Page 3 of Grid Search

“I’m Lyn.” I can’t stop the smile.

“You new around here?”

“Yep.”

I turn to look around me at the dance floor. I practiced line dances with Grammy in our apartment. I so wanted to come to a bar and dance, but I never had the courage. Cherise always said only trashy people went to bars.

I sit there and nurse my beer, trying to get the courage to dance.

Men walk up to me and ask me to dance, but I decline. None of them attracting me. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I see it. I wanted to come in here and find out if everything I’ve heard about how sex should be is real. Sayler and I had sex only once, and it was awkward, painful, and traumatic. I tried to get him to stop. It’s why I never slept with him again in all the years we were together. I came up with excuses and pushed him away. Grammy said it was rape, but he was my husband. You can’t rape a spouse, right?

Part of me wants to have a one-night stand. I know I shouldn’t, but I need to feel. I need to know there is more out there than what I’ve seen or learned from my past.

As I look around the room, a shiver races up my body. I can feel someone watching me. I don’t know who, but I can feel it. My eyes finally settle on a man. His stare bores into me. I can’t stop looking at him. He has dark hair that almost looks black in the dimness of the bar, but as the lights flash around, I can see it’s a deep brown. We continue to stare each other down as the waitress moves toward him. She leans down, putting her breasts in his face. Jealousy hits me like a smack to the forehead. I’ve never felt like this before. I want to grab her by the hair and slam her face into the table. I want to tell her to leave him alone, he’s mine. Not even when I found out Sayler was cheating did I feeljealous. This is a new feeling, and it makes me uncomfortable. My skin actually crawls.

I turn away as they talk, knowing she’s more his type than me. She’s beautiful and sexy, while I’m petite and just pretty. Sayler used to tell me I was like the girl next door. His mother always said I had good bone structure, but that was all. My father used to say I was beautiful, but he was supposed to say that. Wasn’t he? My grammy said I was classically beautiful, with my cherub face and wide eyes. But again, she had to say that too. I don’t see what they saw. My lips are too full for my face. They look like I use lip enhancers when it’s all natural. My eyebrows are dark, making it look like I lighten my hair, which I don’t. I’m a contradiction.

Ryker

As the waitress continues to push her fake breasts in my face, I lose eye contact with the sweet little morsel sitting at the bar. She’s like a little lamb that’s ventured into the wolf’s den. I notice all the guys checking her out, but I’ll be the one taking her home tonight. I know it down deep in my bones. The moment I saw her walk in, I knew. I’m the only wolf for this little lamb.

I watch as one of the wolves walks up to her. She denies him, and he walks away. Oh, yes, she already knows.

“Hey,” I holler at the waitress as she starts to walk away. “Take a glass of the rosé to her.” I point to the girl. By the cringe on her face every time she takes a sip, I can tell beer isn’t what she likes. Plus, she’s been nursing it for so long it’s warm now.

The waitress walks off and puts in the order at the bar. Gus looks over at me and nods. I continue to watch as he walks to the back and returns with a bottle. All the bars and restaurants don’t exclusively sell my family’s wines, but they have them on stock. He pours her a glass and walks over to her. She refuses it at first, but then he points to me. She turns and follows his line of sight. Without missing a beat, the little vixen takes the glass and tentatively swallows while she watches me. My cock presses into my zipper, and I’m sold.

She pulls back from the glass in shock. She looks at it before taking another sip, then another. Smiling at me, she raises the empty glass in a silent toast before setting it down. For a brief second, I think she’s heading toward me, but instead, she moves toward the dance floor.

All of the women file onto the dance floor for a line dance, even some of the waitresses. All of us guys hang back and watch as a Gretchen Wilson song plays, but I only have eyes for the beauty in the dress. Her hips swing, and that dress dances along her thighs, making me want to flip it up to see if she’s wearing a thong or sexy panties.

Her cowboy boots match her dress, and I can’t stop the chuckle because she reminds me of Rowdy’s girl with her boots. Looks like I found myself a country girl too. She stomps her foot and bends, shaking her ass, and I’m out of my chair.

“Later, boys. I have a date with legs and sexy lips.” I throw some bills on the table and make my way to the dance floor.

As the song ends, she looks over to where I was sitting. Her face falls with disappointment when she finds my seat empty. But then, her expression shifts to surprise when she turns and finds me waiting for her.

“Okay, vixen, let’s go.”

“Sorry, I don’t just leave with strangers.”

“I’m taking you to dinner so I can get to know you, and all of these other fuckers will stop imagining what’s on under that dress.” I reach for her hand and engulf it in mine, noticing how delicate it is against my calloused skin. She’s a tiny thing, even with the heels on her boots. My six-foot-two frame dwarfs her small size. I wrap an arm around her and toss some bills on the bar to cover her drinks.

“Be good,” Gus calls out as we continue past. “That little butterfly is sweet.”

I look down and notice why he called her butterfly. Crawling up the back of her neck and below her ear are a couple of butterfly tattoos.

“She’s safe with me.” I look back at him.

“I don’t know you,” she says softly, and I stop and turn her to face me.

“I’m Ryker?—”

She places her fingers against my lips, and I can’t stop myself from puckering my mouth to kiss them. This little vixen is a sweet morsal I’m going to eat up.

“Can we just keep it at our first names, please? I’m Lyn.” Her voice is soft and sweet, with a bit of a twang. I lean down to hear her, and her sexy, full lips are right there, so close. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Only if I can have a kiss first.” God, I need those lips against mine. I want her body under me, but I’ll take whatever I can get right now.

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