Suddenly a Bride (12 page)

Giving her hand a slight squeeze, he asked, “Fun stuff?”

“The clothes you can relax around the house in.” She studied his dark hair which was slightly past his shoulders.  “I think you’ll be better off with a haircut.  We’ll do that after we get your wardrobe.”

“Oh?”

“Shorter
is better with your new job.”

“Oh.  Well, on my world, there’s no point in trying to look our best.  We don’t have any women to impress.”

“
You look cute.” When she caught his hesitant expression, she added, “
Really, you do.  If you had a job at a radio station or something, you’d be just fine.
  But you’re an engineer now, and engi
neers should look more professional
.” She couldn’t recall seeing a man
who worked in an office having
shaggy hair.

“You know this world better than I do, so I’ll do whatever you say.”

She laughed.  “Don’t give me too much power.  I might get a swell head.”

“Your head will swell up?”

“Not literally.  It’s an expression.  It means that I’ll…” She sighed, not exactly sure how to explain it.  With a shrug, she said, “I’ll think I can do more than I’m capable of.
” They reac
hed the store
.  “We’ll want to start with suits. 
You’ll want something neutral or dark.  Do you prefer tans, grays, browns, blues or blacks
?”

“Well…” He glanced around the store.  “I guess black and gray.”

She nodded. 
“That fits your personality.”

His eyebrows furrowed.  “It does?”

“Yeah.  You seem so straight and narrow.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“
No.  You do have a sense of humor.” Thank goodness too because she couldn’t imagine being married to someone who couldn’t enjoy life at all.  “Come on.  There are some black and gray suits.”

He followed her and tried on a couple.  She had to admit she loved the way men looked in a suit and a tie, and there was no denying the thrill that shot through her at the sight of him as he opened the door so
she
could see him.

“The pants are a little loose,” he said.

“Here.” She went to his back and turned down the waistline so she could read the size.  Unable to resist the urge, she stroked his butt and whispered, “I’ll get you the next size down.”

His lips turned up into a smile as she winked at him and headed back to the suits.  After picking another one out, she returned to him and
returned the other suit to the rack.  She came back and saw the new suit fit him much better.

“Do I look okay?” he asked.

“You look hot,” she admitted, catching how good they looked together—him in a suit and her in a sundress.

“
Actually, I am.  But don’t worry.  It’s not that kind of hot.”

It took her a moment to understand
he meant that changing clothes made him hot, not sexual desire.  She bit her lip so she wouldn’t giggle.  The poor guy didn’t know her meaning for the word hot.

Once
he picked out a couple of suits, she led him to the other section of the store where he could select more casual items to wear
.

“I can pick anything I want?” he asked.

“Yep.”

He scanned the different shirts, pants and shorts.  “I don’t even know where to start.”

Out of curiosity, she asked, “What did you wear on your planet?”

“Jumpsuits.”

She waited for him to continue, but he turned his attention to the beige slacks.  Following him to the rack, she asked, “Is that it?”

Glancing at her, he nodded.  “We didn’t see the need for such a wide—” he motioned to the all the clothes around them—“variety.”

“Overwhelmed?”

“It’s easier to make a decision when the selections are fewer.”

“Maybe.  But if there
wasn’t
variety, then life would be boring.  I can’t imagine only wearing this.” She motioned to her dress.

He smiled.  “That wouldn’t be so bad.”

Pleased, she asked, “And if I was stuck in my work uniform all the time?”

“Okay.  You got a point.  The dress you have on now is much better.” He picked up a
pair of beige and navy blue slacks.  “What do you think?”

“They’re a lot like your suit pants.  Don’t you want some jeans?” She pointed to the jeans he had on.  “Those are jeans.”

“I know, but they’re not comfortable.  I liked the suit pants more.”

“Would you like some shorts?” She turned to the table a short distance from them and picked up a pair of black ones she thought
was his style
.  “Florida is hot and humid in the summer, and that’s only a month away.”

“Those are nice
.  I’ll take a couple of those as well.” He walked over to her and chose the black, blue and beige ones.

He made his way over
to
another table and select
ed one white, two blue, one grey
, one red, and two black polo shirts.
 
Well, at least he picked more colors this time, she thought and smiled.  No doubt, he’d be glad to
stop wearing
Randy’s old things.  Randy had worn jeans and t-shirts.  In fact, the only time he wore a suit was when they got married.  Otherwise, he couldn’t
be bothered with it.

“I bet you’re a loafer kind of guy,” she mused.

“Loafer?”

“For shoes.  You don’t strike me as a tennis shoe type.  Come on.  Let’s pay for these and then head on over to the shoe department.”

Nodding, he joined her at
the cash register and watched as
she
made her purchase.  She assumed he was taking
mental notes.  As they walked out of the store
, she asked, “Didn’t you make purchases on your planet?”

“We had everything delivered to our homes.  The money was automatically withdrawn out of our accounts.”

“Seriously?  Everything?”

“We made our orders on the computer at home and it arrived within two days.”

“Wow.  That’s surprisingly efficient.” But she’d miss the experience of going to the mall and buying things.  Some things, like window shopping
,
couldn’t be replaced.

“You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

Curious, she turned to him.  “And how can you tell that?  I didn’t say either way.”

“Your face.  You had a slight smile.  After I mentioned how we bought thi
ngs, your eyebrows furrowed and
your
smile faltered.”

“Wow.  That’s pretty good.  But I suppose where you’re from, it’s easy to pick up on nonverbal communication.”

“No.  Not really.  We never think about it.  I’ve been watching you to see how you react to things.”

“You have?”

He chuckled.  “Considering I didn’t see women until I came here, does that really surprise you?”

Amused, she shrugged.  “I guess not.  Everything’
s new to you, even if what we have on Earth is
primitive compared to
what you’re used to.”

Shifting one of his bags to
the
other hand, he reached out and touched the small of her back before he kissed her.  “I’d rather have primitive with a wife.  All the years I spent on my world might have been filled with gadgets that made life easy, but it was a lonely one.”

“I hope you remember that when we have our first argument
.”

“Argument?  Why would we argue?”

She laughed and motioned for him to find a pair of shoes
in the shoe store
.  “Every couple argues sooner or later.  It’s part of being—” Pausing, she considered what to call him.  He wasn’t human, so to speak.  Finally, she ventured, “It’s part of being in a relationship.  All relationships, no matter how good they are, have their ups and downs.”

“I can’t imagine any downs in ours.”

“Yeah well, that’ll come in time.
  Just don’t stress out
when it happens, okay?  It’s normal.”
Though he didn’t look convinced, she dropped the topic and led him to the shoes since
he hadn’t made a move toward them
.  “Come on.  We need to get you two good pa
irs of shoes and then cut your
hair before we head on out to the beach.”

“The beach?”

“Lots of san
d and some water.” 
She motioned to the shoes.
“
So, do you see any shoes you like?”

He directed his attention to the shelves and, sure enough, picked out a pair of loafers.  Then he selected black dress shoes to go with his suits.

They made their purchase and he got a haircut.  When she saw him with his short, neatly trimmed hair, she did a double take.  She knew he was good looking.  Even his shaggy hair couldn’t hide that, but
now she couldn’t help but think her new husband who literally fell from the sky and into her life was one of the best looking men she’d ever seen.

“Do I look okay?” he asked as he stood up from the chair.

“Yeah.  You look great,” she blurted out.

“You’re saying that to be nice.”

“No.  No, I mean it.” Words weren’t adequate to describe what she thought.  Not really.  He took her breath away.

“You’re smiling widely, so I believe you.”

Oh.  Right.  He could figure out what she was thinking b
y reading her facial expression
.  Clearing her throat, she said, “I think we’re done with the mall.  You ready to eat?”

He nodded and they left.

***

After they ate, she took his hand and led him to the beach.  The emerald surf rolled gently into the shore, and she took off her sandals and motioned for him to take off his boots.

“
Let’s walk along
the
shoreline of the beach,” she said
.

He bent down and took his boots off.

Amused, she
added, “You should take off your
socks too.  Otherwise the experience won’t be the same.”

“Oh.” He did as she instructed and wiggled his toes.

“What do you think?”

“Weird.  Not bad
,
but weird.”

She took
his boots and socks and set them on the sand by her sandals.  “We’ll come back for these.” Taking his hand, she
led him to the water.  “On a war
m day, few things are better than
cool water lapping at your feet.”
When they reached the water, their feet sa
nk int
o the sand.  Glancing at him, she asked, “What do you think now?”

“Wet and weird.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck so she co
uld pull him in for a kiss.  He brought his hands to her waist and gave her a light squeeze as she deepened the kiss.  A
thrill shot through her.  Even better than a walk alo
ng the beach was a kiss shared with a
man.  Sighing in contentment, she asked, “And now?  Is it still weird?”

“I’m warming up to it,” he admitted with a sly smile.

“Yeah?”

He pulled her closer and kissed her again.  “Yeah.”

She glanced around the beach and noted they were far enough from others so she gave him another kiss, this time pressing her body against his.  Her skin tingled
in delight.  She loved being close to her new husband
.  “
There’s no reason why we can’t enjoy a walk along the beach.  It’s one of my favorite activities.”

“Is it?”

“Yep.  And there’s no one else I’d rather do it with.”

A wide smile crossed his face before he kissed her. 
“I don’t care what we do as long as we’re together.”

Laughing, she joined him in walking down the beach.  “Yeah, well, just wait until you meet my family.  You might change your mind.”

“Why?  Are they mean?”

“No, n
ot mean.  But they’ll be shocked to learn I got married and probably give us a hard time about not having a wedding.  Heck, they’ll wonder why I didn’t even mention you.”

“How could you? 
You weren’t told I was coming.”

“I know, but I don’t think they can handle
the fact that
you’re from another planet.”

“I don’t think most people on this planet would be ready for that.”

“Right.  So we’ll just tell them we met at the diner where I work and got married.”

“That’s the truth.”

“It is.  And it’s all they need to know.  Deal?”