Page 11 of Her Guarded Hero

“Sure.” He gave himself a mental shake. He tried to force himself not to think of Reagan, he couldn’t. Dalton jolted when Aurora’s warm fingers touched his hand then she laced her fingers with his. He didn’t look at her, instead he just soaked in the comfort that the soft contact provided.

Dalton appreciated how Aurora allowed him to continue walking in silence. Her presence, along with the beauty of the land finally soothed him to the point that he was able to resume their conversation.

“Did your grandmother ever go back to Berkley, or did they finally become a couple?”

“Oh, they both wanted the same thing. She might have thought she wanted a fling, but really, she wanted the whole nine yards. She came from a big loving family, and she admits now that deep down that was what she really wanted, despite being in the midst of the sexual revolution.”

It should only take ten more minutes to get to the top of the hill, and he realized he wanted to hear how Gunnar convinced Mae to marry him.

“So, there were over-protective brothers, a hormonal young woman, and a man who was intent on marriage, what happened next?”

“All Granddad ever says is that Grandma Mae led him merry chase for six months before he was able to convince her to be his wife. But Grandma spilled the beans when I was sixteen.” Aurora smiled and let out a wistful sigh.

He gave her hand a squeeze.

“She showed him the land, then he took her out onto the lake. Even though she’d spent her life living near Lake Tahoe, she’d never spent time on the water. She said that seeing that side of her man made her fall deeply in love. All thoughts of a summer dalliance went out the window.”

Dalton chuckled. “She actually said dalliance?”

Aurora flashed dimples at him. “Yep, she used that exact word. Granddad had food and champagne on the sailboat.”

“Good man.”

“They sailed on the water for hours. Grandma said she took a nap, and she had a dream of the future with her Viking. Her mother, my great-grandmother, had told her that when that happened it meant that their souls were destined to be forever linked.”

“Then they had sex and got married?”

“My God, you really aren’t a romantic at all, are you.”

Dalton was relieved to hear amusement in Aurora’s voice, because as soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized how bitter they sounded.

“I am for other people.”

“Well then you will be happy to hear that this couple fell in love.” She swung their arms and laughed up at him. “Plus, according to Grandma Mae, the sex was incredible.”

Dalton shouted with laughter. “Your grandmother didn’t really tell you that.”

“Oh yes she did. That was her way of telling me to wait to find the right guy.”

“And did you?”

Shit, did he really ask that question?

“I’m twenty-four, I kind of got tired of waiting for my Viking, so I ended up kissing a frog.” She swung their arms out. Then she peered at him sideways. “So, did your heart get broken once, or have you always known that the ‘L’ word wasn’t for you?”

When he didn’t answer, she swung their arms again, and she asked another question. “You can always say, “it’s none of my business.”

“How about we say, it’s complicated.”

They walked a little further. “In that case, you should stick with dalliances,” she nodded sagely.

He barked out a laugh. “I like you Aurora Chance.”

The sad part was she was right. That’s what his life had turned into, yearly dalliances, with nothing but the same lurking in the future. It seemed grim.

She tugged at his hand. He realized he was holding it too tightly and released it. He braced them both on the incline and pulled out his phone. He had a slight signal. He dialed nine-one-one. It didn’t go through.

“Nothing?”