She nodded automatically. Too quickly.
“I’m fine,” she lied. Wren closed her trembling hands into fists, tucking them behind her back. Her chest was tight and all of a sudden, this tent felt too small, too crowded.
Grayson’s brow furrowed. “You don’t look fine.”
Shit. She needed to pull herself together—and fast—because Lark wouldn’t freeze, and she sure as shit wouldn’t act so frightened.
Lark would have laughed in the guy’s face, twisted his arm, made a joke at his expense, and sent his sorry ass packing.
Wren swallowed hard, forcing herself to move, to be like Lark.
“He just…caught me off guard.”
Grayson didn’t look convinced.
“Are you sure? Because I recall Nora saying she was going to make you a bouncer after some incident at the winery,” he said, a faint smile tugging at his mouth. “She said the guy hadn’t stood a chance against you.”
Relief flickered, and suddenly, Wren was grateful that her sister never stopped talking. Because Lark had shared that story with her, and while Wren suspected the details had been embellished, that only helped her cause now. She could relay it exactly the way Lark had, with all of her sister’s bravado. “Yeah, well, that was a different situation. I knew that guy. Went to school with him. He’s a total idiot but not dangerous. Honest, Grayson, this one just snuck up on me. Everyone’s been so cool today, I guess I wasn’t expecting anyone to be a shithead.”
Grayson studied her for a long moment. Too long. Then he nodded. “Trust me, anywhere alcohol flows freely is a breeding ground for shitheads.”
She laughed, though it was a weak one at best.
“You don’t have to handle the assholes alone, Lark. Bouncer or not, you could have called me for help.”
“Next time, I will,” she promised.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Something in his tone—steady, certain, compassionate—broke through the last of her composure. Before she could think through her actions, Wren stepped closer, leaning into him, as his hands instinctively rose to embrace her.
The contact should have sent her spiraling, should have made her recoil—but it didn’t.
Not even when his arms came around her without hesitation, firm and grounding, one of his large palms settling on her lower back.
“You’re okay,” he murmured.
And for the first time since that man had grabbed her, she believed it.
That realization shook her harder than she expected.
She felt safe.
With Grayson.
It seemed impossible.
And very much NOT a part of the plan.
Grayson had to lock his knees to hold himself steady, though he wasn’t sure it was going to be enough. His entire fucking world had just tilted sideways, nearly knocking him on his ass.
He’d hugged people before. Friends. Family. Employees celebrating milestones. It wasn’t a foreign concept.
But this…
This was different.
The instant Lark leaned into him, the world narrowed until there was nothing beyond the woman in his arms.
