Page 88 of Just The Way You Aren't

She nods, then hurries away with the attendant, leaving me standing there with five smirking assholes.

"Whipped," Finn coughs into his hand.

I don’t bother to respond. I’m too busy watching Willow glide through the ballroom like a red-haired dream wrapped in midnight blue silk.

"Christ, you've really got it bad," Brad observes. "What happened to the man whose motto has always been, 'relationships are inefficient distractions'?"

I shrug, unfazed. "That was before I met someone worth being distracted by."

"Careful," Alec warns quietly. "You're starting to sound dangerously like a man in love."

I don’t dare look at him or he’ll see the truth in my eyes. Hell, they all probably do anyway.

"Just be careful, Damien." Brad studies me, his expression sober. He’s the only one of us who’s ever been married, and his ended disastrously. "Love has a tendency to rearrange priorities. Makes smart men stupid."

"You can take that to the bank,” Wyatt says. “Hayes speaks from experience."

"I prefer my priorities unscrambled," Alec replies smoothly.

"Your loss," I tell him, turning back to watch as Willow takes the microphone. She's radiant up there, commanding the full attention of the expansive room with effortless grace and humor.

"So, about that bet," Finn starts, folding his arms across his chest.

"What bet?" I ask absently, too focused on the way the stage lights catch the diamonds and pearls at Willow's throat.

"The million-dollar?—"

I wave dismissively. "Fuck the bet."

"You're conceding?" Wyatt sounds shocked.

"I'm saying shut up and let me listen to her speech," I clarify. "I swear, you chatty assholes are worse than a bingo hall full of senior citizens."

They fall silent as Willow begins speaking, her passion for Silver Hearts evident in every word. She's magnificent up there, and I can't look away.

"He’s completely gone," Gabe murmurs to the others.

"Looks like it to me," Alec agrees.

I neither confirm nor deny, instead tuning them out entirely, lost in watching the enchanting, chaotic beauty who's completely upended my carefully ordered life.

The extraordinary woman who makes the world better just by being in it.

Let them joke about the bet. I'm looking at the best prize, and for tonight she’s all mine.

CHAPTER 28

WILLOW

The applause is still ringing through the ballroom as I help Juana down from the stage, her hands trembling slightly in mine—not from nerves anymore, but from the emotion of the moment.

"You were incredible," I whisper, squeezing her weathered fingers. "Absolutely perfect."

"Oh, I hope I didn’t disappoint you, Willow." She dabs at her eyes with the handkerchief I press into her palm. "I was so scared I would forget the English words."

I smile, shaking my head. "You didn't forget a single one. And when you talked about Roberto..." My own voice catches. Half the room had been in tears when she described her husband's confusion, how Silver Hearts helps them stay together in their own home despite his dementia.

"Now go," she says, patting my cheek like I'm one of her grandchildren. "It's your turn to shine."

---