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“Nothing to say?” I asked, closing in on her with ease. Up close, I could see the little freckles that dotted across her face, could see the way her lips parted and came back together, the light smattering of lipstick on them. Most intoxicating though, were those stark blue eyes. “Perhaps I should tell the bride and groom that they’ve got an unexpected, uninvited guest.”
“Please don’t,” she breathed.
“Then tell me why you’re here.” I pressed my hand against the wall above her head, leaning over her to assert myself. Lifting my glass to my lips, I sipped at the wine. “Are you from Oahu?”
She shook her head. “No. Colorado.”
My brows shot up. “Colorado, hmm? What a coincidence,” I taunted her. “We’re all from Boulder. Though I assume you’d know that as an invited guest.”
The breath she released was audible as I leaned in just a little bit closer. “Yeah. I definitely knew that,” she muttered. I couldn’t tell if her reactions were that of a terrified woman or that of a woman who couldn’t decide between feigning fear or lust. Based purely on my experience and the way her lower lip slid between her teeth, I went with the former.
“How… how do you know the bride and groom?” she asked, her gaze flicking between my eyes and my lips.
Definitely lust.
“I met them at the groom’s sister's wedding,” I explained. I set my glass on the top of the wall just above her head, wanting my other hand free to deal with whatever this was going to result in. If I had any say in it… “And then the bride crashed her car in front of my house and I was the one to call emergency services.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. I took a leap of faith and dragged one knuckle along the front of it, watching as her entire body broke out in goosebumps. “That sounds like an interesting way to get to know someone.”
“It absolutely was,” I smirked.
A silver chain hung limply around her neck, the weight of the pendant pulling it down low. I let my fingers graze across it, the little horseshoe charm feeling heavy in my grasp.
“How do you know the bride and groom, beautiful little stranger?”
Her gaze twitched between my own. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she breathed.
A challenge. I was a goddamn sucker for a mystery. “Tell me and maybe we can do a little more than talk,” I teased, flipping the little pendant between my fingers. My knuckles grazed her collarbone with every little movement.
She huffed out a light, little laugh. “I don’t even know your name.”
“My apologies.” I leaned in a little closer, bringing my lips almost flush with her ear. “My name is Hunter. Hunter Harris.”
She stilled.
“And yours?” I asked, my pinky hooking into the open space of the horseshoe charm.
Hands pressed firmly against my chest, pushing me back an inch. Her olive skin had paled, her wide eyes suddenly looking far more horrified than turned on. “You’re… oh my God. You’re a beast.”
What?
Her hands pushed harder, managing to put real distance between us. I heard a faint snap as she slid out of the space she’d created between me and the wall, her body moving faster than I could keep track of, the haze of alcohol blurring the last few seconds.
By the time I found her again, she was halfway across the garden, launching herself over a short hedge as she looked back in pure terror. That flash of black hair was gone again in an instant as she finally found the stairs she’d been looking for. Then, as quickly as she’d appeared, she was gone.
I felt a slight weight in my hand. Looking down, I realized what the snap had been—her necklace with the horseshoe charm hung loosely from my pinky finger.
She’d reacted in fear and ran when I said my name. Why? Does she know who I am? I stared at the tiny horseshoe charm, my mind moving far too sluggishly. I didn’t understand. But goddammit, I was going to.
I wanted to know who she was. I wanted to take her.
And I always get what I want.
Chapter 2
Lottie
Water sloshed against my overalls as I stepped over the wooden threshold into the stable, my arms screaming at me to put the damn bucket down. Just a few more feet, I told myself, tightening my iron grip on the handles as I made it the last little bit of the way and set it down in front of Marianne.
