He stands and takes the papers from her hand. The distraction gives me a chance to memorize every detail about him, from his dark brown hair and bushy beard to his muscular chest, thickthighs, and large feet. I deliberately skip over the bulge in his pants. I’m not sure I could tear myself away if I looked at it much longer.
“Fern,” Aspen says.
“Hmm, what?” I jerk my head toward her, realizing I’ve been caught staring at Wayan.
“I asked if you would mind giving me a ride back into town so Wilder doesn’t have to make an extra trip.”
“You know I don’t mind driving you back into town.”
“I appreciate the offer, Wilder, but Fern and I live near each other. Besides, I don’t want to impose on you more than I already have.”
“It’s no problem. It’ll give us a chance to discuss our strategy for finding Wayan a match.” I force a smile on my face—the last thing I want is for Wayan to find a match, but it’s my job. “I’ll be in touch when I have some matches for you, Wayan.” His name slips out as a moan—luckily, he’s the only one who seems to notice. “Oh, and happy birthday, Wayan.” Images of me earlier, kneeling and giving him his birthday present, flash through my mind, making me think about other things I could give him as a birthday gift. Usually, couples do butt stuff on birthdays and anniversaries, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t mind doing that any time of the year with Wayan.
Great, now all I can think about is doing butt stuff with Wayan. Luckily, I can still feel the weight of him in my mouth andthe taste of him on my tongue, since I decided not to use the toothbrush he gave me.
three
Wayan
As Fern and Aspendrive away, Wilder follows me back into the cabin, asking questions about what he saw when he first walked in unannounced. Luckily, he didn’t arrive a few minutes earlier, or he definitely would have seen what we were doing.
“So why exactly were you only wearing a towel, and why did Fern’s hair look like she’d been outside during a tornado?”
“Just leave it alone, Wilder.” I try to push past him, but he grabs my arm.
“No, I’m not going to leave it alone. This is Aspen’s livelihood we’re talking about. If you did anything to jeopardize her business or one of her employees, you’ll have to answer to me.” Of course, my brother would want to protect Aspen and her business. Today is the first time I’ve met her, but she’s all he’s talked about for weeks.
Knowing Wilder won’t let it go until he’s satisfied with my answer, I decide to tell him the truth about what happened with Fern. “Fine, I’ll tell you what happened, but promise me you won’t say anything to anyone. I don’t want to risk Fern’s reputation.”
“I promise. But that doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass if you did anything to hurt her.” He tightens his grip on my arm before letting go.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want it any other way, brother.” Maybe I should let him kick my ass for what I did to Fern. I would, if she hadn’t admitted to liking it. “I had just stepped out of the shower when I heard a knock on the door. Since you and Warren never knock, and since it's my birthday, I thought you had sent me a singing birthday gram—like someone in a gorilla costume or some shit like that. But when I opened the door and saw Fern standing there, looking like the best damn present I could have ever asked for—I figured you’d hired her from an escort servicelike you talked about a few weeks ago. Especially when she told me she was from the agency and that you had hired her, what was I supposed to think?”
“Please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”
I hesitate, not wanting to tell him all the details, “Let’s just say we had an encounter right before you arrived. I apologized to her when I realized my mistake.”
“Damn it, Wayan. You can’t let anyone find out what happened with Fern. It could damage her reputation and harm Aspen’s business,” Wilder says, pacing and gripping the back of his neck.
“I won’t. I’ll go through with the six-month mail-order bride contract and make sure no one ever finds out what we did.” I don’t mention that he’ll be getting his money back from the mail-order bride company because there’s no way I’m giving up on Fern.
“Good. Good.” He stops pacing and turns to face me. “You’ll need to apologize to Fern again tomorrow." Not a problem, I was already planning to see Fern again tomorrow. Now that I’ve found her, I’m not sure I can let her out of my sight. “I’ll do my best to distract Aspen while you and Fern find a match for you. I don’t think she saw anything she considered suspicious. She’s a good girl, I doubt she would have understood it if she’d seen it.”
“What the hell, Wilder? Like Fern isn’t a good girl?” Anger like I’ve never felt before runs through my body.
“Sorry, Wayan, but what kind of woman has an “encounter” — he lifts his hands and uses air quotes for the last word — “with a man she just met?”
“Don’t you dare suggest she’s not a good girl. I’m a virgin, and I had an “encounter”—I lift my hands and use air quotes like he did for the last word— “Does that make me a slut?”
“Look, Wayan. I don’t know what that makes either of you, but you heard her--she doesn’t want to get married and start a family of her own.”
She might have said those words, but from the look in her eyes, she didn’t mean them. And since I’m not ready to tell my brother that I plan to make her his sister-in-law soon, I decide to go along with the whole mail-order-bride plan. “It’s fine. It was just a lapse in judgment on both our parts. And who knows, maybe this time next year you might have a sister-in-law and a niece or a nephew just in time for Christmas.” Especially if I can convince Fern to be my wife and the mother of our children by any means possible.
four
Fern
“Wait a minute. Tellus again how you accidentally ended up giving one of our potential clients a blow job.” Rue can barely get the words out— she’s laughing so hard. “Was he lying on the floor naked, and you tripped with your mouth open, then just happened to land on his cock?"
