The Rancher takes his Love at First Sight

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I don't see why I need to wear a veil." Romey Capulano used the backs of her hands to fluff the thin scrap of lace up and off her face. "It's not like he hasn't seen me before."

The first time she’d seen Jordan Spinelli was etched in her mind indelibly like the carvings on the Rosetta Stone. Problem was, unlike the translation stone which held the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, Romey was still having trouble puzzling out her initial reaction to the man who’d come to stand before her in the grocery store a week ago.

The first time Jordan had seen her, he’d stared at her as though she had been the key to deciphering an ancient language. With each step he’d taken toward her, comprehension had appeared to dawn in his dark eyes. She’d felt a pull like there was some invisible force between them, intent on entwining their lives like the double helix of DNA. That, she’d wanted to shout to her lovestruck sister, was the true spark. The spark that created life.

And then the two of them had spent the afternoon debunking the idea of love.

Jordan’s points about the symptoms of true love being those of a medical condition had been so astute and perceptive that Romey had sighed. When he’d described the notion of passion as a cocktail of adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin that mirrored reactions on the battlefield, Romey had become heated by his analogy and had needed to fan herself. When he’d determined that the best way to pick a life partner should be in the same manner that someone searches for a home, her knees felt weak.

Jordan Spinelli was the most rational, the most logical, the most calculating man that she’d ever met. She wasn’t going to ruin it all by falling in love with him. It was the stupidest thing she could’ve ever done.

In the mirror, her cheeks heated and turned the blush ruddy. Romey moved her hands and let the veil fall back into place. Only to have her sister pin it back.

"The veil is tradition," said Jules.

"Says the woman who eloped in a sundress and sandals with a stranger she'd only known for a few hours."

“Yes,” Jules sighed, her eyes going dreamy. “David is my true love, you know that."

Romey didn't know that. It was impossible for her to know that. Though she and her twin sister Jules might share the same features, they each had two entirely different ways of seeing the world.

All their lives, Jules had had her head stuck in the clouds. She’d always believed in the mythical, intangible idea of true love.

Romey was the more practical-minded twin. Math made her heart flip. Science was her true passion. But now her heart was racing at the thought of a man. It was entirely unacceptable. But she couldn’t seem to get it under control.

Every time she thought about Jordan, her mind would fog, her palms would sweat, her lips would tingle. It was embarrassing. Her, Romey Capulano, was suffering the side effects from those silly women who read romance novels about a white knight on a steed come to rescue them. Or a tall, dark, and handsome stranger come to sweep her off her feet.

Romey’s feet were planted firmly on the ground. The problem was Jordan had come in to rescue her. Not for love or anything trifle like that. Jordan had fronted the other half of the money to buy her homestead, the small parcel of land bordering the Vance Ranch and the Verona Commune. The only way the land transfer would work was for Jules and Romey to marry men with money. Their Shakespeare-loving father would’ve gotten a kick out of that. With the four of them as equal co-owners, they could separate from the commune and it would be granted the organic status it coveted.

It was an elegant solution that she and Jordan had come up with together. Only, now she’d have to see him every day for the rest of her life. Looking in the mirror, Romey saw that her cheeks flushed even redder. But no, that was Patty Hayes brushing blush onto her cheeks.

"Did you know that wearing a veil predates wearing white?" Romey asked. When she got nervous, she always reached for knowledge to shield her. "The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that if a bride wore a veil, it would deter demons from taking over her spirit. They even had bridesmaid's wear veils as well to try and confuse the demons."

“Well, that’ll teach bridesmaids or anyone in attendance from trying to upstage the bride,” said Patty. She tilted Romey’s head to the side and began to work on her other cheek.

"That's the real reason why a father would walk his daughter down the aisle because the veil obstructed her view, and she would bump into things. So, he, or someone, had to walk her down and give her away."

“You don’t have to worry about where you’re going,” said Jules. “I’ll be giving you away. And then, tonight after the wedding, David and I are going to make ourselves scarce."

"Why would you do that?” asked Romey.

"So that you and Jordan can... you know... have some time to yourselves."

Time to their selves? They would have a lifetime with each other. Sometimes her sister made no sense.

“Uh oh,” said Patty, turning to Jules. “You two have had the talk, haven’t you?”

The talk? What talk?

“Oh, yes,” said Jules. “Laxmi Patel, that’s our reproductive health and s****l education teacher on the commune, she was a former tantra instructor. She taught classes on the Kama Sutra when we officially entered puberty after our coming of age ceremony.”

Oh. That talk.

“It's not like that,” said Romey. “Remember, this marriage between Jordan and me is practical. We're not in love."

Romey narrowly missed biting her tongue at the statement. She wasn’t sure if this was emotional love that she was feeling. It still might be a medical condition. But she was certain it was one-sided. Jordan was far too intellectual to get mixed up in such nonsense.

"Really?” said Patty as she put the final touches on Romey’s cheeks. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you."

"You have?" said Romey. Had her voice gone up an octave with hope?

"That night you invited us over to your land for the communal bonfire, Spinelli couldn't take his eyes off you."

That couldn't be true because whenever she could, Romey had stolen glances at him. He hadn’t been looking at her. And when he had looked at her, it was to engage her in conversation about their arrangement. They had spoken practically about their impending nuptials. There hadn’t been a single hint of anything more than a business arrangement. Which was what she had always envisioned her marriage to be.

But there had been that moment back at the grocery store. When their gazes had locked for the first time. Had that been a spark in his eyes? Had that been desire curling at his lips? Had his steps brought him to her because he had seen more in her than a like-minded individual? Would he appreciate the fact that they would have the house to themselves tonight, on their wedding night?

Her pulse raced at the thought. Her throat went dry. Her head started to pound erratically until she began to feel faint.

God, she hoped she was coming down with something right before her wedding. A sickness? Maybe madness? Because she wasn’t sure she could handle the alternative.