onto a plate and slid it toward him. “Try it.”

“I don’t want to eat your food.”

She smirked, and he realized the inanity of his comment. So he took a tentative bite. The contrasting flavors was amazing. “This is really good.”

She lifted her brows, then took her own bite. “Mmm. You’re right.”

After another bite of his own sandwich, he asked, “Did you always want to be a chef?”

“Not particularly,” she said. “But I started watching a cooking show at night after a breakup with my high school boyfriend, and well, I got hooked on trying new recipes. That was kind of a feat, because growing up on a ranch, all the recipes were tried and true—not much variation.”

“A ranch in Texas?” He remembered her saying there wasn’t snow in Texas, so he was assuming there. She did have a bit of a drawl if he were to think about it, but it wasn’t all that obvious. He didn’t take her for the cowgirl type. Sure, she had natural beauty, with a few freckles thrown in. But there was nothing cowgirl about her that he’d noticed.

“A tiny town called Prosper,” she said easily.

“Prosper, as in your last name?”

“Yep. My dad’s the mayor, in fact.”

“Huh.” Roman ate some more. “Is your whole family still there?”

“Mostly.” She pulled out two water bottles from the fridge and slid one over to him. “My mom’s a small-town girl, through and through.”

Something about her tone was sad. “Born and raised? She happy about being a rancher’s wife?”

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