Carson stepped back. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“I told you; it’s a surprise.” He helped her into the cab. His help meant his hands squeezing her butt as he hoisted her in. She arched an eyebrow at him. The man didn’t even pretend it’d been an oversight. He merely grinned.
Before they took off, he said, “Why’re you sittin’ all the way by the door?” He patted the center seat. “Come here.”
“You are so bossy, McKay.” But she scooted closer anyway.
“Comes with bein’ the oldest. Though I’m only older than Cal by a couple of minutes.”
“What’s it like having a twin?”
He shrugged. “Normal for me. We look enough alike some folks think we’re identical, but we’re not.”
Her gaze traveled over his handsome face and she fought the urge to sigh with pure feminine appreciation. Hard to imagine another man looking as fine as him, with that midnight black hair, those compelling blue eyes, chiseled jawline, dimples in his lean cheeks, and the slight divot in his strong chin.
“Why you starin’ at me?”
“Just trying to imagine if your twin is as good-looking as you. When will you introduce me to him?”
He scowled.
Laughing, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Honestly I was staring because I like looking at you. There’s a whole lot to like about the way you look, McKay.”
His hand crept higher on her knee and squeezed.
They turned off the highway into a pasture. Carolyn saw rutted tracks ahead of them, but it in no way resembled a real road. It was starting to get dark.
“You tensed up. What’s wrong?”
“Wondering if we’ll get shot for trespassing.”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it.”
“You telling me you wouldn’t be tearing after a trespasser on McKay land? Because that’s not what I heard.”
Carson stopped the vehicle. “Who’s been talkin’ shit about us?”
“No one.”
“Bullshit, Carolyn. You wouldn’t have said it if you hadn’t heard something.”
“Fine. Beverly and—” Darn. She snapped her mouth shut. She’d told him that her family didn’t know about them, but both her mother and Thomas knew. Now her friend knew too. Somehow she didn’t think that’d make him happy.
“Who the hell you been talkin’ to?”
“I told you. Beverly saw you kissing me outside the bar Saturday night and she told me all sorts of stories about your family. How you all keep adding land, turning your ranch into a McKay kingdom.” Then Beverly had detailed how many women Carson reportedly had on a string. Evidently the man had legendary moves between the sheets. Or in the barn. Or in his truck.
He scowled again. “I hate gossip.”
How much of a simpering fool did it make her that she thought he looked fierce and sexy, not mean when his dark eyebrows knitted together and his eyes got squinty?
“You got questions about something, ask me.”
“I did ask you. And you tossed off a smart aleck answer. I want to know why we’re driving across someone’s land.”
“It’s my buddy Alan’s land. He gave me permission to take the shortcut to the lake.”
“Lake?”
“Yeah, we’re goin’ to Keyhole.”
Panic set in.
The truck stopped and then Carson’s hands were on her face. “Sugar. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t swim.”
“That’s—”
“Ever. I don’t even get near the water.”
“You’re afraid of water?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know how to swim!”
Warm lips pressed into her forehead. “Hey now. It’s okay.”
She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry to ruin your plans.”
“They’re not ruined. Because we’re still goin’ to the lake.”
“What? No.”
“Look at me.” He stared into her eyes. “Caro, you’re safe with me. I promise. Let’s go down there and see how it goes.”
“You won’t make me get in the water?”
“We’ll see, okay?”
She tried to shake free from him. “Doesn’t matter because I don’t have a bathing suit. There’s no way I’m swimming in my clothes because the skirt could get tangled around my legs and pull me to the bottom—”
His mouth was on hers again.
And of course his distraction worked. After he kissed her senseless she burrowed her face into his neck as his fingers drew circles in the middle of her back.
“I’d never let anything happen to you,” he said softly. “You mean too much to me.”
That shocked her. “What? We’ve known each other five days.”
His intense blue gaze never wavered. “I knew five seconds after I saw you that you were someone special who’d change my life forever.” Then, seeming embarrassed by his answer, he retreated, put the truck in gear and they were on the move again.
They started up a small incline. At the crest, she could see and smell the water. He parked and came around to help her out. Holding her hand, he led her down the embankment.
She noticed the picnic table close to the water’s edge and a couple of cottonwood trees creating a canopy above it. The air was cooler this close to the water.
“Careful. It’s a little muddy.”
So much for her white shoes.
After setting his hat brim side up on the table top, he dropped onto the bench and rested his forearms on the edge of the table behind him. She sat next to him, and took in their surroundings. This section seemed to be a small cove just off the main body of the lake.
He exhaled. “After the scorcher of a day this breeze feels nice.”
“Did you work outside all day?”
“Pretty much. We shoulda fixed the section of fence last week, when it wasn’t a hundred degrees in the shade. But my brothers overruled me. So it was on the list today. Dirty, damn, miserable work.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because it needed done.”
“Even when it’s a hundred in the shade?”
“Even then. Stuff needs done even when it’s fifty below with the wind-chill. Dealin’ with the weather…hot and then cold.” He snorted. “Kinda like dealin’ with my dad. I’m used to that too. He doesn’t have to do the shitty chores anymore. That’s why he has us.”