Page 7 of The Rancher’s Wedding Betrayal (Billionaires of Evergreen, Texas #17)

ELEVEN YEARS AGO.. .

She saw him first, standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, and it had ninteen-year-old Eve freezing in shock, completely unprepared as she was for the sight of her new stepbrother.

Their parents had just gotten married, and this was her first time at the Ferguson Ranch. Her first time meeting Boris’s son. Her first time feeling like someone had just punched her in the gut while simultaneously setting her entire body on fire.

Hunter Ferguson.

Twenty-seven years old. Six-foot-three of pure masculine perfection. Sharp jaw. Broad shoulders. Piercing silver-gray eyes that scanned her from head to toe with cold indifference.

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

She was in trouble. Big, big trouble.

Her body’s reaction was instantaneous and terrifying. Heart racing. Skin tingling. Heat pooling low in her belly, spreading outward until even her fingertips felt warm.

I can’t like him. I CANNOT like him. He’s my stepbrother, for crying out loud!

“So you’re June’s daughter.” His voice was deep, the words clipped. Not a question but an assessment.

“And you’re Boris’s son.” She forced herself to sound bored, unimpressed. “I expected someone...taller.”

His jaw clenched, and foolish or not, Eve liked seeing that she could affect him this way.

Anything was better than indifference.

“You have lipstick on your teeth,” he replied coolly.

She didn’t. She knew she didn’t. But her tongue darted out to check anyway—

And that was when she saw it.

The smirk touching his lips, her arrogant stepbrother scoring a point, and her cheeks burned with a mixture of outrage and humiliation.

I hate him.

But I also want him.

And that left her with a choice to make.

Should she make him hate or want her back?

Easy, Eve thought.

Since she hated losing, of course she would decide to...drive her stepbrother absolutely crazy instead.

And for the next two years, that was exactly what she did.

Broke all the curfews he laid down. Talked back whenever their parents weren't around. “Accidentally” spilled coffee on important documents. Left the TV volume too high when he was working. Borrowed his car without asking.

Each infraction guaranteed his laser focus on her. It also made him more furious and exasperated. But that was better, too. Anything was better than him not seeing her at all.

Every time he'd bite her name out in anger, it would send a secret thrill through her even as she feigned irritation and rejection of his authority. She pretended to make a big fuss at how he was the only one who called her 'Evelline' instead of 'Eve'—

Like, for real, can you get any more old fashioned?

She secretly loved this about him as well. It made her feel special, actually—not that she'd ever tell him that.

Hunter could spend an entire hour just lecturing her, the two of them alone in his study, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Since she couldn’t date him, she would rather monopolize her stepbrother's attention by keeping him perpetually angry.

It was a real good plan, too...

Until the accident.

“AND THAT’S HOW LONG I’ve been in love with him,” Eve finished.

Across the restaurant table, her mother dabbed at her eyes with a napkin while Boris wore an expression of contentment as he looked at her and Hunter.

So far, so good, Eve thought. Right?

The four of them were back in June's favorite restaurant after all these years, and while the sight of them together were causing quite the fuss, it looked like no one had been able to overhear Hunter's earlier words...

"Eve and I would like to have your blessing..."

It had been her turn after that, with Eve unable to meet Hunter's gaze as she spoke truthfully of her infatuation with him in the past. He probably thought she was making it all up, and well, she hoped he would keep believing that. Because otherwise?

Nope, I'm not going to even imagine such a horrible scenario.

Eve barely repressed a shudder and told herself to refocus on her parents.

"This has obviously come quite a shock," she said softly, "but if you think about it, Hunter and me...it's not a whirlwind romance at all, you know? It’s more like...it’s been a long time coming?”

"I just can't believe I'm hearing this." June had tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter. "But don't get me wrong, please. I'm really so happy to hear this. I just...I just can't believe it. You always seemed to hate Hunter, but now I realize...you were just really infatuated with him!"

Hunter smiled at Eve. "Actually, she told me the other night she was extremely infatuated with me."

"I truly was," Eve agreed sweetly...even as she stepped on his foot under the table.

Hard.

“What about you, son?” Boris asked gruffly. “When did you realize you've been in love with our Eve all along?”

Hunter’s expression softened in a way that nearly had Eve rolling her eyes. Yes, she still believed that Hunter was falling more and more deeply in love with her, and that he didn't know it just yet. But this angelic expression of his?

Somebody give her former stepbrother an Oscar, ugh.

“She didn’t know it back then, but it was pretty much the same."

Yeah right.

“She drove me crazy every day,” Hunter continued, his gaze never leaving her face. “Breaking rules, pushing boundaries. I told myself I was just being responsible, keeping her in line. But deep down?”

Eve tried not to react as his fingers found her knee on the table.

“Those two years she lived with us were torture, and so, right now..."

Hunter suddenly gave her knee a squeeze, and Eve nearly jumped in her seat.

"I feel like I'm the luckiest man alive, to finally stop having to pretend. This time, I can let you two know, along with the rest of the world, that Evelline is my woman."

Eve could only swallow hard, which then caused June to dab her eyes and Boris's eyes to turn suspiciously bright as well.

Her unusual silence probably had them thinking she was made speechless by her emotions, and yeah, sure, that much was true.

..since she was worried about making the wrong sound, with his fingers now trailing up her inner thigh.

It was a relief to have lunch eventually come to an end, with their parents happily agreeing to having lunch with them again next week. But as soon as she and Hunter were alone in his car...

Hunter only laughed as she kicked his shin again and again.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"Believe it, darling."

Ugh.

How could she go from openly annoyed to secretly thrilled just because he had called her 'darling'?

A phone call from his assistant had them making an unexpected detour to his office, and Eve made herself comfortable in one of the leather chairs across his desk as Hunter conducted his business.

Her heart raced as she watched him work. This was Hunter at his sexiest, every inch the commanding and powerful tycoon that he was as he made negotiations over the phone, delivered instructions to his assistant, and reviewed real-time contract amendments all at the same time.

Hunter's silvery gray gaze suddenly narrowed at her, and Eve froze. Why did she feel like she had just been caught red-handed—

His lips slowly curved into a smirk.

And that was her answer right there.

His smirk said it all.

Hunter Ferguson had caught his former sister staring at him like a lovesick idiot, and no, no, no, she would not let him get the better of her like that.

The most terrible and daring idea formed in her mind, and just like always...

Eve didn't bother thinking it over.

She was already moving, silently rising from her chair and rounding the desk.

Hunter arched a brow as he tracked her movement while continuing his call without missing a beat.

"Elaborate on the transition plan..."

Eve dropped to her knees beside his chair. His free hand reached for her, not to stop her this time but to cup her cheek, his eyes questioning.

She leaned into his touch, then deliberately reached for his belt.

Hunter’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t pull away. “Yes, I’m still here,” he said into the phone, his voice remarkably steady as Eve’s fingers worked his belt free.

She could stop now. Part of her knew she should. But the way he was looking at her, with heat and something softer, more vulnerable—she couldn’t resist.

The zipper slid down with a soft hiss, and Hunter sucked in a sharp breath, disguising it as a cough.

"Could you repeat that point about the asset allocation?” he asked, his eyes never leaving Eve’s face as she tugged his pants open.

Her heart hammered against her ribs as her hands moved to the waistband of his boxer briefs.

His arousal sprang free, and Eve’s mouth went dry at the sight.

Am I...am I really going to do this?

She slowly lifted her gaze as Hunter's hand threaded through her hair, and seeing the possessiveness and tenderness in his silvery-gray gaze—

Eve took a deep breath and lowered her head.

The first touch of her tongue against him made Hunter’s entire body go rigid. His fingers tightened in her hair as she explored him, learning the shape and taste of him.

“Yes, those terms are...” His voice turned tight. “ Acceptable .”

Eve grew bolder at his reaction, and his breathing changed as she took him deeper.

“The timeline will need to be—” His hips shifted, the movement telling her she was doing something very, very right. "— adjusted ."

She settled into a rhythm, her confidence growing with each of his suppressed reactions. It was a heady and intoxicating feeling, this power over a man whose every muscled inch radiated power as well.

A knock at the door nearly made Eve pull away in panic, but Hunter’s hand in her hair kept her firmly in place.

“Come in,” he called, his voice impressively normal.

The door opened, and Eve froze, her heart nearly stopping as she realized what was happening. Hidden by the massive desk, she remained between Hunter’s legs, his hardness still in her mouth, as someone entered the room.

“Mr. Ferguson, I have those quarterly reports you asked for.”

Eve recognized the voice.

“Just leave them on the desk,” Hunter said, the strain in his voice detectable only to Eve.

It was Jessica, his secretary, and a wicked impulse seized her out of the blue. If they were to get caught, well...she and Jessica were friends, and she trusted the other woman. There was nothing to worry about all in all, but instead, there was everything to have absolute fun with...

Eve resumed her movements with deliberate slowness, and Hunter’s thigh muscles tensed beneath her hands.

“Also, Mr. Thompson called earlier about the meeting next week. He wants to move it up to Monday.”

Eve increased her pace, her tongue swirling around the sensitive head before taking him deep again.

“Monday is—” Hunter’s voice was now rougher than usual. "— fine. Anything else?”

“That’s all, sir.”

“Thank you, Jessica.”

The door closed, and Hunter immediately dropped the phone onto the desk, both hands tangling in Eve’s hair.

“Are you planning to kill me, Evelline?" Hunter grated out.

She hummed in response, the vibration making his hips jerk as he sharply drew his breath.

"I'm...getting close, darling."

She knew the words were a warning, but it only made her suck even harder, and she was soon rewarded with Hunter gritting his teeth as he went over the ege, his grip on her hair only tightening ever so slightly despite the intensity of his release.

For a long moment afterward, neither of them moved. Eve rested her cheek against his thigh, and Hunter’s fingers stroked through her hair with unexpected tenderness.

“Come here,” he finally said, his voice rough.

He helped her to her feet, then pulled her onto his lap, cradling her against his chest. His heartbeat hammered beneath her ear, gradually slowing.

Hunter brushed her hair back from her face, studying her with an intensity that made her shiver. “What brought that on?”

A knock on the door prevented her from replying, but Hunter's arms only tightened around her when she tried to get off his lap.

The door swung open, a beautiful blonde walking in. "Hunter, I— oh. "

It was Hunter's cousin, Janelle.

"Like...oh wow."

Eve couldn't help laughing.

"I thought it was just Aunt June and Uncle Boris getting back together, but oh...wow. Isn't this like double incest or something?"