Sienna & Jacob: A Bioexpa Match Read online

  They hadn’t noticed it, but the second drone had advanced and lowered near their table. Both women jumped when it spoke. “Sienna Nicole Bloom, please place your left hand into the beam of light.” A line of light about twelve inches wide shot out of the bottom of the floating saucer.

  Mika squealed.

  Sienna squeaked. Her hand was trembling so hard she could barely extend it into the sliver thin beam of light. A tone sounded and the light passed back and forth over her palm.

  “Identification verified. Sienna Nicole Bloom, you are hereby married to Jakob Christopher House.” Her heart jumped into her throat. Mika began screaming and calling over the parents and the next few words of the drone were lost in the ensuing commotion. “Please make arrangements to meet and begin your probationary cohabitation period.” There was a brief pause. “Please do not move as you are fitted for your wedding band. You will feel a slight warming sensation.”

  Her eyes sought out Jakob’s as the ray of light narrowed and concentrated on her ring finger. He stared back at her. A warm silver band appeared. It was about a half an inch wide. A thin pink stripe of light circled the center of its entire circumference.

  “You may withdraw your hand. For questions or further information, please visit the Bioexpa Data Match website.”

  “Congratulations,” Mika said, wrapping her arms around her with such enthusiasm she almost knocked her off the picnic bench. Jakob’s parents’ and hers were there congratulating her also. There were tears in Judith House’s eyes as she welcomed her to their family.

  Across the yard beneath the tree, Ella shoved Jakob, finally breaking the eye contact that he had established with Sienna. She yelled something at him and stormed off. He called after her. When she didn’t stop, he chased her around the far side of the house and out of sight.

  Sienna closed her eyes, unsure of how to feel. For all intents and purposes, she was legally married to Jakob House. And he was in love with another woman.

  ***

  The distance between them may as well have been nonexistent. Jakob knew of the awe Sienna experienced and felt an out of body joy and peace as their eyes met. He was lightheaded with the mix of emotions. He wanted to go to her. He even leaned forward to do so as if drawn to her by an unseen force.

  He almost fell as small hands hit him and shoved him off balance. “You asshole!” Ella. He’d forgotten all about her.

  After shoving him, she ran for the house. He wanted to go to Sienna. They needed to talk. But Ella. He’d brought her here. He’d promised to marry her. Seeing no other choice, he followed her around the side of the house. The strange sensation of euphoria from before faded and his gut churned.

  Ella stormed through the front door and didn’t stop until she reached his bedroom. Jakob continued to trail her as though in a fog. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what had just happened. He stared down at the band on his left hand. He was married to Sienna.

  His chest constricted with emotion. In that moment, he had been unable to take his eyes off her. Did she grow more beautiful each year? Every time he saw her he was struck with how lovely she was. Of all the women in the world, what were the chances that he would be matched with his sister’s best friend?

  His musings were disrupted by Ella who was cursing fiercely enough to set his ears on fire. Removing her luggage from the closet, she emitted a steady stream of foul words. She tossed her makeup bag into her suitcase and zipped it. Just that quickly she was done because she had never really unpacked. Jakob knew she hadn’t wanted to stay at his parents’ house but his mom had insisted. He’d rarely stayed at home since graduating from college so he’d given in to his mother’s wishes.

  “How could you treat me this way? After everything I’ve done for you. I thought you were different!”

  She was blaming him for this? “Ella, how could I have known?”

  “You were the one saying all along that we might not be matched! What was this? Some sort of game for you?”

  Jakob raked his fingers through his curls. “Ella, I was willing to marry you without being matched. This was your idea, remember?”

  She gasped so vehemently that he thought the inhalation would knock her over. “Are you saying this is my fault?”

  Heeding advice he’d received from his father years ago, he kept his mouth shut. Somehow he doubted that his mother had ever been as unreasonable as Ella. He knew she would calm down and she would apologize. If he said anything, even if it was to reason with her, it would only serve to exacerbate their current argument.

  “I’m checking into a hotel.”

  He nodded. Under the circumstances, that was for the best. “I’ll pay for it.”

  She didn’t comment but there was a satisfied gleam in her eyes. She grabbed her bag off the bed and the weight of it jerked her arm downward. He moved to take it from her but she glared at him until he threw his hands up in surrender. She paused to extend the handle on her second bag. It thumped on each stair as she rolled it behind her on the way out of the house.

  He took her to the most expensive hotel in town and checked her into a suite. She inspected it and for a moment he thought she might complain. But finally she nodded her head and said it would do. Of course, she made it known to him that it wasn’t as good as what she could have elsewhere, but it would suffice.

  He paced the sitting room area while she showered. He didn’t know what the hell to do. He had essentially made promises to two women. Which promise did he prioritize? Did he stay with Ella because he’d been involved with her first?

  Or did he leave her because he was married? He didn’t take marriage or the contract he’d signed with Bioexpa lightly. But he never would have registered if it weren’t for Ella. He’d be the worst kind of bastard to simply abandon her.

  Ella came out of the bedroom in a fluffy pink robe. She wore no makeup. It occurred to him that he had never seen her look so lost or vulnerable. He wasn’t blind. He knew she had some serious bitchy tendencies. But she did have her softer moments. She valued family as much as he did.

  She extended both hands to him. “I’m sorry about before. I was so angry that this would happen to me. I still am. It was just such a…shock.” Her eyes filled with tears. “What do we do now?”

  Jakob pressed his forehead to hers and sighed. Her wide green eyes filled his vision. “Well, I’ll call my attorney to see what our best options are. And then we’ll keep our plans.”

  “Oh, Jakob,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Have I ever told you that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”

  He smiled. “Upon occasion.”

  She kissed his cheek and her arms fell away. “Let’s not make any plans yet. You don’t know if you’ll be able to get out of this. And…well, this just makes me think.”

  His gut twisted with anxiety. “Makes you think what?”

  She shrugged. “That maybe we weren’t meant to be.”

  “Ella-”

  “Don’t. I need some time to think. Alone.”

  Chapter Two

  Sienna sat on the porch steps in her parents’ backyard. The guests were gone and the lawns had been cleaned. Crickets were singing. The setting sun washed everything it touched orange. The grill was left open to cool. Though there were far more advanced methods of cooking, there was no convincing Mr. House that there was a tastier way of preparing steaks and burgers.

  She glanced down at the ring on her hand. Mr. House was her father-in-law. She was Mrs. Jakob House. It was difficult to wrap her head around the fact that she was married to the handsome boy next door.

  Her parents had moved to Greenville from a smaller town when she was fifteen. It wasn’t ideal to have to change high schools, but Mika and Jakob had immediately welcomed her to the neighborhood. She and Mika had become best friends. Jakob was kind to her as he was to everyone. He was the boy who made straight A’s and was always wil
ling to help a friend in need. He was respectful and kind. The year after they moved in Jakob went away to college. She’d scarcely seen him in the last seven years while he was playing tennis professionally. Yet whenever he’d called the bakery to talk to Mika, if she answered, he was always considerate enough to ask her about what was going on in her life. What’s more, he actually seemed to recall what she said from one conversation to the next no matter how much time passed.

  The quiet of the evening was disrupted by the sound of the back door to the Houses’ patio door opening. Sienna hoped it wasn’t Mika again. Jakob had followed Ella and hadn’t returned. Mika had assured her he would be back. But Mika was also so enthusiastic about this marriage she wasn’t willing to overlook any inconvenient details such as Jakob having a girlfriend he’d intended to marry.

  Jakob strode from his parent’s yard and into hers. “Mind if I join you?”

  She slid over to give him room on the step. He sat down. They both wore shorts. He opened his legs wide, plastering himself to her from hip to ankle. The hairs on his leg tickled her skin as he shifted against her.

  “So you’ve got to know, I’m as confused as hell here.”

  “I know this isn’t what you wanted.”

  “It isn’t what I’d planned.” He sighed. “But…shit, I don’t know. Ella is mad as hell.” He turned to her, his dark eyes earnest. “She checked into a hotel. She wouldn’t tell me what she’s going to do. She said she needed some time to think. As do we all,” he ended on a mutter. He paused then said, “I want you to know that nothing happened between Ella and I while I was gone. We’re married for now and I will honor that union.”

  She nodded, appreciative of the knowledge that she wouldn’t have a cheating husband. She bit her lip. “Do you…Should we just have it annulled?”

  “I called my attorney to find out our options. Bioexpa believes strongly in their matches. In order to make sure couples give them a chance, they don’t make it easy to get out of the marriage. We have to go through the thirty days of cohabitation and a minimum of three counseling sessions or you forfeit your right to be matched again.”

  Panic had her heart racing. To give up the opportunity to be matched was insane. The success rate of ordinary marriages had been twenty percent before the prevalence of Bioexpa arrangements. Only someone who was certifiable married without being matched. Even the government highly recommended people to register with Bioexpa. There were grants available for people who couldn’t afford the registration fees.

  “So you’re saying we live together for thirty days and then have the marriage annulled?”

  “That’s one option.”

  He was giving her a headache. “I can’t lose my chance to be matched, Jakob. I mean, I’m sure you don’t care. You have Ella.”

  “If she chooses to wait for me. Like I said, she wasn’t thrilled about this situation.”

  Sienna dropped her chin into her palm. “This isn’t what I imagined my wedding day would be like.”

  He laughed. “When I think of all the places I’ve been, all the people I’ve met, to think all that time, the perfect woman for me was living next door.” He draped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. The heat from his body seared her as if she were naked. “If circumstances were different—”

  “But they’re not,” she interrupted, irritated that he would call her perfect with one breath and reject her with the next. She shrugged off his arm and stood. “So what now? How do we start the cohabitation? I’m living with my parents and you don’t have a house. Or do you?”

  “No. I had a condo in Florida, but I sold it.” He scrubbed a hand over his chin. Earlier he’d been clean shaven, but now the lower half of his face was dark with stubble. It gave him a sexy edge and she had to concentrate on not staring. “I guess the easiest thing would be for us to get an apartment together. I don’t know how long it would take to find and buy a house.”

  She nodded. “Whatever you get is fine with me.” She made to move past him. Jakob caught her hand in his.

  “Sienna, you’re my wife.” He pressed the back of her hand to his cheek. His eyes closed and he groaned. “This is so confusing for me. There was this moment after the drone told me the name of my wife and I looked over and saw you getting this ring…” He ran his thumb over her wedding band. “I felt this incredible surge of possessiveness towards you.” He stood but kept hold of her hand. He linked their fingers. “You’re not seeing anyone, are you?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” He hugged her. Because he was a couple of steps down, they were eye to eye and his knee imposed its way between her thighs. “Good night.” He was so close that his breath feathered over her lips. He kissed her cheek, unintentionally she was sure, catching the corner of her mouth. After he was gone, she couldn’t resist touching her tongue to the spot hoping to capture a lingering taste of him.

  Re-entering the house, she dropped her chin to her chest. “Pathetic, Sienna, pathetic.”

  ***

  His parent’s kitchen had not changed much over the years. It was the same shade of yellow he recalled from his childhood. The tiles on the backsplash had changed and the wood flooring had been updated. The appliances looked the same but were probably only a couple of years old. If the curtains that framed the large picture windows were a new addition, his mother had picked out the same white lace pattern. His mom had gone through a phase after she retired from teaching where she’d redecorated almost every room in the house. Only his dad’s study and the kitchen had been spared. Even his room and Mika’s had received a makeover.

  Jakob slather a piece of homemade bread with butter and stared out the window at the familiar street. Mika had picked up her baking skills from their mother. It was almost ten o’clock. He’d heard Mika head out at five. He was glad not to have to confront her this morning. She was over the moon about his marriage to her best friend. Though he knew she was happy with the pairing, he suspected that a large part of her joy was at the prospect of him breaking up with Ella.

  “Good morning. Mind some company?” Judith House dropped into the seat across from him. She’d pulled her shoulder length gray hair back into a clip. Though her hair had turned white prematurely, her face was smooth with few wrinkles.

  He smiled. “Morning, Mom. Where’s Dad?”

  “He got an invite to go fishing with some friends.” She rolled her eyes. “You know he can’t resist an opportunity to get out onto the water. I can fix you breakfast if you’d like something more substantial.”

  “This is good. I need to get out and start apartment hunting.”

  She toyed with a silver napkin holder. “I thought you were planning to buy a house here.”

  “I will, but Sienna and I need some place to stay immediately.”

  “You should buy her the old Gordon place at the end of the street. She and Mika have always loved it. I tell you, we will never have a more talked about Memorial Day barbecue. Friends and family have been calling with congratulations all morning. I changed the message on my phone to confirm the marriage and thank people for calling and then put it on silent.”

  Jakob picked up his glass and drained it of half its milk. “Mom, you’re completely forgetting about Ella. I understand Mika doing it, but I was hoping for more from you and Dad.”

  “You were dating Ella. Sienna is your wife.”

  “Mom, Ella and I were considering marriage. We were only waiting to be matched.”

  “And you weren’t,” his mother pointed out. “Are you trying to tell me you’d turn down Sienna for this other woman? If you’re matched again, there’s still no guarantee it will be Ella. And ask yourself this, if Ella is so right for you, then why were you matched with Sienna? And if Ella is chosen second, can the two of you live with the knowledge that she was a second choice?”

  He frowned, having no ready answers. Even if he could live with it, Ella would never accept b
eing second. Despite the brash confident personality she projected, she actually possessed a fragile ego. He didn’t know what he was going to do about any of this. He’d made promises to Ella. The only reason he’d registered with Bioexpa was because of her. But the commitment he’d made to Sienna indirectly by registering was a promise as well. And he didn’t make promises or give vows without the intention of following through. To say he was torn was an understatement. Without taking his own desires into consideration, he only wanted to do what was right.

  “How does Sienna feel about this?”

  Jakob closed his eyes and massaged the ache forming between his brows. “I guess she’s fine with it.”

  “Sounds like you need to talk to your wife. Why don’t you take her apartment hunting with you?”

  “So what do you think of this one?”

  Sienna shrugged. “It’s two bedrooms. How long is the lease?”

  “It’s the standard year.” After a quick glance around the room, she focused her attention out the window. Sun lit up the warm tone of her skin, displaying her healthy glow to its best advantage. From the side her irises glistened like dark honey. Her hair was in a ponytail again. The end of it swung between her shoulder blades. She didn’t appear any more interested in this apartment than the other three they’d viewed today. It was odd since she’d been eager to join him when he’d picked her up at the bakery. “Is it close enough to the bakery for you?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “Don’t you want to check out the kitchen or the bedrooms?” He’d walked through the apartment and he liked this one best. It was a beige box, but it was clean. Both bedrooms were spacious and had their own bathrooms and walk-in closets. The carpeting was new and the paint job was fresh.

  Sighing, she met his gaze. “Jakob, can I be honest with you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Since I’ll only be staying for thirty days, I really don’t care where we stay. I could move into your parent’s house if you want so that we can get this over with.”