[Hunter's Bride #1] Mail-Order War

-04 Swirl of Passion-

Maddox

A soft snoring broke Maddox out of his reverie. He smiled, looking at his beautiful wife, sleeping while her body pressed closed to the side of the car. Maddox felt bad for ignoring her but he was lost in thought, trying to come up with solution to the problem that suddenly showed up on his ranch, in the form of his ex-girlfriend.

He took the chance to admire his new wife. She had a sculpted figure which was twine-thin. Her hair was a rich shade of mahogany. It flowed in waves to adorn her glowing, porcelain-like skin. If he remembered correctly, her eyes, framed by long lashes, were a bright, hazel-brown and seemed to brighten the world. A straight nose, full lips - she seemed the picture of perfection. And this perfection belonged to him.

"If you're not her husband, I might assume you're her stalker with the way you're ogling her." Jack chuckled.

"In her case, she should have a stalker, but then again, I might go on protective mode all the time if that is true." Maddox sighed. "Look at her Jack. She's so young and innocent. I may not be the right guy for her."

"You think too much. You have Rose and I and heck, the rest of the ranch hand to help you. Don't you think I don't know what you were thinking." Jack let out a huge breath. "It's that witch isn't it? She's back for your money, if I have to place my bet on it."

"She's always there for money. I'm the one who was too blind to see it." Maddox pulled his new wife softly and placed her head on his shoulder. "She's going to hurt my angel."

Jack laughed. "Angel is it? Well, she's not just your angel. She's ours too. We'll do everything to protect her. And you know Rose. She's going to be the most ferocious mama hen after she meets our angel."

Maddox smiled. He could already picture it in his head, Rose with her shot-gun trying to battle Celine. With Rose determination and Celine manicure nails, he already knew who was going to win.

"Hey boss." Maddox looked up, meeting Jack's eyes through the rear-view mirror. "You didn't tell your new wife there about your financial statement did you?"

Maddox shrugged his shoulder. "I don't want to seem like I was bragging. She's going to find out soon. And I'm not lying either."

"She won't mind about your wealth or the abundance of it. I mean, she was ready to accept an old man like me as her husband," said Jack between chuckled.

Maddox groaned. "Don't remind me. She was inching towards you when she saw me, thinking that you were her future husband. But it showed her loyalty."

Jack sniffed the air. "I smell love in the air. Did you smell that boss?"

Maddox glared at the back of his manager's head but made no remark. Jack laughed knowing he was right. The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Jack was busied with his own thoughts while Maddox was busy being a stalker to his new wife. He traced her bottom lip with his index finger, liking the softness. He gulped, thinking of tonight. Maybe he should give her some time to settle first. But, it had been so long and he didn't know how long he was able to wait.

"You better wake the missus boss cause we're here. I'll park in front of the house, away from the bunkhouse, in case the witch decides to appear," Jack said a bit louder over the excitement at the bunkhouse.

Maddox stretched his neck as far as he could, to see his guests were already roaming around the bunkhouse, but not far from it. He made it one of the rules, the guest had to be escorted by one of his ranch hand and if they were ever caught alone, he got the right to kick them off his ranch. So far, no one broke it yet. He did not see the witch anywhere and took it as a good sign. He did not want his new bride to have any reason to divorce him on the same day.