Page 41 of The Only Heart that Matters

“I did, didn’t I?”

I reach for the bride, hugging her tightly, praying she can’t smell the sex on me.

“Thank you for including me on your special day. It means the world to me.”

It really does. Charlotte surprised me when she asked me to be in their wedding party since we haven’t known each other that long.

“We wouldn’t have wanted to do it without you. You’re family, Mia.”

And that’s the third reason on my list. No matter how perfect it was, Gus and I cannot happen again.

We all gather on the dance floor for one last group picture before we start to say our goodbyes.

Cal approaches, looking a bit out of sorts, but pulls me to his side. “How are you getting back to your place?” he asks, almost absentmindedly.

“I got her,” Angus says from behind me and I freeze worried everyone will know.

Do they know?

“You sure?” Cal counters.

“You just worry about your bride. I’ve had nothing to drink in the last two hours and it’s not like she lives far from here.”

He’s focused on his brother, thankfully, and not on me. There’s no way I’m ready to meet his gaze in front of his family after what we just did. It would be way too obvious. It already feels likeI just screwed Angusis stamped onto my forehead. I need to remove myself from his presence.

I hug Cal and give him my best, then rush away to get my bag.

Gus is waiting for me at the barn door. He silently walks me to the truck’s passenger side and helps me into the cab, leaning over to buckle me in. I would normally protest, seeing as I am an adult, but something about having him so close feels too good to complain about.

Within minutes, we arrive at his house.

“Don’t open that door,” he says when he shifts the truck into park.

Running around the vehicle, he opens my door, pausing in front of me before helping me out. It takes everything in me not to close the miniscule space between us and kiss him. But I keep my feet planted firmly in reality.

Our moment is gone.

For the last week, Angus has been driving to the ranch to shovel the walkway from the house to the driveway so the path is walkable, but he still takes me by the hand and escorts me up the porch steps.

He unlocks the door, holding it open, and I thank him as I pass by.

I drop my bag on the couch and slip out of my coat, but before I can turn to say goodbye, the door clicks shut.

He’s gone. Just like that. Without so much as a goodbye.

Keeping my back to the door, I take in a deep breath.

Be grateful. You knew it was a one-time thing.

But just as I’ve released my breath, the floor creaks a beat before two powerful arms wrap around me, and relief I shouldn’t feel has me settling against him.

“What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Well, technically, it is my house.”

“True.”

He brushes my hair off my neck, exposing my skin that he immediately covers in warm kisses.

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