ROMANCE: Badass Boss (Billionaire Alpha Bad Boy Romance) (Western Mail Order Bride Calendar Contemporary)

by Susan Fleming

  2016 ©

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 1

  It was a warm day. They were all warm days. The arid land stretched out endlessly to the horizon, red and dusty. At the edges of her sight, Mary-Jane could see the tall mountains, streaked with purple, standing tall and foreboding, promising mystery.

  All her life she had wondered what lay beyond those mountains but had never been allowed to venture further than the river, where she collected water. She was there now, and as she had grown older her trips to the river had taken longer and longer. When she had been younger she had always been accompanied by an escort, for there were stories of young girls being taken by wild men, and the thought of that filled her young mind with fear.

  She remembered the first time that she had been trusted to go to the river alone, how her heart had beat so fiercely in her chest that it could have burst out, and how her eyes darted around, afraid that somebody would leap out of nowhere and capture her.

  But nobody had. She had never seen any trace of the wild men. Some people said that they had all died out or moved on, some of them claimed that they were all scared by the man who had risen to the position of sheriff--who also happened to be Mary-Jane's father. And some simply considered Mary-Jane to be fortunate that she hadn't run into them yet. Occasionally, she looked up and wondered if there were any people living out in the desert. How strange they must be, to not have roofs over their heads or beds to sleep in.

  Her father proclaimed them savages, for the mark of an honorable man was to live in a city with his peers, to provide or produce something of substance that was a benefit to those around him, and for the community in which he lived to thrive. But sometimes Mary-Jane's mind wandered to a place where excitement took hold, for she imagined that living in such conditions would prove to be an adventure. It would be her against nature, exploring the surroundings, not knowing what each day would bring.

  Somewhere out there was a whole new world just waiting for her, yet she was stuck at home, tasked with carrying the water and cleaning the house until she was married off. She blinked as she stared into the sun. The air seemed to shimmer before her and the haze was alluring, giving the world a dreamlike quality. It only stopped when a mosquito buzzed up and bit her sharply on the arm. She gasped and slapped her arm instinctively, leaving a raw mark, but she was too late and the insect was already off to somewhere new.

  Mary-Jane sighed, for she wished that it was as easy a thing to flutter her wings and travel somewhere else. All her life she had known nothing other than her small town, but her heart and mind had been filled with stories of adventure and of people building themselves up from nothing. She wanted to be a part of that, to feel like she had mattered and made a difference to the world.

  She leaned down and knelt against the side of the river. The banks were wet and the ground around her was moist. It ended here, a natural boundary between the civilized world and everything that lay beyond it. She ran her hands through the patches of grass and thought what an easy thing it would be to leap over the river and venture off to a new frontier.

  The water flowed easily and warmly in front of her, going to someplace she would never see, coming from some place she had never heard of. She thought about all the other people that must have been using this water. Other girls like her, who were dreaming of a bigger life, heroes and villains who took breaks from their pursuits to quench their thirst, and many others who all had their own stories to tell. She dipped her hand into it and felt the crystal water flow between her fingers. When she raised them, she watched the drops trickle along the edge of her pale skin and then fall back from whence they came, disappearing into the relentless stream of water. She cupped a handful of water and raised it to her mouth, then gulped it down hungrily, wiping the remnants away, then splashed some over her heart-shaped face. The air was dry, so the sensation was refreshing.

  The sun hung high in the sky, and if she could she would have stayed there all day, sitting and staring out at the world. One day she was sure that she would summon the courage to leave, but she knew that if she did she would not be able to come back, and she was still just a young girl. The thought of cutting the tethers that shackled her to her life was difficult and frightening, and not something that she was capable of yet.

  As she placed the bucket into the water and watched it fill up quickly, her blonde hair fell over her eyes and shaded her from the sun. She raised the bucket back up and hoisted it in her arms, then made her way back to the town. When she’d been younger it had seemed like an arduous journey, but over the years she had become used to it. It took about twenty minutes, and now she never spilled a drop. On her way back she heard the faint whinnying of horses in the distance and occasionally the rattling sound of a wagon. Other people seemed to find it so easy to come and go, and she envied them to a great extent.

  Mary-Jane made her way over the cresting hill and the town came into view. It was a humble place with the buildings scattered around in a haphazard manner, but the people who lived there were proud. They felt as though they had been blessed with God's providence, and traded many things with merchants and other towns, and with Mary-Jane's father as an imposing sheriff it had been a long time since any bandits had tried to raid the town.

  She greeted and nodded to certain people as she made her way home. Everybody in town knew her, and she knew everybody, but over the past few years she noticed that the men had begun to look at her differently and she found it unsettling, especially men of her father's generation, as she remembered how they would slip her treats of candy when she was younger, and now they had the look that she wore when she used to expect a treat, only she didn't think it was candy that they wanted.

  Still, none of them dared to make any moves toward her, for fear of what her father would do. And she was glad of that, because they all inspired a feeling of revulsion and dread in her. To think of their gnarled hands and drooling mouths over her made her wince; they were the things of nightmares. The plain fact of the matter was that there were few, if any, eligible suitors in her town, and this was another reason why she longed to leave. She was sure that somewhere out there was the man of her dreams.

  She had never been the type of girl to get caught up in romance, and when she was little, while others had been describing their perfect marriage she had been occupied with other things. But since her femininity had blossomed she found herself yearning for companionship and a deep need to have a warm body beside her. There were also other deeper desires, ones that made her heart race and her skin tingle, but she did not dare to think of them too often for they seemed dangerous.

  “Mary-Jane!” Callie called out. The plump, ruddy-faced girl had been a friend since school and Mary-Jane couldn't help but compare her own life to that of Callie's. Callie had married soon after they had left and already had two children, with surely more on the way. She was happy with her little family and Mary-Jane wondered how it was so easy for her to find the perfect man to fall in love with when she herself could see no-one suitable.

  “Hello Callie,” she replied. Callie slowed her pace as she caught up to Mary-Jane. A sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead and she inhaled long, deep breaths.

  “I thought I'd say hello. It feels like it's been forever. May I walk with you?”

  “Certainly,” and the two young women strolled along the main street of the town. Mary-Jane deliberately maintained a slow pace for the benefit of her friend. “And yes, it has been a long time. I suppose as we've grown older we have other commitments that keep us busy.”

  “I can see that, still fetching water I see,” Callie said.

  “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. When I look at Jimmy and Gwen running around with their friends it so reminds me of the days
when we used to be young. It's almost like looking back through time,” she said wistfully.

  “Do you really miss those days?”

  “Don't you? We didn't have anything to worry about, we could just play to our heart's content and everything was new and exciting.”

  “We also had bedtimes and had to eat what we were told and had to attend Mrs. Hand's lessons. I don't think there's anything in the world that would make me want to go back there.”

  “You always were a dreamer, though.”

  “Unfortunately dreams do not always come true. Although yours has. Family life is treating you well, I've never seen you happier.”

  “I know, I just hope that I'm as good a mother to my own as mine was to me.”

  “I have every faith that you are. Whenever I see your children, they are always jolly and in good spirits.” This compliment seemed to please Callie greatly, and she beamed with pride. It made Mary-Jane happy too.

  “I hope this is not too prying a question, but how are your preparations for the future? Do you have any plans? Has anything been arranged?”

  “No, not as yet. There seems to be a lack of suitable men in this town, and I am never allowed to leave. My father says that he will find me someone suitable but sometimes I fear that he wants me to turn into a spinster so that I will never have to leave.”

  “Your father is simply being protective of you. I am sure that he is just waiting for the right person to come along.”

  “I can hope, but the more days pass, the less likely it seems that I will find anyone to share my life with. My fear is that my soul mate is simply in another part of the country, and I will never get the chance to meet him.”

  “Keep the faith. In my experience, these things work themselves out and if you are meant to be with somebody you will make your way to each other.”

  Mary-Jane smiled at the sentiment, although she didn't wholly believe it. She and Callie spoke for a little while longer until they had to part ways. She had to return home with the water and Callie had some errands to run in town. As they said goodbye Callie insisted that she join them for dinner, and Mary-Jane accepted the invitation gladly, yet she was unsure if it would ever actually happen. As she watched Callie walk to town it was as though she was watching her youth walk away.

  There was a time when she had so much in common with Callie and the other girls, but as time had gone on they had drifted further and further apart. Many of them had gone onto bigger and better things. Almost all of them were married. Beth had proven everyone right by leaving the state and getting married to a politician, while Charlotte had married a wealthy rancher. All of her peers had made some traction in her lives while Mary-Jane had made none, and this frustrated her. With a heavy heart, she returned home to her ordinary life in her ordinary town, performing the same tasks as she had when she was a child.

  Chapter 2

  “Oh good, you're back. I swear Mary-Jane you take longer and longer every time you go to the river. Don't you know that it drives me to my wit's end? I worry about you every time,” Annabelle, Mary-Jane's mother, said upon her daughter's arrival.

  Annabelle was slightly shorter than Mary-Jane, with a slender figure and the same color hair. She also had a youthful look about her, which was the envy of many women in the town, although as she had grown older her skin had tightened and the angles of her face grew sharper. She scurried about as though she was always in a hurry, yet never seemed to get as much done as she wanted to. She kept the house in good condition. They had moved to this one shortly after Mary-Jane's father had been deputized as sheriff, as the position had come with a pay rise and greater status. Although it was bigger than their old place, it had the same feel and aesthetic to it.

  Her uncle's paintings still hung on the walls. Mary-Jane only had vague memories of her uncle, but she remembered him being a nice man. Her mother rarely spoke of him, but occasionally Mary-Jane caught her staring longingly at the paintings, and she wondered what had happened. One day she was sure that she would find out, when her mother was ready to reveal the truth. Big, sturdy bookcases stood against the wall as well, filled with all manner of reading material. One of their family traditions was to read to each other one night a week. They would work their way through a book, each reading a chapter at a time. Some books were good, some were terribly mundane, but they all brought them closer as a family, and that was a welcome feeling.

  Annabelle took the water from Mary-Jane's arms and the young woman stretched, glad of the relief. The bucket had dug into her skin and left deep marks, which would fade soon. Her muscles, although they had become used to the task of carrying the water over the years, still ached a little. She took an apple from the bowl and took a deep bite, enjoying the satisfying crunch that came with it.

  “I've been doing it for years now, if nothing has happened to me now then I don't think it will. I'm perfectly safe.”

  “I'm sure that's what Ruth said too, and all the others,” her mother snapped. Ruth was the name of one of the girls who had been taken. Nobody had ever seen her again and she was believed to be dead, and while the savages had been blamed for abducting her there had never actually been any evidence to prove that supposition.

  “Nobody has been taken for years. If there were any wild men out in the desert I'm sure they've moved on now, or they've died.”

  “That's probably what they want us to think, want to lull us into a false sense of security. That's what these people do, you know. The world is a dangerous place and there's always something lurking around every corner.”

  “Why do you always say that mother? You have lived just as sheltered life as me, and there hasn't been anything bad that has happened to us. Yes, there were bandits raiding the town when I was younger, but since then nothing has happened. Are you sure you are not just overreacting?”

  “Oh, so now wanting to keep my daughter safe is overreacting?”

  “I didn't mean it like that,” Mary-Jane said, trying to keep her voice soft. Sometimes talking to her mother could be difficult for she often flew off the handle and became defensive. Mary-Jane placed a hand on her arm and squeezed it gently. “I'm glad you've always looked out for me, but I don't understand your attitude sometimes. The world isn't all dangerous. There's so much beauty and wonder to be had as well.”

  “You're getting that tone again.”

  “What tone?”

  “The ‘I want to leave’ tone.”

  Mary-Jane went silent and continued to eat her apple. “I know that you want to see the rest of the world but it's not that simple,” her mother continued, “you know what your father is like. He likes to keep us here together, where he can keep us safe. And you know the rest of the world is mostly the same as this. Everywhere you turn there are people.”

  “But there are different people. But look at this,” Mary-Jane said, turning to one of her uncle's paintings, “this is so beautiful, but I've never seen anything like it.”

  “Your uncle did have a good eye for things,” Annabelle said wistfully.

  “What happened to him?”

  For a moment Mary-Jane thought that her mother was going to answer her question, but suddenly she clamped her lips shut and turned away, then ordered Mary-Jane to get on with more chores. Mary-Jane sighed and carried on with her day, her thoughts constantly of the future. Would she be doing the same things in five years until her youth had slipped by and the sweet innocent beauty withered and died? It was a saddening thought, but one which seemed likely to come true if something drastic was not done.

  As evening approached, the heavy smell of cooked meat rose through the house. Mary-Jane was attracted to the kitchen, and managed to sneak a scrap of meat from the stove while her mother wasn't looking. It was tender and juicy and only made her ravenous for more, but she would have to wait for her father to return home before dinner could be served.

  Thankfully, he was home on time. Mary-Jane heard his heavy footsteps approach and she ran to greet him. She had to ad
mit, the sheriff's outfit suited him. For years he had toiled at various occupations until finally he had won the role of deputy, a role he had been built for. He was a tall, strong man with broad shoulders and a square jaw. His voice rumbled, and many times in her youth he had bellowed at her, striking the fear of God into her. She had heard him use the same voice with criminals, and she recognized the expression on their face.

  It was easy to tell he had been a handsome man in his youth, and the harsh air had made him rugged. Spider-web lines spread out from the corners of his eyes and his skin had a deep, sandy tan. The guns on his belt clinked as he walked, and the silver star shone, forever polished, as it rested against his heart. It had been a sad day when the old sheriff died. A few bandits were attacking the wagons as they left the city, laying siege to the town. The old sheriff had been a man named Joseph. He was a good man, but he was not a hard man, and not ruthless like her father could be. He tried to bargain with the bandits and come to a peaceful solution, but they double-crossed him, as bandits are wont to do, and his body was riddled with bullets.