Rein In (Willow Bay Stables #3)(30)
She turned her head, scanning the crowd, and her eyes warmed when they found me.
It was a sight that would never grow old, not in a thousand years.
My stomach took a nosedive off a very high cliff, and it took all the strength I had to walk toward her in this crowd of people. As though she knew I might not make it all the way there without her, she started to move across the grass.
The white fabric went up to the base of her throat in the front and was held together by a circular gold band.
She was breathtaking, and again, she was walking my way.
How lucky was I to so often be rescued by an angel?
“Hi,” she whispered when her feet stopped just before me.
I blinked against the late afternoon sun. “Hi.”
I wanted to reach out and hold her like I had just hours ago, but I was scared. She seemed so unreachable on the top of this hill surrounded by all these people I had nothing in common with.
“You look very handsome.” Her eyes burned over the length of my body.
My cheeks burned. “It’s a little big.” I tugged awkwardly on the pockets of the pants that only stayed up because of the belt I’d cinched around my waist.
“You look perfect to me,” she said without the slightest hesitation in her voice.
I reached forward and ran my thumb along the curve of her jaw. “You look like dawn after the eve of war.”
My heart ran toward her as I spoke, repeatedly crashing itself along her shore.
“Thank you.” She smiled.
That smile, the worlds I would conquer just to see it.
And today, I would conquer this one standing next to her.
“Aurora.” A female voice called from behind her, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off her.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
My insecurities bucked and roared inside my skull, but my body betrayed them and I nodded.
The hand at her jaw fell to my side, and I stood there awkwardly unsure of what to do.
She lifted her arm between us and held the palm of her hand open to me. “Just hold my hand,” she whispered. “It’ll be okay.”
Her bravery would move so many mountains in her lifetime. It was impossible for someone so pure to be so incredibly fearless and yet, she was.
In this place, with these people, her family among them, only she would take the bloody hands of a man who didn’t deserve her and walk through them like a warrior.
I was in awe of her.
She didn’t care who saw us or what they might think, and I envied her bravery. I felt like a coward to be concerned with the opinions of others, especially her family and Grant.
Leaning forward, I pressed my lips against her forehand and interlaced my fingers with hers.
“Ready when you are, angel.”
Her steady hands eased the fear in mine, and she led me up toward the patio. There, between Grant and his friends, was her family. Even from a distance, it was obvious they were of the same blood.
“Daddy,” Aurora spoke to a man nearly my height but twice as large. “This is Rhys.”
Her father assessed me like I imagined hunters did before they considered shooting their prey to put it out of its misery.
No one spoke around us, and I felt like I could crawl into a hole and die a repeated death.
That’s why it surprised me when he reached out his hand. “Larry Daniels,” he said, his voice gruff.
I practically tripped over the hand-me-down dress shoes I was wearing to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
My voice came out with more ease than I expected, and I tried to meet his handshake with the same firm vigor with which he’d met mine.
“I’m London.” A slender woman with eyes and hair the same as Aurora’s stepped in front of her father. “I’m Aurora’s sister and this”—she lifted the bundle in her arms—“is my son, Christopher.”
I nodded. Words seemed to die on my tongue before they came out.
“My husband couldn’t it make it, but I’m sure you’ll meet him another time.” She laughed, her eyes sliding over to Aurora.
The man next to her wore a ten-gallon hat and a hard stare. His eyes fell to where mine and Aurora’s hands were still joined.
“Owen.” Aurora’s voice was cool, and if I had to guess, just the slightest bit threatening.
He growled and held out his hand. “Owen Daniels.”
“Our over-protective brother,” London added for what I assumed was comic relief and good measure.
The three of them, or if I was to include the sleeping child, the four of them seemed wary of me.
Polite, but wary.
“Don’t you get hot wearing so much black?” My eyes moved to see a pretty brunette girl with wild hair pressed against Aurora’s brother’s leg.
“Ryley.” A woman approached from beside us. “That’s rude.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay.”
The girl blinked a few times against the sun and continued to stare at me.
“Can I tell you a secret?” I asked, and the man behind her grunted but I ignored him.
She leaned forward. “Yes. I love secrets.”
Letting go of Aurora’s hand, I squatted down and gestured for her to come closer.
“The truth is, I wear black because sometimes color scares me,” I whispered to her, though I was sure given the close vicinity that most everyone could hear us if they were listening.