Page 44 of Deserving Lara
She leaned in and kissed Owl.
It was a brief kiss, no more than two pairs of lips meeting. And as soon as it was over, Lara second-guessed herself. She pulled back and looked into his eyes, not sure what she’d see.
Emotion swirled in Owl’s gaze, and the hand at the small of her back pressed against her for a moment. What was he thinking? She had no idea. But she took comfort in the fact that he didn’t look appalled. Or disgusted. In fact, he looked…awed. Which in turn made Lara relax.
She hadn’t messed up by kissing him. Thank goodness.
“I’m so happy!” Cora exclaimed from next to them.
Lara turned her attention away from Owl and turned toward her best friend. Owl stepped back, and then Cora was throwing herself at Lara.
Laughing, Lara caught her, and they swayed back and forth as they hugged.
“Look!” Cora ordered as she held her hand in front of her best friend’s face.
Lara chuckled again, catching hold of Cora’s hand and holding it still. Pipe had wanted to surprise her with the ring and hadn’t let her know anything about it until he’d put it on her finger.
It was classy and beautiful, and so totally perfect for Cora, Lara felt all melty inside again. The band was platinum with an inset emerald-cut diamond, with two princess-cut diamonds flanking it.
“I love it so much!” Cora exclaimed happily.
“It’s perfect,” Lara agreed.
Cora hugged her friend again, before turning back to her new husband.
Lara felt Owl’s hand return to her back. “We’ll go on and head to the lodge,” he told the couple.
“Cool. We’ll be up in a bit,” Pipe said, not looking away from Cora.
Lara smiled. She had a feeling it would be more than “a bit,” and as soon as she and Owl left, Cora would be gettin’ some from her new husband.
She was so happy for Cora, she could hardly contain herself.
“Wait! Before we go, we need a picture!” Lara exclaimed, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She’d had to buy a new one when she’d gotten to The Refuge, because she had no idea where hers had gone.
She couldn’t help but smile as she clicked a picture of Cora and Pipe. They looked perfect together, and their happiness couldn’t be contained.
Then Pipe insisted on taking a picture of her and Cora. Then Cora wanted one of Lara and Owl. Then they had to do a selfie of the four of them…
By the time Lara and Owl headed down the stairs from the deck, it was fully dark.
“Don’t make me send Jasna to come find you two,” Owl called out after he’d gone inside and grabbed their coats, meeting her at the foot of the deck stairs.
“Don’t you dare!” Pipe yelled from above. “Wouldn’t want to scar her for life.”
Everyone laughed. Lara had a feeling her best friend would forget about everyone else in a heartbeat. And she couldn’t blame her. If she’d just gotten married to the man of her dreams, and was alone on a romantic deck with fairy lights and the stars blooming overhead, she wouldn’t be thinking about anything other than getting him naked.
Her gaze swung to Owl without thought. He looked so handsome, and the happiness that oozed from him after being part of their friends’ ceremony was clear to see.
For once, Lara wasn’t hyper-aware of her surroundings. She wasn’t afraid of the darkness lurking beyond the trees. Wasn’t thinking about anyone out there hunting her. All she could think about was the brief feel of Owl’s lips against hers, and what, if anything, it meant for the two of them.
Halfway to the lodge, Owl tugged on her hand, stopping Lara in her tracks. It was almost too dark to see now, but she felt safe with this man at her side.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with a small frown.
But Owl didn’t answer. He tugged on her hand once more, harder, and Lara fell against him with a smalloof. Since they were the same height, she didn’t have to crane her neck to look at him.
“Owl?” she said.
