His eyes bug out. “For real?”
“Yes. Today.”
He takes a step back. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“At the risk of sounding crass, why?”
“It feels right. I knew it almost as soon as I set eyes on her. I can’t explain it, but I’ve never felt like this with any other woman in my life.”
“So, you could take her on a date,” he suggests, chuckling.
“There are other factors. Turns out her father is a fucking jackass. He uses her as his personal slave, and when she doesn’t do what he wants how he wants it, he punishes her.”
“Fuck. She’s…what? Twenty?”
“Yes. I couldn’t let her go back there. It didn’t sit well with me. And she was very nervous about how improper it would be for her to stay with me as an unmarried woman. So, I made the leap.”
He grins wider. “You’re fucking getting married. Today.”
“Yes, I am.” I have zero reservations about my decision, either. Not one.
Aaric reaches into the back seat of his truck and starts pulling out bags and handing them to me. “No wonder you wanted so many things. I doubt I got everything a woman needs, but it’s a start. Is she really as tiny as you indicated? I was nervous buying such small clothes.”
“She really is. They’ll be baggy on her for a while. She’s undernourished.”
“Well, she won’t be for long. Not with the way we cook around here.” He suddenly pauses. “You didn’t ask for condoms.”
I shrug. “Don’t need them. She’s coming to our bed tonight as my wife.”
“You sure she’s okay with that?”
“I’m not going to force her to get pregnant, if that’s what you’re asking. If she’s not down with the idea, I’m sure one of you has condoms around here.”
Aaric laughs. “I might have a box.”
I roll my eyes. “See?”
“When was the last time you had sex, man? How the hell are you so unprepared?”
I shoot him a mind-your-own-business look. “It’s been a while. If I had any, they would have expired.”
“You’re too ugly for any girl to want to fuck you,” he jokes, laughing.
“If I am, then you are, too.” Since we’re identical.
Aaric helps me carry everything in and set it all on the kitchen table.
“Thanks again. Can you do me one more favor?”
“The list of favors you owe me is growing longer by the minute,” he teases. I know he doesn’t mind helping me; I would do the same for him in a heartbeat.
“Can you bring some food up from the main house? I rarely eat here. It’s pretty bare. I don’t think we’ll be joining you at the family dining room for a few days.”
“I’m on it.” He slaps my shoulder. “And congratulations. I haven’t seen Rebekah since we got back, of course, but she was always the sweetest child. And if I remember correctly, she worshiped you. Didn’t she tell you she would marry you when she grew up?”
“She did.” I beam. “I guess I’m the sexiest of us, after all.”
