Taming the Tiger (BBW/Shifter Mail Order Bride Romance) (Mail-Order Mates Book 4) (3 page)

Of course, a snowman had a better chance of making it through the desert than Dom had of getting Rachel to approve of him. Not impossible, but just damn tough. He looked at his watch. He could have breakfast at Two Wolves this morning. Rachel worked the morning shift most of the time. He was going to start his campaign to win her over this very morning.

***

Gwen felt awful. She sat in her bed with the covers pulled over her head. It was getting close to her shift at the hotel, but she didn’t feel like getting up just yet. She and Dom hadn’t argued for years. Since their breakup, it had been clear sailing. They had avoided each other for a long while. Then, it was just small talk if they happen to run into each other. Now, seven years later, they were comfortable acquaintances. That was all ruined now.

She had been mad when she first got home. He shouldn’t have brought up all that drama. If he had let her leave, none of this would have happened. But no, he had to push and push. She’d never heard him say before that she was his mate. That was new to her. Not that she’d never thought about it.

She rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head too. The look on his face when she’d said they weren’t mates was what had done it. He had looked so hurt she was sure he was going to cry. She had almost made Dominic Cates cry! It was surreal. She’d felt bad but mostly alright until she got home.

Once she had turned on the coffeemaker, she had started thinking about it honestly. Could Dom be her mate? They were obviously attracted to each other. That wasn’t enough to say they were mates, though. In the quiet of her morning routine, her tiger started talking to her. That was it for Gwen. She’d left the full pot of coffee on the warmer and gone straight to bed.

She had lied to him. When they’d first started dating, she had thought maybe he was her mate. It had felt right. Her tiger had told her it was a good possibility. After he had been so casual about their relationship, she had called it quits and closed that door. Even if he was her mate, it wouldn’t work. He didn’t want what she wanted in life. It took two to tango, and he had left her alone on the dance floor.

Now, he was saying that he
did
want what she wanted. Her tiger was telling her that he was her mate. That this was it. All her searching was finished. She could stop dating and just get married. But it didn’t feel right anymore. If he was her mate, why did he still date other women? She knew for a fact that he had fooled around with that eighteen-year-old Tonya just before Thanksgiving. The girl had been bragging about it all over town. She had bagged the big-time shifter lawyer. She had crowed about how he had ruined her for any human men.

The girl was barely out of high school. It was sick. Yet he was trying to claim that he wanted to be with Gwen and start a family. If they were really mates, he would have waited for her all these years. Her tiger was telling her that she was supposed to be with Dom, but her head told her to be cautious.

She had to get up soon or she would be late for work. She needed some motivation. Gwen grabbed her phone and hit the first number in her speed dial.

Her agent answered after two rings. “Olivia Grey.”

“Liv. It’s Gwen Johnson.” Her stomach was in knots. She was hoping the nice Lovely and Kind agent had good news for her.

“Hi, Gwen. Calling for a check-in?”

“Of course.”

“Sorry to say, it’s the same as last time. There have been some less than stellar matches on your profile, but no one I would bring to you.”

“Are you sure?” Gwen asked desperately. “No hunky bear shifters from Alaska who need someone to keep them warm?”

“Afraid not.” Olivia sounded truly sad to deliver the news. “You know I would call you the minute you got a match. I’m trying, Gwen. I won’t settle for less than the best match possible for you.”

“It’s so hard to wait.” Tears formed in Gwen’s eyes and she quickly swiped them away. She’d cried with Olivia too many times already. “I know you’re trying. I’ll let you get back to work. I won’t bother you again.”

“Nonsense. You give me a call anytime you need to chat. I can always use a break from matchmaking.”

“Any new brides coming to Sunset Falls?”

“Not yet. I have some good prospects right now. I’m up to my ears in profiles. Management has given me clearance to focus all my attention on your little hometown.”

“No way.” That made Gwen feel a little better. If Olivia was working on their matches exclusively, there was a good chance she would find someone.

“It’s true. I think we may use you guys in some advertising. Don’t tell anyone, though! I haven’t even pitched the idea yet.”

“I think it would be great. Your company has done so much for Sunset Falls. I think this would be a nice way for us to give back.” And it would be good for the town too. Gwen thought about the unofficial project that had been going on since the fall. Sunset Falls was vying for a spot on the
American Shifters Weekly
“Best Small Towns in America” list. It was a long shot, but it was a way to keep busy and a nice way to bring the town together for a project.

A national ad campaign with Lovely and Kind Brides would help put Sunset Falls out there. It was something to do while she waited to find a mate. Gwen was helping with pictures for the town website.

“Thanks, Gwen.”

“No problem. I’ll talk to you later.”

She was feeling a bit better now. She only hoped that by the time they started shooting the ad campaign, she’d be one of the success stories too.

Four

“I’d like a booth, please,” Dom said to the hostess on duty at Two Wolves Diner.

She led him to the last empty booth in the restaurant. It wasn’t even eight a.m. yet but the place was packed. Many of the town’s retired residents came to the diner for breakfast five days a week. They had some of the best breakfast food in the whole state as far as Dom could tell. The barely legal line cooks had been learning to cook for years. Living in a pack made it easy to train your replacement. Two Wolves wouldn’t be hurting for employees anytime soon.

Rachel didn’t say anything when she came over to pour coffee for him. He wasn’t a regular, but he knew she had a razor-sharp memory for people’s orders. She filled Dom’s cup to the brim with black coffee. “Biscuits and gravy?”

He nodded. “Eggs over easy and bacon on the side, too, please.”

She nodded and went to put in his order. Dom studied the waitress while he pretended to read the paper. She looked the same as usual. Her face wasn’t unfriendly, just closed off. She talked to her regular diners while she waited for her orders to come up. Rachel was fast and efficient. Even if she didn’t have seniority, she would be the best choice for the morning shift.

There was no way he would get a chance to talk to her now. It was too crowded. He ate his food in a hurry and headed to the office. There wasn’t much for him to do that day. There were a few property deals he had to look over. The Shelbys were negotiating a new deal for drilling on their land that he had to red-line. That was it. For the entire day he only had two things to do. He didn’t want to drag them out since he charged a massive but fair hourly rate. Even with just five hours of work, he felt satisfied.

He mailed the contract to the oil company and sent the property deal over to the bank to approve the mortgage. He played a game on his computer and checked his email one last time before leaving for the day at two o’clock in the afternoon. Typical day for Dom. He loved his job in Sunset Falls. It was much slower-paced than his job in New York had been. He’d come here after a suggestion from a law school professor. Dom didn’t belong in the city. The big firm there had been the first place to offer to hire him out of law school and he’d jumped at the opportunity.

There was a lot of money in the big cities, and a lot of fun things to do. He’d loved living in the city at first. Then, things had started feeling not quite right. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He’d talked to an old mentor about it and the professor had suggested the move. He even got Dom a job in Sunset Falls. Best decision Dom had ever made in his life. Now that he was a little older, he could see that he had a better work-life balance. He would be able to see his cubs and wife for dinner each night or catch an afternoon t-ball game.

Before he could have any of that work-life balance, he needed to get his life set up. He went back to the Two Wolves and took a seat at the counter.

“Cuban sandwich?” Rachel asked when he sat down. It was much quieter now. Not for long. The early bird dinner customers would be in soon. Plus, Rachel’s shift ended soon.

“I’ll have a Monte Cristo.” Dom hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt.

“Right away.” She wrote the order and left it on the counter for the cook. “You gave a good toast at Frank’s wedding.”

“Thanks. I have a lot of practice.”

Rachel smiled. “I bet. How’s work?”

Dom relaxed. She was being nice. “I’m off before five. Can’t complain.”

“Lucky you.” Rachel started rolling silverware for the night crew.

“How’ve you been?” Dom asked.

She shrugged. “Okay. I’m still working the morning shift. I have my evenings free to do as I please. Can’t complain.”

Dom smiled. “What are you doing with your evenings these days?”

Rachel stopped rolling the silverware in her hand and looked at Dom with one eyebrow arched. “Keeping busy. From what I’ve heard, you’ve also been keeping yourself busy in the evenings.”

He realized his mistake and paled. “I didn’t mean anything by that. Just trying to get to know you a little.”

“I think we know each other well enough.” Rachel continued to roll the silverware at an even pace. “I was just starting to get used to you, Dom. No need to make it awkward.”

“I didn’t mean anything by the question,” Dom protested.

“Good. I would hate for my good friend’s ex-boyfriend to be propositioning me at my job. That would be very messy.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Dom said through clenched teeth. So much for her being nice.

“Like I said, good. Gwen is trying to find happiness and I don’t want you coming in here and messing things up.”

Dom put his head in his hands. “I think we both want Gwen to be happy. I wouldn’t do anything to strain your friendship with her.”

“That Lovely and Kind agent has been helping people all over town. Maybe you should look into it for yourself.”

That perked Dom’s ears up. The gears in his head turned quickly. “Lovely and Kind. Is that how Gwen’s finding her little slice of happiness?”

“It sure is.”

Dom’s sandwich came up. “Can I get that to go?”

Rachel stopped doing side work to put his food in a box. Dom paid and thanked the cook and Rachel for the sandwich and fries. He needed to get home. He knew how he was going to get Gwen back. There was a surefire way to show here that he was her mate.

***

“Cheer up, Gwen.” Kellan Lunar gave her an exaggerated smile. “Give me one of your million-dollar smiles.”

Gwen tried to arrange her face the right way.

Kellan put the camera down. “Maybe we’ll try this another day.”

He was trying to update the employee profiles on the company website and social media sites. He’d heard it was a good way to drive traffic to a website and engage customers on social media. Now that a local baker had been featured on a national television show, the town was getting a slow trickle of tourists. The Lunar Hotel was the only game in town, so they were doing more steady business than usual.

Gwen liked having her picture taken but she wasn’t feeling it today. “Sorry, Kellan. We can try again tomorrow.”

“Something wrong? You seem a little off.”

Gwen nodded. “How did you know Molly was your mate?”

Kellan’s face took on the cloudy look of a man newly in love. “I just did.”

“But how? Was it some kind of light bulb moment or something?”

He considered the question. “I guess it was more of a feeling. If I had been paying better attention, I would have noticed right away. But I was being stubborn. So for me, yes, it was a light bulb moment. Maybe more of a kick in the ass moment to go and claim my mate.”

Gwen nodded. “Has anyone ever been wrong before?”

Kellan frowned. “I’ve been confused before. You know about my past. I thought another girl was the one. At least my human side did. My wolf was never on board with that relationship. Something didn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?”

He struggled for words. “I loved her and she loved me. The relationship was good but not great. It always felt like it wasn’t quite right. Like there was something more out there for me to find.”

“So, even if your human side loves someone, your animal will clue you in.”

“Exactly. You have to listen to your instincts. I think even humans have that sixth sense kind of intuition. When you’re doing what the universe intended for you, it’ll feel right.”

Gwen nodded.

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Gwen said quickly. “I was thinking about my LK match. I haven’t found anyone yet, but I’m wondering how I’ll know when I meet them.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll know.”

“You don’t have to wait around here with me all night,” Gwen said. “Go on and get home to your wife.”

Kellan checked his watch. “You sure?”

Gwen nodded. “We only have ten rooms tonight and Virginia’s here too.”

She didn’t have to tell Kellan twice. He was halfway out the door before she’d finished speaking. “Thanks, Gwen!”

It wasn’t a big deal at all. There was no need for two of them to stay until midnight. She was going to be there until three a.m. anyway. Gwen didn’t need Kellan for protection either. She was a full-grown female tiger. She could get nasty if she needed to. Virginia was around somewhere too. The young wolf was a cousin of Kellan’s and a member of the Lunar Pack. Between the two of them, Gwen was confident they could handle any problem.

It was a slow night anyway. Normally, Gwen liked having company on these nights. She and Kellan could talk and keep each other from getting bored. She wasn’t in the mood for happy talking this night. She had too much on her mind. She had sworn she’d stop thinking about Dom, but she couldn’t.