Rough (The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek Book 1) (6 page)

I take a deep breath, trying to think of something to say.  “I’ve lived in Chicago my whole life, so this is going to be a new experience to me.  Please tell me there is somewhere that delivers pizza.”

He lets out a chuckle and says, “Sure is.  Mama Frankie’s Pizza delivers.  It’s been around forever, and I’d bet you’ve never tasted pizza as good.”

“I doubt that.  Nothing beats a Chicago deep dish.”

His eyes come to me again, and I get a quick peek of his white teeth as he smiles.  “Just wait and see, darlin’.”

Just the thought of pizza has my stomach growling loudly.  A blush covers my face as I whisper out, “Excuse me.”

Again, a smile spreads across his face as he pulls off the highway, toward a small town.  “You should’ve told me you were hungry.”

I’m starving actually, but I didn’t have money to buy lunch so I munched on complimentary peanuts.  As good as they were, they definitely didn’t fill me up.  “I could eat.”

A few minutes later, he pulls the truck into the parking lot of some chicken joint.  Getting out of the truck, he rushes around to my side before I can even get the door open.  “Come on, darlin’.  Let’s get something in your stomach.”

He leads me into the restaurant and the smell of fresh fried chicken hits my nose.  “It smells good in here.”

“Chicago may be known for pizza, but the south has the best fried chicken in the world,” he says, walking us to the hostess station.

The hostess, a bubbly blonde in a very low-cut shirt, smiles at him.  “Nice to see you again, Ethan. Table for two?”

Ethan nods, slinging his heavy arm over my shoulder.  “Yeah.”

She shows us to our table, peeking at Ethan under her lashes.  “Your waitress will be over in just a minute.  If you need anything before then, just let me know.”

As she turns away, I ask a question that I probably don’t want to know the answer to.  “You know her?”

He shrugs, picking up the menu.  “I’ve been here a few times, when I’ve had to pick someone up at the airport.”

My eyes cut back to the hostess and see her talking to a waitress.  Both are giggling, looking over at my soon-to-be husband.  All of a sudden, my body fills with jealousy and I have to force myself to stay in my seat and not pull the both the bitches’ hair out. “Sure.”

He sits the menu down and reaches across the table to grab my hand.  “If you’re wondering if I fucked her, then the answer is no.”

I look up at him and see a cocky smile spread across his face.  Realizing that I’m acting insane, I lie to him.  “I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Sure, you weren’t,” he says, letting my hand go to grab the menu again. 

I pick mine up, not bothering to look at what the restaurant has to offer.  Instead, I spend my time wondering why I am acting crazy.  I’ve never been jealous of a man before.  Then again, I never really had a chance to be jealous.  In all my twenty-one years, I’ve never been out on a date. 

While I was still in the system, my foster parents didn’t allow any of us to date.  Even after I aged out, I still had to follow the same rules as all the other girls.  Granted, I probably could’ve snuck out on a date or two, but I didn’t have the time.  With work and watching over Liza, I barely even had time to sleep, not to mention date.

“What can I get y’all?” The waitress asks, drawing me out of my thoughts. 

I look over to Ethan and he lifts his chin in my direction. “You can go first.”

 Looking down at the menu, I pick the first thing I see.  “I’ll take the two piece fried chicken dinner, with mashed potatoes and gravy and a side of coleslaw. “

She scribbles down my order and turns back to Ethan.  “How about you, sweet stuff?”

My back goes ramrod straight and I shoot a glare at her.  “His name is Ethan.”

He completely ignores her flirting and my outburst and places the order.  “I want two of the four piece fried chicken dinners.  Both with mashed potatoes and green beans.  I also want two orders of grilled corn on the cob and a side of macaroni salad.  Three slices of the banana cream pie and a piece of German chocolate cake.”

I stare at him as he orders, fighting to keep my chin from dropping to my chest.  When the waitress turns back to me, she has to tap my shoulder to get my attention.  “What can I get you to drink? We just made up some fresh sweet tea.”

“I want a Diet Coke, please,” I mumble out, still thinking over all the food that Ethan ordered.

When she turns back to him, he has the menu in his hand again.  He doesn’t wait for her to ask, before he starts talking.  “I’ll take a sweet tea, but I wanna add something.  Let’s get an order of fried pickles, fried corn nuggets, and some hushpuppies for us to share.”

“Okay,” the waitress says, jotting down his additions.  “Anything else?”

“Nah, that should do us,” he replies, grabbing my menu and handing them both to her.  “Just hurry it up, my woman’s hungry.”

She walks away, and I can’t hold in my laughter.  “You want her to hurry, because I’m hungry.”

“Yeah,” he replies, a look of confusion on his face. 

“I may be hungry, but you have to be ravenous.  You just ordered half the food in the restaurant,” I say, trying to control my laughter. “There’s no way, you’re gonna be able to eat all that.”

He cocks a brow; a huge smile spreads across his face.  “Oh, you just wait and see, darlin’.”

We make small talk for a few minutes, until our waitress and an army of other servers bring our food.  As soon as the plates are set on the table, Ethan digs in.  By the time I have my first piece of chicken gone, he has devoured his first meal and is working on his second, not to mention he’s eaten most of the food we were supposed to share.  I stop eating and just watch him.  It’s both fascinating and a more than a little odd that anyone could eat so much.  I know he’s a huge man, but still this just doesn’t seem right. 

He’s done with his second meal, by the time he notices me staring at him.  He simply winks and me and says, “Told you so.”

CHAPTER NINE

Ethan

OPENING THE
door for Amelia, I help her out of the truck.  “This is your new home.  What do you think?”

She’s staring up at my log cabin with a look of awe on her face.  “It’s beautiful.”

I look over at my cabin and try to see it from her eyes, but to me it just looks like home.  My father and I started building it, when I was only sixteen.  It took us nearly seven years to get it done, between school and work, but I wanted the perfect place to grow a family. 

It's two stories tall with a finished basement and full wrap around porch. It’s nearly four thousand square feet, with five bedrooms and six baths.  The living room, den, and kitchen take up nearly all of the first floor.  All of the bedrooms are on the second, with a huge balcony attached to the master.  It’s a little much for just the two of us; three when her sister gets here, but with the way my bear is reacting to her, cubs will be filling the rest of the rooms soon. 

Her eyes finally move from the cabin to take in all the cars and trucks parked around the property.  “Do you have company?”

Shutting her door, I fling my arm around her shoulders.  “They’re here for the wedding.”

“Wedding?” She asks, pulling away from me.  “We’re getting married right now?”

My bear pushes out a growl, not liking her tone.  “That’s the reason you’re here isn’t it, to be my wife?”

She chews on her bottom lip for just a second, before saying,  “I thought maybe we could get to know each other a little first.”

Shaking my head, I force my bear to calm down.  “I didn’t bring you here to get to know you.  I brought you here to be my wife.”

“But, can’t we...” She starts, but I cut her off.  “No, we’re getting married right now.”

Not willing to give her time to argue, I grab her hand and pull her to the house.  As soon as we walk through the door, we are swarmed with people.  I ignore them, walking right to Preacher Thomas.  “It’s time.”

He nods and motions for us to follow him.  He leads us to the front of the room, motioning for everyone else to stand back.  Without hesitating, he turns to us and starts to talk.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join together our leader and this woman in the state of holy matrimony.  These two come now to be bonded for life, to be partners, lovers, and mates.”

I hear Amelia mumble leader in a questioning tone, but ignore her and nod for the preacher to continue. 

“Therefore if any man can show any just cause, why our leader cannot be joined to this woman, by God's Law or laws of our community, let them now speak, or else hereafter forever hold their peace.”

Looking over my shoulder, I glare at Eli, knowing he would be the only one brave enough to open his mouth.  He lowers his eyes to floor, but does not say a word.  Turning back to the preacher, I focus on his words.  

“The two of you are as blessed as the magical rowan tree.  Your love shall blossom and grow, sharing its beauty with our world.”

Looking at me he asks, “Ethan, will you take this woman to be your wedded wife, to share the remainder of your days? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?

My heart rate picks up as I answer, “I do.”

Preacher Watson looks at Amelia and asks, “Amelia, will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to share the remainder of your days?   Will you obey him, serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?”

“Obey, I don’t think so,” she whispers out while shaking her head, before her voice grows stronger.  “I will serve him, honor him and keep him in sickness and health.  I will forsake all others until I die.”

Squeezing her hand, I growl out, “Just say, I do.”

“I do,” she says with a huff and a roll of her eyes. 

A smile spreads across Preacher Thomas face as he asks me to repeat my vows.  Doing as he asks, I say, “I, Ethan take you Amelia to be my wife, my mate for eternity.  In the presence of God and before these witnesses, as leader I promise to be a loving, faithful and loyal husband to you.  I will protect you and our children for as long as we both shall live.”

She listens to the preacher carefully, before looking at me.  “I, Amelia take you Ethan to be my husband and…”

Looking towards the preacher, he mouths the words to her and she looks back at me. “And my leader.  In the presence of God and before these witnesses I promise to be a loving, faithful and loyal wife to you, for as long as we both shall live.”

“You may now exchange rings.” The preacher says, smiling at us. 

Pulling my mother’s ring from my pocket, I slide it onto Amelia’s finger.  “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Her eyes dart from the ring to my face and she whispers, “I didn’t get you a ring.  I’m so sorry, Ethan.  I didn’t even think about it, and honestly, I didn’t have the money.”

Seeing tears start to form in her eyes, I brush my lips over hers.  “It’s okay.”

I look back at Preacher Watson and lift my chin.  He nods in understanding as he looks to the crowd behind us, “Those whom God has joined together let no man or woman put asunder. I pronounce Ethan and Amelia man and wife, mates for eternity.”

Turning back to me, he says, “You may now kiss the bride.”

Not needing to be told twice, I pull her into my arms and lower my mouth to hers.  Catching her gasp with my lips, I slide my tongue inside her hot mouth and taste her seductive flavor.  Hoots and hollers hit my ears, and I pull back.

Looking down at her, I say, “You’re mine now.”

CHAPTER TEN

Amelia

LEANING BACK
in for another kiss from my new husband, I realize with a jolt that I’m nowhere near as uncomfortable and scared with this whole situation as I should be.  Perhaps it’s because the feel
of Ethan’s tongue stroking along mine is enough to cause me to temporarily forget what I’ve actually gotten myself into. 

Completely lost in each other, we aren’t aware of how long we’ve been standing in front of everyone making out like horny teenagers, because eventually I hear someone clear their throat in a subtle interruption. 

Pulling back from Ethan, I feel the blush immediately color my cheeks, and duck my face against the front of his muscular chest in the hopes of hiding from all the onlookers

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he begins to chuckle.  “Don’t be shy, darlin’. They’re expecting us to be all over each other. We are now officially newlyweds so we have an excuse.”

Tipping my head back, I look up at his smiling face and I’m surprised to see a look of utter contentment across his features.  God, he really is absolutely beautiful.  How I managed to snag him as a husband I will never know, but I will happily take it. Winking down at me, I begin to find myself laughing along with him.  He is just so easy to be with. I can hardly believe that we met each other just a few short hours ago.  I feel as if I was always meant to be standing right here by his side.  It’s as if we’ve known each other for years and I’m finally exactly where I belong.

Threading his strong fingers through mine, he pulls me to face the front of the room just as there’s a loud bang at the front of the house that causes me to jump.  Immediately I feel Ethan tense beside me as all the other guests in the room start turning around in search of whatever or whoever interrupted us.

Looking up at Ethan I whisper out, “What was that”

“They are,” He growls as he begins to push me behind him in a protective gesture.

The room is utterly silent as everyone sits frozen, waiting to see if something or someone is going to come barging into the room.  You’d swear with the looks on everyone’s faces, they were all expecting Bigfoot to come storming into the room or something.

Figuring that this is getting beyond ridiculous, I step up on my tiptoes and whisper into Ethan’s ear, “What’s going on?  Why are we all just standing here?”