Page 19 of Married to the Alien Mountain Man (Cowboy Colony Mail-Order Brides #5)

19

JAYA

A fter I brought my ship to land in what was essentially Oaken’s backyard, we entered into what should have been a comfortable routine. I slept in my ship at night, and Oaken and I often spent at least some moments together during the day. Truly, I had no complaints.

Except…

Except Oaken seemed to be getting quiet on me. And I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. I mean, he was still his polite, lovely, generous self. He brought me food and water and was constantly making sure I wasn’t too hot, too cold, and did I bring my hat out here?

But his smiles seemed fewer. Conversations between us felt heavier. I finally got to see the true colour of his eyes – the most beautiful dark green I’d ever seen, brightening to a cool, lively mint in the middle – as if he was exerting some kind of inner control on himself that he hadn’t bothered with when we’d first met.

It made me want to tear my fucking hair out.

And the strangest part was, he wasn’t even avoiding me. If anything, he was doing the opposite. Between chores, he lurked near my ship, watching me as I worked, but not speaking.

I missed the sound of his voice. And I hated that I missed it. Because if I already missed it now, when the big green guy was only a few metres away, what the hell was I going to do when I left this planet behind for good?

This was a penal colony. I wouldn’t be allowed to come visit whenever I needed an Oaken fix.

Trying to ignore the depressing weirdness that was building between us, I threw myself into work on the Lavariya.

But after a week, there was no more work to do. Nothing to do but wait for the delivery of the sonic recalibrater and count down the days until I would have to leave.

Have to leave?

No, get to leave.

Right?

I still had at least a week with him. But I was going to lose my freaking mind if we spent the last seven days we had together mired in whatever this awkwardness between us was.

So on the morning of the eighth day, I got up at the crack of Zabrian Prinar One dawn. Today, I was going to change things.

Today, I was going to start Oaken’s husband lessons.

Invigorated with a purpose that would force my fake husband to talk to me, I got ready for the day quickly, then opened the Lavariya’s door.

Oaken was on the other side.

“Um. Good morning. What are you doing?” I asked him, startled to see him there. I knew he got up early, but wasn’t that to do chores? Why was he right outside my ship, bent over and…

“I am putting away my tent,” he said. His strong arms and shoulders flexed and bulged as he bound up his leather bundle.

“Your tent? What? Why?” I glanced down at a flattened patch of grass. “Did you sleep out here?”

“Of course,” Oaken said, seeming surprised by my question. “I’ve slept out here every night.”

“Every night?” I asked incredulously. “Since when?”

“Since the night you first brought the ship to this spot. Although, the night before that I did not sleep in my bed, either, because you were in it. So I slept on the bedroom floor.”

“What the hell? Why?” I asked. “The whole reason I moved the ship here was so that you wouldn’t have to sleep outside!”

“I know.”

“Did you know about this?” I asked Lala, dragging her out of my pocket.

“Of course I did. I am integrated with all of the Lavariya’s sensors. I knew he was out there.”

I raised her up to the level of my eyes. Her visual sensors stared back innocently.

“And you didn’t think to tell me this?”

“No,” Lala said primly. “I have determined that Oaken poses no risk to you, therefore you did not need to be informed. In fact, he is a very positive factor in your environment. There were several days during the past week when the only reason you did not get dehydrated is because he kept filling up your water when you were not looking. As far as I am concerned, he may sleep as close to the Lavariya as he likes.”

Oaken appeared to perk up at that. For the first time in days, he beamed, his eyes burning briefly white.

“Thank you, Lala!”

“Yeah, thanks Lala,” I muttered sarcastically, tucking her back into my pocket.

Why was he smiling at Lala and not me?

Fucking hell. Somebody help me.

I was jealous.

I’d literally never been jealous over a guy before, let alone for something as small as who he smiled at.

But I was now.

Well, I would just need to put my big girl panties on and get over it, pronto. How the hell was I supposed to prepare Oaken for his next human bride when I was getting pissy about something like this?

I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing deeply.

We’re cool. We’re zen. We’re absolutely fine.

When I opened my eyes again, I almost believed it.

“What are you working on today, Oaken?”

“I shall start as I always do,” he said. “I must milk the female bracku, check on the rest of the herd, check the fencing, walk Nali…”

“Busy, busy. Well, I hope you don’t mind if I tag along.”

“You… You need a tag? That is long?” He rubbed thoughtfully at the back of his neck. “What sort of tag?”

“No. I mean, I hope you don’t mind if I come with you.”

His eyes, which had begun to turn green once more, blazed bright white.

A taut silence, and then, gruffly, “I don’t mind.”

“Great,” I said, nodding with satisfaction. “Because today we start your husband lessons.”

“My husband lessons?”

“I want to help prepare you for your next wife. Help you stand out from the other guys. So that you can easily win over whichever sexy lady catches your eye.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t seem very excited about it,” I observed, noticing the tension that entered his jaw and the shadowy emotion that passed over his face.

“I would be pleased to receive any advice you wanted to give me,” he said in a voice that did not sound pleased at all. “I just… In all honesty, I had rather forgotten about the possibility of marrying someone else after you.”

“You forgot?”

That made no sense. According to Darcy and the others, Oaken was one of the guys who was most excited to get his human bride. I thought he was praying and pining and crossing all his big green fingers and toesies!

He’d certainly been enthusiastic about the prospect of marrying me, and that was only for two weeks!

Oh, God. Was he so unhappy with me already that I’d turned him off of all other human women? I’d bothered him so much that he’d given up on what had once been his greatest dream?

I knew I hadn’t been some starry-eyed, lovey-dovey wife or anything like that, but had he grown to dislike me that much?

“I promise, there are some amazing people out there, Oaken,” I said, panic and a surprising amount of pain rising in my throat. “And you’re such a wonderful guy. I have no doubt you’ll end up with someone lovely. You deserve it.”

He didn’t look convinced. It made my heart feel like somebody was stomping on it. Before I could stop myself, I’d grasped his hand in mine. His fingers tensed. But he didn’t pull away.

“You are very confident,” Oaken murmured, his eyes glued to our hands. “Much more confident than Tasha.”

“What do you mean?”

Tasha had seemed really nice and helpful so far. But if she had said something mean to Oaken…

We were going to have some words, she and I.

“The other three brides – Cherry, Darcy, and Magnolia – they all came here before they knew we were convicts,” Oaken said.

I tried to focus on his voice, but he made it difficult, because his thumb had begun stroking slowly along the inside of my wrist, lighting up my nerves.

“This will not be the case for future brides,” he continued. “They will be told of our convictions before they arrive. Before they have the chance to meet us. Tasha believes it may be much harder to recruit future brides to the program because of this. And I will be the only male on the planet who was rejected by two human brides in a row. The warden thinks that this may further hurt my chances.”

“WHAT?”

Oaken’s white eyes shot to mine and widened. “What is it?”

“ What is it?” I was breathing too hard. My heart was beating too fast . “Oaken! No one told me this!”

I squeezed his fingers tighter.

He squeezed mine back.

“I had no idea you helping me out might cause you problems down the line!”

But now that I said it out loud, I realized how stupid I’d been. I should have put those pieces together long before now. Warden Tenn was right to be concerned.

This was probably why he tried to talk Oaken out of helping me…

The warden wasn’t being an asshole. He was simply looking out for Oaken.

I almost wished Oaken had listened. Yes, he’d helped me save my ship. But he might have totally fucked his own future in return.

“You shouldn’t have volunteered,” I whispered, tipping my head down. I couldn’t bear to look at him. “You shouldn’t have married me.”

“Don’t say that,” Oaken rasped. “Please, Jaya. Please. Don’t ever say that.” His free hand went to my jaw, his fingers prodding so fucking tenderly. Finally, I raised my chin to meet his gaze. Anxiety was etched into harsh lines around his burning white eyes.

“I have no regrets,” he said.

“Well, maybe you should!”

“I’m sure,” he said gently, “that there are a great many things that I should wish I hadn’t done. Marrying you isn’t one of them.”

I sniffed hard.

“Even if it means you might not get the bride you actually want in the end?”

Something raw and painful tore through his gaze. But his voice was steady when he replied, “Even so.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen, then! We’re going to make you into the most irresistible potential husband ever! So we’re going to work extra hard on the husband lessons, alright? Starting right now!”

I adjusted the position of my hand, lacing my fingers with his. Oaken’s nostrils flared.

“This is a good way to hold hands,” I informed him. “Holding hands is an excellent way to provide comfort to your partner, to show affection, or just let them know you’re there for them.”

The ghost of a smile touched his lips.

“Understood, Jaya.”

He must have been really eager to practise.

Because he didn’t let go of my hand once on the long walk to the barn.