A Wise Investment: Arranged Marriage Romance

by Rocklyn Ryder

  "Yeah, I recall a lot of bitching about blue balls that year," Joe laughs.

  "Don't remind me," Rogue grumbles.

  I shake my head, and push my chair back from the table.

  "Where you going?" Joe demand as I walk back to my station.

  "What's this?" Rogue asks as I hand him the stack of papers.

  The guys all whistle low in unison as Rogue separates the targets and passes each one around.

  "Dorthy's targets. I took her out shooting yesterday. Thought the same thing you guys are thinking. Especially since she's been out at the house by herself and doing so much stuff outside, I wanted to make sure she knew her way around a pistol in case she had any encounters while I was gone."

  Rogue holds up one of the targets and puts two fingers through the bulls eye that's been neatly obliterated from the paper.

  "This the .38?" He asks.

  "Hell no. She started with the .44." I tell him.

  All eyes lift up to my face.

  "Started with?" Joe asks.

  I shrug, "Turns out she's from some crazy part of California that still believes in self defense. She's been shooting since she was a kid." I bend down and pull one of her targets from the back of the stack, "That's the .50."

  Rogue studies the target and hands it over to Joe, "Dude, you need to get your ass back home and take that woman to bed and make sure you never let her go."

  "She did this with the .50 cal?" Joe asks, incredulously, "how many shots is this?"

  "She emptied the barrel in the bulls eye," I tell him, "I'm telling you, she's a crack shot with a pistol. Says she used to shoot competitively when she was younger."

  "What Rogue said, man," Luke says as he gets a look at the targets, "a woman who can bake and shoot like that? You can't screw this up, dude."

  Great, I think as I gather the targets from our shooting practice the other day back into a stack, try to have a serious talk with those guys and all they can focus on is food and guns.

  I know Dorthy's a hell of a catch. I don't need them to point that out to me.

  It's just that she's also so damn capable all on her own. I can't imagine what she'd want me for. There's nothing I can do for her.

  I waited so long to have something to offer a woman. Made sure I invested wisely so when I did have someone, she'd be taken care of, and now Dorthy shows up in my life and she doesn't need anything from me.

  The one thing I got left to offer her, she hasn't made any mention of wanting.

  That's gonna make taking the guys' advice a whole lot harder.

  Dorthy

  Short of being naked when he gets home, I don't know what else I can do. I've spent all week working around Bear's house, trying to help out with the chores that needed doing. Trying to prove that I'm capable of being a good wife and hacking the challenges of living in this place.

  I'm still sleeping in the guest bedroom-- alone.

  Barrett's been getting more and more distant with each passing day. A couple days ago he took me out back and told me he was going to teach me to shoot, in case I had any bear problems or something.

  I thought for sure he'd be impressed to see I already knew my way around a pistol. Instead, he's hardly said 2 words to me since.

  Last night at supper he barely talked to me and when I gave him the plate of cinnamon rolls to take in for the guys at work this morning I almost thought he was going to throw them in the trash.

  This is my last day. I can't take it any more. It's been almost a full week. I feel like I've given it my best, but it's obvious that Barrett doesn't share my feelings. He might want a wife, but he doesn't want me to be it.

  I spent the day packing and I'm ready to go home. I'm just waiting till Bear walks through the door so I can let him know he doesn't have to put up with me invading his home any longer. He's been very sweet and a gracious host, but it's clear that I'm just a guest in his beautiful house and I'm sure he'll appreciate getting rid of me so he can call Raven and maybe find a woman he's more attracted to to finish making it a home.

  While I wait, I try to get one of the girls on the phone. The time difference is just right to make getting a hold of them impossible. Jasmine answered the email I sent the other day, but all she had to say was that as soon as they talked to Barrett, they knew he was the only man that they could see me with.

  Like that's any help.

  I'm too ashamed to talk to Melissa about it. She and Rogue really seemed to think I would be right for their friend. With things going as poorly as they are, I can't bring myself to call her and tell her how wrong they were.

  So after leaving each of my nieces a voicemail to let them know that it isn't working out and I expect to be home in the next day or two, I set the cell phone down and stare out the big picture windows in Bear's living room watching the breeze bend the tree branches outside.

  I try not to cry much about it all.

  This is the risk you take when you do something crazy like sign up for an arranged marriage in this day and age, I tell myself. There's still a good chance that Raven and my team will find me another match that will be a better fit in both directions.

  A few tears manage to sneak past my defenses anyway. The thing is, I like Bear. I don't know that I can say I'm in love with him...yet...but I can certainly see that in progress. Which is one of the reasons I've decided to pack up and get out of his hair now. If I stay here any longer I'll fall for him and that seems like a bad thing when it's obvious it's not reciprocal.

  So I watch a doe leading her fawn across the cleared lawn at the far edge of the property before they move back among the trees again and I think over the last week.

  Barrett is a sweet man with a kind heart. He talks about his friends and his family like they are the world to him. He's quick to help out when a neighbor needs something.

  He wants a family of his own more than anything. We sat in this very room just days ago and talked about how we see the future and even though he never specifically mentioned me in it, or used any "we" or "us" words, the way his eyes got soft and dreamy when he talked about the children he plans to have and the things he wants to do with his family was enough to melt my heart.

  We want so much of the same things for ourselves and our futures.

  Then there's the physical part. The way that he moves-- it's careful, like he knows his size can be intimidating so he thinks each action through to make sure he doesn't startle other people, or the wildlife on his property. It adds a certain gracefulness to his movements that seems incongruous with his size. I like that.

  I like the way his looks are rough and wild but his manners are soft and thoughtful.

  I like it enough to wonder what kind of lover he'd be and those are wicked thoughts that keep me up late after I've gone to bed and are beginning to affect my ability to focus on my day time chores as well. It's been all I can do to find enough things around here to keep me busy so I don't spend my days laying in his bed, breathing in the smell of him, and wishing for things that are never going to happen.

  After a while I let my emotions have their moment. The tears roll down my cheeks as I give in to the pain of losing what I never even had but by the time the door opens and I hear Barrett's heavy bootsteps on the kitchen floor, I've got myself together again.

  It's time to face facts and the fact is that even though Bear and I want the same things, we won't be getting them with each other.

  Bear

  Something's wrong. I can feel it in the air as soon as I open the door from the garage and step into the kitchen.

  Funny how fast I've gotten used to coming home to Dorthy. She's usually here in the kitchen, working on supper about the time I get back but today the kitchen is dark. The lights are off, the air isn't filled with the smell of cooking to make my stomach growl in anticipation. Dorthy isn't standing in front of the stove stirring a pot of something delicious or standing at the butcher block island chopping up stuff to add to whatever she's making, wearing my apron that's
way too big for her and looking like an angel with her hair all tied up on her head.

  My first thought is maybe Mel drove up and the two of them are off doing girl things but then I see the luggage across the way, waiting by the front door.

  Something cold grips my heart. Dorthy's bags are packed up and sitting there like she's leaving and all I know is I gotta stop her.

  "Oh, there you are," she comes around the corner and finds me rooted to the spot where I haven't even gotten the door closed behind me since coming into the house.

  She's dressed up, wearing a long skirt and a nice blouse. Nothing fancy, just not the same simple stuff she's been wearing around the house. Her hair's all down, those big loopy curls falling around her shoulders and she's looking at me with those pretty blue eyes like she's surprised to see me standing in my own house.

  "You leaving early?" I ask, nodding toward her luggage. I can't say much else because of the knot that's tightening my throat, threatening to cut off my air.

  Dorthy turns her head toward the suitcases and then looks back at me. There's a look on her face I can't place as her shoulders lift in a little shrug.

  "I don't really see any point in staying." Her voice is smaller than I think I've ever heard it, making her sound afraid. It makes my gut tighten and all I want to do is go to her and pull her into my arms so she'll be safe.

  I don't like her answer. It's not what I want to hear but I can't say I'm surprised. All week we've been getting to know each other and getting along just fine, but I just don't think I'm what Dorthy's looking for.

  Not sure what she is looking for, come to think of it. Her nieces that did all the interviewing and deciding for her-- they told me their aunt was a firecracker. That she'd had problems keeping a man because she scares them off. Maybe they took a look at me and figured I wouldn't scare easily.

  Well hell, it ain't that Dorthy's something to be scared of. It's just that she doesn't give me a chance to be a man. She's so damn capable of doing everything on her own, she doesn't give me a chance to take care of her. Work's been hectic too, I haven't had a chance to spend as much time with her as I'd hoped to while she's here for her first time.

  She's waiting for me to answer her and I'm not sure what she wants me to say. Not sure what I want to say is going to change her mind, but I know this is the only chance I'm going to get to tell her how much I wish things had gone different.

  "So you already call someone?" I ask, leaving my boots by the door and heading toward the living room as casually as I can, trying not to let on that everything inside me is coming apart, "Or do you want me to fly you out in the morning?"

  She follows me back out to the living room, watching me quietly while I fidget and try not to look like I'm pacing, even though that's about what it amounts to.

  "You've been really busy, I can find another way to Anchorage."

  She's looking at me like she expects me to be relieved. I can't give her that. I'm not relieved, I'm pissed and I'm trying my best not show it.

  "Nah, we've been covering for a pilot at another outfit but he's back at work now so Rogue gave me the next few days off so..." so I could show my woman why she should stay, I decide not to add. "Look, Dot, if you don't want to stay with me any longer, I'll make sure you get home safe. We can leave first thing in the morning if that's what you want to do."

  A weird look crosses her face, quickly replaced by a shadow that draws her brows down over her eyes as her fists land on her hips, "It's not that I don't want to stay, Barrett," she tells me in a low, cool voice, "I just don't see any point in it."

  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I feel bad about blowing my cool but I can't take it anymore. I'm out of patience, I'm out of time, and I'm out of my mind with wanting her.

  "Isn't it obvious, Barrett?" I swear she's tapping her toe on the hardwood floor, "I don't know what you were expecting when Raven contacted you to let you know a match had been made, but it sure as hell wasn't me, was it?"

  Her tone is all acid, it burns all right. But not as hot as my blood burns in my veins, not from anger but from pure need for this little spit of a woman who is standing in my living room giving me hell at the moment like she thinks she could take me in a fair fight.

  Something inside me knows she could. Hopes she would. Hell I'd sure like to find out.

  "No! No, Dorthy, you're right." I hate the way my voice is loud enough to fill up the mostly empty room. Most people cringe when I raise my voice for any reason so I've learned to keep it low. Right now it's bouncing off the pine paneling on the walls and reverberating off the glass sconces on the lights.

  Dorthy doesn't even flinch. She takes a step toward me, one fist still on her hip and the other hand waving in the air, her own voice growing loud and shrill.

  My cock throbs.

  I never met a woman who got under my skin like her, and I never seen a woman who didn't cringe when she heard me yellin', especially when she's the one I was yelling at. But there's Dorthy, not only is she not cringing, she's coming closer to me like she's about to give me a piece of her mind and I don't doubt that's what she has planned.

  What I want is a piece of her body though.

  "You're damn right," I try to keep my voice level, but it's not working, "You're not what I expected. I never expected a girl as goddamn pretty as you are for starters. I didn't expect a woman who was gonna waltz into my damn life and make herself at home right away. A woman who could out cook, out split, and out shoot me. I thought I'd have to do a lot of hand holding and reassuring and coax my woman into gettin' comfortable with the way things are around here."

  At least she doesn't look like she's planning on kneeing me in the balls anymore. This would be about the worst damn time for her to knee me in the fucking balls.

  "I did, however, expect my people to find me a woman who wanted to fuck me."

  Shit. I freeze where I'm standing and try to look like I just said that out loud on purpose. I ain't above talking dirty to a woman when the time is right for it, but right now isn't that time.

  Dorthy's eyes widen, then narrow, "Are you saying you don't think I want to fuck you?"

  I might be awkward about making first moves, but you don't need to hit me upside my head with a brick. I can see the way the color rises up in her face and the way her breasts rise and fall with her breathing, and I hear the way her voice goes all raspy as the coarse word leaves her pretty pink lips.

  I realize this isn't the first time I've heard her voice take on that strangled tone or seen her blushing hard when she's lookin' at me. Shit. It's just the first time it's occurred to me that it might be more than nerves about getting to know a stranger.

  "You're the one who hasn't touched me since we met, Barrett," she scolds, "You're the one who put me in the guest room."

  She's a step closer to me now and it takes me a minute before I realize she's not the one that moved.

  "Yeah well, you're the one that doesn't need me for anything," I point out, "You don't need my help, you don't need my advice. Everything I can do for you you can do better for yourself, Dorthy, what was supposed to give me the idea I was living up to your expectations?"

  "Barrett, you're an idiot." She tells me firmly, "What do you think I expected from you?"

  "I don't know. I thought all woman were looking for some alpha male character that could sweep them off their feet and take care of them. Treat 'em like a damn princess and make your life easy? That's what I was expecting! I got money in the bank and a good job and a nice house and you come up here and you don't need any of it."

  She's another step closer to me, staring up at me with those blue eyes gone all dark and stormy. Her lips are parted and looking a shade deeper and she's breathing heavy through her mouth and I realize she's still not the one that took a step.

  "I'm not looking for a husband to rescue me from anything, Barrett," her voice is barely more than a hoarse whisper, "I want a partner, not a prince."

  "But Dorthy, you don'
t need a partner. You got everything handled all by yourself."

  "Everything but the part where there's someone else to share it all with. My time, Barrett, my thoughts, my soul, my body--"

  I don't know how she got so close to me that her lips are on mine, but I'm not about to take a step backwards now.

  Dorthy

  I've been wondering what would happen when there wasn't any more room between us. I wasn't expecting him to kiss me.

  Hoping maybe, not expecting.

  Bear's beard is softer than I'd expected, tickling my chin. His lips are warmer than I expected, and softer against mine. His kiss is deeper than I expected. Hot, hungry, and demanding in a way that I never would have expected.

  His arms are wrapped around my body possessively, holding me firmly, and I don't have the presence of mind to think about how he's not on his knees and my feet are still on the floor. All I know is that this is the kiss I've been waiting for all my life.

  My hands slide up Bear's chest, finding a wall of hard muscle beneath his layers of t-shirt and flannel where I'd expected him to be softer, more yielding.

  Heat erupts in my core, spilling out of where ever it originates from and seeping into all the parts of me that have imagined this moment a thousand times already.

  My imagination is nowhere near as good as the real thing.

  "Dammit woman," I feel his deep voice growling against my throat as his lips trail from my mouth, "why didn't you tell me you were ready for my cock?"

  This isn't the Barrett I've become used to. The sweet-mannered man with the careful movements and the soft spoken words. This man is untamed-- wild like the land he lives in and completely deserving of a name like Bear.

  I let my head fall back to give him better access to the tender space at the base of my throat. I'm completely off-balance like this, relying on Bear to keep me from falling to the ground and completely trusting that he will.