Page 61 of Chasing Home
She blinks, long lashes brushing the thin, still-wet skin beneath her eyes. I swipe at the wetness there with my thumb.
“You didn’t have to come save me, Johnny. I can take care of myself,” she murmurs.
“Do I look put out by comin’? Because I sure don’t feel anything but grateful to have been here for you.”
I hear her swallow before she tightens her arms around my waist and hugs me. Hugs. Me. With her cheek flat to my chest, I know she can hear the way my heart speeds to a dangerous tempo. I want her to hear it.
“Thank you,” she breathes against my shirt, my hat brushing my back from where she still holds it.
I close my eyes and hug her just as tight. “Anytime, Aurora.”
We stand here for minutes, hours, maybe. With my back to the world and her in my arms, I could have stayed here for a lifetime. Every noise around us is dulled, as if we’ve stepped inside a bubble meant just for us.
I never thought I could enjoy something so simple this much. And the guys would have my ass if they ever found out, but I’m almost inclined to make sure to tell them regardless. It’s worth it for the chance to let them know she’s my girl, even if she hasn’t accepted that just yet.
We’re getting there.
Slow and steady, I remind myself.
“Don’t you have work?” she asks after a few more moments of silence.
I don’t let her go just yet. “Nothing that can’t wait a few minutes. I was planning on taking an early lunch, anyway.”
It’s not completely the truth. I was riding Joker back from checking on that damn bull fence again when I saw Daisy rounding the house. My to-do list flew away the moment she told me Aurora was “having a mild nervous breakdown” and skipped off to the stable.
“You’re a shit liar, Johnny,” she says before unwinding her arms and swaying back a step.
The loss of her against me is a shock to my system, but I try to hide the effect it has on me with an easy grin. “Do you have a busy afternoon? I’ve got somethin’ to do that I think would help to take your mind off of Wanda.”
Intrigue lights her eyes. “Like what?”
“I know you said you aren’t the biggest fan of animals, but have you ever met a horse?”
After hooking up the horse trailer to the hitch of the truck, I hop out of the cab and wave Rory over.
She comes over instantly, appearing almost excited. Seeing the appearance of her smile after what happened earlier is like looking up at the sun after a week-long rain.
In blue jeans and a baggy shirt that droops over her left shoulder, leaving it bare, the only way this woman could look any more like a natural rancher would be a hat on her head and boots on her feet. It’s hard to want her to look anything other than herself, though. She’s damn perfect the way she is.
“Hop in and we’ll head out,” I tell her.
“I don’t know anything about horses,” she warns.
“I know. I’m goin’ to teach you. We’ve got a little over an hour on the road before we get there, so we’ve got the time for a rundown of the basics.”
With a small dip of her chin, she rounds the hood of the truck and slips inside. I roll my shoulders to disperse some of my nervous jitters and join her.
The truck we’re using today is not only big, but it’s loud as fuck. One twist of the keys and it’s roaring and puffing out plumes of black smoke. Aurora unrolls her window and watches the clouds of exhaust in the side mirror as I drive off the grass and onto the gravel road leading through the ranch.
Hanging my arm out my window, I ask, “Will you tell me more about your life in Calgary? Not including all the stuff with your mom, but everything else.”
“Anything specific you want to know?”
“Hard to be specific when I want to know everything, darlin’.”
She laughs, reaching out her window to run her fingers through the breeze. “Right. Well, I had a good job as a financial advisor for an auction company. It was boring, though.”
“What did you do there?”