Page 3 of The Rancher’s Wedding Betrayal (Billionaires of Evergreen, Texas #17)

FIVE MONTHS AFTER LEAVING home...

The Italian restaurant was too fancy for Eve’s liking, not to mention being too fancy for her wallet either. But this was her mother’s favorite, and she would be damned if she'd let Hunter think she couldn't afford spoiling her own mom like this.

"I...I have something to tell you."

Finally, Eve thought. June hadn't taken more than three bites in the last twenty minutes. Something was obviously wrong, but she also knew her mother well enough to know that there was no point getting her to speak until she was good and ready...like now.

"I know this might come as a shock, but..."

Eve's concern grew as she watched her mother reach for her water glass with a trembling hand. "You can tell me anything, Mom. I promise I won't—"

"Boris and I are over."

Get mad, she had been about to say, but now she was just plain...stunned.

"We're just waiting for the lawyers to do whatever it is to do," June said shakily, "and then we'll be—"

"Divorced?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand." And she truly didn't. "Did he—did he cheat on you?"

June's eyes widened. "What are you—no, no, honey, of course not."

"Then why?" Her mom and Boris had always looked so happy together.

"We're just too...different."

"In what way?"

June looked down at her plate. “In ways I can't explain."

Eve’s chest tightened. “Mom—”

“It’s fine, honey. Really.” June reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You don't have to worry about anything."

EVE SANK ONTO THE EDGE of the bed, her heart hurting as she thought back to that night.

I'm so, so stupid, God.

She was back in her old room, and everything was exactly as she had left it.

Her posters from college. Her paperbacks.

Her old riding trophies. None of it had been packed away, and the sight of it all should have brought her comfort.

Maybe it would have...if not for Hunter's words making her realize how she had gotten everything wrong so, so badly.

I'm so sorry, God. I'm so sorry, Mom. I'm an idiot.

It just made her sick every time she thought about how she was so, so lost in her self-centeredness...that she had simply taken June for her word when her mother said her divorce was due to "irreconcilable" differences.

She had always thought Boris and June a perfect pair...and they were.

Or at least they had been until Eve had walked away...while unwittingly taking her mother’s chance at happiness with her at the same time.

Eve slowly started to cry.

What now, God? What now?

Hunter had given her this night alone to "consider" her options. But of course, both of them knew she really hadn't any choice at all. And honestly, all things considered, it wasn't really that bad a choice. Even her heart was okay with it, and yet...

Why can't I just say yes? What am I so scared of? Can't I just do this for Mom and Boris?

Eight years had passed since she had last walked out of this house. And a lot had changed since then. She...was no longer the old Eve, whose mouth ran faster than her brain and would—as Hunter often reprimanded her before—rather cut her nose to spite her face.

And Hunter...

He had changed as well. When she had asked earlier if she could simply have dinner in her room, the old Hunter would have stuck to his guns and tell her coldly to stop acting like a baby. But present-day Hunter...

He had simply nodded and bid her good night.

So what then...

What was stopping her?

Minutes turned into hours, but sleep still refused to come, and Eve decided it was time to take a walk. She rummaged through her old drawers and slipped into an old oversized college shirt before slipping out of her room.

The house was silent, most of the lights dimmed. Eve padded barefoot through the familiar corridors, muscle memory guiding her to the kitchen and out the back door.

The night air wrapped around her like a warm blanket, heavy with the scent of Texas summer. A mixture of earth, grass, and distant rain that shouldn't have been fragrant. But it was.

Her feet carried her across the grounds toward the stables, where a light still glowed in the front window, and Eve hesitated at the entrance.

Memories flooding back with dizzying intensity, and her nails dug into her palms. This place, more than any other on the ranch, held the power to hurt her.

“Eve? Is that you?”

Matt Braxton stepped out of the tack room, wiping his hands on a rag. Eight years ago, he had been nineteen to her twenty- two. It was hard to assimilate how the once-gangly teenager was the grown-up man standing before her now.

"Hey, Matt." A smile came easily to her lips as she walked up to him. "Are you the stable manager now?"

"I was promoted a year ago..."

Matt's tone, however, was anything but celebratory, and it wasn't hard to guess why. "It's been eight years," she reminded him gently, "and I'll tell you the same thing I told Hunter. Everything's that happened...it's all water under the bridge now. Okay?"

The younger man shook his head. “If I hadn’t left that day—”

“You got a call about your mom,” Eve interrupted. “You had to go. Someone else unlocked Midnight's door, and whoever that person is...they're to blame."

"I should have still said something," Matt insisted unhappily. "It wasn't right, you leaving—"

"But I'm back now," she pointed out. "So how about we promise to stay in the present and leave the past behind?"

Matt looked at her searchingly before slowly relaxing and even managing a reluctant smile. "You've got yourself a deal."

They chatted for a few more minutes, with Matt quickly regaining his enthusiasm the moment she asked him about the horses. They were his favorite topic. Always was, and always would be as it seemed.

When she headed back to the main house, her heart felt a lot lighter, and the past...it no longer weighed as heavily on her shoulders as it once did.

Maybe, maybe...

Eve was about to walk past the pool area when she saw a shadow detach itself from the poolside cabana, and as her lips parted open, a scream about to tear out of her throat—

Hunter?

Her ex-stepbrother's silver gray gaze clashed with hers. "Where have you been?"

Was it just her...or did he sound rather angry ?

"I was just out on a walk."

Her voice unconsciously trailed off as Hunter closed the distance between them. His hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just showered, and he had changed into a faded gray t-shirt that revealed every sculpted pane of his body, and a pair of black athletic shorts that emphasized the...the...

I think...

Eve quickly tore her gaze away from Hunter and stared determinedly into the pool's blue-lit water.

I'm going to forget what I just saw.

Hunter's jaw clenched at the way his former stepsister avoided his gaze. Why, dammit? Why did she have to keep lying?

He had seen her come out of the stable, and it had reminded him of that time when he had asked Janelle about Eve's whereabouts, and his cousin had shrugged and told him to ask Matt, since the two were "inseparable".

When Eve had told him earlier she was still a virgin, he had never paused to consider why. But now?

Could Braxton be the reason Eve was still single? And if that were the case—where the fuck did that leave him? Was he simply expected to stand by and let another man steal her away from him?

“You’re quiet,” Eve said, growing nervous at his brooding silence. “What are you thinking about?”

“I should be the one asking you that."

She was right, after all. He was angry, and she had no idea why. "Hunter—"

He cut her off, asking with uncharacteristic abruptness, "Have you given thought to my proposal?”

Eve swallowed hard at the question, and as silence simmered between them, she suddenly felt self-conscious about how little she was wearing, with her college shirt barely reaching mid-thigh, and her breasts braless underneath. But the moment she crossed her arms over her chest—

Big mistake.

The movement only caused her shirt to inch up while simultaneously drawing Hunter's attention to her bare legs.

Change the subject, now!

Eve cleared her throat. "You never, um...you didn't even explain why we have to marry—"

"Do you really think June would marry my father again if we simply told her we've made up?"

No, Eve thought.

"We have to give her a permanent reason to have hope—"

"And that can only be marriage."

"Exactly."

"But what about you?" she dared to ask.

"Marriage to me is simply a matter of securing my family's inheritance for future generations. If you and I were to marry different people, we'd end up having different heirs."

"But I would never—"

"But if you were my wife, then your children would be my children as well. Problem solved."

Eve could feel her cheeks turning warm.

He...

She...

And then...

"C-Children?"

“Yes, Evelline," Hunter answered solemnly. "Children. Otherwise known as mini-yous-and-mes, offspring, spawn—"

"I-I know what children means!"

"Then—" Hunter raised a brow. "Is it how they're made you have questions of?"

“I didn’t—”

“Because if that's simply the case, then please..."

Eve took a step back at the dangerous way his voice had turned into a purr.

"Allow me to further demonstrate.”

Uh oh...

She tried escaping, but it was too late, with Hunter moving with startling speed while her legs bumped against the edge of a lounge chair. "H-Hunter—"

His hands settled on her waist, and her heart banged against her chest.

"Stop this—"

"Not until I make you understand."

Oh gosh, the huskiness of his tone...

"P-People might see—"

"Then let's make sure we give them a good show."

Her eyes widened, and Hunter didn't hesitate to take advantage as soon as her lips parted in surprise. His mouth immediately claimed hers in a deep, hard kiss, his tongue thrusting in—

His Evelline moaned in surrender, her arms wrapping around his neck, and it was the sweetest damn thing he had ever heard.

Eve could barely think as Hunter's hands slid beneath her shirt, his large, strong hands kneading her swollen breasts and pinching her nipples until they, too, were aching with need.

Heat pooled low in her belly, and another moan slipped out of her throat as he guided her down onto the lounge chair.

“Hunter—” she gasped as his mouth left hers to trail hot kisses down her neck.

“ Shh .” He knelt between her legs, his broad shoulders pushing her thighs wider. “I’ve dreamed of tasting you for eight years.”

Before she could process his words, he was pushing her t-shirt up, exposing her stomach to the night air. His lips traced a burning path from her navel downward, hands hooking into the waistband of her underwear.

Eve’s fingers tangled in his hair, not sure if she meant to push him away or pull him closer. “We can’t—”

“We can,” he countered, sliding the scrap of lace down her legs with his usual efficiency. “And we will.”

The cool night air against her exposed skin made Eve shiver, but Hunter’s mouth was hot as it traveled up her inner thigh. His stubble rasped against sensitive skin, sending jolts of electricity up her spine, and then...

"Hunter!"

Her back arched off the lounge chair as his mouth claimed the most intimate part of her, his tongue finding her most sensitive spot, circling and teasing until her thighs trembled on either side of his head.

When he slid one finger inside her, then two, curling them just so, stars exploded behind her eyelids.

“That’s it, darling..." he rasped against her slick flesh. "Yes, that's it...show me, Evelline. I want to see how much you want me."

His words sent her over the edge, pleasure crashing through her in waves, and yet throughout it, Hunter's fingers continued to move, thrusting deeper and deeper until she could no longer cry out, could no longer move or think...

When Eve resurfaced, it was to see Hunter looming over her, his expression fierce and possessive in the moonlight.

“Do you understand what just happened, Evelline?"

Yes. No. I don't know.

"You gave yourself to me. And what's mine...always stays mine."