Page 3 of My Orc Package Deal

“You’re marrying an orc?” Joss hissed as she stepped around the dunes when her music cue rose. I barely saw her stumble toward the aisle, because I was distracted by…well, by my wedding.

Dammit, I’d forgotten to breathe again, my gaze sweeping over the gathered crowd. They weren’t all orcs, but yeah, it was clear that Korrad had quite the group of friends.

I’d known Milo’s best friend was an orc, of course, since the two of them had become so close online. So it hadn’t been a surprise to meet Korrad that afternoon.

Well, maybe it had a bit.

I hadn’t expected him to be so hot.

And there he was, waiting for me under the arbor Jay had put together, his twin brother at his side. Jay—I still couldn’t believe the kid planned all this—was glancing anxiously between me and his father, holding a clipboard and a smartphone, and when I nodded firmly, he looked a little relieved.

Then he punched something on the phone, and Pachelbel’s Canon swept across the beach, and I took my son’s hand.

“Come on, Milo. Let’s go meet your new father.”

I was proud of the way my voice didn’t betray my inner monologue, which was currently Oh-shit-what-are-you-doing? as loud as possible. Instead, my chin went up, my back straightened, and I marched across the sand in the way Kesha Briley had always met her problems: head-on, with more than a little sass.

I was going to marry this stranger for my son’s sake.

Again, I was thankful for Milo’s distraction; I was so focused on his good behavior—Please don’t make a bad first impression, please don’t make a bad first impression!—that I was down the aisle before I had a chance to consider that all these guests I didn’t know were staring at me. They were all smiling, but I was too busy gripping Milo’s hand and praying he remembered the plan to acknowledge it.

Then I was there, under the plumeria-and-sea-holly-arbor, and Milo was grinning up at me. He squeezed my hand once—was he comforting me?—and scampered off to stand beside Jay, as we’d discussed.

And I was turning to Korrad, reaching for his hands as the officiant prompted…

Oh.

When his huge green hands, the claws retracted from the tips of his fingers, closed around mine, I sucked in a breath at the warm tingle, and my gaze slammed upward to his.

Korrad’s eyes were as dark as mine, but somehow…warm? Could eyes be cozy?

No, that was dumb.

I’d spent the last decade as a copy editor of fiction, and if one of my authors tried to describe eyes as cozy, I would insert a snarky comment about adjective usage.

But…cozy was the only way I could think of to describe Korrad’s eyes in that moment. Or maybe that’s how they made me feel? Staring up at them, I felt myself exhaling, then inhaling slowly again…my breathing was matching his, wasn’t it?

When I realized that, I felt myself warming, relaxing…

And then he smiled.

Oh.

Oh wow.

Korrad was handsome enough—I mean, when he wasn’t smiling. He had this full beard that seemed to go with his trending-toward-a-Dad-Bod physique, and his tusks were starkly white against the dark hair. I hadn’t thought I was a fan of beards until I’d met him this afternoon.

But when he smiled?

The flash of white beneath that beard? The way his eyes crinkled?

Oh wow.

Suddenly, it was a little difficult to breathe again.

His hands tightened around mine, that smile turning soft. The officiant—I think Jay had said this tall orc in a suit was the mayor?—was droning on about something, but I couldn’t seem to drag my attention away from Korrad, even to check on Milo.

I just had to trust he was safe with Jay.