Despite the peace in the family, she and her sister knew it would be best if she wasn't around much for some time to come. She had promised to come back and would be writing Leah at least twice a week to keep her informed. She felt good, just a little sore from the birth but other than that she was trimming down and looking forward to something different. She also felt she had a few self-created demons to dispel. It would be best to do that somewhere else. As the sun began coming up she got to the crossroads near town and saw a rider waiting. As she drew close she recognized him.
“So where are you headed?” he asked casually.
“Maybe San Francisco. I am not sure.”
“What a coincidence! So am I.” He told her with a flourish of his arms. She laughed.
“We are friends Senorita and I thought you could use the company, since we are both traveling.” She agreed and laughed with him.
“Alright then my old friend. How far to the next town?” he thought about it.
“Maybe a hundred miles. For a good one anyway. Have you packed enough for a journey of that length?”
“I think so. Race you!” She told him and she urged Minny forward. She was a fast horse and Hernandez had a hard time keeping up. Laughing she raced into her new future with the sun rising on her left.
In Too Deep with the Montana Cowboy Brothers
By: Steamy Reads
In Too Deep with the Montana Cowboy Brothers
© SteamyReads4U, December 2015 – All rights reserved
Published by Steamy Reads Publishing
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Warning
This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
Chapter One
Alicia sighed as she walked down the warm street of Bearcreek, Montana. Alicia had lost her teaching position last month due to a massive layoff the school district was having which was unfortunate for her.
“I’m so tired of doing this day end and out,” Alicia searched online every day for jobs that were hiring and she went to ten business establishments on a daily basis and dropped off her resume and a cover letter. So far she wasn’t receiving any calls for interviews. The one interview that she did have was for a waitressing position at a popular night club. The only reason why she didn’t get that job was because they said she was “over-qualified.”
Alicia never understood what over-qualified meant. If she was there looking for a job, then as long as they thought she’d be able to do the job they should have just given it to her. She always thought to get a waitressing job a woman had to be fairly attractive. Men told her constantly that she was beautiful with her even ebony skin and her curvaceous body. Her breasts weren’t incredibly big, only at 38 C, but her hips were wide and her rear was plump. She always kept herself looking her best. She went to the hair salon weekly and got her shoulder length hair treated and she kept her nails done. She could dress professional or any style to fit the occasion.
“I just need to find something quick,” she had saved up some money to help her pay her bills, but that would soon run out and if she didn’t do anything soon she’d be homeless. She applied to teaching jobs but Montana schools weren’t looking for elementary school teachers at the moment. She was willing to work any job as long as it’ll keep a roof over her head. She walked by construction workers then and they began whistling at her.
“Hey baby, why the long face?” A man asked. Alicia decided to ignore them. She had too many other things on her mind to listen to the men flirt with her. Alicia made her way into a liquor store and went to the counter.
“How can I help you sweetheart?” the cashier asked and Alicia pulled out some money.
“Let me get that big bottle of vodka up there,” Alicia pointed to it and the man turned around and grabbed it.
“$15.98” Alicia handed the man sixteen dollars and she shook her head when he attempted to give her change. She took the bottle from the man, which he was nice enough to wrap up in a nice paper bag, and she walked out of the store. She was stressed out and she felt like nothing was going her way. She wanted to have a drink to relax her mind and hopefully put her back in high spirits. She was still angry that the school laid her off the way that she did. She gave the school five years of her life. She had worked their quickly after receiving her teacher’s certification when she was twenty-two years old.
“I guess if you don’t have tenure the school doesn’t really care about you.” She walked the rest of the way home thinking of what she could do to get a cash flow coming in.
****
When Alicia got home, she wasn’t surprised to see an eviction notice on her two-bedroom apartment door. She had saved up enough to pay majority of her utility bills, but she was only able to give the landlord half of the rent.
“These people are so money hungry, I told them I’d have the money as soon as my unemployment check comes.” Alicia ripped up the noticed and threw it into the garbage. She literally pleaded with her landlord and told him of her current predicament. He assured her that he understood what she was going through and was going to give her a little more time to come up with the money. So why did she come home just to find that notice on her door? Alicia got a big glass out of the cupboard and poured some orange juice into it. She then broke the seal of the vodka and poured it into the glass.
“Things will be alright,” Alicia took a deep breath and swallowed the liquid. She was just going through a rough patch. She was doing all that she needed to do and now she had to be a little patient. After she drained the glass, she poured another mixture of vodka and orange juice. “Just keep trying,” she said again and drunk the contents of her glass. After a few glasses, she was starting to feel a little light headed. Alicia got up and went into her bedroom and grabbed her laptop. “Time to see what new postings are up” Once the laptop started up, she quickly went to a few sites that she went on to search and apply for jobs. She scrolled through the list of places hiring in her area and noticed that majority of the listings she either applied to, or emailed the company regarding the posting.
“I’ll just check on another site,” typing in another name in her search engine, she scrolled through the list of jobs and it was the same result as before. All of the listings that were on the site she had already applied to. She slammed the laptop closed and lied down on her bed. Her head was spinning from the alcohol and she found herself to be pretty hungry. She didn’t get up though, feeling too lazy to cook anything she just lied there and let the warm tears fall down her face. Everything was going well in her life before this happened. She had to sacrifice a lot of things when she got laid off in order to have food and the basic necessities.
Alicia was hoping that the alcohol would make her feel a little better, but it had appeared to have done the opposite. She was feeling worse than how she was feeling before she started drinking. “Just try to think positive Alicia.” She told herself and her eyelids began to get heavy. She didn’t take off her clothes or even wipe off her make-up; she simply allowed sleep to overtake her because she truly believed t
hat she’d feel better with sleep.
When Alicia woke up the next morning, she had a splitting headache. “Ugh, drinking didn’t help me at all.” Alicia said and got out of bed. She was surprised to see that she was still wearing the suit that she had been wearing yesterday when she was job hunting. Sighing, she took off her clothes and made her way into the bathroom. She turned on the tub and began filling it with water adding lavender, rosemary, and some more oils into the water. The oils had a soothing and relaxing effect and she needed all the relaxation she could get. She made the water as hot as she could stand it and lowered her body into it.
“Ah” she moaned as the hot water caressed her sore skin. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She wanted to start this day optimistic and possibly have it end on a positive note as well. She grabbed her towel, dipped it in the oily water, and placed it over her face. She was sure she looked like she had been hit by a train. These oils would make her skin softer and it’ll reduce some of the puffiness she knew she had around her eyes. She stayed in the tub for thirty minutes and decided to get out once the water began to get cold. Alicia looked at her voluptuous body in the mirror.
“I definitely could have done that waitressing job,” she spat out. She wasn’t the skinniest woman in the world, but she was thick and she knew that guys liked that. She had a lot to offer the restaurant and she knew that she would have gotten a lot of tips. She would’ve felt awkward if one of her former student’s parents came in and saw her working there, but she needed a job and they should know that times were rough when teachers were being laid off left and right. Alicia dried off her body and wrapped the towel securely around her. She went back into her bedroom and picked her laptop up off of the floor. She looked at the job posting sites that she looked at last night and noticed that they hadn’t posted anything new. She sighed and just as she was about to shut down her laptop, a classified ad caught her eye.
“Looking for a mail order bride, must be in between the ages of twenty-five and thirty. Must be a BBW, dress well, and know how to cook.” Alicia looked at the ad I sighed. Who would respond to something like this? She looked at the benefits that the person would get. “$1,000 a week, room and board, and would be under the same health insurance as the client.” She thought that was good benefits, but there was no way she was going to do that. She looked to see if any teaching jobs had been posted and was surprised to hear banging on her front door.
“Who could that be,” Alicia got up and opened her door not knowing that her life was going to be changed at that moment.
Chapter Two
“I can’t believe that you actually posted an ad like that.” Donald said as he and his brother Daniel had lunch together. Daniel shrugged his shoulders.
“Hey man, I don’t be saying nothing to you with all those women you have coming in and out of your house. I’m just trying to find one.” Daniel said as he picked at his eggs.
“Look, whoever answers this is clearly desperate and a prostitute.” Donald said quietly as a waitress walked passed them. “Plus you’re going to move the woman in your house. What happens if she’s a serial killer?”
“I’ll run a background check on all the women that I am interested in.” Donald threw his hands in the air in disbelief.
“You’re treating this like you’re hiring a new employee.” Daniel owned an advertising firm and for only being thirty-two years old, he was pretty successful. “Are you going to check her for diseases too? Because I know you’re going to sleep with her.” Daniel sighed and drunk the rest of his coffee.
“You act like I’m going to pound her as soon as I see her.” Daniel said and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’m not doing this for sex, I’m doing this because I’m lonely and I don’t have enough time to date people.” Donald thought the whole mail order bride idea was crazy. He didn’t even know where Daniel got this idea from.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Donald said and folded his arms. “You’re going to get her tested right? Regardless of what you’re saying now you’re going to eventually sleep together.”
“Yes for crying out loud.” Daniel barked out. Donald was quite persistent when it came to Daniel’s love life. Daniel was older than Donald by two years, but Donald acted like he was the oldest. “I’m too old for the lectures; I don’t even know why I told you.” Donald ran his hands through his spiky hair.
“Stop acting childish and I won’t lecture you.” Donald responded. Daniel glared at Donald and called the waitress over.
“Can we get our bill now?” the tone of his voice changed from angry to gentlemanly. The waitress blushed and smiled at him.
“Of course, I’ll be right back.” The waitress walked away in a hurry.
“What about her?” Donald asked pointing his head at the waitress. “She’s cute and she obviously wants to talk to you.” Daniel shook his head.
“It’s just not that easy for me Donald.” Daniel said. It wasn’t like Daniel was a bad looking guy. He was six-foot-two and very lean. He and Donald was Brazilian and Daniel had dark hair and grey eyes. Donald was almost identical to his older brother, the only difference being that he had sandy brown hair with dark brown eyes. Daniel was constantly hit on by beautiful woman, but he didn’t have enough time to date them. The mail order bride way of meeting a woman seemed like a good idea to him. She’d be living with him in his four-bedroom house so he didn’t have to rush and get off of work in order to pick her up for a date. Daniel was perfectly willing to buy someone’s companionship since it’ll take majority of the “hard work” out of dating.
“Whatever man,” Donald said and watched as the waitress walked back over to them with the bill in her hand.
“I got this.” Daniel said and picked up the bill. He placed three twenty dollar bills on the table and got up.
“The food wasn’t that expensive was it?” Donald asked alarmed at the amount of money Daniel put down.
“No I just gave her a forty-dollar tip.” Donald sighed. Daniel was the wealthier of the two men, but Donald had a good income coming in as well. He was the manager of a small sales company and he thought he did a pretty good job when it came to an income. However, he couldn’t see himself paying sixty dollars for a twenty-dollar meal.
“So have you gotten many applications?” Donald asked as they walked out of Josie’s diner. Daniel nodded.
“I interviewed some women, but they weren’t too interesting.” Daniel stopped walking and turned to look at Donald. “You should look into finding a mail order bride too; maybe you won’t be as promiscuous as you are now.” Donald laughed.
“Please, I don’t need that because I am not as lonely as you.” Donald started walking again.
“Let’s make it a little competition then,” Donald stopped walking and turned and looked at Daniel. He always was the competitive type and he enjoyed beating others at their own games.
“I’m listening,” he said and folded his arms.
“Since you think this is just some joke, I bet you two grand that if you order a mail order bride, you will find the relationship to be a similar experience as having a normal girlfriend.”
“Deal,” Donald said and shook Daniel’s hand. Two thousand dollars was a lot of money and he could definitely use it. Plus, Donald thought there would be no chance that he’d look at a woman that he purchased as being a real girlfriend. He actually felt bad for his brother, losing two grand wasn’t some pocket change. “I look forward to taking your money.” Daniel smiled and let go of his brother’s hand.
“I’m serious now.” Daniel said as the two of them walked towards Daniel’s 2009 Ford Focus.
“So am I,” Donald said grinning. “When am I not serious when it comes to making money?” Daniel shook his head. His younger brother has always been greedy when it came to money, but Daniel did a lot of research on mail order brides. He was sure that his brother would fall for one just like he was sure that he would as well. “So how does this work?�
�� Daniel pulled out his phone and brought up an app that specialized in making ads for mail order brides online.
“Well for now you can help me interview some of my women,” Daniel said as he navigated through the website while Donald looked on. “It’s pretty simple. You make an account, tell them what type of woman interests you, and they pretty much write your requirements in a more professional manner.”
“You’re paying the woman $1,000 a week plus room and board?” Donald asked in shock when he read through Daniel’s ad. Daniel closed the app and put his phone back in his pocket.
“You weren’t supposed to read all of that.” Daniel said and turned his attention to pulling out of the parking lot.
“You better sleep with whoever this woman is as soon as she moves into your house for that type of money.” Donald couldn’t believe that Daniel would pay that high for a woman. Donald would be lying if he said that the website didn’t intrigue him. He wasn’t a huge fan of meeting people online, but he could see the potential of building a relationship from it. Besides unlike Daniel, he was definitely planning on sleeping with any woman that he picked. He didn’t care about the romance side of it, he liked playing the field and taking woman as they came. He’d just treat the woman that he picked as one of his many conquests. “So when’s your next interview?”
“I’m still going through the women who applied. I read their profiles and look at their picture first before I make a decision to pick a woman.” Daniel said as he eased his car on the expressway.
“Let me check them out,” Donald said and held out his hand.
“Why?” Daniel retorted. His brother was nosy and he honestly didn’t want him snooping through his phone.
Romance: Yes, Stepbrother! Page 25