Page 34 of Fake Dating an Orc Cowboy

“Dad!” Rosey slid between us. “Stop.”

“Come on, now, Brandon.” Jenny sent me a warm smile as she pinched the sleeve of her mate’s shirt and tugged him to her left. “Let’s go find a palapa before they’re all taken. It’s nice to meet you, Ostor. Rosey?” She winked. “Fill me in later.”

With that, they walked away, rounding the pool and dropping their things on two lounge chairs with a palapa overhead providing shade.

“Sorry,” Rosey said. “Dad can be protective.”

“No problem.” I’d find Brandon later and assure him that my intentions were good. While I’d licked his daughter this morning, and I was eager to do more, I wouldn’t take advantage of her. He’d no doubt be reassured when he saw the mating marks on our arms.

Something I had to fill Rosey in on soon. She must’ve noticed her own.

“Thanks for being gracious,” she said, and we sat again, her reading on her phone, me dozing in the chair.

Her parents joined us for lunch, her mother sitting beside Rosey, whispering and shooting me big grins, her father watching me with a speculative gleam in his eyes.

As for Macy and Jacob, they strolled into the dining area as we were finishing, a good thing for me, because, when they joined us, Rosey’s parents stayed to chat with them while Rosey and I slipped away.

We went to the shop and bought me a based-ball cap in orc-size. Now I could fit in, and that made me feel less awkward. I couldn’t mask my larger-than-everyone-else frame, but I could dress and behave like all the human guys did.

Before we left the shop, I guided Rosey around, lifting one thing after another, hoping to find a special treasure that would remind her of me. Then I saw her gazing with longing at a rack of pretty dresses and urged her over to them.

She tugged a pale blue one out but returned it to the rack quickly after spying the dangling tag. “Too much.”

“Nothing is too much.”

“You’re a cowboy. You and your brothers are starting a new business. Perhaps things are tight?”

“To some extent, but not truly.” How could I tell her that while the king had helped fund our new venture, all of us were considered wealthy by human standards. The sparkly rocks we tossed around when we were kids or collected to melt down and turn into plates or items to put on display were made of something humans treasured above almost everything else.

Gold.

The initial orcs who formed the treaty with humans saw right away how much humans treasure this mineral, and we universally decided to keep secret the fact that it lay on the ground for anyone to pick up.

When an orc moved to the surface, they brought a small amount with them, implying that we’d worked hard to extract it from stone and that it was as rare below ground as it was up here. But we all slowly trickled in enough to make us wealthy by human standards.

I could buy everything in this shop. The resort itself if I wanted to, and still have plenty left over to spend on whatever caught my eye.

I wanted to spend all my hoard on Rosey.

“I can afford it,” I said. “Try it on. Let me see how it looks on you.”

She frowned. “You’re sure?” The look of longing on her face when she stared at the dress . . . I’d kill to give this to her.

I nodded as her fingers lingered on the silky fabric. Her resistance only made me want to give this to her more. By the fates, I’d give her the world if I could. Buildings, jewels, dresses—anything. But more than that, if she wore this dress, every timeshe slipped it on, she’d think of me. I needed her to remember because I was never going to forget. Not one second of this long weekend I was spending with this female I was beginning to love.

“Okay,” she finally said, her lips turning up, shy but with enough excitement to spin my heart.

She took the dress to the changing room, glancing back once more, her eyes questioning as though she still thought I might stop her. I grunted and nudged my chin, urging her to try it on.

While she was gone, I let my fingers trail across the flowing fabric of the other dresses, each as soft and delicate as the one she adored. Maybe I should buy her more than one. Maybe I should buy the entire rack. My people back home would think I was foolish, using my wealth on fine dresses when I could be investing in my business. Wealth meant nothing to me. Knowing I could make Rosey happy was all that mattered.

Kindness, strength, and beauty. Rosey carried all those traits in abundance. I was blessed that the fates had brought her into my life. I couldn’t stop the gnawing fear that in a few days, she’d decide this was fun but that she didn’t need a male she’d only recently met in her life. Certainly not an orc from beneath the ground who didn't understand her world like even the simplest human.

But this morning . . . I grinned at the memory. When I’d touched her, when I’d kissed her, she gifted me with her pleasure. Even if she didn’t realize it yet, I knew in my heart. We had a beginning, and beginnings could lead to something wonderful.

The curtain to the changing room fluttered, and Rosey stepped out.

I could not breathe.

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