Carrie smiled then, for the first time since he’d joined her. “You’ve done the same thing to me.”

“Good.”

“No promises, Vaughn.”

“I disagree.” He brushed the hair from her face, barely aware of the snow and the cold.

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“There’s promise every time I look at you, Carrie Hendrickson. Promise each time I kiss you.” Then, because he couldn’t keep himself from doing so, he showed her exactly what he meant.

As soon as their lips met, Carrie whimpered and he wrapped his arms more firmly around her.

“This is only the beginning for us,” he whispered.

Carrie placed her head on his shoulder and gave a shuddering sigh.

“I was never really worried about your brothers,” Vaughn confessed. “You were always the one who terrified me.” He laughed and rolled, reversing their positions in the snow. Her eyes were smiling as he gazed down on her.

“So you want to give me your heart?” she said, looking up at him. She flattened her hand against his coat.

“Don’t you know?” he asked her.

“Know what?”

“You already have it.” And then he went about proving it.