The Bear's Bride (Mail-Order Mates #3)(6)

“Miss?” He looked at her expectantly. When she continued to stare, he tried again, moving his hands as he spoke. “Can I help you?”

The hand movements were familiar. “Was that sign language?”

He laughed. “Yes, it was. I thought you might be deaf. I know it’s harder to read my lips with the facial hair.”

Amy’s eyes went right to his full lips, which were easily visible under his bushy beard. She looked him up and down and couldn’t help but smile. “No. I just…forgot what I wanted.”

“Oh, no problem. There’s a lot to choose from. I’ve been stress baking.”

“Good for us,” the younger woman at the table said. She raised her giant cookie in Amy’s direction. “Everything here is great. Whenever Frank gets stressed, the entire town gets a treat.”

“You bake these all yourself?” Amy was impressed. There were hundreds of items in the case. The independent bakery she frequented at home only had a few options in the case. You had to special-order most items and even then, the inventory was small.

Frank nodded proudly. “I did. I’m a one-man show, usually. I do have to call in reinforcements for the holidays, though. I never want to turn anyone away, but I get a lot of orders.”

“Your hair is so gorgeous,” the older woman at the table said.

“Thank you. It’s natural.” Amy added the second statement all the time now. People always assumed she dyed her hair because she was Hispanic but her hair was dark red.

“It really is pretty,” Frank said softly.

Amy turned back to him in time to catch him staring at her intensely. When he caught her looking, he blushed. “Are you new in town?”

She shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m just passing though. Doing a little research for an article.”

“Really?” The younger woman at the table gave Amy a curious look. “We don’t get a lot of reporters out this way. Researching anything special?”

Shoot. She shouldn’t have lied. With all of them watching her she couldn’t come up with an elaborate lie. She hung her head. “I’m not a reporter. I’m a writer, and I was just looking for a quiet place to finish my book.”

“A writer? How exciting!” the older woman said.

The younger woman and Frank exchanged a glance and then both of them broke into laughter. Amy looked from one to the other. Jealousy made her stomach turn. He couldn’t be with the curvy little woman. Could he? She had called him Frank, so he had to be the one who owned the shop. Yet they were sharing an inside joke. Amy knew she had no right to be territorial, but she didn’t like it.

“You’ll never believe this, but I used the same lie when I first got to town!” the woman said.

“Molly sure played a number on me.” Frank smiled as he spoke. “She tricked me with the reporter lie too. Is that the new ‘I have to wash my hair’ line for you ladies? Another easy way to let men off?”

“You came to the right place…almost,” the older woman said. “This place isn’t usually this empty, but there’s a bookstore around the corner that’s great. Get yourself one of Frank’s treats and coffee, then park yourself over there. You can edit in peace.”

“Oh.” She didn’t want to go around the corner to write. She wanted to sit where she could see Frank and talk with him. “Thanks for the tip.”

Amy had planned on getting a little editing done, but she didn’t need quiet for that. The women were nice, though. She wondered what their relationship to Frank was. No man would be dumb enough to sign up for a mail-order bride service when he already had a girlfriend. Would he? She would stick around for a bit and try to find out more.

***

Frank’s bad day had started looking up the minute the sexy redhead walked into his shop. He had been talking with Janice and Molly when she came in, thankfully. Without the distraction, he didn’t know what he would have done.

She was beautiful. Tall and curvy in all the right places. She looked more like an old-time movie starlet than a writer. When he’d taken her order, he’d only snuck a peek when she wasn’t looking. Her cleavage was right there, exposed by the neckline of her sweater. It had taken a gargantuan effort on his part to keep his eyes on her face. That was saying a lot, since she had one of the most perfect faces he had ever seen.

His bear agreed. It had stirred when the woman had walked in and when he got a whiff of her, it was over. This was it; she had to be his mate. He knew that was crazy, but his bear told him it was true. This stranger had walked into his shop and he couldn’t let her leave.

Frank couldn’t believe it. He’d been up baking all night after Olivia had left the shop. She’d told him that his match wasn’t interested in seeing him. She was going to try one last-ditch effort to win the girl over. It didn’t look good, though. There had been some kind of mix-up and the woman was backing out. He had been crushed. All day he’d been jumpy and nervous. Whenever the phone rang, he was sure it was Olivia calling to tell him it was all over and they were back to square one.

It looked like that was all meant to be now. His match with LK Brides had to fall through so he would be free to pursue this beautiful redhead. He came over with a coffee refill.

She looked up from her laptop and smiled. “Thank you.”