81

Nerthus

I would walk to wherever you want me to.

… embers

“Huh?” My eloquent question, as I get dragged out of my train of thought, gets me a nice smile from Owen.

“I was asking if you wanted a glass of champagne or if you preferred a rosé.”

As if only reawakening from my trance, I notice only now that a waiter is smiling at me uncomfortably. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’d love the rosé.”

“Lovely,” Owens murmurs before he grabs my glass for me, thanking the bouquet waiter.

“Everything alright, Aria?” He asks, causing me to nod repeatedly.

“Sure,” I answer, putting my hand on his arm. “I am sorry. I had quite a bad shift today. I knew I should have taken a day off for this evening.”

Today’s shift at the café has been exhausting for real, but not because it was particularly hectic. Not even the morning rush of customers was able to keep my mind off my night with Arawn and what he had said to me.

First, I was convinced that I must have hallucinated because I was obviously ecstatic.

But the more