Page 3 of My Orc Contract Husband
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 thehells 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 sampleeverything. And luckily, I’d been blessed by the gods with good looks, better charm, and averytalented tongue.
Point is: I knew myway around sex.
And I knew enough about human females to know that Sami was…well, maybe she wasn’tinterestedin 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 youngbaartanplant.
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.
I missed having my own space. Back in Bramblewood, I couldn’t do my woodworking in my apartment, butAbydos let me build a big shed on his property, and I’d been happy there.
Me deciding to follow our brothers out here to Eastshore had been one of the reasons he’d agreed to come as well. At least part-time.
Soon.
A noise had me jerking my head upright, turning to peer out the window, and deep in my chest, myKteergrowled at the sight of Sami hurrying across her wide front yard toward my truck. What was that for? MyKteer—that primitive part of me leftover from a time when we had to fight to survive and find our Mates—had never gotten involved with the other women I’d slept with.
Not that I was sleeping with Sami.
I mean, Iwantedto sleep with Sami. Hells, she was stunning—and elegant and wealthy and so out of my league I wasn’t even playing the same sport she was.
But why would myKteerpay attention to her any more than Mrs. Henders at the grocery?
Maybe because you haven’t slept with her?
I wasn’t going to seduce my realtor so my stupid biology could get its head out of its ass— “Hi!” I blurted as Sami pulled open the door. “Need a hand?”
I guess I sounded as awkward as I felt, because she looked at me strangely as she climbed in. “I’m fine, thank you. Ready?”
“Yeah. You look great. I mean…”Fuck. “You cleaned up. Your hands. Good work.”
She was definitely smirking at me now. “Couldn’t do a house tour with dirty hands. I also texted the other realtor, and he said we’re fine to tour it now.” She nodded down the street. “Four blocks that way.”
Relieved for a distraction, I began to drive, and felt the tension, the awkwardness, drain away. “This place really is beautiful.”
“It’s my favorite neighborhood on the island. That’s why I chose it when I moved here.”
My knuckles were locked on the wheel, and I didn’t glance at her as I asked, “When was that?”
“Four years ago. My aunt has lived here for ages, and it was a good place to start over when I…well, I needed to start over.”
