I did it. My heart raced at my boldness.
“I hope not.” Our eyes locked. The heat that had so quickly become familiar meant he wasn’t only being playful. “But you probably will.”
“I don’t think so,” I said as I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “But you will when I’m old and gray and you’re still beautiful.”
“I’m older than you so I’ll be gray first anyway.” Orin shook the spare tire to ensure he’d secured it properly then stood and came over to me. “And you’ll still be beautiful.”
“You’re only older by four years.”
At twenty-two, Orin was the epitome of a man while I feared I was still too much a girl.
“I could always arrange for you to see more if you like,” he said while waving his hand in front of him. He could already read me like a book.
My cheeks burned and not from the summer heat but from the weight of his stare.
His lips were suddenly moving against mine but his fingers had already begun to work on my blouse. Each button popping easier than the last.
“Orin, stop,” I said with a smile yet didn’t push him away. We were in the middle of a field. Anyone could pass by.
“Lizzie,” he leaned in closer and wet his lips, “there’s a little pond right there across the field... ”
“I don’t have a suit.”
“Neither do I.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow until I got his meaning.
“You’re not serious. What if someone comes along?”
“Oh, but I am very serious and I promise I’ll it if anyone comes close.”
He wrapped each of his hands around each of my wrists, his fingers overlapping and began dragging me the short distance to the water.
My shirt was already half open so it didn’t take long for the rest of my clothes to become forgotten in the grass. And Orin undressed faster than anyone I’d ever heard of. I loved this side of Orin. The side that seemed to be on a mission to bring me out of the proper, scared little girl world that I hated so much.
When I dove in, the cool water felt amazing against my hot skin.
It probably felt even better for Orin. After all, he’d worked up such a sweat fixing the car.
He splashed me suddenly and I returned the favor. Our laughter hit the trees surrounding us like it was our own private alcove. It wasn’t often I could laugh so loudly with such reckless abandoned.
Half an hour later, we dragged ourselves out of the pond. My hair laid on my shoulders, unruly and I’m sure quite the mess. I gathered it into a ponytail and twisted as tightly as I could to wring out the excess water.
Orin... he shook the water off, raining drops all over me. He looked more like a mangy dog after a bath than the vision of perfection he really was.
“Thanks a lot,” I said while laughing which made him chuckle again.
Once they got back on the road I said, “I don’t recall you being so playful.”
Orin sighed and looked over at me with a serious look on his face. “Lizzie, I haven’t had a lot to be playful about. We were spending so much time together and I was falling in love with you more each day. Yet I knew, in the end, I’d have to let you go have a life with someone else. That didn’t bring out the fun side of me.”
“I see.”
“We were so close, Lizzie,” he said keeping his eyes on the road ahead of us as his fist tightened on the steering wheel. “So close, just a breath away from losing it all.”
“I’m yours now, Orin, so unless you tire of me, I think we’re good.”
His hand clasped the back of my neck and pulled me to him for a kiss. He was still driving when his tongue entered my mouth yet he kept the car on the road. When I pulled back, I settled into the seat and watched out the window as we drove until I began recognizing the world passing by as we got closer to home.
So close that the nerves settled back in.
But I wasn’t going home. Not to the home I’d known my whole life, the place I’d been born, the place my mother died, at least not permanently. I’d be going to Orin’s house but first I needed some of my things.
When we got to my father’s house, I inched open the big oak front door. Orin stepped in behind me as I walked through. I paused and listened for any sound of my father inside. I shouldn’t have been worried with Orin by my side but after years of conditioning, fear was second nature.
Orin nudged me so I’d start moving. We climbed up the stairs to my room. My movement turned frantic once inside my bedroom as I rummaged through my drawers.
“Only take what you really need to.” Orin opened a suitcase on the bed for me. “We can buy whatever you need.”
I nodded and pulled a couple of photographs from the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Happy photos of me as a child. The time before I knew that I was a huge disappointment.
With only the things that I couldn’t possibly replace packed in that case, Orin and I left my bedroom after one last look around the place I’d spent my entire life.
I wouldn’t call what settled in my chest sadness. I desperately wanted a life with Orin. But this house remained the only link I had to my mother. She’d chosen the decorations and set the room up as she carried me in her womb. She’d intended me to live there.
We slipped out of the house with the same quiet precision in which we entered.
As soon as Orin pulled the car up to his house, he hopped out to unpack our things and wouldn’t let me help. So I leaned against the car with my arms folded across my rumbling stomach.
Orin’s house looked far more welcoming than my father’s but I knew nothing about the place. I’d been in the kitchen and in the living room but nowhere else.
“Are you coming?” His voice startled me out of my thoughts.
He opened the door and the bags fell to the floor with a thud. I set my handbag on the table next to the door with a more gentle touch. He was big and overpowering while I had been taught to be small and unseen.
“Hungry?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, he took my hand softly into his and pulled behind him toward the kitchen. “Is something wrong?”
“Not at all, but… ”
“What is it?” He waited patiently for my answer as I fidgeted with the waist of my shirt.
“I don’t know how to cook.” Orin laughed loudly making my eyes narrow on him. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not. I thought you were going to confess something serious.”
“It is. I’ve never been taught those things. I wasn’t supposed to be the kind of wife who cooks.” He nudged into my personal space until I took enough steps back that my legs hit a chair and I sat down.
“You’ll learn.” He rustled in a few cupboards then held something out to me with a huge grin on his face. “This is bread.”
“Not funny.”
Orin stood at the counter making us sandwiches, something I’d rarely been allowed to eat. My father said only poor people at sandwiches. Every meal at Father’s house was more elaborate than it needed to be. He came to the table, with two plates and two apples.
“It isn’t fancy but it’s quick.”
“I’m finding that I enjoy sandwiches very much. I’ve watched Cook spend hours just making lunch and I can’t imagine that people have to do that every day.”
“I’m sure she’s happy for the job.”
“True.” If there was anything I’d actually miss about living at home it would’ve been the staff. Being that they actually raised me all while keeping me at arm’s length.
“Elizabeth, I can tell you’re nervous and trust me when I say I am, too.”
“You are?” I sighed deeply. Just as I couldn’t imagine Orin being scared, I’d never imagined he’d be nervous either.
“Of course.” He moved closer to me. “If anyone told me a week ago that I would be here in my house with you, alone and married… ” He shook his head. “Well, I don’t know what I would’ve said. Even more boggling that I would’ve already made love t
o you and could continue to do so as much as we wanted.”
We stared at each other then pushed our empty plates aside at the same time.
He reached out and brushed his thumb across my cheek right before his lips met mine and yanked my chair closer to his. Orin pushed my legs apart and clasped his hands on my hips and pulled me toward him.
Our breaths became ragged by the time his fingers popped two buttons on my top. His lips moved down my neck to my chest as I tried to pull at his shirt.
Then he stopped abruptly and his head snapped up.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked. Maybe Olivia was right and men didn’t like their women to be assertive.
“We have company,” he said as breathless as me.
I furrowed my brow because I hadn’t heard anything.
Suddenly someone banged loudly on the front screen door. We scrambled to make ourselves presentable with Orin tucking his shirt back into his linen pants before heading toward the door.
The pounding resumed, louder and more urgent.
Orin yanked the door open wide to find three men standing on the porch, one leaning lazily against the railing. As I got closer and they came more fully into view, I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from making any noise and instinctively took a step back.
I knew this very thing would happen eventually but hadn’t thought it’d be the day we got back.
“I’ve come for my daughter,” my father said glaring at Orin.
Chapter Fourteen
My father never once spared me a glance. I swallowed hard and knew Orin would never let these men take me. Still, my chest grew heavy with fear.
Orin adjusted himself so that I could see his reassuring smile before he took a step forward opening the door just an inch. I grabbed his arm and tugged until he turned and looked at me.
“Don’t go out there,” I urged him.
Since my father wasn’t alone. He’d never be alone during a confrontation, except with me, and I didn’t want Orin to get hurt.
Smiling even wider, Orin placed the palm of his hand on my cheek and gently stroked me with his thumb.
“No worries, Lizzie.” He leaned in a touched my lips with his the continued out the door.
“I’m here to collect my daughter,” Father said again.
Orin’s head shook before he spoke. His posture remained relaxed but the muscles in his arms tensed as he folded them across his chest.
“That’s out of the question.”
“She’s a girl. Very impressionable. You took advantage of that. The girl is promised to someone else and he has agreed to take her even if her reputation is not what it once was.”
Father meant if I was no longer a virgin. I couldn’t imagine what Bradley had been through since I left. Obviously, he’d told them that I ran off with Orin and that didn’t bother me. Our fathers would’ve made his life quite difficult in the search for information and I never told him to keep it a secret.
“Her reputation is fine and our marriage is legal.”
The two younger men with my father, I’d seen but never actually met before, flanked him to let Orin know how this meeting would be ending. But Orin didn’t move.
He seemed completely unconcerned with being outnumbered. Bored with it, even.
Father stepped forward which made me move back even though I stayed being inside and Orin stood between us. Years of experience taught me how intimidating he could be, how ruthless. At least to me.
Orin had several inches taller than my father and wasn’t as easily deterred as me.
Father’s jaw tightened, his teeth mashing together. He only did that when truly angry and about to lose his composure. Something he hated more than anything else. He wanted people to jump when he said so and hell would rain down on those who didn’t.
“A deal is already in place,” he said through his clenched teeth. “This affects my business and I will not stand by—”
“How much?” Orin interrupted him, his voice still low. “How much was the arrangement? Come on. Tell me how much you want. Money, right? Isn’t that what this is really about?” His volume dropped. The words came out in a deep growl from his chest. Calm and deadly. “Tell me.”
For the first time in my life, I saw my father at a loss for words, not knowing how to handle a given situation.
The men’s eyes locked in some kind of game of chicken that might turn deadly. Orin had killed for me once and he’d do it again if he thought my safety was at stake. He said so.
“Was it stocks?” Orin pushed.
Father didn’t answer.
I couldn’t imagine what was going through that man’s head. I’d always known that my match would be more about what benefitted Father’s company than who would be the appropriate choice for me but hearing it said out loud made me feel dirty. Like I was no different than the women in the brothels.
“Ok, would ten thousand cover it?” Orin asked.
He barely gave my father a chance to talk but after another long pause he finally said, “That would be adequate.”
“I’ll speak with my banker on Monday but if at any point you cross paths with my wife, the exchange had better be cordial. Now get off my porch and do not set foot on my property unless you’re invited.”
Orin turned without waiting for a response and slammed the door behind him once he was inside. We waited until all the footsteps had thudded off the porch and I hoped all three men took the warning to heart.
“Did you… ” I swallowed hard. “Did you buy me?”
“Best money I’ve ever spent.”
A laugh bubbled up from my chest, a nervous laugh that refused to be stopped. Orin crossed the small gap between us, lifted me as if I weighed nothing, and dropped me on the couch only to resume what we’d started in the kitchen.
Orin obviously cared about my pleasure with the way his hands and mouth roamed my body, the way he cared about the sounds I made, the way he whispered in my ear each time telling me again and again just how much he loved me.
As he moved above me, I’d never dreamed that being with a man would be that way. Intense. Exciting. Enjoyable.
Orin held me like I mattered. He pushed into me like he couldn’t stand not to a moment longer. Every time with him got better. Afterward, we laid on the couch with nothing covering our naked bodies. I should’ve cared about how carefree we were but I didn’t.
“I suppose we need to do some shopping,” Orin murmured into my hair interrupting me reliving everything we’d just done. He trailed a hand up and down my hip.
“I’d rather stay right here.”
The summer afternoon passed us by while we laid on that couch but eventually, we forced ourselves up. Orin was right. I’d only brought a small amount of clothing with me. I’d need more.
We dressed and made ourselves presentable so that every person we saw wouldn’t know we’d recently been naked together.
As we strolled from store to store we made several purchases mostly for me.
It didn’t take long to find everything from a toothbrush and hairbrush to cosmetics and clothing. Basically, Orin bought me anything and everything he thought would make the house feel more my own. He said having the things I needed would do that.
I tried to talk him out of most of it but he didn’t listen. And I tried to pretend not to notice the prying eyes on us the entire time.
Once we finished, he took me to one of the small restaurants for dinner. This time we actually went inside unlike when we had to sneak around. I asked Orin why he’d turned down every offer to open an account in my name at the store so that I’d be able to make purchases of my own whenever necessary. That’s how it usually worked after a girl got married.
“There’s no need.” Orin took a large bite of his steak.
“What if I need something but you’re away?”
“I’ll always make sure you have money but we pay with cash, always. It’s easier.”
A small surge of panic hit me. I’d neve
r handled money before, not really. A few dollars here or there when my father allowed me to do something with friends. Never on a larger scale. I’d have to learn but I was willing to do whatever I had to if it meant we’d be together.
“Now what is it you’d like to do?” he asked after ordering a slice of pie for dessert.
I had no idea how the man ate so much and stayed so trim.
“Go home.” And spend our very first night there together.
He smiled and shook his head. “I mean in general. Do you want to go to University?”
The question surprised me right as I’d taken a drink. The cool water stuck in my throat causing me to cough loudly.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes,” I barked out. “You surprised me is all. I’ve never been given school as an option. At least not anymore school that I needed so I didn’t embarrass my future husband.” I paused taking his words in. “College?”
He shrugged. “If that’s what you want. You’re free to make your own decisions, Lizzie. Although I rather hope I will be consulted.”
My head bobbed absently back and forth. The shock of everything he said left me speechless. The possibilities were endless but I needed to think about our immediate needs.
“I think I should learn to cook,” I finally said. “I wouldn’t be a good wife if I let us live off of sandwiches and we can’t eat out every single night.”
“We could.”
I smiled but kept going. “There used to be a woman in town who would teach some of the… more middle-class girls who grew up without a mother.”
“All right. We’ll get that arranged.”
Orin arranged things so that my cooking lessons began a few days later. He worked fast.
But first, he showed me the safe in his office on the first floor of our house. He insisted I memorize the combination rather than write it down. The heavy black iron door was harder to open than the number was to remember. Inside laid more money than I’d ever personally seen.
My father rarely dealt with paper money.
Moonstruck Page 9
