Page 82 of Shielded Hearts

The ladies shared her laughter as they flipped to the next page.

He felt Aspen go still before he turned his head and looked at her.

“Oh my,” she said quietly.

Willow, Layne and Shiloh all turned to him, big smiles on their faces.

What were they looking at? That photographer probably snapped a picture of he and Aspen arguing. Lord knew they’d done it enough during the reception.

When Aspen swung her gaze to his, he saw she was rattled.

“Let me see.” He shifted to the edge of the sofa and set aside his drink to take the leather album that Aspen held out to him.

He skimmed a few other photos on the pages before landing on the one that had the ladies shooting him sly smiles.

It wasn’t Faye tripping to get to the bouquet.

He and Aspen were dancing. She was in the wreath of his arms, and though he knew for a fact they’d been arguing at the time, the way he was looking at her made it obvious that he was attracted to her.

He handed the book back to her. “You’re gorgeous, princess. I could see it even then.”

Her eyes softened, melting at his, and a tender smile played around the corners of her plump lips.

Aspen directed her attention to Shiloh. “I’m really sorry to crash all these photos. Everyone kept urging me to get in.”

“That’s because the way Colt was looking at you made everyone believe you were with him. And it’s totally great that you’re in the photos.”

“I wasn’t there to crash your event.”

Oaks cleared his throat. “Speaking of events. Are we going to talk about what happened to you guys while we were on our honeymoon?”

Colt knocked back the rest of his whiskey, hoping the burn would wipe out some of the memories. He had plenty of memories from battle that he never wanted to revisit, but itwould take a long time before he stopped having nightmares of almost losing Aspen.

Waking in a sweat, heart racing, to find her sleeping calmly beside him helped. A lot. In time, he knew the nightmares would fade and he’d be able to put it all behind him.

“The window’s getting replaced in the Tahoe cabin tomorrow.”

Oaks arched a brow. “I figured you and I’d go out and do the work ourselves.”

He waved a hand. “What good is it having money if we can’t use it to make life easier? I didn’t figure you wanted to leave your new wife, and I don’t want to travel so soon after all that happened either.”

“Home sweet home.” Oaks threw him a knowing smile.

“Speaking of home. Aspen and I are going to take over the guestroom. Redecorate.”

Willow grinned from ear to ear. “It was always your room anyway, Colt. You and Aspen should make it comfortable for yourselves.”

They’d discussed staying at the ranch for a little while. She could run her business from anywhere in the world, and neither of them were ready to be parted. Not after they just found each other.

After the shift in topics, the mood in the room lightened. Aspen pushed from her kneeling position and moved in front of him, hand out.

Without a care what any member of his family thought, he slipped his hand into hers. “Well, guys, it’s been nice.”

Carson and Oaks flashed knowing smiles. In the corner, on the far edge of the group, Gray sat nursing his drink. He hadn’t offered much to the conversation. In fact, he was silent andsullen—probably similar to how Colt had been when he first left the military.

Gray didn’t know what to do with himself after his recent decision to exit the only life he knew. All of the brothers in this room could identify. Gray would be all right in time. Later on, Colt would make it a point to get him alone and give him the ear he probably needed.

Aspen gave his hand a little tug, and he offered her a heated look, allowing her to lead him out of the living room.

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