A Good Move: An Arranged Marriage Romance Read online

  Thank heaven for friends like Alli!

  The three of them together are my dream team for an old fashioned-- if highly unconventional-- arranged marriage.

  "Just sayin'," Alli does a full 360 spin on her bar stool, "sexual compatibility is important in a long term relationship." She stops in front of the counter and lifts her glass of wine.

  "Sex is over-rated," Shawna says, switching Dillon to her other knee.

  "Yeah," Lisa lifts her own glass in a mock toast to Shawna, "you can't base a marriage off of how good you are together in bed."

  "You used to brag about how great Tim was in bed all the time, don't try to tell me sex isn't important," I butt in.

  Lisa gives me half a grimace and rolls her eyes, waving her wine glass in small circles in the air as she shakes her head. "Used to," she says sarcastically.

  Shawn makes a low, groaning noise of commiseration, "I know, right?" She bounces Dillon, "Trevor used to chase me around the house. We did it on every surface of the house every night, now he just wants me to climb on top and fuck him to sleep."

  Lisa nods, "Tell me about it."

  Alli watches this exchange with a skeptical look on her face and I know she has thoughts on the matter that she is-- wisely-- not sharing, then she turns and grins at me, "Maybe sex isn't the only important thing in a relationship, but it sure as hell is important! It's the thing that defines a relationship, without sex, you're just friends."

  She swivels back to glare at the two older women, "We're picking a husband for Jillybean, not a friend," she says very seriously before turning back toward me. "Don't worry, girl, I've got ya."

  My friends return their attention on the details that I received from Raven's assistant, Lisa and Shawna still trading stories about how miserable it is to be married and I start to wonder if this is what I really want to do after all.

  Of course I've heard both my married friends talk shit about their hubbies, but neither of them have ever sounded like they regretted getting married. Even now, they're poring over Raven's instructions, completely focused on the part they are about to play in my own happily ever after, and no one has tried to talk me out of it.

  Gavin

  "So you're really going through with this?" Abe asks again like he still doesn't believe it even though we're standing at baggage claim in LAX after a 5 hour flight.

  All I can do is shoot him the same look I've been giving him since we booked the flight.

  My brother has been giving me grief about the arranged marriage thing since I sat the guys down and hit them with the plan. It's been 6 months of taking shit from them all while having to stand back and hope they're taking it seriously.

  Flying all the way to LA to meet Jillian in person has had my guts tied up in knots for weeks. I mean, we've been emailing for weeks now and we've talked on the phone a few times. Everything about her so far has me feeling anxious, hoping this meeting goes well enough that she's willing to pack up her life out here in Cali and come home to be my wife.

  "Just sayin', little brother," Abe says as he hauls our bags off the conveyor belt, "If you'd rather blow off this whole arranged marriage shit and go down to the beach to hunt us up some California girls, I'm down."

  I take my bag from him and scowl. I'm about to remind him just how deadly serious I am about going home with a fiance in tow when I see him grin.

  Damn sonofabitch. I just shake my head and walk toward the sunlight shining outside the airport doors.

  Our ride to the hotel is courtesy of Alli and Lisa. I know Lisa as Jill's best friend since grade school but I've never figured out the connection to Alli. Alli's young and when we talk she tends to ask a lot of questions I'm not too keen on talking about with a woman, especially not a woman I'm not likely to be getting involved with. I guess I get it, these gals gotta pick a husband for their friend, I'm sure they want to make sure she's gonna get taken care of in all the ways that count when you're fixing to settle down for the long haul with someone.

  Lisa meets us outside and leads us to her car. She's a lot more down to earth than the younger woman on the team. She's married with kids of her own and has half a clue what it takes to make a marriage work so I'm glad she's pretty much the one in charge of making Jill's decision.

  Abe and Alli fall into an easy conversation on our way to the hotel like they've known each other their whole lives. It's weird to hear my brother fall into the casual conversation with her. They sound like old friends and I remember they've been working together for months now trying to get me and Jillian hooked up. They've probably had plenty of chances to get to know each other.

  "So are you ready to meet Jillybean?" Alli's sitting next to me in the back seat of Lisa's mini van, breaking away from her conversation with Abe in the front seat to look at me with wide eyes filled with excitement and bounce on her seat a little.

  "Guess I better be," I tell her with a cautious grin. I know our first date tonight is going to be crowded, with Abe and at least one of Jill's friends tagging along to keep us honest. I really wish it could just be the two of us getting to know each other better, maybe over drinks, but that's another one of Raven's rules-- no alcohol on the first meeting.

  Alli reaches over and slaps my upper arm with a laugh, "Yeah you better," she giggles, "you better be ready to do more than just meet her."

  Alli leans forward and goes back to her conversation with Abe in the front seat, leaving me to stare out the window at the traffic sharing the southern California freeway with us.

  I am ready to do more than just meet my bride. Ever since Lyle showed me the pictures in her file I've been looking forward to getting a good look at her in the flesh-- preferably in just the flesh. Jill's a beauty, not the cookie cutter LA blonde stereotype that Alli is.

  Jill's a stunning brunette, with big brown eyes and a body full of hot curves that I can't wait to feel filling up my hands and my mouth.

  I was ready to do more than meet her the moment I got a look at her pictures, but when our teams decided it was a match and we started emailing? Well damn if Jillian hasn't turned out to be the only thing I can think of about half the time now.

  It's still hard to believe I'm all the way out here in California now, and in just a few hours I'm going to meet the woman I'm going to marry.

  Just like that. Skipping the bullshit and the stress and all the worrying about if she's as into me as I am into her and whether or not we're on the same page about things.

  That's the beauty of the arranged marriage deal and it's worth every penny.

  This time next week I'll be back home getting the place ready for Jill to move in. Then we'll get serious about planning the wedding. I can already see her sitting at my kitchen table, surrounded by bride magazines and scraps of fabric and all that other shit women probably need when they're making those kinds of plans.

  Hell, as long as she tells me where to stand and when to say "I do," I don't care what color tux she makes the guys wear or what flavor the cake is.

  I just want to know she's mine and that she's gonna stay that way.

  Jillian

  "Roller skating?"

  I get that the rules specify that our first meeting is supposed to be alcohol free but there's nothing that says we can't go someplace that serves alcohol, just that we aren't supposed to drink any. So when Shawna's grin spreads even farther across her face at the mention of their plan to take me and Gavin to the roller skating rink, I'm pretty sure it's a grin of pure evil.

  "Yeah, doesn't that sound like fun?" Shawna chirps sweetly.

  "No. It sounds like a broken ankle in front of a hundred 13 year olds," I tell her.

  "Well think of it this way, a first date in the emergency room will give you a good story to tell your kids." Shawna checks her phone when it dings with a new text, "Oh good, they got the guys to the hotel, Alli and Lisa are on their way."

  I plop my ass down on the couch and reconsider the outfit I'd chosen for tonight, a mini skirt and high heel boots. I guess
I'll be switching it out for jeans and a thick pair of socks.

  "Jill," Shawna's suddenly so serious, sitting on the chair across from me and giving me a concerned look, "are you really doing this?"

  We started the process months ago. The girls have had numerous conversations with Raven, they've read through all the profiles that Raven narrowed it down to, interviewed each of those potential matches and finally pinned it down to Gavin. It's been a major undertaking up to this point but now Gavin and his brother, Abe, are out here from Indiana so that I can meet my future husband-- the one that Shawna helped choose for me.

  Shawna's question catches me off guard.

  "Yeah, Shawn," I tilt my head to one side and give her a questioning look, "I want to get married. I want a family. I've tried dating sites, I've tried letting you guys set me up, I've tried all the old fashioned ways--"

  "Well an arranged marriage is certainly old fashioned, all right," Shawna interrupts with a grin.

  I smile and give her a shrug. I don't know what else to say.

  "You really think Gavin is the right guy?" She asks.

  "You picked him for me, don't you think he's right for me?" I counter.

  "Jill, we talked to Raven for hours, each one of us separately and then all of us together, when she was done asking questions we got three profiles to choose from. Three. You know how many guys are out there, Jill?" Shawna waves her hand in the air, "How many guys are available right here? And we got to pick from three guys and all them are going to require one of you to move."

  "I'm only looking for one man, Shawn," I'm not sure what to make of this conversation, "and I've lived in South Bay my whole life and never found the right one. I knew I might have to relocate when I filled out Raven's application. I don't mind moving for the right man."

  Shawna looks upset.

  "You don't think Gavin is the right guy for me?" I ask, curious to know if she really believes in this choice or not.

  After the decision was made, our teams decided to let us get to know each other. I've been emailing Gavin for a couple of weeks now. When I first saw his photos in his file I was shocked. He's hot. He's really hot. Hotter than I expected to get out of an arranged marriage-- I couldn't believe a man that looked like that was having any trouble finding a woman to marry him.

  Then I worried that maybe he was a total asshole, or any number of other reasons why a guy like Gavin wouldn't be able to hold on to a woman.

  Once I started talking to him though, I found out he lives in a town with about 400 people in it. He's a couple years older than me and he told me there aren't "a lot of eligible honies" where he lives that are over 21.

  Gavin makes me laugh. Every time we talk, whether it's just email or if we actually get on the phone, I walk away feeling good.

  Seeing the look on Shawna's face when she asks me if I really think this is a good idea gives me a queasy feeling in my gut. Not like I'm worried that Gavin isn't the right guy, but more like I'm worried that one of my best friends-- and one of the people I trusted to choose my husband for me-- isn't totally on board with a plan that has been in motion for months.

  "It's not that, Jillian," Shawna's voice is thick with emotion, "it's just that this guy lives two thousand miles away. He's a farmer, on land that's been in his family for hundreds of years. If this works out, you're going to move away."

  Shawna looks up at me with tears in her eyes and now I get it. She's right.

  I've been so focused on the excitement of moving forward, of what I'm gaining from this-- a future and a family with Gavin-- I haven't considered what I'm leaving behind.

  I mean, I don't care about quitting my job. I don't care about moving out of my townhouse. I'm not going to miss the traffic or the sirens in the middle of the night.

  It hadn't really occurred to me that my friends were going to take my leaving hard. I mean, we're all gainfully employed adults. We have cell phones and social media accounts and credit cards that give us frequent flier miles every time we grab another half caff soy machiato.

  Shawna and Lisa are both married with kids of their own and Alli is so busy perfecting her morning after Uber-of-shame routine...I don't know. I just didn't think it'd be such a big deal if I moved away.

  I move closer and wrap my arms around Shawna and when Alli and Lisa walk in and find us crying our eyes out, they join the fun.

  I just hope I can get my eyes to unpuff before we meet the guys at the roller rink.

  Gavin

  Roller damn skating. When Lisa comes to pick us up from the hotel and tells us what the night is made of I damn near choke from laughing so hard.

  I haven't been roller skating since I was 12. Used to be pretty good at it though, so I ain't too worried about it.

  Abe, on the other hand, is scowling like he's trying to win some sort of contest for it.

  "Man, you don't have to skate, you know," I rib him on the way to meet up with Jillian and the other girls, "you can just sit in the snack bar drinking cherry Coke and eyeing all the hotties."

  Knowing the hotties will be primarily junior high kids just sends me into another laughing fit, taking Lisa along with me while Abe glares at us from the back seat.

  "The things I do for you, baby brother," he exaggerates the sigh but his tone carries the telltale reminder that I owe him. I owe him big for all he's doing, coming out here to Lala land with me. He hates any town with more than 20 thousand people in it.

  "Hey, Lisa," I turn toward my driver, still smiling, "any chance one of you girls has a single friend who might be able to tolerate my brother?"

  "A single girl friend," Abe clarifies from the back.

  Lisa raises her eyes to the rear view mirror and looks at Abe, "You're not into Alli?"

  I can tell she's having a hard time keeping a straight face. If Alli gets on my nerves, she downright grates on Abe's.

  "Maybe someone with a few more years on her and lower miles," Abe says, cracking a halfway grin that says he's only half joking.

  Lisa smiles and shrugs, "Alli's gonna be heartbroken," she says to my brother while keeping her eyes on the road in front of us, "I think she's been looking forward to climbing a real life cowboy."

  I can't help but snicker at the idea of Alli and Abe hooking up. There's a good bit of difference in their ages but, like the man said, Alli's got enough mileage on her already that I'm sure she'd just scare the hell out of Abe.

  My big brother was considered quite the ladies man back in his day, never dated one girl at a time and never dated the same girl for more than 2 weeks. He was a player all through high school and going off to college only gave him a new batch of girls that weren't privy to his reputation before they fell victim to it.

  If Alli intimidates Abe, it's because the man knows exactly what he's up against.

  "I'm not a cowboy," Abe grumbles behind us, "we're farmers."

  Lisa pulls the car into the parking lot, "Sweetie, you're in LA. With those jeans and those boots and the cute little way you keep tipping that hat and saying 'ma'am'-- you're a cowboy."

  We head toward the trio of ladies standing outside the door and I try not laugh as my brother tips the brim of his Stetson in greeting when we join the rest of our group.

  He's right. Not a damn one of us would call ourselves a "cowboy" back home, but we ain't back home right now and the girls out here are looking at Abe's hat and boots and everything in between like he was imported straight from Texas.

  My brother doesn't seem to notice that though. He's too busy not noticing Alli's ass as she bends over in front of him to adjust the laces on her old school skates.

  Jillian in person is even better than I'd hoped for. I'm not sure how I'm suppose to greet her though.

  I feel like I know her already and all I want to do is pull her into my arms for a deep kiss but everyone's staring at us and I guess one reason we're not supposed to be drinking on our first date is so we know if any chemistry is the real deal.

  Of course, I can say right
here and now that there's chemistry. And it's the real deal all right. So I'm not sure what the harm would be if we were to manage to sneak away from the chaperons for...oh, maybe an hour? Two?

  Nah. Even a few hours isn't likely to be enough time to do all the things I want to do to Jillian.

  She stands up on her tip toes when she greets me for the first time, pulling herself up with her hands on my shoulders and leaning against me for balance so she can brush those full lips against the side of my cheek.

  Just the pressure of her hands alongside my neck and the way her tits press against my chest is enough to knock me dizzy. Add in the smell of her perfume and the way her dark hair tickles my jaw as those luscious lips make contact with my skin. Hot damn! Even this innocent greeting is enough to make my dick spring to attention and now the only thing I can think of is how long I have to wait to get my fiance alone.

  Jillian

  Watching Gavin and his brother walk toward us from across the parking lot is like being in a movie. They're both well over 6 feet tall, thick with muscles built from hard work outdoors, with similar faces both chiseled from the same stone.

  I know Abe well from hours of interviews and it's easy to let him pull me into a friendly hug that already feels like family.

  Abe's wearing a black Stetson with his button down western shirt, black jeans, and polished cowboy boots, making him look like an extra from a Toby Keith video.

  I have to hide my smile when the same man that has sworn to me a dozen times that he finds Alli obnoxious, immature, "and a might slutty," immediately focuses all his attention on the younger blonde.

  Gavin, meanwhile, looks like every fantasy I've had since I hit puberty in blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

  He seems nervous when he gets within reach of me, not sure if he should shake my hand or hug me or maybe kiss me. My plan is to break the tension by reaching up to whisper something in his ear about his brother and Alli but as soon as my hands land on his shoulders I forget everything.