“Come August, you’re going to change your tune.” Carter canted his head as he studied her. “Where’re you from, anyway?”

Though Tess appreciated the change in topic, she still felt bad that she’d managed to sour it in the first place. “New York City,” she said.

A rueful grin spread across his full lips, and he gave a sad shake of his head. “City girl.”

She bucked up her chin a notch. Just because she was from the city, it didn’t make her some clueless idiot. “And where’re you from?”

This time Carter flashed a dazzling grin that blinded her. “Dallas.”

Tess’s mouth puckered. “Not so small town yourself. I’m getting the impression you like jerking people’s chains.”

Carter chuckled, and the sound warmed Tess from the inside out. “Come on…?” Carter’s mouth quirked in a half smile. “I don’t think I got your name.”

Oh good lord. Tess couldn’t help but prove she was socially defunct. “Tess Adams,” she said.

“Okay, Tess. Let’s go check out the barn.”

*   *   *

He was a total fucking downer, wasn’t he?

Steph was your wife? Tess’s words had speared him right through the chest. They’d been high school sweethearts. And they’d had their ups and downs—especially after Carter started playing pro ball—but he’d figured they’d gotten through the worst of it. What he hadn’t realized at the time was that the worst was yet to come.

But it wasn’t the reminder that Steph was gone that caused the sharp pang in Carter’s chest. Rather it was the guilt that stemmed from the fact that since yesterday, he hadn’t been able to get his new neighbor out of his mind. She was beautiful, feisty, obviously patient considering she hadn’t run Jenny and Jane off her property for good. But what most intrigued him was the inner strength she exuded without even trying. As though she could take on the world singlehandedly.

He’d come over to apologize to her because he really didn’t want to leave her with the impression that he was a raging dick. That and he’d wanted an excuse to see her again.

“So, what do you do in Dallas?” Tess asked as she slid open the heavy barn door. The structure leaned a little and the roof looked like it might need some work, but overall, it was pretty sound. “Wait, let me guess. You’re a contractor?”

Cater laughed. It was sort of refreshing to have someone not know who he was. The Christensen’s were oil magnate royalty in Dallas social circles. And though Carter and his brothers had never had anything to do with the family business until after their father had died six months ago, his name came with a notoriety that bugged the hell out of him. As for his career as a pro-baller, unless Tess was a football fanatic, she never would have heard of him. The anonymity was sort of refreshing.

“I’m not a contractor.”

She stopped and folded her arms across her chest as she studied him. Her blue eyes narrowed and her lips drew together in an adorable pucker. Tess looked him slowly over from head to toe and her cheeks flushed as though her thoughts had ventured somewhere inappropriate. Carter’s stomach knotted up as he felt the beginnings of a stirring that he almost didn’t recognize. Two years was a hell of a dry spell. He was surprised his body hadn’t gone into shock at the first hint of being turned on.

A wide grin curved her lush mouth. “Personal trainer?”

Her intense scrutiny flushed Carter with heat. He turned away, toward the ladder that led up to the loft and climbed. “You’re getting warmer.”

The rungs beneath him creaked with Tess’s added weight. So far, the barn was proving sturdier than it looked. “You own a chain of gyms?”

Carter snorted. “No.”

His wide shoulders barely fit through the square that opened up into the loft. Carter hoisted himself up to sit on the floor, and a moment later Tess’s head popped through the opening. Her brows knitted as she held his gaze. “Are you an athlete?”

“Why would you think that?”

She looked away. “You’re not exactly built like a guy who spends all day at a desk.”

A flash of heat licked up his spine. Her voice had gone low and husky with the words. Carter’s throat went suddenly dry and his tongue tried to stick to the roof of his mouth.

“I’m not a fan of desks,” he said with a nervous laugh. Lord, it had been so long since he’d tried to be even marginally charming. He hadn’t dated, flirted, even looked at another woman since he was seventeen years old. This was definitely virgin territory. “You really don’t know what I do for a living?”

Tess hoisted herself up to sit opposite him on the floor. “Should I?”

Carter cupped the back of his neck and tried to rub out some of the nervous tension that settled there. “I guess not.”

“Oh my god,” Tess’s tone shifted from playful to mortified. “You’re not a Cowboys fan. You’re a player, aren’t you?”

Carter gave her a questioning look.

“The flag,” Tess said. “On your patio. I thought you were a big football fan, but you play for the Cowboys, don’t you?”

He’d forgotten all about the flag. After he’d signed with the team, he’d let Travis use the house for the weekend and his brother had put up the Cowboy’s flag as a sort of congratulations. Carter had planned to take it down and replace it with a Dallas Stars flag in support of Travis’s team making it to the playoffs, but he hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

“Quarterback,” he said.

Tess rocked backward, her grimace of embarrassment coaxing a grin to Carter’s lips. “You must think I’m such an idiot. I bet people recognize you everywhere you go.”

She gave him way too much credit in the fame department. “Not really. Unless you follow football, or the team specifically.” Carter decided to omit the bit about being born into Dallas high society. It was a fact he and his brothers tried to avoid at all costs.

“If I’d ever seen you play—even once—I wouldn’t have forgotten who you are.”

Her gaze leveled on him and once again Carter felt the stirrings of something so unfamiliar it might as well be alien. “I doubt I’m that memorable.”

“Are you kidding?” Tess’s eyes widened. “Do you not own any mirrors? Believe me, Carter, you’re that memorable.”

His heart pounded in his chest as her voice once again took on that husky, flirty quality. It’s not as though women hadn’t tried to flirt with him over the past year and half. He’d been hit on here and there. But he’d been so wrapped up in his own grief that he’d never had the presence of mind to truly notice. He noticed now, though. Something about Tess sparked his interest. She seemed so fearless, and the one thing Carter found sexier than anything was confidence. Tess had that in spades.

A stretch of silence passed between them. Right now, Carter was feeling anything but confident. He looked around at the elaborate fort the girls had erected in Tess’s barn. Damn, they’d been busy.

“There’s no way they did this in a week,” he mused.

Tess dragged her gaze away from him and looked around. When she tuned back to face him, her smile nearly stole his breath. “I have a feeling this is a work in progress. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with them playing out here, but I was worried that the place might collapse.”

“I’ll call a contractor to come check it out,” Carter said. “Honestly, if you ever wanted to turn it into a guesthouse, you could probably do a fairly cheap remodel.”

“Don’t bother with the contractor,” Tess said. She looked away and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “My remodel budget doesn’t go beyond paint at this point.”

“It’s on me,” Carter said. “The inspection. Especially if the girls are going be sneaking over here.”

“Okay,” Tess aid slowly. “But you have to let me cook you guys dinner.”

For the first time since they’d pulled into the driveway, Carter didn’t feel the weight of grief and loneliness pressing on his chest. “Deal.”