My Bossy Protector

by Charlize Starr

  Isabel had always had a certain impression of men from the South – cowboys who were strong and courageous, masculine and romantic; warriors, brave and sexy as hell. But where was her cowboy? That was partly the reason she had signed up for this deal anyway. Because she wanted to escape, but also because it would fulfill her fantasy of being taken by a muscular, rugged cowboy.

  A sudden feeling of dread gripped Isabel as she walked slowly but surely towards the Mayer Ranch. What if Liam Mayer wasn’t how she had imagined him to be? What if he wasn’t attractive at all, or if he was a coward… a lazy man? It would be worse if he wasn’t attracted to her. If she was too big for him… too fat. Just like she was too fat for New York.

  Chapter Two

  There was a sign at the gate, swinging gently in the warm breeze blowing around her. It said Mayer Ranch in big block letters. Isabel plonked her suitcases on the dirt road at her feet and shaded her eyes to look around. The ranch looked huge. And in the center of it stood a small wooden cabin. She hadn’t seen anything like it – at least not in person. She had seen plenty of them in old black and white films that her father liked to watch. It was hard to believe that something like this actually existed in real life… in today’s world.

  The gate was open, so she pushed it and dragged her suitcases through. In the distance she could see horses grazing, standing lazily in the scorching heat. But the only thing that was on Isabel’s mind was to reach the house, meet Liam Mayer, meet Sophie, and get a drink of water. The feeling of dread hadn’t left her yet. She was simultaneously nervous and curious about what she was going to find.

  She was halfway up the dirt driveway in front of the house when the front screen door of the house swung open and a little girl appeared. “Isabel!” The girl shrieked, catching her off guard. She came bouncing down the steps and towards her.

  Isabel couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the little girl. It was a relief to see this girl so happy and seemingly normal. It isn’t going to be scary after all, she assured herself.

  Sophie looked small and delicate for her age. She had bright blue eyes and her shiny blonde hair was tied in thin pigtails on either side of her head. She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, a flowery peasant top, and boots on her feet.

  “You must be Sophie.” Isabel greeted her with a wide smile and dropped the bags on her side.

  “I’m so happy you’re here,” Sophie shrieked again in a joyous thrill. She wrapped her small wiry arms around Isabel’s legs.

  This was more than the greeting Isabel had expected. Sophie was lovely and friendly. She patted her head and looked down at her with a smile, trying to ignore her own rapidly beating heart at the same time. Sophie was far from a disappointment, but she still hadn’t met her husband to be.

  “Sophie?” She heard a loud gruff voice sound from inside the house, and they both looked up as the screen door opened again. “What is going on?” its owner continued as he stepped outside.

  The color from Isabel’s cheeks drained; she was frozen with fright at the sight of him. She had built up the tension of seeing him for the first time to such a high that she was gripped with fear when she saw him… even though he was more magnificent than she could have imagined him to be.

  Liam Mayer, if it was indeed him, was a man straight out of the movies. His face was long and chiseled with high cheek bones. His skin was deeply but naturally tanned, which greatly contrasted the light blue piercing eyes that matched Sophie’s exactly. His hair must have also been the same shiny blonde as Sophie’s when he was younger, but now it was a dirty yellow, darkened by the sun. It was scruffy and long, nearly reaching his shoulders, but mostly hidden by his tan cowboy hat.

  He was tall. Even from the distance, Isabel could see that he was at least a foot taller than her. His shoulders were broad and visibly muscular, even under the tight-fitting leather jacket he wore. His waist was narrow and the denim pants he had on, accentuated his muscular cowboy thighs. He stood with his thumbs hooked on his wide leather belt. He was glaring at them both, his blue eyes narrowed and his thin lips set in a straight, grim line.

  “What are you doing, Sophie?” he repeated himself, taking in his daughter’s arms around Isabel.

  Isabel gulped, his very voice was deep and hard enough to instill fear in anybody who disobeyed him. But Sophie appeared to be unfazed; she wasn’t afraid of her father.

  “This is Isabel, dad,” Sophie replied gleefully, looking up at Isabel again with a wide toothy grin.

  “Hello,” Isabel managed to say, aware that her cheeks were burning up. Liam Mayer wasn’t a welcoming man. He had done nothing to make her feel comfortable or welcome in her surroundings. And she was supposed to marry him!

  “Sophie?” Liam didn’t reply to Isabel but turned to his daughter again. He still hadn’t made a single move in their direction.

  “She’s come from New York, dad,” Sophie said, and Isabel’s brows crossed. How had he already forgotten? He had requested a mail-order bride, she had answered the ad, and he had sent her directions to join him. How had he not realized when he set eyes on her, that it was she, Isabel Bowes, who was now here on his ranch?

  “Please come inside Sophie.” He said then, and pushed the door open and held it. He didn’t have to tell her twice. Sophie dejectedly extracted her arms from Isabel and walked slowly back towards the house.

  Liam Mayer didn’t bother to look at Isabel or explain what was going on. In fact, he hadn’t yet said a single word to her. Sophie passed him and walked into the house. He followed her in with no explanation.

  Isabel’s mouth hung open as she stood there, bags by her side, completely at a loss of what was happening or what she should do. She knew she was offended by his behavior, but a part of her was also aware that Liam Mayer was the stuff of women’s fantasies.

  Chapter Three

  “You can come in.” Liam appeared at the door after at least fifteen minutes, just about when Isabel was certain that she was going to collapse in the sun.

  She looked up at him and reached to pick up her bags, but he had jumped off the steps of the house and rushed towards her. “Leave them be, I’ll bring them in. You go in,” he said, at her side in a few quick strides. He was suddenly standing very close to her and Isabel felt a little faint. The scent of him had overtaken her senses. He smelled of the sun, of hard labor mixed with a sweet smell of his sweat. She suddenly began to imagine him naked – all of it was too overwhelming.

  “Thank you,” she said, clutching her chest to steady herself. He didn’t move away or give her the space to walk towards the house. Instead, he stood in front of her, looking directly into her eyes.

  “You’ve come all the way from New York?” he asked as she blushed and squirmed under his gaze. She couldn’t understand him; he was indecipherable.

  “Yes, like I said in my letter,” she told him, growing nervous. He looked like this was not what he was expecting. Isabel was so afraid that he was disappointed in her.

  “What made you decide to become a mail-order bride?” he asked, and she felt her nostrils flare. She wasn’t prepared to relay her whole life history to a stranger, let alone to a man who seemed so hostile towards her.

  “Personal reasons,” she stated. She tried to raise her chin up and meet his eyes directly, but she was too shy to hold his gaze.

  “You gave up your life and now you’re in Mitchell Town… for personal reasons?” he asked. She noticed how his eyebrows arched up sharply.

  “Is that a problem for you?” she asked.

  He suddenly bent down to pick up the bags. He only grunted in response. “Follow me.” He turned on his heels and started walking towards the house. The bags looked like simple empty sacks in his hands. They were not a problem for him to carry, and Isabel felt herself stir with a sudden desire for this strong rugged man even though he was proving to be more difficult than she had hoped he would be.

  “Is there a problem, Liam?” she asked in lieu of following him and watched as
he stopped in his tracks.

  “What do you mean?” he asked and turned to look at her. That face again. Those piercing blue eyes, the tanned skin, those thin serious lips. Isabel felt nervous every time he looked at her.

  “You don’t seem too pleased with my arrival. Have you changed your mind?” she asked him, and realized that her voice was quivering. She didn’t want him to change his mind. Where would she go? She didn’t want to go back to New York. Not after everything that had happened. This was the only way to get away. And the thought that he could ruin all of it by claiming that he had changed his mind filled her with dread again.

  “Stop worrying, Isabel, and just follow me in. You need to get out of the sun before your skin starts sizzling like bacon,” he said, turning away from her again.

  He didn’t sound encouraging or friendly… but at least he wasn’t turning her away. Isabel picked at the pleats of her thin cotton dress with her fingers and followed him towards the house. He was right, she needed to get out of the sun.

  She climbed the stairs and Liam held the screen door open so that she could walk through. Their arms lightly grazed each other when she passed him and goosebumps bloomed on her flesh.

  There was another surprise waiting for her indoors. The inside of the house looked nothing like the outside. The best word to describe it would be “cozy.” The house was small, indeed, but everything was clean and neatly in its place. There were lace curtains covering the windows. A flood of bright sunlight streamed into the cute living room and its adjoining kitchen. The furniture looked immaculate in beautifully polished wood. The wood floors were clean – no dusty footprints from outside to be found.

  There was a small television facing two couches in the living room. There was even a bookshelf with a small collection, decorated with a few crystal figurines at its ends. The upholstery was all done in a pastel paisley design, and even though a bit old and faded, none of it looked ill-maintained. The ramshackle, dilapidated interior that Isabel had expected was nowhere to be found.

  Sophie was at the kitchen counter, stirring a spoon in a jug full of what looked iced tea.

  “Your home is lovely,” Isabel said, twirling around on the spot, noticing the stairs that led to a floor upstairs.

  “Daddy and I take turns in keeping the house clean. Just the way mom left it,” Sophie said and placed the glass gently on a metal tray.

  Behind her, Liam had dropped the bags on the floor by the door. The mention of the word “mom” had garnered a reaction from them both. Liam appeared to be inflamed upon hearing the word and it made Isabel nervous.

  “Hand the glass to the lady and go to your room, Sophie,” Liam growled behind her. Isabel didn’t dare to turn around and look at him.

  “She can stay here if she wants. We can get to know each other,” she said in a meek voice as Sophie handed the glass to Isabel.

  “No, I think you both should get to know each other first,” Sophie said with a sly wink and a toothy grin. And then she was gone, bouncing up the stairs to her room and whistling a happy tune.

  Chapter Four

  So Isabel was alone with Liam again. Instead of feeling excited and giddy like the young blushing bride-to-be that she was, she felt uncomfortable and slightly scared in his presence.

  Liam Mayer looked big and burly in his own house as he took off the hat he had been wearing and flung it onto the kitchen counter. He then walked over, poured himself a glass of iced tea, and walked back towards the couch. Isabel stood nearby. There was a silent calm in the room, and Isabel suddenly missed all the traffic sounds of New York that had annoyed her every day. And, yet, she wasn’t really homesick. That life was behind her now, and she didn’t want to go back to it.

  “Your wife… your ex-wife or your late wife…?” Isabel was fumbling with her words; she didn’t quite know how to frame the question.

  “Late wife. She passed away when Sophie was two,” Liam said, taking a long sip from his glass as he sat down on the couch. The couch too looked too small for him, and Isabel nearly smiled at the sight of him sitting on it with his big long body. This was her husband-to-be. This rugged cowboy.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  He suddenly looked at her with his eyes narrowed. “Are you prepared for this life, Isabel?” he asked, almost like he hoped that her answer would be, no.

  “Yes, I am,” she said, raising her chin up.

  “Have you ever been out here to this part of the country before?” he asked. This time he was studying her body. His eyes rolled over her big chest that stretched the thin material of her dress, her wide hips, and then finally her face that was glowing with nervousness. She felt naked under his gaze and also conscious. She felt like he was judging her. Was he scrutinizing her weight?

  “I haven’t been here before, no,” she admitted, still standing before him with the glass of her iced tea in her hands.

  “And yet you’re prepared to spend a lifetime here, in these parts, as my wife? As Sophie’s stepmother?” Liam asked, draining the last bits of the drink into his mouth. Again, he sounded like he wanted her to change her mind.

  But she was going to hold her ground. It was a deal. She had come all the way up here to escape and she wasn’t going to allow him to simply backtrack.

  “I am. Are you prepared for it?” she asked, and he suddenly burst into laughter that surprised her. She hadn’t even so much as seen him smile before, and here he was laughing… at her.

  His smile was wide and his whole face seemed to change when he laughed. His shoulders shook too. “Am I prepared?” he asked and laughed some more. As attractive as he looked when he laughed, Isabel couldn’t ignore the fact that he was laughing at her.

  “Sure, why not? I could use an extra pair of hands around the house, braid Sophie’s hair, nag her to finish her homework and whatnot. It’s hard work for a man like me to care for a little girl. She needs a woman’s touch,” Liam said and slapped his knee.

  Isabel felt her neck burning. She knew this was what the deal was. This was why he had placed the ad. It was obvious. He needed a wife who would care for his daughter. A glorified nanny. But for some strange reason, it instantly made Isabel angry, even a little jealous. She was hoping that he would also say that he needed the loving touch of a wife. That he found Isabel attractive. That he was lonely and he wanted her to fill the void.

  But Liam Mayer said no such thing, and instead stood up from his chair and clapped his hands. Like it was all settled.

  “Why don’t you start off with the dinner, I have to get back to my horses.” He said and walked past her to place the glass back on the counter.

  Isabel glared at him, still hoping that he would miraculously display a softer side.

  “What about the wedding?” she blurted out before she could stop herself. She needed concrete evidence that he wasn’t suddenly going to change his mind. A wedding, what she had come here for, would bind him to contract.

  Liam looked at her with his usual steely narrowed gaze. His eyes dropped to her breasts and then he looked up at her face again.

  “Not so fast, dear girl,” he said and Isabel suddenly felt like a small child. She licked her lips and he smiled again. “You have to prove yourself,” he added.

  “Prove myself as what?” she asked, but she knew what he was about to say. Liam Mayer didn’t strike her as a man who was a gambler, as someone who was willing to take his chances.

  “Prove yourself to be the wife that I need,” he said, and she raised her chin again. If there was anything that Isabel liked, it was a good challenge.

  “If you insist,” Isabel said and shrugged her shoulders. Two can play that game, she thought. If Liam was going to be difficult, she would play hard to get too. He needed her. That was evident. He needed a woman to take care of the house and care for Sophie. And Isabel was determined to prove to him that she was the perfect woman for the job.

  She had expected a wedding this evening, to be in the arms of a husband by this time. W
hat she was getting instead was a test. And Isabel was up to the task.

  Chapter Five

  The next time Isabel saw Liam was when it was already dark outside.

  She had spent the past hour, chopping vegetables and making a thick creamy soup with whatever ingredients she could find in the cupboards in the kitchen. She was also baking bread. Dinner rolls, rather, which her own father had taught her how to bake when she was a small girl.

  Sophie had come downstairs sometime after her father had left the house, curious to know what had transpired.

  The two of them bonded instantly. Sophie hung from the edge of the counter, watching Isabel cook with wide, curious eyes. She claimed she had finished her homework for the next day. She spoke incessantly, filling Isabel in on all the friends she had in her school. She didn’t talk much about her father and she didn’t mention her mother either.

  “This smells delicious,” Sophie said with a smile as Isabel plopped thin slices of butter into the boiling soup.

  “I can’t remember the last time we had a dinner like this,” she added and Isabel looked up.

  “What do you usually have?” she asked. Sophie shrugged her shoulders.

  “Instant noodles or ham sandwiches. Daddy isn’t a good cook,” she said and giggled, still watching Isabel closely as she stirred the broth.

  “We should go together and shop for some more ingredients. Maybe we can roast a chicken tomorrow,” Isabel suggested and the little girl’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Can you bake a cake?” she asked.

  Isabel nodded. “And cookies, buns, and cupcakes. We need the ingredients, that’s all.” She wiped some of the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.

  “Isabel…” Sophie began, watching Isabel with so much interest.

  “What was your life in New York like? Was it magical?” Sophie asked, looking up at her with wide eyes. Isabel sighed and opened her mouth to say something, but Liam came into the house right then and interrupted them.