by Lola Kidd
The Bull’s Bride Hunt
Holiday Mail Order Mates
Lola Kidd
Copyright 2016 by Lola Kidd
Cover Design: Melody Simmons
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without the express consent of the author.
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About This Book
Bull shifter Jack Keller is getting serious about finding his mate. A few of his regular customers at the bar he owns have success with a mail-order bride website. Jack decides to follow their lead and sign up too. He’s very surprised when he gets a match almost immediately.
Single mother Macy Peach is ready for a fresh start. She’s only days away from finalizing her divorce when she’s matched through Lovely and Kind Brides. Macy’s excited to see that her match is a familiar face. Just when she’s about to follow up on her match, her ex shows up at her door.
Now Macy has an agonizing decision. Will she stay with her ex to keep her family together or will she take a chance on love?
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Other Series by Lola Kidd
Chapter One
Jack Keller looked around the small storage room. He had already cleaned up the shelves and swept the floor, and there wasn’t much else for him to do. He kept the back room at his bar clean.
He peered out and checked to see how the couple out front was getting along. Still kissing. Jack chuckled and ducked back into the storage room. Normally he wouldn’t let a couple have the whole bar to themselves, but this was a special case. His friend, lion shifter Aaron, had just gotten married to a great lady from out of town. He knew how hard a time Aaron had had finding his mate, and Jack didn’t begrudge him a few minutes alone with Emma. She still lived in Illinois, and they were in the process of finding a house together in Maple Creek.
Aaron lived with gorilla shifter Wyatt, who also frequented the Brazen Bull. Wyatt was a good kid, but he could be a little strange. Jack understood why the couple ended up at his bar during the day when it was empty and the trailer wasn’t. They never did anything more than kiss, and Jack liked seeing Emma on the weekends. The curvy dancer was a hoot and always made him laugh. He didn’t get many women at the Bull, and the few who did come in were often intimidated by him.
At 6’4” and wide as a house, he knew he cut an impressive figure. Human men also took a few visits to warm to him. His size did help when people came in looking for trouble. One look from Jack usually ended most contentious arguments before they went any further. He had been a bit of a wild man in his youth, but he had mellowed with age. Now all he wanted to do was serve drinks and end the night without any troubles.
Having had enough of staring at the walls in the back, Jack came out behind the bar. “I think you two might want to come up for air. Or you can keep going and I’ll watch from a respectable distance.”
“I don’t know what you’ve heard, Jack, but LK Brides don’t do that sort of thing,” Emma said primly.
“Hm, really?” Jack said. “I could have sworn LK stood for ‘Lots of Kinky’ Brides. Oh, well, must have heard wrong.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “If you had heard that, I’m sure you would have signed up by now.”
“Half the state would have signed up if that was even a rumor,” Aaron joked. “Hell, I bet they’d get a lot more women that way, too.”
“What?” Emma laughed. “That’s the opposite of how you get women signing up for your dating site. Besides, it’s a mail-order bride agency, not a dating site.”
“I don’t know,” Aaron said. “That Fifty Shades was pretty popular. I think they need some kind of Fifty Shades dating site.”
“Unless all the men who sign up are billionaires who look like Jamie Dornan, I don’t think it’s going to work,” Jack said with a laugh.
“Seriously, though, have you signed up yet?” Emma asked.
Jack got busy wiping down the gleaming bar top. “I’ll get to it this weekend.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t signed up yet.” Aaron shook his head. “Cade and I both got matched, and still nobody wants to sign up.”
“All you men say you want mates, but you won’t try this surefire way to meet someone,” Emma said. “What’s the holdup?”
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not too keen on having to hire someone to find my mate,” Jack said. “I can find her on my own. When we’re supposed to find each other, we will. There’s no rushing fate.”
“What about Aaron and me?” Emma demanded. “We would never have met if it weren’t for LK Brides.”
Aaron kissed her on the cheek. “And she is my mate. No tricks here.”
“I don’t think we need any more shills for LK Brides,” Jack grumbled. “I’m going to have to make a new rule if you don’t stop talking about it.”
“Okay, but will you at least think about doing it this weekend?” Emma asked.
“If it doesn’t cost anything, maybe I’ll do it,” Jack said.
“Well, then, you’re doing it,” Aaron said gleefully. “It’s one hundred percent free.”
“I thought you had to prove you were rich,” Jack said, surprised.
“No, man,” Aaron said. “They’re going to check you out, but you don’t have to be rich for them to find you a mate.”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe I’ll check it out sometime. What are you guys doing today?”
“We’re going to look at a house,” Emma said happily.
“I thought you did that the other day. How many houses are you going to look at?” Jack asked.
“This is only our twentieth,” Emma said, smiling.
“Hopefully this will be the last.” From the sound of his voice, Aaron didn’t think they were close to being done.
Jack could sympathize. He was sure that when he was looking for his own house, he had looked at half of the ones in town that were available. It was astonishing how many choices there were.
“Actually, I think we’re going to be late,” Emma said. “What time is it, honey?”
Aaron pulled out his phone and groaned. “We gotta go. The Realtor’s gonna kill us if we’re late again. Thanks for the food, Jack. This was fun.”
“Anytime, kids,” Jack said, taking their plates.
“We’re going to set you up with LK Brides the next time we come in,” Emma assured him as she put on her coat.
“Okay. Have a nice viewing.”
Jack waited until they were out the door to take their plates to the back. He grumbled to himself as he washed the dishes and wiped down the grill. Clearly, Emma wasn’t going to let the LK Brides thing go. None of them were. Cade, Keira, Aaron, and Emma were like the LK salespeople in town. They wouldn’t shut up about how great it was. Jack was sure that they were two very happy couples, but that didn’t mean he wanted to use the service too.
He heard the door open and hurr
ied to finish his work. He didn’t want to leave the customer alone in the front. When he checked the time, he figured it was probably one of his regulars. It was just about quitting time, and everyone would be in for drinks soon.
When he got to the front, he was surprised to see a beautiful woman sitting at the bar.
“What can I get you, miss?”
She rested her hands on her chin and crossed her legs. “What would you recommend? It’s been a while since I’ve gone out for drinks. What’s the new and trendy drink at the moment?”
“Well, what did you usually drink when you did go out?”
“Whatever would get me drunk.” The woman laughed. “I’m just kidding. Whatever was sweet and yummy. Flavored martinis were my favorite then, but I’m sure that would knock me on my behind today.”
“You’re not a regular drinker, then?” Jack asked.
He didn’t often get new women in his bar. And when he did, they were usually with another man. It was especially strange to see a woman he had never seen around town before, particularly one as beautiful as she was. She was petite but also curvy. Her black hair was cropped short, and she had three piercings in each ear. She was wearing tight yoga pants and a loose top under her parka.
He figured she had come from the gym, but it didn’t make sense to stop in for a drink after you went to the gym. This was one strange lady. He couldn’t wait to find out more about her.
She shook her head. “Not often anymore. The name pulled me in. The Brazen Bull?”
“I’m a bull shifter.” Jack leaned on the bar and looked into her eyes. “Jack Keller. Owner.”
She narrowed her eyes and leaned a little closer. “Macy Peach. I don’t own anything right now.”
Jack laughed. “New in town?”
“In a way I am. I lived here when I was younger, though. It’s actually how I met my husband.”
Jack spirits fell at the mention of the H word. Oh, well. The good ones were always taken. He hoped his disappointment wasn’t etched on his face.
“Your husband’s familiar with the town, then?”
“He is. So, what drink are you recommending for me?”
That was strange. Maybe they’d just had a fight and that was why she’d come in. Jack had no problem with his bar being a refuge for a beautiful woman.
“You have somewhere to be?”
“I do,” she said sadly. “I have maybe half an hour before I need to leave.”
Jack nodded. “All right, then. I’m going to recommend a screwdriver or a Sex and the Beach. They aren’t trendy, but they won’t get you drunk.”
“Screwdrivers have orange juice, right?”
“Yup.”
She slapped her hand on the bar. “Screwdriver it is.”
Jack poured the drink, making sure not to add too much alcohol. He didn’t know if she was driving home or not, but he didn’t want to risk getting her drunk.
He set the drink in front of her and slid a napkin next to her, then pushed the peanuts towards her. “Here you go. We also have some delicious nuts.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t care how delicious they are. Those nuts have been touched by everyone in town.”
“Doesn’t make them any less delicious.”
She arched an eyebrow and took a sip of her drink as she closed her eyes. “This is delicious.”
Jack’s bull snorted. It liked the way she sighed, and wondered what she would sound like if she were moaning in pleasure. He chided his bull—this was no time for those kinds of thoughts. She had a husband, for goodness’ sake. There was no use in getting himself riled up over this beautiful woman. It didn’t matter how much his bull was interested in her; he didn’t have a chance. But he did like having her in the bar. It was nice having such a pretty woman around, paying attention to him. If she liked his drink, maybe she would come back again.
“Thank you. I aim to please.”
“So, tell me, what’s there to do for fun around this town? My daughter keeps asking me to take her someplace fun.”
Before Jack could say anything, the door opened and two of his regulars came in. Wyatt and Cade took seats at the bar. They were deep in conversation, so Jack just grabbed their usual beers and set the bottles down in front of them. They both acknowledged him with a nod.
Macy had watched him curiously as he handed over the beers. “You have everyone’s drinks memorized?”
“Just the regulars. But it gave me time to think. How old is your daughter?”
“She’ll be four in a few months.”
“We have a lot of parks and playgrounds that are perfect for young kids. The park district also has some special activities just for younger children. In the summer, I’m pretty sure there’s a camp. And don’t forget about the library. There’s a reading and crafts hour once a week.”
She nodded. “No museums or festivals?”
He shook his head. “We don’t get a lot of festivals around these parts. There’s also the Girl Scouts, and there’s a new dance studio opening next month. I know the owner of the dance studio, and she’s a great gal. It could be a nice way for your daughter to make friends quickly. And for you to meet the new moms in the area.”
“You talking about the studio?” Wyatt asked, joining the conversation.
“We sure are,” Jack said. “This is Macy, and she’s new in town. Macy, this is Wyatt and Cade. They’re two of my regulars and pretty nice guys.”
“Nice to meet you,” Cade said.
“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “You should take your daughter to Emma’s studio. She’s a really good dancer. Your daughter could learn a lot and make friends.”
“Everyone has such nice things to say about this Emma,” Macy said. “My little girl does love to dance. I’ll be sure to check it out.”
“Good. I’ll tell Emma tonight,” Wyatt said.
“Wyatt lives with Emma’s fiancé,” Jack explained. “He’s always trying to drum up new business for his friend.”
“Is there anything for Easter around here?” Macy asked. “My daughter was always really excited about the Easter egg hunt in our old town. She’ll be pretty devastated if I don’t find her a new one.”
Cade snorted. “There used to be one. We don’t have one anymore, though.”
Macy’s face was full of disappointment. “Darn. What about the towns close to here? I really don’t want to have to drive that far, but I’ll do it for my little girl.”
“Not that I can think of.” Cade looked at Wyatt and Jack. “Can you guys think of any?”
Wyatt shook his head and looked at Jack, but Jack was stumped. He couldn’t think of any Easter egg hunts near them. Cade was right; earlier in the year, he had talked about wanting to restart an Easter egg hunt, but no plans had been made going forward. Maybe now was the time to start again.
“ I can’t think of any,” he said. “But it would be nice to do it again. Maybe we can get something together for next year.”
Macy still looked disappointed. “Oh, well, I guess I could make my own in my yard.”
“Don’t worry,” Cade said. “Next year we’ll have a nice one.”
Macy nodded. “Nice to meet you guys, but I should be going. My mom is going to be expecting me.”
“Come in again.” Jack took her empty glass. “Sex and the Beach next time?”
“Of course.” She smiled and was gone.
“She seemed nice. Pretty, too. Did you like her?” Wyatt asked.
“I think I do,” Jack said. “It’s always nice to have a new customer.”
And a new friend. He couldn’t wait to find out more about Macy.
Chapter Two
Macy kicked herself all the way home. Husband? Why oh why had she said she had a husband? She and Don were in the process of finalizing their divorce, and she hadn’t thought of him as her husband for almost a year. But now, when she was in front of this gorgeous man, she’d said husband. She wished she could go back and start all over, but that was
out of the question.
She sighed. Maybe she wasn’t ready to get rid of her marriage yet. This could be her subconscious’s way of letting her know that she needed to spend some time working on herself before she moved on.
She and Don had been married for six years, but their marriage had been in trouble from the start. They’d been on the verge of divorce after only two years when she became pregnant with Jill.
Macy had been so happy to see those two pink lines on the little plastic stick. She’d been sure this was what their marriage needed: a new life and responsibility to bond them together. She’d had visions of them playing with their little girl at the park and spending nights talking about their future together.
For nine months, they didn’t argue or have any disagreements. She did all the work to prepare for the baby, and Don never questioned or told her no. He just handed her money and let her prepare to her heart’s content. It was the happiest time of their whole relationship.
That wonderful time ended abruptly once Jill was born. To Macy’s horror, Don was an even worse father than he was a husband. After almost two years of him promising to change but never making any progress, she’d finally come to her senses and asked for a separation. He’d protested bitterly at first, but when she held firm, he’d moved out quickly and now he seemed to have forgotten all about them.
Macy had done all the paperwork and filing for the separation and now for the divorce. They were waiting for a judge to finalize everything, and then it would be done. They would legally no longer be married, and Macy could truly move on.
It was nearly two years since their separation had begun, and she still hadn’t started dating again. She hadn’t thought about it seriously until today, when she saw Jack. She didn’t know what had possessed her to walk into the bar, but it had done wonders for her long-dormant libido. After only a few seconds with Jack, she had felt like her old self again. She was flirting and laughing and having a great time.
Jack was the most attractive man she had ever seen. He was so big and manly. With his inky black hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders, he was ruggedly handsome, and that was just her type. Hearing that he was a shifter made perfect sense. Shifters were usually bigger than human men, and stronger too. Jack looked like he could pick her up and carry her anywhere.