Page 131 of Pretty Little Scars

“You’d be right.” I accept a bottle of water from Bridger, who smirks at me, and take a sip of it. “It’s nice out here. Killer views. Darby tells me that you rescue horses?”

Holden doesn’t speak for a moment, and then he lowers the lid on the grill and turns to face me. Bridger steps away, headed for his wife, and I don’t flinch when Holden squares his shoulders.

“No one gets to fuck with her.”

“Agreed. If they do, we’ll kill them. Between the two of us, we have plenty of land to bury the body, and it’ll never be found.”

His jaw firms, but I see some respect in his eyes now. They’re the same color as his sister’s.

“I’m not trying to laugh off the fact that you need to protect her,” I tell him. “She’s told me, well, everything.”

His eyes narrow. “Bullshit.”

“Believe me or not, I don’t care. She’s incredible. Every bit of her. I’m not going to fuck with her or hurt her or disappoint her, and I’m going to protect her from anything that could even think about touching her. Even you, if I have to. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

He tilts his head to the side and flicks his gaze over my shoulder, presumably to make sure no one’s listening.

“You planning to marry her?”

“Fuck yes, I am, as soon as she’ll agree to it, which might be a minute, since this is still new and simply having me here today made her nervous as hell. But I’d be an idiot to ever let her go, and I’m no idiot.”

After one more long moment, Holden sighs, nods, and then claps me on the back.

“Do you know how to grill a steak?”

“I’m a cattle rancher, man. OfcourseI can grill a fucking steak.”

That’s it for the inquisition. Darby’s sisters are friendly but don’t try to embarrass me or Darby, and the kids are fun, and by the time we’re driving home, I’m perfectly happy with the way dinner went.

But when I glance over at my girl, I see tears rolling down her cheeks, and I immediately pull over to the side of the road and walk around, open the door, and hug her to me once I’ve unbuckled her.

“Talk to me, Duchess.”

“It’s not bad,” she says, shaking her head. “It’s not bad at all, I’m just relieved and maybe overwhelmed, and Ihatebeing out on that property so much.”

“Hey, okay. Did you really think they’d hate me? I’m a likable guy, you know.”

“No.” She laughs through the tears. “I knew they’d like you, and I don’t know why I thought it wouldn’t go well. You’re great, and they’re great, and even Holden wasn’t a complete jerk.”

“Has he been a jerk to your dates in the past?”

“I’ve never brought anyone home before.”

Ah, there it is.

“Maybe that’s where the nerves came from.” I kiss her forehead. “Tell me what you need.”

“I’m fine. I think I’m just relieved, that’s all. Let’s go home, okay?”

Home.

“Let’s do it.”

Her tears dry up on the rest of the drive home, and the sun isn’t quite down yet when I pull into the garage.

“How about a ride on Ellie?” I ask her, and to my surprise, Darby’s face lights up.

“I haven’t ridden in a couple of weeks because she was injured, and then things got crazy. Yes, please.”