Page 1 of My Orc Contract Husband (Eastshore Isle #9)

Chapter One

Sami

“Sami?”

Oh, crap .

At the sound of my name being called behind me, I froze, my hands knuckle-deep in the mud. I held my breath, my brain fizzing, trying to figure out how I should respond to that voice.

That voice .

I was wearing my big sun hat; maybe he wouldn’t recognize me?

The sound of a car door slamming.

Double crap .

He’d stopped. He’d gotten out of his car. He definitely recognized me.

My heart beating a mile a minute, I sucked in a deep breath, straightened, and as I turned, shoved my filthy hands behind my back. “Hi, Tarkhan,” I managed to croak out.

Sure enough, the male sauntering toward me with an excited grin on his face was none other than my new favorite client, a seven-and-a-half-foot tall, completely charming, and utterly gorgeous orc.

Seriously, Tarkhan looked like something out of a romance novel cover from the nineties—all buff muscles and flowing black hair.

This guy should be on television, modeling for perfume ads or something—he was that beautiful.

But he was my client , and I’d spent the last four months—the time we’d been working together to find him a house on Eastshore Isle—keeping my crush hidden.

So I was having trouble acting cool when he’d shown up at my house and found me bent over my gardening table on my front patio.

“Sami!” If anything, Tarkhan’s smile grew bigger as he moved into the shade of the portico. “I thought that was you. Is this your— oh .” His eyes suddenly went wide, and he shifted forward. “Is it okay that I stopped? Am I not supposed to know where you live? Is this weird?”

Weird? Yes. Okay? Also yes.

I managed a smile. “Hi Tarkhan. It’s fine. We might be neighbors, right?”

That was his hope, after all. And I wasn’t going to object if he moved in down the street from me.

Exhaling in what I had to assume was relief, Tarkhan rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into the pockets of his dirty jeans. He must’ve come from his job on the construction site, although he was forty minutes early for our meeting.

“Good,” he sighed, glancing around the front porch. “I came out early to get a feel for the neighborhood, and I have to admit, I’m really impressed. This place might be outside my price range, but I’m loving the area—all these old oak trees and beautiful gardens.”

Surreptitiously wiping my hands against each other, I managed a weak smile. “Yeah, that’s my favorite part about it, too.”

Something like interest flared in Tarkhan’s eyes as he switched his attention to the table behind me. “I guess so. I’m sorry for interrupting your…um…plant murder?”

His goofy grin was my undoing, and my tension burst out with an awkward huff of laughter as I pulled my hands from behind my back.

You’re a professional. Yeah, you have the hots—massive hots, the biggest hots—for your client, but who gives a shit? Don’t make this weird.

Besides, Tarkhan was easy to like, and had never made me feel awkward.

No, no, that was all me, thanks very much.

Shaking my head at my own ridiculousness, I turned to the table. “I’m separating my aloe pups.”

“Hm. Don’t you think you ought to see a doctor for that?”

I snorted and smacked his arm with the back of my hand so I wouldn’t leave a mark. “Aloe—see, it’s a succulent?— propagates by growing new babies from the roots. This one is getting choked in its pot, so I have to pull out all the babies occasionally and replant them.”

Tarkhan was leaning over the table now, studying my various pots. “Looks messy.”

“It’s easier to do if the soil is damp?—”

“That’s not damp soil, Sami.” He sent me a grin. “That’s mud.”

“—or muddy, I was going to say, if you’d let me finish.”

His laughter made my chest feel warm, and I found myself smiling proudly.

“So what do you do with the babies?”

I nudged him to the side with my shoulder as I reached for the small plants.

By which I mean, I bumped into him, and he got out of my way, because it’s not like I could move someone his size.

“I’m putting them in these small containers, and I’ll post them on the neighborhood social media pages.

Usually someone will send their kid over to pick them up or something. ”

When I put the smaller container in his hand, Tarkhan turned it this way and that, and I had to admit that I liked the way he studied the aloe pup. “It’s amazing to think that something this small can grow into that size,” he murmured, nodding toward my large plant.

“In only a few years, too.” Suddenly inspired, I nudged him again. “Do you want that one? Give it a few months and you’ll need to repot it into something bigger.”

“Really?” His gaze jerked up to meet mine. “You’d do that? ”

It was the…the surprise on his face that made my gut clench. As if he wasn’t expecting someone to do something nice for him. And in my attempts to make him feel better, make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, I made it worse.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” I scooped up another pup and pushed it into his other hand. “Think of it as a housewarming gift for when you buy your new place—I mean, I give all my clients something when they find their homes.”

His expression, which had been so open, with something like excitement in his eyes, shuttered then, and I knew I’d said the exact wrong thing. Did he not like the reminder that I was just his realtor?

Was it possible he’d thought the gift of the aloe meant…more?

“Right,” he said softly, stepping back. “Well again, I’m really sorry I interrupted your work. I’ll leave you to it?—”

“No!” In my desperation to regain some of that easy camaraderie we’d had a moment ago, I reached for his bare forearm, only to pull back at the last minute so I didn’t get him muddy. “I mean, if you’re already in the neighborhood—literally—let’s just go see the house.”

“Are you sure?” He’d pulled the two small pots against his chest protectively and eyed me now with uncertainty. “Our appointment isn’t for another half hour?—”

“It’ll be okay!” I assured him too loudly, too brightly. Committed now, I hurried past him for my door. “Let me wash up and grab my notes, okay? I’ll meet you?— ”

“Do you want a ride?” His offer caused me to pause, and I caught him flushing. “I mean, since the house is right down the street, really, and my truck’s blocking you in.”

I glanced from him to his pickup and back. I should be answering him, shouldn’t I? Instead, all I could focus on was that Tarkhan was blushing . I didn’t even know orcs could blush—they’re green, for goodness’ sake!—and how was it possible I’d made someone as hot as him blush?

“You’re right,” he blurted, backing away. “I’ll let you get ready, I’ll just meet you?—”

“I’d love to ride with you,” I managed to croak, then hid it by clearing my throat and offering him a smile. “Do you want to come in while you wait?”

But he had taken a fourth and fifth step back toward the street. “I’ll just…I’ll wait in the car. The weather’s nice.”

It was August in the South. The best it could claim was not entirely hellish in the shade if the wind is blowing. Still, maybe he liked heat and humidity?

But before I could respond, he’d turned and was heading for his truck.

Smooth, Sami. You let that deal walk out the door .

My brows drew in, just like they did whenever I heard my father’s disapproving voice in my head. He never allowed a silly thing like feelings or a blushing hottie keep him from getting what he wanted…which is why I wrenched open my front door with such force.

I wanted Tarkhan, yes. But I wasn’t going to do anything weird about it, not if just giving the guy a plant made him seize up so awkwardly. I wasn’t my father, and I was proud of that fact, even if it meant making my own way in the world.

And in order to do that, I needed to keep my clients happy.

Which meant finding Tarkhan his forever home.

Which meant spending the next few hours with him.

And if the thought of that made me happier than considering the commission I’d get from the purchase? Well, so what?

I wasn’t my father.

Tarkhan

What in the hells was that about?

Look, I’m…well, I’ve been in the human world long enough to know I’m pretty. I know females—and more than a few males—find me attractive, and I’m used to the scent of interest, if not outright arousal, when I’m around.

Passing through the veil and joining this world had been like stepping from a famine into a feast. A buffet of delicious, tempting morsels that made me want to sample everything . And luckily, I’d been blessed by the gods with good looks, better charm, and a very talented tongue.

Point is: I knew my way around sex.

And I knew enough about human females to know that Sami was…well, maybe she wasn’t interested in me, but she wasn’t against getting to know me better, either. It should have made me confident. Should have been like every other casual encounter I’ve had in the last decade.

So what had happened to me? She gives me a little gift, and I go all tongue-tied and bashful?

Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I climbed into my truck and turned the A.C. up to max as I carefully deposited the aloe kits—no, pups —into the empty cupholders.

Sami had no way of knowing my people’s traditions when it came to giving gifts, and how special they were.

To her, handing me the small plants had been flippant, nothing more than a homecoming gift; I’d seen it plenty of times.

To me, though? I couldn’t help remembering the reverence on my mother’s face when she’d entrusted me with a young baartan plant.

That was, of course, long before I’d proven unworthy of her trust.

Sighing, I tipped my head back against the extra-large seat.

The truck was old, but it still worked fine, and Cairo over at the auto-shop kept her purring.

Most of my tools were still sitting in the back under a tarp, because even after being on Eastshore for so long, I still didn’t have a shop to store them or the hardwood I was itching to work with again.

Hopefully today would solve that.