Anger flashes on his face, and then he strikes out, hitting me. His fist collides with my face and I stumble back, hair covering my eyes. I don’t see him move, but suddenly Aiden is there in front of me.
He throws two punches of his own, hitting the guy square in the temple before shoving him to the ground. “Touch her again, and I’ll wrap you up in barbed wire and leave you in a stall,” he growls, and he kicks the guy in the ribs. The man lets out a grunt and curls into the fetal position.
I’m already getting the keys from my pocket. I take the first aid kit Aiden dropped and toss it into the bed of the truck. The guy pulls his phone from his pocket and Aiden kicks it out of his hands. He steps over the guy and throws open the door of his running car, cuts the ignition, and throws the keys down the gravel driveway. It only takes a second to realize he did that so we couldn’t be followed.
“Let’s go,” Aiden says. I’m still standing there, holding the keys and watching with wide eyes. My heart is thumping in my throat. I blink and race around the truck. My hands shake as I start the engine. I go as fast as I can away from the barn, my eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.
“He won’t catch up,” Aiden says. “Are you all right?” He twists in his seat. “He fucking hit you.”
I just nod, emotions surging through me. “And you…you…defended me and the horse. Thank you.”
He holds his hand out, looking at his knuckles. Then he hunches over, coughing. “Fuck,” he says as he leans back. “And you don’t have to thank me, Haley. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever. You’re so good, so kind. There aren’t enough people like you in the world. I want to protect you.”
Words escape me. Tears fill my eyes yet again, but not from being sad. “Aiden,” I say. My mouth opens, but I don’t know what else to say.
He rests against the seat and puts his hand on my lap. “Haley.”
I turn my head and smile at him. Then I see the headlights quickly approaching behind us.
Chapter 18
“There’s a shotgun in the back,” she blurts.
“What?” I say, still not used to Americans and their guns.
“Under the seat. It’s loaded. If we need it, it’s there.”
I nod and look in the side mirror. Whoever is coming up behind us is going fast. It can’t possibly be that wanker, but if it is, let him try to stop us. I’ll hit him again and knock him out cold this time. He deserves all that and more.
The car zooms up then passes us. I let out a breath of relief. “We’re good,” I say. The adrenaline starts to wear off, and I’m feeling tired and sore. My chest hurts and a hot shower and a cup of tea sound good right now. I roll my neck and blink a few times, trying to stay awake and alert.
“What are you going to do with the horse?” I ask.
“Clean him up the best we can, give him something for pain, and a little bit of hay. The vet will be out tomorrow to examine him further.”
“I’ve never seen anything so horrible.”
“He’s not even the worst,” she says. “People are cruel. People are animals’ greatest enemies.”
“But people like you are their heroes.”
“I guess so,” she says softly, and I can tell this is emotional for her. I slide my hand onto her leg again. I close my eyes, seeing the torn flesh, the bloody fur, and the infected wounds. She was right. People are cruel.
My eyes flutter open and closed the rest of the way back to her house. I’m tired, and each breath hurts.
“Aiden,” she says softly when she parks the truck and trailer near her barn.
I inhale and turn to her. “Yeah?”
“Go upstairs and go to bed. I might be out here for a while.”
“I’ll help you.”
“Really, I won’t let you. You’ve done enough and you’re sick. I’m demanding that you sleep.” She smiles and opens the truck door. The dome lights turn on, and I can see a slight bruise on her cheek. I should have knocked that motherfucker out sooner.
“I won’t be able to sleep,” I say honestly. “I have really bad insomnia, so I’ll just lie awake for hours. I might as well help you.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. I’ve learned to deal with it.” I unbuckle. “How can I help?”
“Honestly, Aurelia needs some one-on-one time.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You’re just making me do that because it’s easy.”
“Maybe. But she really does.” She smiles and gets out of the truck. I meet her at the back of the horse trailer. She waits for Judy and Alexis to open the door and bring the horse inside. She gives Judy a look that says it alclass="underline" they’re not sure what to expect when they open the trailer door.
Haley swallows hard then unlocks the door. She lifts up the latch and hesitates before swinging the large door open. The large horse is leaning against the trailer wall, holding up his injured leg. Haley goes in the trailer and tries to get the horse to back out. He doesn’t move. She takes his head in both of her hands and kisses his fur.
“Come on out, big guy. I have a comfy stall for you to sleep in tonight.”
She’s so gentle, so patient, and so kind. After a few minutes of trying, the horse limps out of the trailer and is in the stall at the end, next to Phoenix. The other horses whinny and show more curiosity than I thought they could. I never realized how aware horses are of, well, everything. Haley pulls a horse blanket off a rack, shakes out the dust, and sets it in Aurelia’s stall.
“Go snuggle with my baby,” she says with a half smile. “Please?”
“Of course,” I say, and I’m compelled to kiss her. “Can I help you with anything before?”
She’s about to say no, but I flash her a look that says not to bullshit me. “You can fill a hay bag.”
“Hay bag?”
“Yeah.” She crosses the barn and goes into a room I think she’s called the tack room before. “This,” she says as she holds up a large canvas bag. “It makes it so the horses eat slowly. The new guy was starved, so his food intake has to be slowly introduced. He can have a bit of hay tonight and then a diet will be worked out with the vet tomorrow.”
“I can do that.” I say, taking the bag from her. “Then what do you do?”
“Clean the wounds the best I can. He’s got so many, and his fur is so ragged and long. I think he has Cushings, actually.”
“Cushings?”
“It’s a thyroid—never mind. It’s a disease that can be treated with medication, and it makes a horse not shed.”
“Oh,” I say, remembering what she said about special needs horses being tough to place. “I think he’s in good hands now.”
“Thanks,” she tells me, and she goes into the horse’s stall. That girl—Alexis, I think—is in there, ready to help Haley clean the wounds. I open the bag and start stuffing hay inside.
“Is that really Aiden Shepherd from the Batman movies?” Alexis asks Haley, her voice a loud whisper.
Haley flicks her eyes in my direction, smiling. “Yes,” she says proudly. “He is.” I know she’s not proud of my acting, proud in a way that was really bragging about being with me. She was proud of me, the real me, and it’s been years since anyone looked at me that way. I stuff more hay in the bag then tighten the strings.
Watching Haley tonight makes me want to say those three words I wanted to say after we had sex. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I’ve had more girlfriends in the last few years than I’ve had in my whole life before being famous, and I never told anyone of them I loved them, because I never fell in love with any of them. Not even Kennedy, and we were together for over half a year. I’ve only known Haley for a little over a month and I’ve already fallen for her. What. The. Fuck.