The Contract - Signed Paperback

Chapter One: Zoe

The smell of burnt toast filled my nose the second I pushed through the door of my barracks room. I fought the urge to gag. Great. Now all my stuff—and my pillow, dang it—would smell like whatever my roommate was burning for breakfast. Why she didn’t eat in the chow hall like a normal person instead of attempting to make her own food in this dorm-style room was beyond me. Hot Pockets were one thing, but was that some kind of egg sandwich? Did she microwave her eggs? I shuddered at the thought.

“Morning, Zo,” Serena said through a mouthful when I closed the door behind me.

“Hi.”

I hated it when she called me Zo. People close to me could do it, but I had a distinct feeling that when people other than my family called me Zo it was because they thought that was how to pronounce Zoe. I blamed the Joes of the world for that unfortunate misunderstanding.

She tilted her head toward the door I’d just come through. “How was your breakfast?”

“Great, thanks.” I moved to my half of our shared room and took my duffel bag out from under my bed.

“You getting ready to head out for your trip?” she asked—again, with her mouth full.

“Yep.”

I filled my bag with enough clothes for my two-night trip to Wilmington, excitement buzzing through me at the prospect of getting to see my family. If I didn’t have an audience, I’d probably be singing as I packed. Not even Sloppy Serena could dampen my mood this morning.

My hometown in North Carolina was just barely too far from MCAS Beaufort for me to be allowed to go there on a regular weekend, so I hadn’t been home in a while. But our squadron had gone a hundred days without a DUI, so we’d earned a three-day weekend. It was sad that such things needed to be measured and rewarded, but I was happy for the time off. I was also happy to be able to sleep in my childhood bedroom with my mom’s amazing Greek cooking and none of the smells created by my slob of a roommate.

Living in the barracks wasn’t a bad deal in general, though. I imagined it was probably a lot like an actual college dorm. Except instead of students, we had Marines who’d probably give rowdy frat boys a run for their money. But I didn’t mind the small space because it meant I didn’t have much to clean. I didn’t mind eating all my meals at the chow hall. And I didn’t mind having to share a room in general since I’m a middle child with two older brothers and two younger sisters.

What I did mind was the fact that my roommate had some serious mood swings in addition to her hygiene issues. One minute she could be sweet as pie, the next she’d be screaming like a banshee because she couldn’t find her other boot sock. I constantly felt like I was waiting for a bomb to go off whenever we were in the room together, which meant I didn’t spend much time in here if I could help it. And a whole three-day weekend away? That was worth its weight in gold.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I fished it out, a wide grin spreading across my face as I read the text.

Chase: I’m outside but take your time.

I sent a quick reply that I’d be right down, then slipped my phone back into my pocket, hurrying to our small bathroom to gather my toiletries. My best friend and fellow Marine, Chase, loved going to Wilmington with me. The first time he met my large and loud Greek family was on our post-deployment leave earlier this year, and he said he’d never had better food in all his life. And that was saying something since he was from Hawaii and my mouth watered just thinking about some of the local dishes he’d described to me.

Reaching past the bowl of half-eaten mac ’n’ cheese that Serena had left right next to our toothbrush holder, I grabbed mine and stuck it in my toiletry bag. Then I stepped over her collection of dirty clothes on the floor and gathered my shower stuff.

I didn’t go home often enough to justify keeping toiletries at my parents’ house, but even if I did, my younger sisters would probably use them before I came back. They were annoying like that, despite being twenty and eighteen, and definitely old enough to buy their own shampoo. Eleni and Thea still lived at home because unlike me, they did everything my parents wanted them to do. They worked in the family restaurant, only dated Greek guys who went to our church, and they’d live at home until they were married. The day I told my very old-school dad I wanted to join the Marines and see the world instead of doing all of that was the day I learned that a man’s face could in fact turn purple when he was angry. Poor guy.

I moved through the room grabbing last-minute things like my phone charger, jewelry that I never got to wear while in uniform, and the small blanket I’d had since I was a child. Judge me if you want, but that blanket will probably be on my bed when I’m old and gray. And … oh, yep. Now it smelled like microwaved eggs. Perfect. With a sigh, I jammed it into my duffel and vowed to wash it the second I got to my parents’ house.

“Okay,” I said as I heaved the bag over my shoulder and grabbed my purse off my nightstand. “I’m off. See you Monday night.”

Serena didn’t look up from the reality show she was watching on her laptop but gave me a small wave. “See ya.”

I took one last look at my pristine side of the room to make sure I hadn’t missed anything before spinning and heading out the door. We lived on the third floor of our barracks, so I stepped over to the open balcony and peered down, searching for Chase.

Warmth slid through me the second my eyes landed on his long form as he leaned casually against his old black Jeep, scrolling on his phone. He wore dark jeans and a T-shirt with a surf company’s logo on the chest, and there was an outline of Hawaii on the front of his hat.

It really was a shame I couldn’t be with a guy like Chase. Or, more specifically, Chase himself. We got along, we made each other laugh, and we’d survived our first deployment together despite having a close call on the deck of an aircraft carrier that almost killed us both. Outside my Greek community back home, there was no one I trusted more. But unfortunately, it just wasn’t in the cards for us.

With a sigh, I practically ran down the stairs, eager to climb into Chase’s Jeep and get away from military life for three whole days.

“Hey,” I said as I crossed the parking lot to join him.

Chase looked up from his phone and grinned, and it hit me like an arrow to the chest. He had a way of looking at me like I was the only woman on the planet, and as much as I loved it—craved it, even—it also left me feeling a little empty since I knew we could never be.

“Morning. Excited to see the fam?” Chase straightened and took my bag, heaving it into the back of the open-air Jeep.

Jeeps were big in Hawaii, and he’d had this one since he was sixteen. He’d told me he’d been saving for it since he was twelve and was so proud to have been able to pay for it with just the allowance he’d gotten from working for his parents every day after school.

Sometimes he mentioned wanting to get something newer, but I told him he was lucky not to have a car payment and that the Jeep suited him. Not because he was old, of course, since he was only twenty-one like me. But instead, it was the way Jeeps seemed to symbolize being laid back and fun, like an up-for-anything vibe, but also strategic and dependable. Who else would think to save his allowance for a car when they were twelve years old? That was Chase, in a nutshell.

“Can we just run away and never come back?” I asked as I climbed into the passenger side and buckled in.

My fingers shook from excitement, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I loved the independence I’d earned by breaking tradition and finding my own way as a Marine, but the call of home was so strong it pounded in my ears. I missed my parents. And my sisters. My older brothers, too, but they were the pranking sort, so the idea of seeing them always brought a mild sense of dread.

“Not unless you want to find yourself with a new roommate in the brig,” Chase replied with a chuckle. “Pretty sure going AWOL is frowned upon, last I checked.”

“Honestly, I might prefer the brig to the dumpster fire up there.” I glanced up at my door as Chase steered the Jeep out of the parking lot. “I had to reach over an old mac ’n’ cheese cup to get my toothbrush this morning.”

“Yeah, you might be better off in the brig, then. I don’t think they serve Easy Mac.”

I chuckled and tucked my legs up so I could get comfy, then leaned over the center console so I could peek at the Jeep’s gas gauge. I’d intended to see if he’d already filled up or if we’d need to stop before we left the base, but the enticing scent of his cologne made my head foggy, and I leaned back before my eyes focused enough to find it.

“I got gas on the way over,” Chase said, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel.

Man, he knew me well. “Good. Did you buy me—”

“There’s a cooler in the back seat,” he cut in, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “I got you those iced coffee things you like—one of each flavor because I didn’t know which you’d want.”

“Good call, thanks.” I reached back and took the caramel one out, smiling when I saw he’d also packed a bunch of bananas. The man could put away some fruit. “You gonna share those bananas or are they all for you?”

“You can have one, I guess,” he said dryly. “There’s also a bag back there with trail mix and energy bars. Help yourself.”

“Thanks.”

Chase reached forward and turned up the island-style music that played softly from the speakers. You can take the boy out of Hawaii and all that. He always seemed to have something playing or was wearing something that reminded him of home. He didn’t have the healthiest relationship with his parents, but he still thought of Hawaii as home, and he planned to go back there after he retired from the Marine Corps.

I could picture him in his late thirties, fresh out of the military and spending the rest of his days surfing and fishing like he used to when he was younger. It seemed like the perfect future for him. But nowhere in those imaginings did I see myself there beside him. Not even as a tourist. Not unless we were still friends seventeen years from now. Which was unlikely, as much as that hurt to think about.

We spent the first half of our four-hour drive alternating between his Hawaiian music and my country music. He wasn’t a fan, but he dealt with it in the spirit of taking turns. When he pulled off the highway to make a quick stop to use the restroom and fill up—because according to him, if we were stopping, we might as well—one of my favorite songs had just started to play.

“Ah, yes,” I said, turning it up to full blast.

Chase grimaced as he turned into the gas station, looking around and shaking his head. “People are gonna think I like this garbage.”

I cupped my hand around my ear and wrinkled my face in confusion, mouthing, “What? I can’t hear you.” The music was loud, but I’d still heard him.

He rolled his eyes and parked the Jeep at a pump, then got out without another word. I prepared to sing loudly out my open window just to bug him while he pumped gas, but then I felt my phone ringing in my lap, so I turned down the music and answered the call from my mom.

“Yassou, Mama,” I greeted her, beaming.

“Geia sou, agápi mou,” she replied, greeting me by calling me her love, as she always did. My grandparents were born in Greece and came over to North Carolina right after they got married, so we were all fluent in Greek, but we often switched back and forth in conversation. “Where are you right now?”

“We just made a quick stop at a gas station, but we’re about halfway home.”

“Good, good. I can’t wait to see you. And do you know who else can’t wait to see you?”

I shut my eyes and leaned my head back against the headrest. “Who?”

“Thanos.”

Knew it.

“Mom, we’ve talked about this,” I said in a low tone, conscious of Chase standing on the other side of the open Jeep.

“I know, I know,” she said in Greek, then switched back to English. “Give him a chance, agápi mou. He’s a wonderful man, and you could grow to love him.”

“He wants me to get out of the Marines after I’m done with my first enlistment,” I said, mostly in Greek, except for Marines. “You know I want to stay in for the full twenty.”

“I don’t know how you expect to be young enough to get married and have babies at that age.”

I cleared my throat. Leave it to my mother to start in on this tired routine before I’d even made it to Wilmington. “I’m not really focused on that right now, Mom.”

“I know that’s what you said, but I think you can be persuaded, hmm?”

The sound of metal scraping alerted me to the fact that Chase was done pumping, so I sat up straighter and switched to Greek again. “We’ll talk about it when I get there, okay?” Though that was the last thing I wanted to do, obviously. “We’re gonna get back on the road now. Love you!”

“Se agapó,” she replied.

“Everything okay?” Chase asked as he looked through his open window at me with one callused hand resting on the door frame.

“Yep. The usual.”

“Ah. Thanos?”

I nodded, feeling my cheeks warm under his crystal-blue gaze. Chase knew all about my parents trying to set me up with Thanos Ariti. He was a chef at my family’s restaurant, and if either of my sisters had been offered up to him like a prized cow, they’d have been beyond grateful. But not me.

Thanos wanted a traditional Greek wife who stayed home and took care of the many children they’d have, and I just wasn’t that woman. There was nothing wrong with it for other people, but I loved being a Marine, and I didn’t want to be with someone who wanted me to quit. But that didn’t stop my parents from trying to arrange a marriage between us like theirs had been and like my grandparents’ before that had been, and so on.

Don’t get me wrong—I loved being Greek. I loved the traditions and the culture and the strong value placed on family and loyalty that was deeply rooted in all of us. But despite the fact I was now a Marine and felt like the government owned me sometimes, I still valued freedom, and wanted the man I ended up marrying to want me to have it.

But as I watched Chase walk toward the gas station with a relaxed swagger that sent my belly flipping painfully, I realized the odds of getting that wish with anyone my parents picked out for me were pretty darn slim.

❤️ Military Hero

❤️ Marriage-of-Convenience

❤️ Friends-to-Lovers

❤️ Greek Culture

❤️ Wedding Setting

❤️ Small-Town Vibes

Brides of Beaufort

📚 The Proposal - Paul & Shelby
📚 The Planner - Will & Aria
📚 The Bridesmaid - Zac & Layla
📚 The Fake Date - Beau & Lindi
📚 The Contract - Chase & Zoe
📚 The Proposal - Nate & Nikki

Related Standalone:

📚 The Beginning - Thatcher & Hattie

Note: Chronologically, this one is set 30 years before book one of this series. It’s where you’ll meet Ms. Hattie (the much-loved, meddling matchmaker in the main series) and watch her find forever with her now husband, Thatcher. There’s no reason you can’t read it last if you’d like to start with the main books, but if you’d like to read them in chronological order, that’s how it goes! :)

📚 BONUS 📚

Love the San Diego or Kailua Marines? The Brides of Beaufort series follows our Kailua heroes, and you’ll even see cameos from the characters in San Diego! But, no worries, all of the books can be read as standalones if you’re just in the mood for a specific trope/location. It’s just fun to run into old friends sometimes if you read them in order! :)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Contract

"Ahh I loved this!! Marriage of convenience is my favorite trope and The Contract was written so well and realistic! I love that the characters were already friends to begin with, but had to navigate the ups and downs of marriage and learn how the other person needs to be loved. This whole book was beautiful and adorable, and I loved all the Greek culture in here! 😍😍😍"

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic Book!

"Chase and Zoe has a very interesting and exciting story. Their story is unique. They are best of friends and work in the same place. They just know so much about each other. When a situation comes up, they are willing to help each other. What an interesting event transpires."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sorry I can't give this a 10 star rating

"The Contract is absolutely one of the best books I've EVER read. It was exciting, funny, educational, yet sad in parts too, my heart hurt for Chase and I envied Zoe her large loud and loving family. The love between Chase and Zoe was off the charts fabulous. I loved the storyline and catching up with everyone from the other Brides of Beaufort was the cherry on top. I love everything Jess has written and I think The Contract has secured a spot at the top of my keep and re-read pile!"