3. Lyra
three
Lyra
My hands shake as I pour the first glass of wine and hand it to the woman on my left, my smile tight. How am I supposed to focus on the wine tasting when my sexy Huntsman is watching me?
Owen. The name suits my Huntsman.
He’s been on my mind since I left the river. I never imagined I’d see him again so soon—not that I’m complaining. But what is he doing at a singles event? Smiling at the guests, I try to catch a glimpse of Owen out of the corner of my eye, his intense gaze drilling a hole through me.
Ignoring his stare, I finish pouring and passing out the glasses of wine, explaining to the singles and stumbling over my words only a few times.
“Any questions?” I patiently answer each one until there aren’t any more.
“All right, if there aren’t any more questions, I’ll have you move to the patio to mingle.
” With a sigh of relief, I begin to clean up my space as the guests move away from the table—all but Owen.
Owen doesn’t move. He keeps sitting there, watching my every move.
“Did you have a question?" I wipe the spot on the table in front of Owen, trying to act casual even though my heart is racing.
“Yeah, go out with me.”
My hand freezes mid-wipe. “You want to go out with me? Aren’t you here to make a match?”
“I am.” He takes my hand in his. “I already found my match by the river today.” He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses the top of it before linking our fingers.
“You certainly know what to say to a girl.” I try to pull my hand free from his grasp, but he holds on. “I’m not dressed for a date.” I glance down at my burgundy button-up shirt with the winery logo on the left chest and my black slim pencil skirt that hugs my curves—hardly date-appropriate.
“You look beautiful.” His compliment goes straight to my heart.
“Fine.” I give in. “But I’m driving.”
***
“So, what do you think?” I open the door into the bar and lead him inside. There’s a band playing tonight, so it’s a little crowded. “It’s one of my favorite hangouts.” When I have time to hangout, I add to myself.
“Are we going to run into an ex-boyfriend?” He teases. “Do I need to watch my back?”
“Nope.” I pop the p. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Good.” He wraps his arms around my waist and hauls me to the dance floor.
“Dance with me, Lyra.” Our bodies sway to the music—it’s a fast song, but you wouldn’t know it from how close and slow we’re dancing.
He places his hand under my chin and raises my head to meet his eyes, lowering his mouth toward mine. “Can I kiss you?”
“Yes,” I whisper against his lips.
His mouth crashes down on mine, and instead of the skilled kisser I expected from such a smooth talker, the kiss is a little awkward at first, like we’re both trying to figure it out.
Which I understand—it would feel that way on my end—this is my first kiss ever, but Owen said he was thirty-three, ten years older than me.
There is no way he’s never kissed anyone before.
The kiss lasts at least a song, though I’m not sure because I lost track of time the moment our lips touched.
When we finally break apart, it’s a slow one, no longer the fast song we started with.
“Sorry.” He rubs his thumb across my bottom lip.
“I didn’t mean to attack you like that in public, but I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I found you sunning yourself on my property, Snow. ”
Here he goes with that nickname again. “You know I have a name, right? It’s Lyra. Dopey.” I intentionally call him by one of the dwarves’ names, not the Huntsman.
“I know, but you will always be Snow to me.” He lowers his head, his eyes fixed on my lips.
“Hold up, Loverboy.” I place my hands on his chest, halting his advance.
“I’m not going to get on Aspen’s bad side for stealing one of her grooms. It would definitely be bad for business.
” I probably should have thought of that before leaving the winery with Owen, but oh well, what’s done is done.
But I can stop any further progress as much as my lady parts are screaming for me not to stop him from kissing me.
“Aspen?” He looks at me like I’m a little crazy, which I think I am by letting a guy I barely know give me my first kiss.
“Aspen. The owner of Forever Yours Mail Order Bride company.” When he looks confused, I add, “The singles wine-tasting event she hosted tonight. She’ll be pissed if one of her grooms ran away with someone other than another single from the event.
” The winery already has a bad reputation because Lana stole a groom.
The last thing I want is to piss Aspen off, especially since she partners with the bakery, bridal shop, flower shop, and every other business in town that we can’t afford to lose. Not that Aspen would get mad—she’s a sweetheart, but it can’t be good for business.
As if it suddenly dawns on him who she is, he smiles brightly.
“If it’s any consolation, Aspen wasn’t too happy when I signed up.
She said it threw off her even numbers. When I told her you were the one I was interested in, she gave in and let me sign up.
But she gave me shit when I didn’t know your name and had to refer to you as one of the twins. ”
“That’s so Aspen.” I roll my eyes—it’s not the first time I’ve been referred to as that.
“I don’t want to talk about Aspen.” He lowers his head again, only this time I don’t stop him.
“What do you want to talk about?” I bite his lower lip, not hard enough to cause any serious damage but hard enough to make him groan.
“About how I can get you to go home with me tonight.” The possessive desire in his eyes has me almost saying yes and agreeing to go home with him. Then my common sense kicks in.
“Not tonight.” I kiss the corner of his mouth, teasing him with my tongue. “Tonight, we dance. Tomorrow, you help me stomp grapes, and then we’ll see.”
“Fine. But once you’re finally mine, I’m never letting you go.” He growls against my mouth, then devours my lips, leaving me breathless, just as I imagined my book boyfriends doing. Only he’s better—he’s real.