was the same towering height as his brother, and I liked that he wasn’t all skin and bones. He was manly, muscled. A pillar of strength like he could handle himself in a brawl.
Starting at his feet, big and long even in black dress shoes, my curious gaze eventually reconnected with his.
“What the hell are you Vallin men taking, some kind of growth serum?”
He laughed loud enough to call attention to us this time. I wasn’t intending for my comments to be funny, but I think I enjoyed making him laugh, especially after what he had done for my cousin. The love he had for his brother had forced him to swallow his ego and give up the woman he had chosen to marry.
I respected Arjen more for the selfless gesture he had made on that stage than for what his name stood for. He was willing to accept hurt and defeat for his family, an attribute I prayed he carried into our union, even though it was an arrangement.
“Understood,” he finally replied to my earlier statement about me not being number two in his life again. “And no, we’re not taking growth serum.”
He offered me a parting smile before he left to approach the stage and inform the pastor that we wouldn’t need his services today. His brother met him at the foot of the steps, giving him another long hug before whispering something in his ear.
Observing the brothers together reminded me of me and Desiree, who was approaching me with a wide smile and teary eyes. We embraced for a long moment, her tears wetting my shoulder before she backed away.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sobbing. “I know you were supposed to marry Khane. I didn’t know things would turn out like this.”
Shaking my head and fighting back emotions of my own, I cupped her cheek and swiped a tear away with my thumb.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. He makes you happy, and that’s all that matters. I’m happy for you.”
She slung her arms around me, knocking my breath away.
“You’re choking me,” I edged out, laughing playfully. “Besides, Arjen just half-assed proposed to me.”
She stepped back from our embrace to get a look at my face. Her lips parted in surprise as she prepared to respond to my revelation.
“What? Are you serious? Did you say yes?” she asked.
“Of course, I said yes. I’m nothing if not an opportunist.”
“I’m happy for you. For some odd reason, I think you two are better for each other anyway.”
My lips pinched at her statement before I tossed her a sarcastic glance and aimed a quick eye and a chin lift towards the brothers.
“Today is not about me. It’s about you getting the wedding you wanted. I can tell that Khane makes you happy, but if he ever gets out of line or you need to get away, call me. Don’t go running off like you did the last time. You had my ass all up in Mexico, hiding in the fucking woods, playing sniper. But the Vallin men were on point. They handled their shit.”
She froze and stared like I was a ghost, mouth wide, eyes even wider. Speechless, her lips quivered as she fought back more tears and searched for the words lost in her bobbing throat.
I winked. “You didn’t think I would sit around and not find out what the hell was happening with my favorite cousin, did you?”
No words, just her plowing into me again, squeezing me in another tight hug and releasing that I-love-you-forever crying. Her body started hiccupping against mine. Desiree easily released her emotions, where I often dug a hole and buried mine—except with her. After a moment of shared affections, I stepped back.
“Okay. Enough of that. Go and be with your husband.”
“Thank you, Mecca. I love you,” she choked out.
“Love you too,” I whispered back, fighting the lump clogging my throat. Desiree was the only one who could get me all in my feelings and shit. Although she was a few months older than me, I acted like her big sister.
Arjen was heading back in my direction, and Lord make me a liar, I couldn’t deny that the man was sexy. He had swagger, the kind that drew a woman’s attention and kept it.
The tempting image he projected had me unable to stop myself from skimming his low-cut dark blond hair, before I took in his handsomely stubbled face, and glean his chiseled jawline. His eyes sparkled with hints of his devious nature and