Page 12 of My Orc Contract Husband (Eastshore Isle #9)

And I did my best to answer without getting defensive. I wasn’t here to defend my choice, after all. I was here because I needed Riven’s point of view and needed her to help me think of this from all angles.

By the time my ice cream was done and her salad had been mostly decimated—as the chef, why had she included the banana peppers if she was just going to pile them on the side of the bowl?—I felt as if I’d done a pretty good job of explaining my thoughts and reasonings.

Which was impressive, considering two hours ago everything was still a jumble in my mind.

“Okay,” Riven announced, grabbing my mug and heading for the sink. “So it was raining, and you were crying, and he hugged you.”

“It was…a little more than a hug.”

“Okay, so it was raining, and you were crying and then you humped his bones.” She sent me a smirk as she finished rinsing and loading our dishes into the dishwasher. “He was cuddling with you.”

“He was cuddling,” I agreed. “I…liked it.”

My cousin snorted. “I’ll bet you did.” When I glared at her, she winked lewdly. “And that’s what convinced you to trust him?”

How to explain? I stared down at the placemat Brooke had made circa fifth grade, and tried to form my thoughts into words.

“When he held me…he was gentle. I was panicking—I knew I was panicking, and I couldn’t stop. He did and said all the right things, and he made me feel…” I took a de ep breath. “He made me feel safe. His first instinct was to protect me, and that’s what I need in a husband. A pretend husband.”

“Oh no, Sami,” she corrected, her hip propped against the counter as she studied me. “This would have to be a real marriage if you’re going to keep Montgomery at bay.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I guess so.”

“So you’re sitting there in his lap, vulnerable—emotionally and physically—and he didn’t try anything? Cop a feel or anything?”

My head jerked up. “No, of course not!”

Riven was studying me with amusement in her eyes and in her smirk. “You’re sure he’s interested in you that way?”

Was I? “Um…I don’t know. I guess not. But it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“If you don’t consummate your marriage, are you really married?”

Oh Lord. My cheeks heated, and Riven’s low chuckle told me she could tell. “Come on.”

I followed her back to the bathroom, where she began her skin care routine. Leaning over the sink to peer at the mirror, she slathered on her lotion, her voice coming out strange as her fingers pulled her cheeks this way and that.

“Why does he need the money? ”

“What?” I whispered, not wanting to wake Aunt Sharon.

Riven just rolled her eyes at my restraint. “Tarkhan. I’ll admit that I haven’t exactly been involved in the community, but one of our hostesses married— Mated an orc last year. Zoe—now she’s the librarian, remember?”

That did sound familiar, so I nodded.

“The rest of the orcs on Eastshore aren’t hurting for money. Zoe’s Mate doesn’t even work, just does volunteer stuff. How come Tarkhan doesn’t have the same money? What if he has a gambling habit?”

Did it matter?

“I’m not exactly poor,” I admitted awkwardly, knowing I’d used the deadly instincts my father had drilled into me to become successful at Eastshore real estate. “And now I have my father’s money too.”

Riven met my eyes in the mirror. “So you’re going to feed Tarkhan’s gambling addiction?”

I didn’t know what his money situation was, but I trusted him enough not to have some weird addiction. Maybe that was foolish of me, but it was the truth.

I shrugged.

“If that’s what it takes.”

Riven was silent as she brushed her teeth. Or rather, she wasn’t silent—that gag reflex didn’t bode well for when she eventually found a new boyfriend—but she didn’t try to speak. For my part, I pretended great interest in the medicine cabinet and avoided her reflection’s eyes .

Soon, though, we were back in the living room. I pulled a pillow onto my lap and picked at the stitching while she stretched out into a yoga pose on the floor, groaning at the stretch.

“Okay, so what I keep coming back to,” she finally said, “was that Tarkhan was gentle and made you feel…what did you say?”

“Safe,” I supplied, then arched my back to stretch along with her. “For the first time since getting the letter that Dad was dead, I felt safe. And calm . Protected.”

“He makes you not afraid.”

That was…a remarkable succinct way to put it. I nodded. “Is that bad?”

Riven hummed as she flowed into another pose, this one with her legs spread impossibly wide. “No. It’s a good thing, I think. And he’s protective. I think that’s an orc thing.”

I swallowed. “Sooo…are you agreeing with my scheme?”

“You and I both know that Montgomery isn’t going to be put off by your denial. And hell, he could still force you to marry him, if he wanted you , no matter if you were already married. But he doesn’t want you , he wants the power you hold—your half of the company.”

“Gee, thanks.”

My cousin grinned as she stretched out on her back, hands above her head.

“If you’re already married—a legally binding marriage, dotting all your T s and crossing all your I s—then legally he can’t gain control of your half of the company, even if he physically forces you to marry him or whatever.

” She shot me a knowing look. “So Tarkhan becomes your insurance, and Montgomery will have his work cut out for him in trying to make you a widow.”

I shuddered at the thought of Pierce trying to hurt Tarkhan. “Maybe I shouldn’t get him involved…”

“No, no, you have to think of this as a business arrangement. This is just a contract between a male and a female. You’ll marry him so he can get his mortgage, and in return, he’ll keep you safe.

Good call, choosing an orc,” Riven added as she rolled up to a cross-legged position.

“But you don’t want to land in the same boat with him. ”

I didn’t understand, and my frown must’ve shown it.

“You’ll need a prenuptial agreement,” she pointed out. “You don’t want to be in a position where Tarkhan thinks he can control half your father’s company.”

It was impossible to imagine down-to-earth, easygoing Tarkhan thinking that. “I don’t want half my father’s company.”

“Right, and we’ll burn that bridge when we get there. But for now, just in terms of protection, you’re going to need a contract. The lawyer in town is Mated to an orc, yeah?”

“Harper O’Donnell.” Real estate wasn’t Harper’s forte, but we’d worked together often enough. “She’s good.”

“Okay, so have her write up a contract, and include an exit strategy. ”

I frowned. “An exit strategy to a marriage?”

“Sure.” She twisted her torso by pulling on her arm, stretching farther than I thought possible. “You don’t want to be married to this guy forever, do you? Just long enough to get Montgomery off your back.”

Forever .

I’d frozen at the words.

Did I want to be married to Tarkhan forever?

No, right? I mean, I wasn’t some foolish romantic; I knew a good percentage of marriages failed, a ring didn’t necessarily mean forever . But the idea of entering into a marriage with Tarkhan expecting it to end felt…wrong.

Or maybe it was just Tarkhan.

Riven hadn’t noticed my hesitation. “So you make the contract for a year and a day or something. Long enough to deal with Montgomery and your father’s company, but not forever. You could handle being married for a year, right?”

“Right,” I whispered, still stuck on the idea of going into a marriage with a divorce planned.

“The two of you are going to need to have a conversation about expectations.” Riven pointed to her chest, where BAGGACOTD reminded the world about my naughty side. “Does he know about this?”

Did I want him to know? My cheeks had to be bright red. “This is supposed to be a business arrangement. And I don’t think we have a lot of time to make the decision,” I rushed to change the subject. “Montgomery sent the courier on Monday, and I just found out about his threat today.”

My cousin frowned. “Good point. Think you could arrange a wedding by this weekend?”

I would reschedule my showings if necessary. “Your mom can not know about this, okay? As far as she’s going to be aware, this is just a whirlwind romance, and in a year we tell her it didn’t work out.”

Riven rolled to her feet. “I don’t think she’s going to believe us—no one gets married in three days, especially not after the news you received this week. But I don’t think she’ll argue with you.”

Really? “Why not?” I slowly stood, to match her.

“Because she thinks like you.” Riven smiled and held out her arms. “Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. I demand the role of maid of honor. Or bridesmaid. Flower girl, at least.”

“Deal,” I whispered, moving into the hug.

Knowing I had her support meant a lot. More importantly, she’d helped me talk through my real feelings and make a decision.

I trusted Tarkhan, not just to keep me safe from Pierce, but not to do anything that made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was silly to trust him when I still had questions about his background…but that didn’t change the fact I did.

Things were moving fast, yeah, but they were the right things .

Tomorrow, bright and early, I’d contact Harper and ask her to draw up a contract. And then I’d send it to Tarkhan, make sure he was on board, and start planning the world’s fastest wedding.

I was going to marry Tarkhan, and the peace I felt at that decision told me it was the right one.

I hope.