9. Mira
Mira
“We do not fraternize with the enemy,” I tell Molly glaring at her. I told Cord he could only stay with me if Molly and Milo decided they liked him. Milo was only too happy to cover him in kisses and Molly promptly showed him her belly. These two are shameless.
“Oh, it’s not her fault,” Cord answers, giving my dog a tummy rub. “You’re just the sweetest girl, aren’t you? You want to come up here in my lap? I’ve got a special treat just for you, yes, I do.”
I glare at him as he settles on the floor, and my little hussy of a dog crawls right into his lap. He produces a dog treat from his pocket. “Don’t worry. These are the ones that your mommy makes so they won’t bother your allergies at all.”
He glances up to see me staring at him and smirks. “What about you? I could give you a treat too.”
I make a noise of disgust even though the last thing I am is disgusted. The best move here would be to tell my dad I’ve lied, kick Cord out, and accept whatever consequences come from the “messy” divorce that was promised.
Except my dad still is recovering from a brain tumor, and while it’s annoying to have a new roommate I didn’t ask for, Cord has always been kind and considerate.
Plus, Molly and Milo like him, and they are excellent judges of character.
The only real problem—the one I don’t want to admit to myself—is that I’ll have to keep my hands off my new husband.
I could give you a treat too.
Okay, if my husband is going to be here then I need to set some rules or I’m going to spend a year having the best sex of my life and nursing a broken heart that I will never recover from after.
As it is, just being away from him over the past day hurt me in a way I didn’t expect.
“If you’re going to be living with me, I have a few guidelines I’d like to go over. ”
He leans back, Molly still in his lap. She’s clearly enamored with the cowboy, and who could blame the girl?
“Guideline one, we’re not sleeping together.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll sleep in my own bed.”
“I mean, no sex,” I specify, since he’s insistent on making me spell it out.
He smirks. “Define sex. Are we just talking intercourse or—?”
I blow out a breath, frustrated by how much this conversation is turning me on. How is it he always manages to do that? “Intercourse, foreplay, anything that makes us tingle below the pants, got it?”
He nods but doesn’t object. “Got it. Anything else?”
Now, that I’ve taken sex off the table, I figure I’ll go for the one thing that should have him moving on.
“No women here. We’re not sleeping together, but I don’t want to see you parading other women around.
If you’re claiming that we’re married, I expect you to be faithful.
That means a year of no sex for either of us. ”
“Done.”
“I’m asking for celibacy and fidelity. And you’re just giving them both?” I stare at him. He hasn’t blinked once since this entire conversation started. If anything, he seems perfectly relaxed.
He shrugs. “If it’s not sex with my wife, I don’t want it.”
“OK, final guideline. This is the dealbreaker.”
“Toilet seat always down,” he agrees quickly.
“No, but that’s a really good one, so we’ll keep it as part A. Part B of the third guideline is that you don’t say nice stuff to me.”
“You mean, like telling you how pretty you look?”
“Exactly.”
“Objection, your honor.”
I glare at him but there’s no real heat to my expression. “To which one?”
“Guideline three B. Husband reserves the right to say nice things to his wife but will limit it to no more than three compliments daily.”
I sniff. “Fair enough. But that’s the limit. More than that will land you in contempt. Any other objections?”
“Not a one.”
“Then we’ve struck a bargain.” I hold out my hand to him.
He sets Molly down and rises to his feet, taking my hand in his big, capable one. “It’s a deal.”
The next morning, the smell of food cooking wakes me from sleep, and I stumble out of bed to the kitchen. Thunderstorms were predicted overnight which made it hard for me to sleep. I kept waiting for them, but fortunately, there wasn’t so much as a rumble in the sky.
Cord greets me with a nod. “Figured your first day back was worth celebrating, so I made pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.”
I told him on our honeymoon that my mom used to make pancakes for breakfast on special days. I glance toward the plate and can’t believe he cared this much. My ex never would have thought of doing something like this. “Thank you.”
“Already fed Molly and Milo too. The three of us had a good walk today.”
I skirt around the table, stubbing my toes on the yellow paint cans. I scowl down at the cans like they’ve done something wrong, and yeah, I swear a little bit too.
“You okay?” He asks, flipping another pancake.
“Yeah, fine. One of these days, I’m going to paint this kitchen. Picked the perfect shade of yellow, and I’ve just been too busy to do it.” I take a seat and inspect my toes. Barely a mark despite the pulsing pain.
I eat breakfast, making small talk with Cord about his upcoming plans for the day. He says he’s going to see about an interview in Mount Bliss. “It’s about halfway between here and Courage County so the daily commute won’t be as long.”
I’m kind of surprised he’s looking for a job so quickly.
Stuart spent the last two years, insisting that he was “working on” a channel about video games.
Like most of his endeavors, it went nowhere because he could only work when he was in the mood.
Then again, Cord isn’t Stuart. Even when we were on our honeymoon, he didn’t like to stay still.
He’d never be okay with being a kept man, and something about that only makes him more attractive to me.
A man with a strong work ethic is sexy as hell.
After stuffing myself with pancakes, I take a quick shower before gathering the pups. I pause at the front door. I don’t know what he’s planning to do today. “I tend to be home around six o’clock.”
“See you then,” he answers cheerfully then presses a kiss to my forehead. “Go out there and conquer the world, pretty girl.”
At work, I drop Molly and Milo off at doggy daycare.
I love that I built a company where our employees can get free pet care and childcare.
I figure it takes a village, and we have a responsibility to be each other’s village.
A lot of people seem to agree with me, given that the company always ranks on the “best companies to work for” lists on the internet.
It takes me twice as long to make it back to my desk because so many people stop and chat about my honeymoon.
I show off pictures from our time in Hawaii.
Well, the pictures that I’m comfortable sharing.
A few of them are just for me. Moments where I’m lying in Cord’s arms as he snores peacefully beside me or that moment right after we made our first hike together.
I spend the first hour of my workday listening to my assistant catch me up on all the things I missed while I was away. Then it’s all about diving into the paperwork. So much paperwork.
“Focus, you get to go home after this,” I remind myself. Home where my hot husband is waiting. My hot husband who agreed that we wouldn’t have sex. Still, it’ll be nice to come home to him, someone who makes me pancakes just because he wants me to have a good day and feeds Molly and Milo treats.
My day crawls by. I keep waiting for it to be over, and if I’m honest, it’s been that way for a while. Even before I got married, I’ve spent the last couple of years reminding myself that I’ve built a good thing and that it’s important I make sure it’s running properly.
There’s a knock on my door, and I glance up to see my father standing there. He gives me a broad smile. “How’s married life?”
“Cord is amazing. He makes me really happy,” I answer easily. I figure there’s no point in telling my dad all the details about how Cord and I really met.
He gives me a grin. “Will he join us for burgers on Saturday?”
The two of us have a standing lunch date on Saturday for burgers, and it’s one of the highlights of my week. We don’t talk business. We just hang out and drink cheap beer and yell at our favorite sports teams. “He’ll be there.”
“Good. Looking forward to getting to know him.”
I open my mouth to tell him the real truth, that I barely know my husband. But before I can confess, his phone rings. He gives me a wink. “Duty calls. See you then if I don’t see you before.”
I watch him disappear and sigh. I’ll tell him the truth soon, but not yet. I need to wait until a good moment. Besides, he’s on call, and it’s time for me to go home. I can’t believe how much I’m looking forward to seeing Cord again.
It’s just excitement because my body has been conditioned to expect orgasms when I see him.
That’s all it is, I tell myself as I step inside the townhouse.
I follow the overwhelming smell of paint to find my husband in just his blue jeans and cowboy boots.
He’s in a white T-shirt with a few specks of yellow paint on it, holding a paint roller in one hand.
He gives me a triumphant smile. “Kitchen is done.”
“You painted my kitchen,” I exclaim as I creep toward the pet gate that he’s already put up to keep the babies from getting into the paint. Everything is clean and gleaming, the floors swept and the appliances carefully taped up. He thought of everything.
“And I got takeout for dinner too,” he says and steps around a tray of paint to grab the food. He passes the cartons and drinks before he steps over the gate with those long legs of his.
After feeding Molly and Milo, we settle on the couch together. The two of them are between us, watching eagerly as we eat with chopsticks. No doubt they’re both hoping Cord will give them a treat if they’re patient.
“How did your interview today go?” If I’d ever asked Stuart, it would have been a touchy subject. He would have accused me of nagging him or wanting to know his business. But things are different with Cord.
“Good,” he says brightly. “Worked for almost six hours and kept up with the team which means Crew is hiring me on a temporary basis.”
“What exactly do you do for Crew?”
“Logging.”
I nearly swallow a piece of shrimp the wrong way. “Like cutting down trees? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Sure, but the money is good. Besides, I get out there in the fresh air with a group of guys on the mountain. He’s got this whole conservation and preservation thing going.
We plant two trees on average for every one that gets taken, and every part of the tree is used.
Nothing is wasted. It’s sustainable, good for the environment, and good for his town.
” There’s no hiding the admiration in his voice.
I love that he’s someone who needs to believe in the mission of where he works.
It’s not enough to clock in and take a paycheck.
He needs to know he’s making a difference and holy hell, it’s hot to think about him out there with a chainsaw, cutting down trees.
“What about you? How did your first day back go?”
“Everyone was really nice,” I answer quietly.
“You don’t sound all that thrilled,” he presses.
“You know what you were just talking about, the passion in your voice? It’s been so long since I felt that level of passion for my company. Don’t get me wrong. I still love it, but something is different now.”
He’s quiet for a long moment, and I like this about him. I like that he pauses to think before he speaks. “Sometimes, our passion for the work disappears. When I started in the Marines, I was excited and driven. But on that final helicopter flight out, I knew I was never coming back.”
Sadness blankets me as I connect the dots. The scars on his chest, the way he mentioned the bomb blast, and the final helicopter out. “You should have said something about our tour in the helicopter. I could have changed the plan.”
He shakes his head. “I’d go to the ends of the earth for you.”
I finish my food and place it on the coffee table, tucking a leg under myself.
I don’t know what to make of that statement, so I tuck it away to think about it later.
“I guess I’m feeling restless. I have been for about a year.
I miss the days when I spent all of my time inventing new recipes for my fur babies.
Now it’s all just endless contracts, negotiations and marketing decisions. ”
“Is there a way you could go back to doing that? I mean, it’s your company. You should get to do the fun part.”
I shrug. I haven’t thought about it like that, and it’s another thing to store away. “I did see my dad at work today. We normally have lunch together on Saturdays. Can you come along? You know, for appearance’s sake.”
“I promised Bronco, I’d be at Valor this weekend. I’m leaving Friday afternoon.”
“Oh, I guess you have to split your time between the townhouse and Courage County,” I say softly, wondering about the place he lives. From what Lauren has shared online, Valor Ranch is peaceful and serene.
He nods. “I’ll talk with him and see what I can do. But yeah, I’ll have to split my time for a while. You could come along with me this weekend. You know, for appearance’s sake.”
I consider how he said he’d go to the ends of the earth for me, how he went on the hike with no questions asked, joined me on the helicopter ride, and spent our entire honeymoon following me around. “I’d like to visit the ranch you love so much.”
The grin that he gives me lights up his entire face. I think I’m about to learn what it really means to be a cowboy’s wife.