Suddenly a Bride (10 page)

Sandy burst out into laughter.  “Impossible.  You’d be introducing yourself to everyone and asking them questions about the world.”

She considered her friend’s comment.  “Probably.  So maybe Chris is like that anyway.” She picked up the coffee and took a drink.  “I think he’s going to be a good husband.”

“I hope you’re right.  I don’t think I could ever be as brave as you to get into the car to do a…what did you call it?”

“It was a bonding ceremony, which is equivalent to a wedding on Earth.  And I didn’t realize what was happening.  I mean, I did.  I knew I was having sex with him, but I couldn’t control myself.  I had to do it.  So bravery had nothing to do with it.”

“And it doesn’t bother you that you were forced to have sex with him?”

“I see what you’re getting at.  No, it wasn’t rape.  Look, I may have lost control of my urges, but I really did think he was cute and sweet when I was serving his food.  I wouldn’t have sat down to eat with him if I didn’t like him.”

“Really?  And would you have had sex with him last night if you had a choice?”

“No, o
f course not.”

Sandy shot her a pointed look.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes.  “I get it.  You made your point, but it’s really not as bad
as it seems.  On his world, a man
give
s
off a hormone to make the woman of his choice so aroused that she has to bond with him.  I believe he
said it made them
life mate
s
.  The space agency sent him to me, so what else was he supposed to do?”

“Wait until you agreed?”

“I think he was afraid I’d say no, and then he’d miss out on his chance to have a life mate.  He wasn’t sent to anyone el
se, so there’s a reason I’m supposed to be with him.  He’s an alien.  You can’t expect things to be the exact same as they are here on Earth.  The rules are going to be a little different.”

Sandy sighed.  “I guess that’s why they sent him to you.  They knew you’d accept it.  If it was me, I’d be pressing him for rape charges and getting a divorce ASAP.”

“No, you wouldn’t because he
’s a cute and cuddly teddy bear
and you have a weakness for teddy bears.”

“Doubt it.”

“Besides, the sex is incredible.  On his world, men adapt to accommodate the woman, and orgasm
s are
easy to achieve.”

Sandy’s eyes grew wide.  “Really?”

“He can’t ejaculate until I peak, and there’s something about the way he moves inside me that sends me over the edge.  I can’t explain it.”

She set her french fry down and frowned.  “Great.  You get all the luck.  Why can’t I get an alien like that?”

Caitlyn chuckled.  “And here you were ready to haul him off to prison.”

She shrugged and gave her a wicked grin.  “Who am I to deny an awesome sex life with a sweet and cute teddy bear kind of guy?”

“Exactly.” Caitlyn glanced at the man who set his newspaper down and stood up.  “I’ll be back in a minute.” Then she got up so he could pay for his meal.

Chapter
Eight

W
hen Caitlyn came home from work, Chris
greeted her at the door and gave her a long kiss.  Content, she leaned into him and returned his kiss.  It was nice to come home to someone who was glad to see her.

“Do you work tomorrow?” he asked
when their kiss ended
.

“Yes.  But I have the next day off.  We’ll go to the mall and get you some clothes and a haircut.”

“Is my hair cut wrong?” He reached up and tried to smooth his shaggy dark hair.

“It doesn’t fit your personality.”

“This is how all men on my world wear their hair.”

She nudged him playfully in the stomach.  “Because there are no wo
men.  You need to get
more cloth
es too
.”

He glanced at the same clothes he came to Earth in. 
“
I can’t argue that point.  Oh,
I searched through the job postings on the Internet, and I got an interview tomorrow at the Air Force base.”

“Really?  Which one?”

“Eglin.”

“What job is this for?”

“An engineer.  I was going to fill out the online application, but I ran into a problem understanding one of their questions, so I called up the department.  The next thing I knew, I was transferred to the man who is hiring, and he wants to see me tomorrow.”

She gasped in surprise.  “You might be an engineer?”

He looked at her.  “Is that bad?”

“No.  No!  It’s great!  They make a lot of money.”

“The job is pretty basic.  It’s stuff I learned in high school, but it sounded like the most challenging thing the job postings offered.”

She rolled her eyes and stood up.  “How difficult it must be to muddle through this place called Earth.”

“I didn’t mean it to sound bad, Caitlyn.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it.  “I want to be here.  I’m only saying that the job was the best I could find given Earth’s limitations.”

“Okay.  Seriously, that doesn’t sound any better.”

He sighed.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not trying to be rude.”

She felt her sudde
n tension ease
.  “I don’t wa
nt you to regret coming here, t
hat’s all.”

“How could I regret it?  You’re here.  You’re my life mate.  You complete me.”

Blushing, she took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

“You want to go to bed
?” he asked.

She glanced at him.  “
Not yet
.  I’m going to get you some clothe
s for tomorrow
.” She paused and looked at him.  “What time is the interview?”

“8:30.”

“Good.  I don’t have to go to work until 10.  If we plan it right, then I’ll get back in plenty of time.”

Though he considered the job “basic”, she was excited he might get it.  If he became an engineer, then her dream of ownin
g a house might come to pass
! 
She’d love to have h
er own place with a nice yard for a dog to run around in, and maybe a couple of children to play with the dog.  She hoped he’d get this job!

She led him to the closet and opened the side that had been Randy’s.  She had long ago cleared it all out except for the trunk resting on the floor.  Opening it, she inspected the clothes until she found the suit Randy wore on their wedding day.

“This is the only thing Randy ever wore that is suitable for
a job interview
,” she said as she pulled the dark blue slacks and matching suit jacked out of the trunk.  She retrieved the white dress shirt and dark blue tie.  Further down, beneath some photo albums and other
mementoes
of their life together, she found the dress shoes.  “I hope these fit.  We’ll get you your own clothes when we go shopping.  For now, you need something nice to wear, and Randy’s job didn’t require nice outfits.”

“It didn’t?  What did he do?”

She handed him the clothes.  “He worked at a radio station.  He was in charge o
f the music in the evenings
.”

He ran his hands over the neatly folded clothes.  “What kind of music?”

“Anything but country.  He hated country.  Don’t ask me why.  I don’t mind it myself.”

He nodded as he went to the bed and unfolded the clothes.  “What does music on your world sound like?”

“I can show you.” She went over to the radio by her side of the bed and turned it on.  “This is country.” She adjusted the dial.  “This is rap.” Then she adjusted it again.  “This is alternative rock.  And this…is heavy metal.” She laughed.  “I haven’t heard much heavy metal since the ‘80s.” She found a classical station and smiled.  “Do you want to dance?”

“Dance?”

“Yeah.  You put your arms around me and we glide gracefully across the floor.”

He smiled.  “I’ll do anything that involves touching you.”

She grinned.  “Then come on over here.”

He put the clothes down and joined her.  “What do I do?”

“Put one hand on my hip.” She placed his hand on her hip and took his other hand.  “Then you hold my hand.  And then…” She stepped forward so that the tips of her breasts teased his chest.  “You move.”

He squeezed her hand and kissed her.

She returned his kiss, savoring the way he tasted as his tongue brushed hers.  When the kiss ended, she took a deep breath.  “That was nice.”

“Nice?” he asked, looking disappointed.

Her lips turned into a wicked grin and she pressed her body firmly against his.  “
Very
nice.”

He tried to kiss her again, but she stopped him.  “I want to teach you to dance.  I love to dance, and when we atten
d my sister’s wedding in a couple of
months
, I want you to dance with me.”

“If dancing means I get to touch you, then I’ll be happy to do it.”

“It does.” She stepped away from him so she could move gracefully to the side.  “Follow my lead.”

He nodded and seemed to focus on everything her feet did.  She was ready to protest that he shouldn’t stare at her feet, but it seemed to help him so she held her tongue.  A slight smile crossed his face when she asked him to spin her around.  He obeyed, and when she laughed at the thrill of it, he kissed her cheek and turned his attention back to her feet.  It didn’t take him too long before he was able to return his gaze to hers.

“This is easy,” he said.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course, I do.  I’m with you.”

The way he said it warm
ed her heart, for she realized that he was falling in love with her.  Maybe he was falling much faster than he would have if he’d grown up with women on his planet.  She knew part of his innocence prompted him
to fall hard for the first woma
n he grew attached to, but she didn’t care.  It was nice to have a man looking at her as if she was the most important person on Earth.  And, truth be told, she found that she was falling in love with him too.  It was too soon for love, or at least that’s what she tried to tell herself, a
nd yet, she was falling in love
.

She stopped dancing long enough to turn the radio to another station with a slow song on it and returned to his arms.
  This time she wrapped her arms around his waist
and rested her head against his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered, “I like this dance best.”

She smiled and nodded her agreement.

***

C
hris adjusted the belt of
his pants as Caitlyn pulled the minivan into the parking lot where he had his job interview at Eglin Air Force Base.  Randy’s clothes were too loose on him.  Caitlyn said that Randy worked out a lot, but Chris didn’t understand why that should make a difference.  He decided not
to worry about it.  Tomorrow, she promised to take him shopping, and he could get clothes that fit
then
.

“Are you nervous?” she asked as she stopped the car.

“No.  Should I be?” He inspected her face for any c
l
ues that might give him insight into how a person on Earth felt when it came to job interviews.  He didn’t want to stand out as if he didn’t belong there.

She smiled.  “I guess not.  You already know everything there is to know about engineering.”

“That’s true.” That was why he figured he’d get the job.

He sighed.  The belt was still too loose.  He got out of the car
, and t
he pants slip
ped a bit
.

She hopped out of the car and joined him
.  “Randy’s clothes really
are not for you, are they?”

“I’m glad you’re finding some humor in this,” he teased as he shut the door.