Free The Heart Of The Game by Pamela Aares

breath.
    It didn’t help.
    As if following some sort of cue, Zoe started down the aisle. She walked with a killer combination of athletic strength and floating grace. The tremble in the hands gripping a bouquet of flowers was barely noticeable. But it made him want to rush into the aisle, scoop her into his arms and carry her away somewhere. Anywhere.
    Scotty nudged him. “You’ve got it bad, my man.”
    He shifted and found Scotty staring at him. Whatever “it” was, Cody wished his emotions weren’t so damned easy to read. But pitchers and catchers spent long hours learning to read each other, sending signals beyond the obvious calls for pitches and strategies. Cody shrugged and watched as Zoe walked to the end of the aisle. And tried to pretend that the sway of her hips didn’t have him reliving one of his raciest dreams.
    When she reached the left of the archway, she turned to face the crowd. A gentle smile curved her mouth, a smile that reminded him of women in Renaissance paintings. A smile that hid as much as it conveyed. The bouquet in her hands still trembled. Only very slightly, but his heart did a little flip for her. He knew what it felt like to stand in front of lots of people and have emotions you couldn’t hide be on full display.
    She scanned the crowd, and for an instant her gaze found his. In that brief moment, he felt held. Captured. Hell, maybe even owned. It was a weird feeling, one he hadn’t expected and didn’t know how to classify or gauge. Her smile didn’t alter as she flicked her gaze to the aisle, and he shook off the odd sensation. The music swelled and the crowd turned their focus once again to the back of the courtyard. Reluctantly, Cody pivoted with them.
    Alex and Sabrina’s cousin, Alana, made her way down the aisle. Alana’s hands didn’t tremble; she had the bearing of a woman accustomed to attention, a woman comfortable surrounded by pomp and glamor. She nodded and smiled at guests as she passed by and winked at Zoe when she took her place beside her. Zoe’s lips turned up with a wavering smile, and Cody found himself wanting to know what she was feeling.
    “Kaz is gonna fall over if he doesn’t unlock his knees,” Scotty said with a grin. He nudged Cody again as he pivoted toward the back of the courtyard. “Here’s my girl.”
    Chloe walked the aisle with the same easy poise that Alana had. But her eyes were on Scotty. It was as if she didn’t see the crowd, as if he and she were the only two people in the courtyard. As if they shared a secret world that Cody couldn’t even imagine.
    A whisper went through the crowd. Cody recognized the next woman walking down the aisle from the movie he’d seen the previous week.
    Cameron Kelley wasn’t the box office draw that Sabrina was, but her beauty and excellent acting brought a similar power to the big screen. He’d thought the magic of Hollywood played a role in making Cameron appear ethereal, but now, observing her in the flesh, he saw that she really was as lovely as she appeared on screen. Still, his heart didn’t tick up a notch when she passed him and Scotty. None of the other women had the radiant glow that Zoe had, the sizzle that reached straight into him, stirring his emotions. Not one even came close.
    Sabrina appeared next, with a man Cody didn’t recognize. Lace and yards of some sort of filmy material and a long veil only enhanced Sabrina’s mysterious, dark beauty. The man held out his arm and Sabrina took it, smiled and then locked her eyes on Kaz.
    Cody turned to see Kaz’s reaction. A look washed over Kaz’s face that made Cody’s stomach lurch under his ribs. He turned back to Sabrina, but not before seeing that a tear made its way down Zoe’s cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, lowering her eyes to the flowers in her hands.
    Why people put themselves through such ritualized public torture, Cody didn’t know. But he could feel energy filling the room, like a stadium filling with