Not if our marriage was real. Not if you knew how I really felt about you.
The truth pressed at the back of Eve’s throat, wanting out, wanting Hayden to know. I love you.
“Mama! Gran says I need a bath,” Katie cried from somewhere deep inside the farmhouse, pressing pause on Eve’s need to confess her feelings.
“I better go.” But Eve didn’t move. She stood there. Waiting. For what, she wasn’t certain.
“Evie?” Hayden’s brows quirked.
I like the way he says my name.
Softly and with longing.
Eve stared at Hayden, committing every angle of his face to memory—that imperfect nose, his stubborn chin, those firm, kissable lips.
Kisses. That’s what I’m waiting for.
Drawing a deep breath, Eve waited to see if Hayden had kissing on his mind too, breaking all the rules and her best intentions just by standing there.
Hayden tucked a lock of Eve’s hair behind her ear. “Thank you for agreeing to marry me.”
“You’re thanking me?” Eve chuckled. “It was my idea.”
“Yeah, but… I think I got the better end of the deal.” Hayden’s smile was tender. His tone, sincere. But then he took a step back, putting distance between them, increasing it by staring toward the shadowy horizon.
The connection she had with Hayden shattered, leaving her chilled.
Dismissed, Eve stumbled toward the door.
Hayden was sending a message, and she’d received it loud and clear—there wouldn’t be any kisses without an audience.
It was a good reminder that their marriage was built on necessity, not chemistry that might one day become love.
Chapter Nine
The morning after he’d almost kissed Evie, Hayden stepped onto the porch with a mug of steaming coffee. The sun wasn’t yet up, and the cool morning air was bracing enough to clear his head before he’d taken more than a sip of black coffee.
I need this.
A clear head. A renewed sense of purpose and boundaries.
Hayden leaned on the railing, staring out at the shadowy ranch as steam curled up from his cup. He’d been right not to kiss Evie last night. Right to put distance where his instincts were to have none. Wanting to kiss a woman had never been the problem.
Trusting anyone with his heart was.
When his mother left, he’d been fourteen. Old enough to understand what it meant when someone packed a bag and didn’t look back. The memory still came uninvited—Mom’s stiff back as she walked out, the car door clicking shut before she drove off, the hurt ripping through him like a rope burn, raw and stinging. Losing Dad so soon after that and learning Mom refused to take them in had only made the pain of her leaving that much worse. Lesson learned. Just because someone was supposed to stay didn’t mean they had to.
Hayden took a slow sip of coffee, catching sight of the stacks of boxes on the other end of the porch.
Gran and Grandpa had done their best with the five Bennett boys. They’d been the only parents Hayden had known for the next fourteen years. It hadn’t been all roses and rainbows. But it had been good. At least, until Grandpa’s mood had turned sour.
Could Evie be right? Could that tumor in Grandpa’s noggin have been behind his change in personality? Or had the ranch been in financial trouble back then and those concerns had wiped Grandpa’s normally patient persona out of existence?
He didn’t have any answers. But he’d learned that people could change without warning. Best not to trust anyone but himself.
Hayden held the coffee mug beneath his nose, letting the steam combat the morning breeze and warm his nose. Letting the hardest life lesson he’d learned back into his head—Violet.
He’d never fully understood why Vi chose another man over him. Of course, he hadn’t had the opportunity to ask her since she’d skipped town. He’d given Vi his heart, believing her when she promised to love him forever. When Vi bailed on him, he’d chalked it up to another life lesson: Love was dangerous. It snuck up. It took root. And then it left you broken and standing alone, wondering how you’d misjudged someone that poorly.