“Carson?” she prompted.
“Sorry. Lost in thought. What did you say?”
“I asked if you’re okay with me putting onions in this?”
He sipped his beer. “Depends on if the onions will keep you from kissin’ me tonight.”
She grinned. “Nope.”
“Then put ’em in.”
“Where’s your brother? I thought maybe I’d meet him.”
“He had plans.”
“Do you guys have any problems working together all day and then living together?”
“Once in a while, but not really. I’d rather hang out with him than anyone else.”
“So is it the same way with your other brothers?”
Carson shook his head. “My youngest brother Charlie is just outta high school and is finding his way.” He realized that Carolyn and Charlie were the same age, which was just plain weird because she was ten times more mature than his baby brother. “My middle brother Casper is an ass. I hafta work with him for now, so I don’t spend time with him outside of the ranch if I can help it. Although he is a mean son of a bitch so he’s good to have backin’ me in a fight if Cal ain’t around.”
Her eyes widened. “Is fighting a habit of yours?”
He could lie, but that’d come back on him the first time she saw him with a black eye or a busted lip. “I’d say it’s more of a hobby.”
She laughed, thinking he was joking and he let it go.
“I really miss my sister, Kimi. I saw her all the time during the school year.”
“What’s she doin’ now?”
“She’s with our Aunt Hulda. In years past I’d work with our aunt for six weeks of the summer and I’d be home six weeks. Kimi would be there and I’d be here, so we didn’t spend our summers together.” She turned off the stove. “Supper is done. You want to get the plates?”
“Be my pleasure.”
First bite of the pork chop, Carson dropped his fork and grabbed her hand. “Forget about you bein’ the sexiest, sweetest woman I’ve ever met, or the fact I’d like to keep you tied to my bed twenty-four hours a day, or that I never get tired of talkin’ to you…this meal just proves that I was dead on with proposing marriage to you last week.”
Carolyn blushed. “Silver-tongued devil, that’s what you are.”
He could tell he’d made her uncomfortable, so he dropped it, even when he wanted to convince her every word he’d said was the gospel truth.
After they finished the delicious meal, Carolyn popped up to do the dishes. Carson circled his arm around her waist and set her on his knee. When she opened her mouth to protest, he kissed her. Thoroughly. “Thank you for supper. Leave the dishes. I want you to ride along when I do the last cattle check.”
“Really? Okay. Will I have to, umm…do cow stuff?”
He laughed. “No. But I’ll show you how to open gates.”
Carolyn asked a million questions as they bumped through the pastures, insightful questions so he knew she wasn’t just being polite.
“In the next couple weeks, we’ll turn out the bulls.”
“Meaning what?”
Carson peered at her from beneath the brim of his hat. “You really need me to explain what happens when we put the bulls and the cows together?”
“Oh. Uh, no.” Then a very female, very devious smirk tilted the corners of her lips. “But maybe you’d better show me what happens when a male and a female are alone together, to make sure I have a solid understanding of the process.”
“Sugar, are you sure?”
“Very. You’ve been in my bed. Now I want to be in yours.”
His dick went hard.
Instead of sitting on her side of the truck all prim and proper, Carolyn was all over him. Sucking on his neck. Nibbling his ear. Rubbing his chest. And those fingers kept sliding lower and lower.
“Caro. Slow down.”
“I don’t want to,” she cooed in his ear. “I want to feel you. Every. Hot. Inch. Of. You.”
Holy shit. Her hand was on his cock. Rubbing on his cock. Damn…that felt good. He wondered how long before he convinced her to put her mouth there. He imagined those velvety soft lips dragging up and down the length and her wicked little tongue circling the tip.
“Carson,” she whispered against his throat.
“What?”
“Are you going to open the gate?”
He blinked. He’d driven back to the trailer on autopilot, but some part of him had been conscious enough during his oral fantasy to not plow through it. He picked her hand up from his chest and kissed her fingertips before he bailed out.
Open the gate. Drive through the gate. Close the gate.