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Carson was grinning now. Glowering was better than crying. “I did just say that. But really, you’re a beautiful woman, Evie, so no wonder your brothers are protective. There’s a lot of jerks out there.”
“You’re just trying to make me feel better.”
Had Carson ever met a more stubborn person? “I do want you to feel better, sweetness, but that doesn’t mean I’m not telling the truth.”
She studied him. “I already know the truth. I’m awkward, and apparently naïve, when it comes to dating. I don’t know where I’ll be living in two months. I cave to pressure and can’t seem to stand on my own two feet. I’m pathetic, really.”
Carson would have never guessed in a hundred years that all of these thoughts ran through Evie’s mind.
“Can I see your phone?” he asked.
Lines appeared between her brows. “Why?”
“So I can text you something, and then you can read it over and over and not forget it.”
She hesitated, and he could practically see the arguments flitting across her face. Her beautiful face.
Finally, she pulled out her phone from her back pocket and handed it to him. He opened the contacts and added his name and number, then he texted his own phone, which he’d left in the house. He handed it back.
“Do I get the grand tour of Prosper tomorrow?” he asked. “Or what?”
She slipped her phone into her pocket again. “Maybe.”
“Okay . . .”
She shrugged. “I’m helping my mom with her quilt, and Macie wants to hang out at some point, but I might have ten minutes to show you the rest of Prosper.”
He chuckled, and he loved when she smiled. How Evie didn’t know how beautiful she was, when she smiled, laughed, cried, or even yelled at her brothers, Carson couldn’t figure it out. “Well, let me know when you have ten minutes free. I’ll take a break from whatever Grandad has on his list of chores for me.”
Evie looked at the house, and Carson saw what she saw: a rundown homestead in need of a major facelift.
“I’m sure your grandad is grateful you’re here to help.” Then she looked at him. “Thanks, Carson, for, uh, covering for me. I’m glad I don’t have to explain to my family about the football party. As you know, they’re nosy and overprotective enough.”
“Sure thing.”
She stepped away then and slid into the driver’s seat.
Carson moved back from the car and watched her drive down the road that connected to the street leading to her family’s ranch. Then he went inside the house to find his phone. He waited a few minutes before he sent a text to her number so that it would go through when she wasn’t still driving.
After another minute, her reply finally came.
You can hang out with my brothers if you want.
He grinned. What about our ten-minute tour?
I think I can work you in around noon.
