Page 69 of A False Start
Ducking through the fence, I take the quickest path in her direction. She turns, eyes finding mine over her shoulder, and my breath dies in my lungs.
She’s so beautiful, it almost hurts to look at her sometimes. The soft smile paired with her warm, wild eyes. Eyes that have seen too much for a woman her age. The dichotomy between how sweet she looks and what a spunky little devil she is gets me.
My little vixen in disguise. The girl with the innocent face who can handle a gun like some sort of fucking undercover assassin.
Hot.
And her looking over her shoulder at me like she did last night?
Hotter.
That’s going to be my favorite thing for the rest of time.
“It’s just so beautiful out here.” She sighs as her eyes flit across the field. “We overuse that word, you know.Beautiful. Beauty. Full. I think lots of things are appealing or pleasing to the eye. But this spot is truly beautiful. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it. It’s just sountamed or something. Utterly peaceful. I can’t get enough. I don’t even want to leave.”
She’s trying to kill me.
I swallow, my throat suddenly extraordinarily dry as I come to stand beside her. I haven’t felt this smitten with a woman in, well, ever.
“You match this spot perfectly.”
She makes a small, deprecating laugh and peeks up at me. “Yeah?”
“Beautiful and untamed. It’s what I love about this place, too.” I look away, suddenly shy, and spread the blanket in front of us before taking a seat, staring up at the sky splashed with gold and coral and hot pink. Dark blue creeps in around the edges.
After a beat, Nadia takes a seat beside me. Her bottom lip trembles as her eyes find the sky, too. “But not peaceful. I don’t feel peaceful. I feel so untethered. Like I’m lacking direction or purpose or my own family. I have Stefan, but...he has everyone else. And now he even gets Hank. I still get that asshole as my dad. And I feel behind somehow. I see all these people my age knowing what they want out of life, and they go to school, and they do it and they get the job, and their life just carries on. And then there’s me, just sort of swimming in circles.”
I grunt and lean back on my palms. I know that feeling well. “Didn’t you get into vet school?”
Her responding smile is tentative. “Yeah.”
“Then get in there and crush it.”
“I don’t know if I can. Maybe I should just use my inheritance to start up a rescue. For retired racehorses like Cowboy. I think I’d like that.”
I quirk an eyebrow at her. “You can do both.”
Her nose wrinkles, like she knows she has the money but finds it unsavory. Can’t say that I blame her really.
“I don’t know if I’m up to it.”
“You are.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, Wildflower. Just like that. It’s almost like that asshole who raised you made you think you aren’t worthy of more than whatever shit he left you with. But you’ll show him. I know you will.”
Our eyes meet and something passes between us...a feeling, a look. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s heavy enough that it forces me to drop her gaze, staring at her manicured fingers instead.
“Did you always know you wanted to be a football player? American football player, that is.” When I peek up, she winks. Really gets a kick out of that.
“Shit no. My path is a real curvy one, Wildflower. Truth be told, as a younger child, I always figured I’d want to be doing what I’m doing right now. Living a simple life. Working with horses, just like my grandad.”
She lies back on the blanket, folding her hands beneath her cheek as she turns those big, brown eyes on me. “Tell me about it.”
“My parents aren’t horse people. I’m not sure if you picked up on that with the fancy coffees and golf obsession.”
She laughs, and it’s light and airy. And fucking music to my ears.
