Together in the Wild: Clean Romance Novella (Alaska Adventure Romance Book 4)

by Hart, Renee

  “That would be really nice,” he thanked her. He left his address and number with Petey and Jessica let him know that she would take care of the delivery and the arrangements for an extra bouquet for his future fiancé to be able to have and hold.

  “Ughhhh,” Petey half groaned and half shrieked after the science teacher left the store.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Chleo asked.

  “The world is falling in love and I’m just living in it,” Petey wailed.

  “What happened to that guy Joel you were seeing?” Jessica asked. She pat Petey’s back as he rested his hands on the counter and plopped his head on top.

  “We’ve only been seeing each other for a week and a half.”

  “That’s something! You usually find some random flaw about them and would have dumped him by now,” Chleo said, finding the positives.

  “Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you, ma’am,” Jessica wagged an accusing finger at Chleo. “I recognize that cheeriness.”

  Petey made another attempt at a groan before Jessica spoke up again.

  “You had sex!” Jessica pointed. Petey’s head shot up from the counter as if someone had jabbed him. His eyes squinted, and he looked back and forth from Jessica to Chleo.

  “Maybe I did,” Chleo said. She wiggled her body a little and grinned. Petey put a hand on his chest, recoiled, and made a dramatic gasp.

  “Am I seriously the only lone wolf in here?”

  “You have Joel!” Chleo and Jessica said at the same time.

  “I thought we were in this together Chleo.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chleo said, “but…I’m meeting Arjun’s mom later today for dinner. She still doesn’t exactly know about me. Arjun just told her that a guest would be joining them, and I’m supposed to head over to his place at 7.”

  “That sounds so legit! I’m happy for you,” Jessica said. Petey whelped in the background, but they ignored him.

  “I’m happy for everyone too,” Chleo said. Petey wretched. He was trying so hard to get their attention. “I’m even happy for Petey and Joel, who I’m sure make a beautiful couple, and I can’t wait to meet him.”

  Petey perked up and smiled.

  “Thanks Chleo. I’m so glad you noticed that I needed someone to console me.”

  “How could I have ignored the calls of a banshee?” Chleo scoffed.

  Petey recoiled again and frowned.

  “Don’t forget that I’m the sole reason for your happiness,” Petey hissed and adjusted the scarf around his neck.

  “How can I forget? You remind me…every day…”

  Chapter 7

  Chleo didn’t know what to expect that evening. Arjun had barely given her any details. She didn’t know how she should dress, or if she needed to bring anything. Arjun didn’t even tell her where they were going out for dinner. She decided to look presentable but not over the top, and she brought home a small bouquet of multicolored flowers.

  It was 6:51 when her cab pulled up in front of Arjun’s apartment. She was in a long black dress with a loose fitting belt and nice gold sandals to match a gold head band that looked like something from an old Greek epic. Her hair was wild and curly around her head and shoulders and she covered herself up with a dark jacket. She told herself it was because it was getting cold, but she knew it was also because she wanted to appear presentable to his mother. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was still very nervous. She hadn’t met a lot of the parents of her exes, and since Arjun was the most important person in her life, she didn’t want to mess it up or embarrass him…or worse, embarrass herself.

  “Hey. I’m here,” Chleo said to the small camera at the entrance. She heard a buzz and a click and she opened the door and stepped inside. Arjun lived on the third floor, and she hurried onto the elevator so that she could see him and finally meet his mother.

  Chleo knocked on the door and adjusted her jacket. She knew she looked great, but she wished there was a mirror or a window close by for her to be able to give herself another quick once over.

  The door opened a crack and a short woman [even shorter than Chleo herself] peered through the open crack. She squinted her eye as she looked Chleo up and down. Then she opened the door and turned around.

  “Arjun! Your friend is here!” the short woman called. She was plump and wearing a white cotton blouse and faded blue jeans. Her hair was wrapped in a bun, with a few tufts at the front revealing some grey and white strands, and right above her eyebrows directly in the center of her head was a bindi.

  This must be Arjun’s mother, thought Chleo. She had a very thick Indian accent, and she paid Chleo no mind after that quick look before opening the door. She had waddled back into the kitchen, where Chleo could smell something amazing cooking.

  “Are you going to just stand there at the door?” Arjun’s mother called from inside the kitchen. There was no way she could see Chleo, but that was just how mothers were. “Come in, you’re letting in all the cold.”

  Chleo stepped into the apartment and locked the door behind her. She was too nervous to move anywhere until she saw Arjun. Arjun’s mother called for him once again, but this time she spoke in Hindi. He replied in Hindi too and appeared from his bedroom. He was wearing a cotton shirt and jeans as well. His hair was damp and he was using a towel to wipe away any excess water that could be dripping from it.

  “You look beautiful Chleo,” he said when he walked over to her, and planted a kiss on her lips. He took her by the hand and led her to the kitchen.

  “Mama.”

  His mother grunted a reply. She was too focused on her cooking to pay much attention. Arjun cleared his throat and tried again.

  “Chleo this is my mother, Resham.”

  Chleo waved and squeaked a hello, but her voice came out so low that she wasn’t sure if his mother heard.

  “And mama this is my girlfriend, Chleo,” he said. He gave Chleo’s hand a reassuring squeeze. The towel he had was now tossed over his shoulder.

  “Girlfriend?” Resham said. She finally paused to give both of them a look. She looked at his face, and then down to Chleo’s face, and then her eyes traveled lower still to their intertwined fingers. “This is your girlfriend and you never told me before.”

  “I didn’t know how to tell you,” Arjun said sheepishly.

  “I see. Well, this one is very pretty” Resham said. She tilted her head back and studied the two of them. She looked like she hadn’t smiled in years. Chleo blushed and thanked her.

  “So Chleo, you’ve been with my son. Try to convince him to cut off his hair eh?”

  Chleo’s eyes widened.

  “I think his hair is beautiful,” Chleo said. She touched it gently with the tips of her fingers.

  “I like my hair the way it is,” Arjun groaned. His mother shrugged, muttered something under her breath and went back to cooking.

  “Are those flowers for me?” his mother asked. She walked over to Chleo and held out her hand. Chleo thrust the bouquet towards her and grinned.

  “Yes, Mrs. Vaswani…”

  “Oh please. Resham will do,” she said, taking the bouquet out of Chleo’s hand. She took a small crystal vase from a corner of the kitchen and put the bouquet inside. She filled the vase with water and set it down.

  “And am I cooking by myself? Are you going to be statues by the door? No no no. Arjun, check on the stove. Chleo, help me with this sauce. Can you cook?” she didn’t wait for a reply, “it doesn’t matter. Come. Come come. Before it clots.”

  Chleo and Arjun sprang into action. Chleo took off her jacket and went to put it and Arjun’s towel on the couch before going back in the kitchen to help Resham.

  “Everyone should know how to cook. I taught Arjun and his two sisters, but they’re all skinny like twigs. You, Chleo…I see you’re a woman who eats. Tell my son to put more meat on his bones, ok?”

  “Uhhh, Ok…”

  Resham spoke so quickly, it seemed more
like she was talking to herself than to anyone else. She never paused long enough to wait for a reply. She was too focused on the task at hand to pay attention to what anyone else was saying. She moved to the other side of the kitchen to collect some herbs that were in a cupboard.

  “I’m sorry,” Arjun mouthed the words to Chleo so that his mother couldn’t hear.

  “It’s ok,” she mouthed back. “I love you.”

  He smiled. That seemed to calm his nerves a bit. He moved over to where she was standing and squeezed her hand.

  “I love you too,” he whispered. This time, Resham did hear.

  “Love love love. All this talk about love. Cook!” she said. That made Chleo laugh out loud, and seeing her laugh made Arjun laugh too. Resham looked at her son and then at Chleo and rolled her eyes.

  Chleo wondered if this was what Arjun had been afraid of. She took a handful of fresh herbs and started to cut them up on a cutting board. She was so lost in thought thinking about cooking with her boyfriend and his mother. She was nervous, but it was still nice. He was letting her into a part of his world, and he didn’t even realize it. She hoped it would be like this when he met her family too.

  She looked up and turned to watch Arjun. He put some food on the palm of his hand to taste test it. He smiled and hummed to himself. He started doing a little dance as he cooked and Chleo loved to watch him.

  “And another thing!” Resham said, breaking Chleo out of her trance. Arjun looked at Chleo and she smiled back at him. He rolled his eyes and then winked at her, bracing himself for whatever it was that his mother was about to say. Chleo giggled to herself.

  “You talk of love and I’ve never heard of you. Are you pregnant? Huh? Tell me. When is the wedding?”

  THE END

  Trusting Your Heart

  A Sweet Contemporary Romance Novella

  MARISA LOGAN

  Flower Shop Romance Series:

  Book One: Any Blooming Thing

  Book Two: Wherever Love Takes Me

  Book Three: Crazy Sweet Love

  Book Four: Trusting Your Heart

  These are all standalone stories with no cliffhangers, you can read in order or individually. Look for them on Amazon.com.

  Copyright © 2016 by Marisa Logan

  Book Description

  Science teacher, Stanley March, is intelligent, kind, and extremely shy. He’s not the type to steal someone else’s thunder. But the assistant principal encourages him to make some thunder of his own.

  Helena McCoy is a wild and beautiful art teacher with pink-flecked hair and a playful personality who's popular with her students.

  When Stanley saves Helena from being asked out by a self-absorbed boor, he misinterprets her playful response for an invitation to go on a date.

  Their chemistry is interesting, to say the least.

  This 10,000 word contemporary short story has sparkling dialogue and engaging characters.

  It's the forth story in the Flower Shop Romance series. Each story is a standalone with no cliffhangers.

  Chapter 1

  The cool cup of juice was just starting to turn luke warm in Stanley’s hand. He was going to have to walk up to the woman across the gymnasium eventually. Or maybe not…he wasn’t sure yet. His mind was constantly weighing the pros and cons of all situations. What would happen if he said hello? What would happen if he didn’t? He knew if he went up to her and said something there was a chance that she could dismiss and embarrass him. But if he didn’t speak to her, then he knew that he would always wonder, and probably berate himself internally for a long time.

  The woman across the gym looked so beautiful to him. She wasn’t too tall, but she was lanky and that gave her the illusion of added height. Her skin was lighter than caramel but not quite pale. Her hair was large loose curls and most strands had pink streaks here there and everywhere. Her eyes were turned up at the outer corner, and she looked a bit like a mischievous cat. Her eyes were a light green, and they darted this way and that when she spoke. There were a few moles above one corner of her mouth that looked like little brown stars on the sky of her face.

  It was a giant room full of students and teachers and admin from different districts and this lanky art teacher in all black with pink streaks in her hair was the person who had captured his attention and kept it.

  He’d never have a chance with her, he thought to himself and shook his head. She was one of those cool teachers. Her middle school was a few miles away, but she was already interacting with the artsy students from the different schools. They had gravitated to her because of her hair and sense of style. Some of the math and science kids had even gone up to talk to her. It was like she was commanding the large gymnasium without even having to put in any effort.

  Stanley was transfixed, but also rooted to his spot that was close to the booth where his students were. On the other side of him was a table with all the snacks and soda and punch bowls.

  He put his finger on the bridge of his nose to adjust his glasses.

  “Would you get a load of her?”

  Mr. Sandusky, a math teacher from a neighboring school sidled up to Stanley and got himself a cup of juice too. Stanley didn’t like him much. He was a misogynist and it was obvious he had either been a bully when he was in school, or he had been bullied enough back then to now take it out on his students and other faculty members.

  “Who’s that, Sam?” Stanley sputtered. He pretended to take interest in the snacks that were on the table. He picked up a small Styrofoam plate and put pretzels and a handful of Doritos on it.

  “Like you don’t know. I mean that hot Latina chick over there. She’s from Wellington Middle School for Gifted Students. She’s new apparently, and everybody’s in love with her. The kids she’s got are already painting like pros,” Mr. Sandusky picked up a few cashews and put them straight into his mouth. He chewed with his mouth open and never took his eyes off of the art teacher.

  “She is smokin’ hot,” he whispered more to himself than to anyone else, but he was still loud enough for Stanley to hear. Stanley took a sip of his punch and cleared his throat while Mr. Sandusky spoke.

  “She looks like a very interesting person,” Stanley said simply. Sandusky scoffed at that.

  “Yeah right, I’m interested in knowing what she looks like without those clothes on,” Sandusky said. He seemed to think he was extremely funny because he was the only one laughing at his tasteless jokes.

  Stanley sighed and looked away from Sandusky and back at the art teacher. He wondered what her name was, and what she was like. He wished he was the courageous type to walk up to a woman and just talk to them and get to know them. But he wasn’t. He was shy and too in love with his work to put much of his focus on anything else.

  Just then, the art teacher looked up at him and flashed him a smile and a wink. Stanley smiled back and looked away. He knew that he was blushing, and he didn’t want to make it too obvious. When he looked back, the art teacher was still looking at him. Her eyes darted about momentarily because she was still surrounded by students and other teachers, but when her gaze landed on him, she kept it there for a while.

  “I think she’s looking over here,” Sandusky said. “Think it’s time to make my move.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” Stanley replied, still looking at the art teacher. Sandusky cackled and playfully hit Stanley in the chest. He put his cup down on the table and walked over to the art teacher. He had a slight swagger in his step, and his slicked down black hair made him look more like a 50's conman than a math teacher.

  “Are you really letting Sandusky go over there, March?”

  Startled, Stanley whipped his head around. It was the Vice Principal of his school, Lisa Henriques. Her arms were folded and she had an eyebrow raised. Stanley always liked her. She was the type of person to say what was what whether it was popular or otherwise.

  “It’s a free country,” Stanley said, looking down at the ice melting in his cup of juice
. He added, “I figure Sam can do whatever he likes.”

  Lisa let out a sound that was a mixture of a scoff and genuine disgust.

  “Free country or not, everyone knows the kind of man Sandusky is. I didn’t know you two were friends,” Lisa said.

  Sam Sandusky and Stanley March were certainly not friends. Sandusky just liked to hear himself talk so much that he didn’t care who was listening. Stanley was timid and polite enough to entertain Sam, but their conversations were mostly one sided. In fact, Stanley always dreaded when Sandusky’s school came for a visit. Sandusky always sought Stanley out because he knew that Stanley would be too kind to tell him to shut his trap.

  “We’re not exactly friends,” Stanley said. He was also usually honest unless it meant potentially hurting someone else’s feelings. He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose.

  “I like you March. You’ve always been a sweetheart. And I notice that you’ve been looking at Ms. McCoy practically the entire morning. Heck, your students have even noticed. You should be the one over there talking to her,” Lisa said.

  “I don’t think she’d want to talk to a man like me,” Stanley said. He finally turned to look at Lisa in the eyes. The way he spoke made her frown just then. It was a compassionate frown. She shook her head but didn’t say anything for a while.

  “You’re too hard on yourself. You believe in your students, and maybe it’s about time you started believing in you too. I know Helena McCoy. She’s so smart and kind and you’re the same way.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Henriques,” Stanley said.

  “You’re welcome. Even if you don’t go over there…I hope you work up the courage to stand up and stay true to who you really are,” Lisa said as she began to walk away. “Oh,” she paused, almost lost in thought and continued, “and everyone knows that Sandusky is a colossal prick. You’d be doing Helena a favor.”

  Lisa smirked, took a glance at Helena, who did in fact look put off by Sandusky’s presence, and then gave Stanley a quick once over before moving away to talk to other members of the board.