The Bear's Bride (Mail-Order Mates #3)(7)

The shop was mercifully empty. He had no idea why, but it had to be fate working in his favor. He never had an empty shop from five until close. People loved stopping in for an after-work treat.

Frank went back to the counter and wiped down the glass again. He counted out his register and checked the mail that had come in. Once he ran out of busy work, he went and sat across from the woman.

“I’m Frank.”

She looked a little confused. “I know. Your name is on the sign.”

“Yes, but this is the part where you say your name.”

She blushed. “Oh. I’m Amy.”

“Nice to meet you, Amy. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” He bit the bullet and just asked her. No harm done if she said no. She was from out of town anyway. This was his only shot.

She blinked a few times. “Oh. Well—”

He stood up quickly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed you were single. I had to try. Sorry for bothering you.”

“I’m single.”

He didn’t turn around. “Oh. Sorry for bothering you again.”

“I’d like to have dinner with you.” She put a hand on his shoulder and Frank turned to look at her. She was tall for a woman but Frank still dwarfed her. Not surprising, since even shifter woman were much smaller than he was.

“You would?” He needed to hear her say it again.

“I would.” She nodded enthusiastically. “It’s not like I can live on coffee and donuts alone. I’ll need to take a break.”

“Great! I close down in an hour.”

“Perfect.” She smiled at him shyly. “Thank you for asking.”

He walked to the back of the shop with his chest puffed out. He’d taken a chance and it had paid off. He didn’t need a mail-order bride agency. He had found his mate all on his own. He couldn’t wait to tell Olivia that he didn’t need her help anymore.





Four


“Are there any motels in town?” Amy asked Frank as they sat outside the Two Wolves restaurant. The dinner had been wonderful. He was perfect. He had lived in Sunset Falls his entire life and had opened the bakery when he was twenty. His father had helped him just before he passed away. He gave Frank the money and told him he was proud of him. The story brought tears to her eyes. She was close to her parents and couldn’t imagine life without them.

Frank wanted to get married and have children. He had hoped it would happen before now, but he was in no rush. When the right woman came along, he would know. He had his own little house in the new subdivision. His mother still lived in their old home in the old part of town. Frank visited her every day. She was still very active and had a busy social calendar. Right now, she was vacationing in Canada with her ladies’ group.

Amy could tell he was very close to his mother. He was so animated when he talked about her and her antics. He didn’t talk about himself all night, either. He asked questions about her, her family, her job, and her friends. They had stayed until the waitress ushered them out so she could close the place down.

It had gone so well, but there was still something niggling at the back of Amy’s mind. He was perfect and had said all the right things. He was too good to be true. She’d met men like him before and none were ever as good as they seemed. That wasn’t how life worked. He had to be hiding something or have a less than desirable trait. No one was perfect.

She needed a little more time to get to know him. This was starting to feel like something good. Something that could really change her life. If she could spend more time with him, maybe she would be able to figure out if he was as wonderful as he seemed. It wasn’t a hard drive home but she didn’t feel like doing the drive anymore. She hadn’t planned on staying out all night with Frank. It would be so much easier to sleep in town.

She always kept a stash of clothes in her car. She never knew when she was going to sleep over at Karen’s house. It was so much easier to keep a few things in her car for unexpected events, like the time she had spilled chili on herself before a meeting with her editor. Things happened, and she liked to be prepared for anything that life threw her way.

“There’s one just down the road. I’m parked at my shop. I can drive you over to the Lunar Motel. Or I can take you to your car and you can follow me there.”

“I’ll follow you there. I’m actually parked near your shop.” They split up and Amy drove back to his shop once she’d retrieved her car. He drove a big black SUV. Not too surprising. He wouldn’t have fit comfortably in Amy’s little car. She barely fit in the damn thing herself.

She pulled up next to him and rolled down her window. “Lead the way.”

“Sure thing. If you lose me for some reason, it’s just at the end of this street behind us. You can’t miss it.”

Amy nodded and followed him. There was no way to lose him. There was no one on the street. Much like home, everything closed down at nine o’clock weeknights. The only thing open was the gas station.

The motel looked pretty nice. It had two levels and was very well lit. The Lunar Motel’s sign featured a howling wolf, so she supposed it was owned by a wolf. There was a high concentration of shifters in Sunset Falls. Akron had its fair share of shifters, but not like this town. More than half of the inhabitants of Sunset Falls were shifters.