Married With Malice: An Arranged Marriage Romance
Married With Malice: Chapter 22

The first lesson to learn at Bright Hearts Ranch is that the days begin early. This is my second morning waking up in a bedroom filled with eccentric Halloween decor and even before I check the time I know that I’ll be the last one awake.

Sadie laughed when I asked if there was a reason for Halloween decorations in January.

“My BFF often spends the night here and she’s obsessed with spooky season. You’ll meet her.”

Sadie’s quirky energy is infectious. When she’s not urging me to dance with her in the living room while her favorite Elton John music spins on the vintage record player, she’s asking for my opinion on how to arrange the furniture in the baby nursery and then pushing a coat into my arms so we can go visit the four-legged residents in the luxury kennel she calls The Doghouse.

While the only thing I’ve done to deserve her enthusiasm is to exist, I’m thrilled to be included in her inner circle. Sadie loves all living creatures, she loves her ranch and most of all, she loves her husband.

Even now, as I lay here enveloped in a cozy bed while dreading the moment when I’ll be greeting the chilly air, the faint cadence of her chirpy voice echoes from somewhere in the house. From what I’ve seen, Sadie rarely sits still during her waking hours and not even being eight-and-a-half months pregnant can put a dent in her energy.

Meanwhile, I’m huddled under the covers like a hospital patient. I could swear the pumpkins, witches and bats decorating all four walls of the room are currently chastising me for laziness.

Rolling to my side, I give myself the luxury of one final decadent moment to lounge while delicious thoughts of Luca fill my head. He sleeps in another bedroom. While I passionately miss the feel of his warm, strong body, I appreciate his intentions.

We already know that the physical side of our relationship is mind-blowing and hot and consuming. But sometimes all that incredible sex has a way of blotting out everything else. Luca is sincere about proving he is invested on our marriage. If Cale and Sadie have questions about why we’re sleeping apart, they’re tactful enough not to mention it.

My husband has asked me for a date tonight. The small town of Sleepy Rock might not be brimming with sophisticated night life but we could get drive thru fast food for all I care. As long as I’m with him.

There’s music playing now. The volume is low but when I sit up and listen, I can make out the notes of Elton John singing Tiny Dancer. Sadie’s attachment to Elton John borders on obsessive. She’s already pushed some vintage record albums into my arms and ordered me to bring them back to New York.

With a chuckle, I roll back the covers, jump to my feet and shiver as I collect some clothes from my suitcase before darting across the hall to the bathroom.

Though my wrist is still a little stiff from that mountainside stumble in the blizzard, I’m tired of wearing an elastic bandage so I leave it off. However, my hopes that a quick shower will leave me feeling energized and invigorated aren’t fulfilled. I am now starting to feel like the family slacker.

No matter what, I’m determined to be useful today. It’s possible I’ll be more motivated after a cup (or five) of heavily sugared caffeine. All I need to do is find some.

Two wolf-sized dogs are standing in the hallway when I emerge from the bathroom. Their tales swing around and they compete for the right to press their wet noses into my hand.

“Good morning, Zeus. Good morning, Apollo.” I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to a dog before I arrived at Bright Hearts Ranch but I’m now in the habit of greeting them the way I’d greet people.

Zeus and Apollo follow me down the hall to the kitchen. I don’t run into anyone else along the way but the sounds of Bright Hearts Ranch life have already become familiar. A litter of three-week-old puppies yaps merrily in the windowed room that’s used as an animal hospital. The neigh of a horse penetrates from the outdoors, followed by the joyful barking of the dogs currently running amok in the fenced play yard. The only unidentifiable noise is a series of sporadic hard thumps but I’ll bet this can be traced to one of Cale’s handyman projects.

Some thoughtful person has brewed a full pot of coffee and I waste no time helping myself to a cup. As I wander over to the long farmhouse sink to peer out the window, a flash of muscled skin prompts me to shove the eyelet curtain out of the way so I can get a better look.

Luca’s out there, just on the other side of the window on a bald patch of yard that contains only a flat tree stump. He’s shirtless. He’s chopping wood. A pair of battered jeans mold to his hips and the veins in his arms pop as he swings an ax down to make a clean break.

CHOP

He wears a black knit cap on his head and two days of dark beard growth shadow his jaw.

CHOP

Wow. The whole rough and rugged country boy theme was never my top pick but things can sure change in a hurry.

CHOP

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve never been into anything as hard as I’m into this.

CHOP

Luca has my consent to march into the kitchen, toss me over his broad, manly shoulder and drag me to the nearest remote log cabin for some steamy lumberjack role play.

CHOP

Dear god, inject this into my veins. And then…

“Anni.”

I shriek.

The mug wobbles in my hands but mercifully doesn’t fall.

Sadie’s eyebrows shoot up. She’s wearing a different set of overalls today. These are dark denim. “Are you okay?”

“Absolutely. I was just drinking coffee. And looking out the window. Luca’s out there.”

Sadie arches her back and gives her belly an absent rub before shuffling over.

I’ve never given a passing second of thought to being pregnant. Being around Sadie has changed my attitude. Or perhaps the attitude shift has more to do with Luca. When I imagine being pregnant with our child, feeling the tiny kicks of a new life that’s half me and half him, I nearly melt into a puddle on the kitchen tile.

Sadie joins me at the sink and takes in the sight of Luca building a pile of firewood while inexplicably shirtless. “These Connelly boys sure come from good stock.”

“Yes they do.” I sip my coffee to thwart the drool threatening to slip from the corner of my mouth.

Speaking of Connelly boys, the eldest now comes thudding into the kitchen with heavy booted footsteps and a stern glare of disapproval. Cale yanks his leather work gloves off, leans moodily against the breakfast bar and gestures at the window.

“What the hell is that fool doing? It’s twenty degrees outside and he’s dressed for a day at the damn beach.”

“Shush,” Sadie says. “You’re interfering with your brother’s game.”

“We don’t even need more wood. What are you talking about?”

Sadie explains with the patience of a saint. “Clearly, Luca is creating some mountain man porn for his wife. Leave him alone.”

Cale appears disgusted by this information but that’s just tough. I’m going to salivate over my half naked husband whether Cale approves or not.

However, we’re not the only ones who have noticed Luca’s lack of weather appropriate clothing.

Just as Luca slays another block of wood, Peggy slams out of the house. I can’t hear her, but I see her lips move as she mutters angrily to herself. She stalks right over to Luca, speaks some harsh words that cause him to pause mid-chop, and then she throws one of her circus-colored blanket sweaters over his upper body.

My view has now been ruined but Luca seems amused. He endures Peggy’s lecture, sets his ax down and directs a wry grin at the window.

He knew all along that I was watching. Of course he did.

In the end, he agreeably follows Peggy back into the house.

Sadie pats my arm. “You should go rescue Luca before Peggy makes him cry.”

This is a possibility. Peggy, the sharp-tongued assistant caretaker of Bright Hearts Ranch, has a way of taking it personally when she finds someone making unwise choices. I speak from experience.

With the rental car out of commission, Cale drove his truck up to the resort to fetch us as soon as the roads were clear. Within ten minutes of my arrival, Peggy had plunked me down on a chair in her kitchen, deposited a bowl of hearty stew in front of my face and ordered me to eat it.

“So you don’t get muddled and wander into a blizzard again,” she announced and then watched me spoon up every mouthful with hawk eyes that never wavered. Declaring that I’m unlikely to get ‘muddled’ again anytime soon was a waste of time.

Before rescuing Luca from Peggy’s tough love, I take a detour to his room in order to grab a shirt for him. This room is less exciting than the Halloween room but it’s cozy with a chaotically colored quilt that could only have come from the hands of Peggy.

Luca tends to be neat so I’m unsurprised to see the bed nicely made with none of his belongings strewn on the floor. He even hung some of his clothes in the tiny closet, expecting that we’ll be here for a little while. Somehow the sight of his most casual clothing items carefully hung on the closet rack delights me to no end.

I select a dark blue hoodie with the name of his law school embroidered on the front and after checking to make sure no one is observing from the doorway, I hold it up to my face and inhale. Beneath the fresh linen scent of laundry detergent, there’s a musky hint of his cologne. My mind summons a jumble of naughty memories and I’m forced to quit sniffing his clothes before I swoon.

Cuddling the hoodie to my chest, I backtrack across the house and knock on the door that connects Peggy’s little apartment to the main house.

Peggy opens the door and immediately turns her back as she walks to the stove.

“No need to knock,” she says as she whirls a large wooden spoon around in a large stock pot. “This isn’t a hotel.”

“Okay,” I reply, unsure what a hotel has to do with anything.

Luca spills out of a kitchen chair that’s inadequate for his long body. Peggy’s exotic yarn creation threatens to fall from his shoulders.

The grin he flashes pierces me like a lightning bolt.

“What is that?” I point to the bowl-sized mug of foggy liquid in his hands.

“Bone broth,” Peggy says as she stirs emphatically on the stove.

“So I don’t get pneumonia,” Luca adds. “From what I hear, the pneumonia was just about to happen but now it won’t.”

“You’re cheekier than your brother,” Peggy gripes, still stirring.

“Am I cheeky?” Luca asks me.

“Exceedingly.” I throw the hoodie at him. “Here. Your nipples are showing.”

Luca cracks up at the wedding day reference and pulls on the sweatshirt.

Over the last couple of days, the tightness has dropped from his shoulders. The sharp angles that had begun to carve their way into his face have disappeared and his eyes have lost their new haunted wariness. He hasn’t even been carrying his gun.

He’s the real Luca again. The fun-loving Luca who is forever equipped with snappy sarcasm and enjoys laughing.

Oh, how I adore him.

“Drink this.” Peggy delivers a mug of bone broth to me and pulls out the second kitchen chair, a sign that I’m expected to occupy it.

“You better do it,” Luca deadpans. “If I can’t have pneumonia then you can’t have it either.”

I nudge his ankle with my toe under the table and mouth the word, “Behave.”

His eyes gleam as he mouths back the word, “No.”

“Peggy,” I say. “I was wondering if I could spend some time with you in the kitchen while I’m staying here. I could really use some cooking lessons and I’ll try not to get in the way. I’ll understand if you’re too busy but I’d really appreciate any time you can spare.”

She stops stirring. “I wouldn’t mind that.”

“Thank you, Peggy.” I sip my bone broth like an obedient houseguest while cats prowl all over the place and the little brown dog named Tinkerbell naps on a pillow bed in the corner.

Peggy won’t allow Luca to leave her kitchen until he’s finished his broth. Then she banishes him to the yard.

“Go help your brother.” She gestures to the window. “He works too hard. Any minute now he’ll fall down from exhaustion and I’ll need to pick him up.”

I don’t know which is more difficult to picture; the mighty Cale Connelly having a fainting spell or the idea of petite Peggy lifting him up.

“I can’t let that happen,” Luca says, rising from the chair with a stretch.

I pluck at the front of his hoodie. “Wear a jacket. It is cold out there.”

He moves closer and cages my knees between his legs. “I’ll consider it,” he says. “For a price.”

“No filthy requests in front of Peggy,” I warn.

“Or you’ll get the broom,” Peggy says ominously. She has begun pulling ingredients out of the pantry.

There’s a yellow-bristled broom with a chipped red handle leaning against the wall beside the stove. I’m unsure what Peggy means to do with it if she’s disobeyed.

“I definitely don’t want the broom,” Luca decides. He bends down, his smile loaded with charm. “Kiss me, Anni.”

How can I say no? Pulling him by the fabric of his hoodie, our lips meet for a few delirious seconds and then I break away.

“That’s all the action you’re getting until our date tonight.”

“Gives me something to aim for.” He kisses two fingers and presses them to my lips, jogging a memory of our wedding night when he did the same thing in a hospital hallway. “Until tonight, my love.”

The second he’s gone, Peggy shakes her head and measures out a cup of sugar.

“That boy,” she says like a swear even though I see the ghost of a smile battling her mouth.

There’s a smile on my face and I don’t try to erase it at all.

That boy.