Page 42 of If You Could Only Imagine
He gathered me tighter in his embrace. “You will be,” he replied, simply.
“How?” Just one word, because I knew he knew what I was asking.
Aiden kiss the top of my head and went back to running his fingertips over my skin. “I’ll admit, before Shane, I would have taken this connection for a crazy, strong attraction and nothing more.” My heart seized a little at his words. At the end of the day, every girl just wants a man who is crazy for her. That’s why we read fairytales, watch romantic comedies and daydream. I found myself actually worried that he was changing his mind regarding his feelings for me. “I wasn’t a big believer in love at first sight.” He let out a soft chuckle. “It sounds absolutely juvenile.”
“But…”
“I know you’ve heard the rumors, and there are all kinds of speculations about Mason’s mental health, and the truth? Heisa bit of a sociopath.” I was rather shocked that he was speaking so freely about his brother. “He doesn’t empathize very well and has no regard for other people’s feelings.”
I suddenly felt the need to defend Mason. “That’s not true,” I objected. “During my meeting with him, he was very…sympathetic to what was happening.”
Aiden gave me a small squeeze. “That’s because he already knew how I felt about you,” he explained. “The second you started to mean something to me, you started to mean something to him. Michael and Gabriel, too.”
I mulled that over and it sounded reasonable. “Okay, so you were saying…”
“The day Mason saw Shane at Blaineview, he called me the second she was out of sight and told me he just saw the girl he was going to marry. We were freshmen and his mind had already mapped out a plan on how the next four years would pan out and what their futures would be.”
“Wow.” This love story warranted a ‘wow’.
“Yeah, wow,” he acceded. “I’ll never forget it. I knew my brother, and I knew he didn’t suffer emotions like us normal folks. So, when he said that, I knew he was telling me the absolute truth as he saw it. He looked over, saw a girl standing across the walkway, made eye contact andfelt.”
“Attraction can be a powerf-”
“It wasn’t attraction,” he said, interrupting me. “Women have been throwing themselves at Mason since he got his first hard-on, and he’s been attracted to a few different women during his lifetime. He wasn’t attracted to Shane. He felt somethingemotionalwhen he looked at her, not sexual. If one look can make Mason Buchanan feel, then one look proves love at first sight.”
His words bounced around in my head and I wanted to believe in the phenomenon of love at first sight. Because if it was real, then these past couple of days would all be worth it. “The rumor is that he worships the ground she walks on,” I shared, the romantic girl in me hoping he confirms it.
He let out a deep blast of laughter. “Mason does more than worship the ground that girl walks on, Denise. Michael, Gabriel and I worship the ground she walks on,” he stated. “Mason…Mason’s every breath is taken merely for the sole purpose of her existence.” I could feel my eyes water at the emotion in Aiden’s voice. “Shane Buchanan has a soul so beautiful, she’s like a walking, talking masterpiece.”
I couldn’t argue with the man. I’ve only been around Shane a handful of times, but even as brief as those encounters had been, I could still see what a wonderful nature she possessed. Being around Shane was like being surrounded by peace.
I wondered if she was aware of her gift.
“And Mason…”
“Mason knows exactly what he has in his wife. He knows how special and…Shane’s like our home,” he went on. “That’s the best way I can describe what she means to us. Especially, Michael.” Aiden let out a low whistle. “Michael would murder someone in cold blood for Shane. Remember that if you ever have to discuss something about Shane with him.”
“She’s very lucky,” I muttered, suddenly feeling…a little bit less than.
“Well, she’s the reason I believe in love at first sight. And she’s the reason I know that’s what it was with you.” Aiden rolled over and positioned me beneath him, his elbows bracing all the weight of his upper body. “I look at my sister and see the purest soul I’ve ever seen. I look at her and know that I would take a bullet for her in a heartbeat.” He leaned down and gave my lips the softest kiss before pulling his head back to look into my eyes. “But all that pales in comparison to what I feel for you, Denise.”
I gasped. I wasn’t expecting those words. “Aiden…”
“I love you in a way that outshines whatever it is I feel for Shane or any of my brothers. It’s easy to lay my life on the line for any of them. I mean, if I die protecting one of them, well then, I’m just dead. They’d have to deal with the aftermath, but me? I’d be dead without a care in the world. But this thing with you…I risked my reputation, your reputation, the company’s reputation, Mason’s reputation, possible lawsuits, jail time…everything…just for a chance to fuckingchaseyou.” I could feel lone tears trail down the side of my face. “I’m willing to live in the aftermath of this clusterfuck if it means I get to be with you, Dibtab.”
I laughed through my quiet tears. “I can’t believe those boys saddled me with that ridiculous name.”
Aiden kissed the tip of my nose. “It suits you, babe.”
I brought my arms up and started running them over his hard, muscled chest. “So, we’re really going to do this?”
He smirked. “We’vebeendoing this,” he huffed. “You were just a little late getting on the ride.”
“So…Mason…” Even though Mason had been supportive and understanding, the man was still intimidating. And hearing Aiden confirm his psychopathic status, well that was rather…daunting.
His face softened. “Babe, you’re going to see a side of Mason that no one outside the family ever gets to see. And you’re going to absolutely love him once you get to know him.”
“An…and your…parents?” I hated to ask, but if we were really going to do this, I needed to know what I was going up against. And I already knew his father was a racist prick, but I had no clue to what Aiden’s mother was like.
