by E A Price
“Is this a joke?” she asked, hoping he could shed some light on events.
“What do you mean?”
Mira threw up her hands and let out a near-hysterical laugh. “What do you mean, what do I mean?”
He stiffened, and his eyes seemed to almost flash as Harlan, an older man, and a young woman rushed into the office.
“Is it true?” demanded the older man.
The young woman nearly bounced up and down. “Is it? Are you really mating each other?”
“Mating?” repeated Mira.
Harlan frowned. “Sandwich girl?”
Mira shivered as Branch took a step towards her. His arm brushed against hers, and she felt a treacherous twinge in her nether regions. The man was apparently trying to marry her against her will, so why was she still so darned attracted to him?
“Mira, this is my sister, Ariel, and Uncle Clay,” introduced Branch. “Of course you already know Harlan,” he added sharply while throwing an irritated look in his direction.
“Pleased to meet you,” said Mira automatically.
She may be currently embroiled in a very weird situation – an alternate reality perhaps? But that was no reason not to have manners – her dad raised her far too well to be unnecessarily rude.
“Mira and I are engaged,” said Branch in a clear, quiver inducing voice.
“That’s wonderful!” exclaimed the young woman, almost surpassing their mom in her display of delight.
Mira actually started smiling, actually allowed herself to start feeling excited about her engagement… just for a second before she remembered that it wasn’t real!
The uncle looked wary while Harlan looked confused – nearly as confused as her. She looked to Branch, hoping for some explanation, hoping that anything that was happening might become clearer. Nope. If anything, the look on his face was getting darker. Time to do something she perhaps should have done ten minutes ago.
“Ummm, I have to go.”
Mira edged towards the exit, keeping all the crazy people within her eye-line.
“Oh no, don’t go,” entreated Ariel.
“Yeah,” agreed Harlan, smiling strangely. “I have so many questions.”
Branch actually seemed to growl at that.
“Ah, sorry, but Santa needs me. I am his chief elf.”
She laughed with forced cheer, backed towards the door and ran into the hall. Time to get the hell out of here!
Eleven
Mira started beating a retreat and Branch followed. His beast urged him on, beating at him to chase to her, capture her, take her… Branch ignored that last demand and pounded after her.
He easily caught up to her, frantically trying to call the elevator. Yes, there was no doubt he would catch her. Her curves were not meant for speed. No, they were meant for something else, something with much less clothing…
Branch shook his head. The hell was wrong with him? He wasn’t a monk, but damn, he could usually control himself a lot better than this.
“Wait! Where are you going?” he called, slowing his pace, holding up his hands in surrender.
“No, where are you going?” she retorted.
Branch raised his eyebrows, and she gave him a sheepish look.
“I don’t know why I said that,” she admitted. “When I get cornered I usually just repeat what someone else says to me or if they insult me I shout, ‘no, you are.’”
She was babbling. Perhaps she was nervous. He’d never really admired women who either chatted incessantly or were needlessly nervous. His late mate had been virtually monosyllabic and even more fearless than him. Sometimes he wondered if he was brave enough to keep up with her. Jumping out of a helicopter onto a mountainside with a snowboard strapped to his feet really had tested his limits. But anyway, he found her – Mira’s - chatter, rather than irritating or infuriating, to be quite – dare he think it – soothing?
Mira fidgeted, moving from foot to foot. “Look, clearly there has been some mistake or some miscommunication, but I really think you should stop telling people that we’re engaged.”
“But isn’t that why you were in my office?” he asked, baffled.
“What?!” Her eyes widened to saucers. “Why would you think that? Did you think I ran all the way down here to trap you into marriage?”
“Are you saying my brother didn’t arrange for you to marry me?” Wasn’t she the reason for his brother’s leers and winks? Wasn’t she his unwanted yet ultimately useful Secret Santa?
“No!” she cried. “Are you actually insane?”
He frowned at her.
Mira had a terrible thought. “Oh, wait are you? I didn’t mean to offend you if you are, I mean it’s not your fault…”
Branch gritted his teeth. “I am of sound mental health.”
She shrugged but didn’t seem entirely convinced. “If you say so, but you’re the one telling everyone we’re engaged!”
She tapped the call button for the elevator while never taking worried looking eyes off him.
“There appears to have been a slight misunderstanding,” he said as calmly as possible.
Mira giggled, verging on hysterically. “I think that’s an understatement.”
“I thought my brother had hired you to mate – marry me.”
Branch tried to explain, but it was hard to fit it into just a few words. He was also trying to cover up his embarrassment and also his concern about what he would tell his herd. Undoubtedly, his mother had already informed all of them about his upcoming wedding to Mira, and some of them probably weren’t quite drunk enough to forget. Was there something else, too? Perhaps a slight disappointment? No, not possible. He quashed that inkling before it had a chance to become a thought.
“To mate-marry you?”
He paused. “Yes.”
Mira stared at him for a few beats. “Why would you hire anyone to marry you?”
“It is… complicated.”
Probably not something a human would understand. His brother did seem to know her, but not in the intimate way that Branch had assumed. He doubted Mira had any idea he was actually a reindeer shifter. They guarded the secret of their race very closely and only divulged it to those they were sure would also keep it. In fact, if any herd member wished to tell a human the truth, they needed to seek permission from him, their alpha, first. Though, he wasn’t quite sure that Harlan would listen to his alpha in that instance. When had he ever listened?
“No, seriously, why would you,” and she put a lot of emphasis on that word, “need to hire someone? I mean, have you never seen you?”
Mira gestured up and down his body, and his overall humiliation quickly left him to be replaced with smugness.
“Indeed.”
“I mean, uh…” She started to stammer, and her cheeks blazed an appealing shade of raspberry pink. “Well, it’s none of my business anyway, I’m sure. I mean you are free to hire anyone you want. It’s nothing to do with me. I’m sure you and this mystery woman will be very happy together…”
Branch relaxed a little. Her fear seemed to have evaporated, and she was awfully cute when she jabbered.
“What were you doing in my office?” he asked, smiling slightly.
“Oh! Umm, I’d almost forgotten!” Her face took on a stern demeanor. It was like watching a bunny trying to stand up to a – well – reindeer and demand to know who had eaten all the carrots. “I came here to ask why you’d cut your donation to my sister’s charity.”
“Have I?”
“Yes, it’s called Snow Bunnies, and my sister…”
She explained just what Snow Bunnies did and he half-listened. At least he knew what it was now. No doubt the original donation had been down to his mother, and canceling the donation was an oversight on his part. He would rectify it if only to stop Mira looking at him so severely. She didn’t have the face for severe. No, she should always be laughing and smiling or screaming in pleasure…
But the moment he agreed to the donation again
, Mira would leave. She’d be gone, and he’d probably never see her again. He wasn’t too sure he liked the sound of that, but more importantly, his whole family and herd by now thought that he was going to mate Mira. How could he explain her sudden disappearance?
Perhaps his brother hadn’t been wrong. Perhaps there was a way to salvage the situation.
He held up his hand for silence and Mira stuttered to a stop. “I will reinstate the monthly donation. In fact, I’ll increase it.”
“You will?”
Her face lit up, and he found himself almost speechless in the shadow of such a beatific expression. It almost stopped him from saying what he was about to say, which was sure to wipe the look off her face. Almost.
“If you do something for me…”
Twelve
“Are you insane?!”
“No,” replied Mira evenly. At least she didn’t think so.
Temp glared at her. “I am not going to let you marry this guy just to help out my charity.”
“It’s not like that – he says it won’t really be a legally binding ceremony. Just a commitment thing.”
Branch had explained it in a roundabout sort of way. She mostly understood what he was saying. A member of his family would declare them married and then… and then… well, and then his legal problems would go away. She wasn’t sure about the truth in that. He was pretty vague about it, but it had something to do with his father’s death and him inheriting the company. She guessed it had something to do with his dad’s will, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it. Not that she blamed him about that. She was still grieving for her dad; she understood if he didn’t want to talk about his.
Temp sniffed. “Sounds like a cult. What happens after this commitment ceremony?”
The word commitment sounded like a dirty word tumbling out of Temp’s mouth.
“After,” Mira gulped, “we live together for a while, and after a couple of months I just get to leave.”
Temp considered that and narrowed her eyes. “Sounds fishy to me. Why on earth would he want this?”
“He says it’s complicated and a work thing. We would just be pretending to be a couple.”
Her sister gave her a long look. “It’s just too weird. He’s probably planning on keeping you in a cage in his basement and feeding you rabbit food. Do not do this.”
“You know what he’s offering,” said Mira quietly.
Temp sighed. “And it’s not enough for you to do this.”
“We wouldn’t be having sex.”
“I should hope not,” said Temp primly.
Mira bit her lip. She wouldn’t have minded that much. Not that she was into sleeping with strangers, but she couldn’t get within ten feet of the man without her sex virtually purring at him that she was open for business. He was sexy – she couldn’t deny that her body wouldn’t let her.
“I don’t like the sound of this at all,” said Temp for the fourth time.
“He’s going to fund your whole charity – forever!”
Plus, he had seemed so desperate. He was a stranger, and yes this was an extremely strange request, but she wanted to help him. She didn’t know why. Usually, men like him terrified her. Gorgeous, sexy men were not meant for her. They made her feel so small and inadequate, but not him. No, everything about him warmed her, stirred her insides, made her downright quiver in a very good way.
Temp pursed her lips. She had a way about her that could disapprove at a thousand paces. She was sterner than a 1950’s schoolmistress and an Autobot combined.
Mira had to assume she got that from her father. Their mother was softness personified – selfish but soft and completely incapable of being firm. Mira’s own father had been cuddly and lovely. He was never very good at yelling or discipline either. Mira had hardly been a naughty or wild child, but whenever she misbehaved, he got Mrs. Burrows from next door to chastise her. The woman had missed her calling in not joining the army. Course, she’d probably have declared war on Australia by now if she had.
“Look, Temp, I’m going to see him today to talk about it,” to finalize the details of their strange arrangement, “and if anything seems weird…”
Temp snorted.
“I’ll say no. It’ll be fine, you’ll see.”
Her sister thawed a tiny bit – but it was just a tiny bit. “I just don’t know.”
“It’ll be fine,” enthused Mira.
Yes, it was a strange situation, but she didn’t feel worried about it. Then again, she didn’t exactly have a terrific ‘danger radar.’ She generally had to learn things the hard way. Like when she was invited to that lakeside party by the head cheerleader, and she agreed to go skinny dipping – yep, inevitably the total cow stole her clothes and Mira had to run a mile au natural before she found a washing line to raid. The evil cow just wanted to punish Mira because her captain of the basketball team boyfriend flirted a little with Mira. It was totally innocent – he thought she was a smart nerd, rather than just a nerdy nerd, and wanted her to do his homework. Anyway, she knew enough not to be too rash. She was going to be careful and not jump feet first. Nope, she would dip a ladylike toe, and then decide whether or not to make the jump.
*
Branch stared out the window. Fireworks exploded in the black night sky. He scowled. Jeez, it was only December 14th. Why was anyone celebrating Christmas yet? It was far too early. His mutilated ficus plant could testify to that. His sister threw up in it earlier – she indulged in a bottle of cider and was now paying the price for it. Ordinarily, he’d be pissed, but he couldn’t work his way up to yelling. He sent her home with Mal and set about brooding on the evening's events.
What was he doing? He thought his brother’s plan was insane, so why was he so ready to jump aboard and wave goodbye to his senses now?
Honestly, he had no idea why. When it became clear that Mira had no idea what he was talking about, he should have just let her go, but he didn’t. He made a deal with her. They would mate, and she would live with him for a couple of months… in his house… sleeping down the hall from him.
Shit. He really hadn’t thought this through. He was going to have to pretend to be in love with her in front of his family. Perhaps hold her hand, perhaps kiss her, hold her in his arms…
Nope. He could do this. He could keep this professional. In return for a charitable donation, she was willing to help save his herd – that was it. The herd… Yes, that was why he was doing it – to save them, and since everyone already thought Mira was his fiancée, he might as well use her. Cold maybe, but what choice did he have?
So if his reasons were so damn cold, why did he feel like he was on fire?
Thirteen
December 15th
Jeez. Okay yeah, so Branch had to be pretty rich but wow. This was even bigger than the Home Alone house!
Mira gaped as she huffed and puffed her way up the driveway. Yikes – she was exhausted just walking from the taxi to the door.
She checked the note she hastily wrote on her hand, making sure she had the right address. She considered going to the back door – the tradesmen’s entrance – decided against it and just banged on the door.
Mr. Smolder appeared before she had finished and she immediately blushed. If he was sexy in a suit, it was nothing compared to jeans and a sweater. If there was one thing the suit didn’t show, it was that he had lovely thighs. Was that a strange thing to notice about a man – his thighs? But they were lovely and powerful, and she wondered what he looked like without trousers on, or any clothes at all really…
Mira let out an eep as he clutched her arms. Even through three layers, she could feel the heat emanating from him. Oh, what would it be like to feel skin on skin? She’d probably burn to a crisp… it would be worth it.
“Prepare yourself,” he murmured lowly.
“Hmmm?”
Too busy imagining whether she was fireproof enough for a kiss his words didn’t register. Not until he pulled her into his house and a ton
of people yelled, “Surprise!”
Mira let out an enormous scream.
*
“I thought we were supposed to be talking about our arrangement?” she said in a quiet voice.
Yep, Mira was at her own surprise engagement party. It was incredibly surreal. After she stopped screaming – and everyone stopped laughing in delight at her reaction - Branch’s mom took her hand and led her around, introducing her to everyone. She’d only just managed to corner Branch in a quiet room.
Branch ran a hand through his dark hair. She could see the frustration and annoyance on his face.
Self-doubt reared it’s ugly, swollen head. Was he annoyed because he had to tell everyone he was engaged to her? Surely not. They were virtually getting married – he would have to introduce her to everyone eventually. She just wasn’t the type of woman men like him would date or marry. She was too short, too silly, too chatty and possibly too plump – though she wasn’t sure that was a problem, she often noticed his eyes dipping towards her breasts, and her hips for that matter, and he definitely didn’t seem disappointed by what he saw there. Nope, quite the opposite.
“I’m sorry,” he growled – and it was a proper growl. “My mother found out from my assistant that you were coming here and she decided to turn it into an engagement party. I tried to call you,” he said with just a tad of reproach.
“Oh!”
Mira pulled her battered cell out of her purse and gave it a whack. Sure enough her screen was flooded with missed texts.
“Sorry, it’s been kind of wonky for a month now.”
It was five years old, which was about ninety in cell phone years.
His face flickered with disapproval. “Is that duct tape?”
“Yeah, otherwise the back comes off,” she told him cheerfully.
“You should buy another one, for your own safety.”
She muttered under her breath.
“What was that?” he asked sharply.
Mira sighed. “I said that’s easy for you to say; not all of us are Mr. Millionaire. Not all of us can just run out and buy another at the drop of a hat.”
Branch stared at her before nodding. “I will have my assistant buy you one.”
