A Smart Choice: Arranged Marriage Romance Page 4

  The matchmaker route wasn't my idea and Raven probably knows it but I sure as hell wasn't about to let my family pick a wife for me on their own. If this is how it's going down, then I want someone in my corner. At least with a professional making the call I feel like I've got that much.

  Pulling the rental up to the renovated house, I notice two things. One, Raven's office is in a pretty swank old Victorian. Done up like a doll house with lots of brick-a-brac siding with lavender trim and big picture windows on both sides of the stoop.

  Someone takes good care of the place. Nice to know Raven's using the money she makes for something solid.

  I do have a soft spot for the chick. She might not know why I insist on going through with this stupid scheme but I've always felt like she had my back.

  The second thing I notice is the car parked beside the curb in front of the house.

  A car I've seen before.

  Last night.

  Tearing out of a restaurant parking lot like it was escaping the apocalypse.

  As I pull up to the curb behind it I can't help but crack a grin, Sorry babe, the apocalypse just caught up to you.

  Looks like I'm not Raven's only emergency meeting this morning.

  I'm about to reach for the door when it opens. Stephany's standing just inside, still engrossed in her conversation with the woman holding the door open.

  For a moment before she notices me, I get to see Stephany. What I'm sure is the real Stephany. Who she is when she's not nervous to meet some asshole that she's supposed to marry. Who she is when she's not under the microscope of a bunch of snobs who are picking her apart and trying to make her feel unworthy.

  She's fucking beautiful.

  The way her hair is in a messy knot on top of her head with half of it falling down around her shoulders. The way she's dressed in some simple leggings with an over sized t-shirt that threatens to fall off one of her shoulders. The way her eyes are lit up with easy laughter and her lips are full and smiling and such a fucking hot shade of pink with nothing but Chapstick on them.

  She looks happy and confident, comfortable in her own skin. Cause she's not trying to make an impression on anyone right now. Right now she's just who she is.

  It hits me like a punch to the gut. All the air goes out of my lungs as I realize I want that. I want her. Stephany. Like this. Always. I want the woman who hasn't seen me yet. I need to see that smile everyday for the rest of my goddamn life.

  Raven's eyes shift from Steph to me and even though I'm only partially paying attention to her in my peripheral vision while I zone in on Stephany, I see the quirk of her smart-ass grin. That bitch played me, dammit.

  If this works, I'm gonna need to send her some fucking roses or shit to say thanks.

  And then Stephany's eyes follow Raven's. They land about halfway down my body and travel up. For a second I see appreciation in them, a sly little eye fuck that's not too obvious. I remember the heat of her body last night and way her eyes travel up my body gets my dick's attention.

  Then she recognizes the face and that gorgeous fucking smile goes flat in a second.

  "Oh, Devon," Raven's voice is all innocence as she breaks the tension, like she didn't plan this, "I'm so sorry, I forgot you were stopping by this morning."

  Stephany's eyes drop to the ground between us.

  "I can't stay, can you come back later?" Raven has her keys and her purse in her hands as she ushers Stephany out the door with her and locks up.

  I watch Raven's eyes dart to Stephany and back to mine meaningfully before she hurries down the steps and out to her own vehicle, "I'll call you to reschedule!" she calls out before she drives off leaving me and Steph standing awkwardly on the porch.

  "I think she did that on purpose," Stephany's voice is hard with contempt that I'm sure is all for me, but it also carries a note of amusement.

  "I'd bet on it," I answer.

  "Where's your entourage?"

  The way she says it reminds me of the way we left things last night. Fuck I'm a stupid prick. I can't believe she's still standing here, looking at me with those crazy intense eyes like's she's waiting for me to say something that doesn't make me sound like the complete asshole she thinks I am instead of rushing past me and leaving me here with my dick hard.

  It hits me-- that's exactly what she's waiting for. Whatever Raven told her, it must have been pretty damn compelling if she's willing to give me a second chance.

  I'm so damn used to running people off, trying to protect them from getting too close to the toxicity of my family. I almost say something stupid. Then I catch myself.

  Is that really what I want? I pause a minute to get a good look at Steph. Not in a hungry way like I have been. Really look.

  It's fucking hard not to notice the way the extra long tee hangs loose on her shoulders and exposes her sun-kissed skin with its light spray of freckles, how the material is clingy over her tits and hangs over her hips in a way that makes it impossible not to notice the way they flare and melt into an ass that would fit perfectly in my hands.

  It's impossible to look at her and not see how fucking sexy she is, but I'm looking for something else. And I see it. Hell yeah I see it.

  I see a woman who might just be right for me. Someone who's smart and confident and has what it'll take to stand beside me without letting my family steal that light from her eyes.

  Maybe Stephany's the one who can save me from that fate myself.

  I'm a selfish fucking bastard for thinking it, but right then I know I can't let her go. I've gotta do whatever it takes to keep her beside me and make her my wife. Even though I know she's too good for me, too good for the life I'm going to offer her, but I'll do everything to protect her from all the bullshit that my family is going to try to throw at her. I'll keep her safe and I'll spend every day of my life fighting for her happiness.

  "No more entourage, Babydoll," I smile and hope she can see I mean it, "from now on you're stuck with just me."

  Chapter 11

  Stephany

  Somehow when Devon says I'm stuck with him, I don't think he means just for the day. The way he looks at me is new, like he just saw me. It sends a shiver running under my skin that's not entirely unpleasant.

  I think of the moment we shared last night, the way he felt against me. I was ready to follow him to his hotel even though I knew it would have been about something completely different than the reasons I hired Raven in the first place.

  Last night would have been about releasing tension, one night based on raw lust that I couldn't deny once Devon's lips met mine.

  That's not what I'm looking for though. I want the fairy tale; husband, kids, home...love.

  I'm not sure the man I met last night is capable of that. I would have said he didn't know what it even meant-- until just now when he holds out his hand for me and smiles this sort of crooked smile that softens the hard edges of his firm jaw, giving him an almost boyish quality that's hard to be mad at.

  Raven's word are like a drum beat in my head, "the right choice" the right choice for me, repeating over and over as I tentatively take his hand and let him lead me back to his car.

  I hope she knows what the hell she's doing, because giving this man a chance at my heart feels like a very dangerous thing to do.

  "Which way?" Devon asks as I buckle myself in beside him.

  "Depends on where we're headed," I answer.

  He glances over at me from behind the steering wheel and swings the car onto the on ramp, "Forward," he grins, "we're going forward."

  Giddiness dances in my stomach at the potential behind his words, "In that case, keep going the same way you're headed now."

  We're on the 1, headed north up the coast toward Santa Cruz. Devon looks to his left occasionally and never fails to look amazed at the ocean when it's in view.

  "You act like you've never seen an ocean," I chide around the third time his head pivots.

  "Seen more than one. Just never had a chance to drive up
the coast like this, you know?"

  His voice is soft, awed, like he forgot he was doing the bad boy act thing.

  I like it.

  I shift in the passenger seat so I can get a better look at him. The sunroof is open, letting in just enough wind to ruffle his dirty blonde hair. He's tall, so there's not much clearance between the top of his head and the roof of the car.

  He's wearing aviator sunglasses that are tinted just enough that I can't see the blue that I remember his eyes being when I met him last night but I can see the faint hint of crows feet fanning out from the corners of his eyes when he smiles.

  I don't remember him smiling at all last night.

  He looks so different right now and I don't think it's just because it's day time. I think it's because his family isn't here.

  The tension I'd assumed was just part of him is gone, his body is relaxed and his face is covered in a wide grin that makes him look playful.

  I might be willing to play.

  "So what's your deal, Steph? You don't strike me as the mail order bride sort, why Raven?"

  As the highway veers inland for the next several miles, I watch him steer with his left hand on the wheel, his right hand resting casually on his denim encased thigh.

  He has really nice hands.

  For that matter, he has really nice thighs.

  My eyes wander across his body, sprawled out in the driver's seat, commanding the space like a man who's used to being in charge.

  I can't help but eye the fly of his jeans. Knowing what's hidden under that zipper, I get a little flustered as a wave of heat washes over me before I manage to answer his question.

  "Not mail order bride," I scoff, "just an arranged match. I'm tired of go-nowhere relationships with men who don't want the same thing as I do."

  "What's that?" His voice is all deep timber as he glances my way, "What do you want, Stephany?"

  I want your hands on me again, my brain screams inside my head as the sultry note of his voice vibrates through me. I tell my brain to shut the fuck up. Half an hour ago I never wanted to see him again and now I'm squirming on the passenger seat of his rental car hoping I'm not leaving a wet spot on the leather.

  "The same thing everyone else does," I tell him, "the happily ever after. It's the same thing people pay dating sites for all the time, advertising themselves in hopes of finding the right buyer. Raven just streamlines the process."

  "That's a helluva lot to pay for streamlining."

  The way he says it doesn't sound sarcastic.

  "Not in the long run. I know people who are paying monthly fees to multiple dating sites for premium accounts. I have one friend who's been on about 4 sites since he turned 18. He's been paying for upgraded accounts for 8 years and he still hasn't found what he's looking for. In the long run, Raven comes out cheaper. Not to mention, saving time and heartache."

  Devon shoots me a sideways glance and another one of those crooked grins that I'm starting to think I could get used to, "You sound like you know your numbers."

  "Guilty. Marketing and accounting. I can't help but crunch numbers and find the best spin on things."

  "Is that what you do for the company you work for?"

  "Sorta," I settle back in my seat and stare out the windshield as the ocean starts coming back into view, "I'm young and I'm female. The job I interviewed for went to someone else, and the job I got hired to do isn't what I'm actually doing."

  "You don't sound bitter at all," he teases, "Is it where you want to work?"

  I turn to look at him again. He's busy watching the road, which I appreciate because I like being alive, but also because I like looking at him when he's not watching me do it.

  "No," I say, "It's just the place that had an opening in my field in at a pay rate that could cover my bills. "

  Do I remind him that I'm willing to relocate? Where does he live again? Illinois? Somewhere near Chicago? It wasn't on his file and I'd already stopped paying attention when his parents were talking about it last night.

  Things are going well. Maybe bringing up something that reminds him of why we're here isn't the best idea.

  "I'd like to work for a company that I believe in," I decide to tread lightly, "but I don't plan on giving up my career."

  OK, maybe not too lightly.

  Chapter 12

  Devon

  The cab of the rental car is filled with the scent of Stephany. Some sort of fruity smelling shampoo or body wash or something. It's light and feminine and it makes my mouth water.

  My hand itches to reach over and touch her. Even if it's just to hold her hand. I'm trying to dial it back a notch but the more she talks the more I start thinking I want to do more than hold her damn hand.

  "How about you?" Stephany's voice breaks into my thoughts, "It seems kind of obvious that getting married isn't your idea, what's up with that?"

  Shit. I guess it was too much to ask to just sit beside her listening to her life story while I watched the great Pacific Ocean eat away at the shoreline.

  I open my mouth to say something stupid. Something arrogant that would just wreck the whole drive and probably my chances.

  Not just my chances to get in her pants. No. Worse than that, I realize, wreck my chances of developing anything meaningful with Steph.

  A lot of conflicting emotions are at war in my gut here. If I start something real with Stephany... shit. So what am I supposed to do? Never love a woman because I'm worried my family will run her off? Or that any woman who marries me would just be in it for the money and the lifestyle and she'll leave as soon as she finds out that's not what I'm about?

  Fuck it. I don't get the company till I get married. If I gotta do it anyway, I might as well take a chance with a woman that just might be up to the challenge.

  "I figured Raven probably told you what was up with that," I smile tightly.

  "Raven said it wasn't your idea," Stephany ventures softly, "She said she intentionally delayed finding you a match because she knew you weren't serious."

  "I don't know if that's exactly true." I say slowly, thinking it through. I always knew I never had Raven fooled. No matter how many times I assured her it was my idea to sign up with her, no matter how many times I told her I was serious about a wife. She always knew I was getting forced into it, that it was really Dad and Randy that were pushing to marry me off but I wouldn't exactly say I'm not serious about marriage.

  Finding a woman who'd be a good partner in my life and in my bed sounds pretty fucking sweet. It's just-- complicated.

  Truth is, I'm surprised Raven kept my file open at all. Shocked the hell outta me when she called to tell me about Steph.

  "Well, she didn't use those exact words I guess," Stephany says, "but she did say it wasn't your idea."

  "What words did she use, exactly?" I'm curious to know what the hell Raven said that got Stephany to agree to drive up the California coast line with me on a moment's notice.

  I hear Stephany giggle a little. It sounds so fucking sweet and I want to toss her down and tickle her so she'll do it again.

  Crazy ideas running through my head right now. Images of walking on that beach down there, barefoot while I hold Stephany's hand like some sort of fucking erectile dysfunction drug commercial.

  Except erectile dysfunction is about the opposite of what's going on with me. My damn dick keeps getting harder every time I hear her move on the leather seat next to me. She makes a little gasping sound when we come around a corner and the coastline comes into view again and the fucker jumps like it heard her.

  "Sorry," she tells me, sounding kinda shy, "I don't drive up this far very often, I always forget how gorgeous it is.

  It is gorgeous out here, somewhere north of Santa Cruz now, there's not much going on out here. Of course, there's something else I'd like to get a good look at too. Namely Stephany. Spread out under me while I drink that delicious pussy I got a taste of last night-- direct from the source this time.

  I see a turn of
f that leads down to a little parking lot with beach access, so I pull in.

  "So anyway," I remind her, "what did our friendly matchmaker say about me?"

  "Oh," she giggles again and I love it, "she says you're a smart choice."

  "What does that mean?" I'm still smiling as we leave the car and follow the path down to the beach, but I'm worried I know what it means. I know what it means when I hear my mom and Joanie say it.

  Raven had made a better impression on me than that. If she's selling me based on my earning potential or my family's net value, that impression just took a plunge.

  Stephany is ahead of me on the little wooden staircase that takes us down to the sand below. The beach here isn't like you think of when you think of California. The sky overhead is gray and the wind coming off the ocean is chilly, even though it's the middle of June. The waves are high and they crash violently on the sand and there's not much to the beach itself between jagged rock formations before it butts up against vertical cliff.

  When Stephany reaches the sand at the bottom of the stairs, she kicks off the canvas shoes she's wearing and waits for me to join her. She's looking up at me and for a second I feel like she's already mine.

  Something easy and familiar passes between us and I almost reach for her when I get to the bottom of the steps and pull her in for a kiss before I forget that I'm dialing it back.

  "She thinks you're a smart choice for me is all," Steph shrugs, "it means she thinks we'd be good together. It's what she does, Devon."

  Shit. I'm standing so close to her now, almost touching her just like last night. Only this time it's not because I'm trying to be a jackass or scare her off. This time it's because when I got to the bottom of the stairs, she didn't move out of the way. She's standing her ground, just like she did last night, and it makes me crazy with the need to feel her against me again.

  "What did she tell you?" Stephany looks up at me, her eyes filled with something I'm not sure I understand, "When she told you she found a match for you? What did she say about me?"