Page 142 of Thaw My Heart

Blake glares. “Everyone seems to be making some kind of cruel joke. Another year older, and they think I’m qualified to be Santa.”

“I don’t think that’s why the cowgirls want you to be sexy Santa,” I counter.

He huffs. “Yeah, well, I’m not wearing a white beard.” He strokes his thick, neatly groomed dark beard. “This is what they’re getting.”

“Pretty sure that’s what they want.” I wink at him.

He stares at me in disbelief.

“So what, you’re thirty-seven! You’re still a rock star.” The golden hoop in his ear, his tattooed arms, and his muscular body that’s as strong as a brick building… it all suits him just fine. “Besides, I bet everything still works like it’s supposed to,” I tease him, jabbing him in the ribs.

He levels his eyes at me, flicking off a dust cloud from his horse. “When you get closer to forty, I’ll tell you the same thing. We’ll see if it makes you feel any better.”

Yeah, that’s fair. But in my mind, forty ain’t happening. I’ll find a way to freeze myself at thirty-five.

“So, are you coming to bear witness to my humiliation this evening?” he asks.

“Sadly, no. Kit and I have a date,” I smile, biting my lip. “He also has some special surprise for me, so it feels like an important one.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” he murmurs so quietly that I almost miss it in the blustery winds around us.

Wait, does he know about the surprise?

“You know something, don’t you?”

“Nope.”

But the tinge of red in his cheeks gives him away as he continues to brush his horse, pretending to be oblivious.

“You do. Tell me.”

“No,” he grimaces. I pinch his forearm, hard, asking him again. “Ouch! Look, I can’t—Kit will have my ass if I⁠—”

I reach to pinch him again, and he side-steps away. “Stop that. Kit’s my friend too, and⁠—”

“And you’re my best friend, Blake,” I argue. “You have to tell me.”

My words catch him off guard at first, but it’s the truth. There are things that he knows that even Averie doesn’t. He softens before letting out a deep sigh that’s more of a groan. “Fine. But you are terrible at surprises. And mean.”

“Yes,” I smile. “Now, please tell me.”

He curses under his breath, reluctantly replying. “He went to hand in documents.”

I perk up. “Documents? What documents?”

“Signing himself as the new owner of the ranch. For when Cole steps down, or God forbid, something happens to him,” he clarifies.

My shoulders slump. “Well, that’s not a surprise,” I kick at the gravel under my boots. “I already knew he was next in line.” I’ve known that for weeks. All of that worrying, and that’s it?

“Yeah, except Kit didn’t want the ranch.”

“What?” He didn’t? But that makes no sense. Lone Pine is his home. Why wouldn’t he want it? “Why?”

“Don’t know,” Blake shrugs. “He’s been stressed about it for a while now.”

Why didn’t he ever tell me? This is going to be my first conversation with him when I see him next. “If he didn’t want it, why would he do it?”

He smiles. “I’ll give you one guess.”