by Lola Kidd
Pursuing the Panther
(Mail-Order Mates Book 7)
Lola Kidd
Copyright 2015 by Lola Kidd
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
Billionaire shifter Ben Shelby can’t get a break. He’s wealthy, successful, and an upstanding member of his community. To his mother, that just isn’t enough. She wants her only son to find a mate. Ben’s signed up with the Lovely and Kind Bride agency but still has no matches. Ben wants to find a mate very badly but he won’t rush it. Unlike his mother, he’s patient and will wait for the right woman.
Curvy bartender Zelda Simmons is losing her best friend. Her half-sister Tessa is moving across the country to get married. While out partying on her last night in town, Tessa gets her sister to agree to sign up with a mail order bride agency. Zelda agrees but she doesn’t think the agency will be able to help her. When she see finds out that her match is an incredibly wealth shifter, she’s even more suspicious. There’s no way a billionaire would ever be her perfect match.
Find out if these two strangers can overcome their differences to find love in Mail-Order Mates book 7.
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
A Note from Lola
Other Books by Lola Kidd
One
“Benjamin? Are you listening to me?” Maude Shelby was scowling at her son across the dinner table. “I’m sorry I’m so boring to you.”
“I’m not bored, Mom.” Ben had stopped listening right around minute two of his mom’s speech. He was interested in the celebration planning. His mother, however, wasn’t interested in his ideas. She was just telling him what she was going to do. Never mind that she didn’t have anything to do with the town’s big win.
“You know how much it means to me that Sunset Falls is finally something to brag about,” Maude said. “I’ve been on pins and needles waiting this whole time. I’m very excited to finally get to plan something big.”
That Ben believed. He and his friends had started the push to get the town onto the list of best small towns for shifters in the USA. It was a wonder that they’d won this year. Before they’d actually gotten word that they had made it, his mom hadn’t wanted anything to do with the efforts. She hadn’t even donated money to the initiative to get the town cleaned up. Maude had always preferred to spend her money on fancy charity dinners and balls. Ben didn’t care for spending on big dinners when the people you were trying to help couldn’t afford to come to the event.
He loved his mother very much and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. He never turned her down when she asked him to attend a big-ticket fundraiser or wanted to host a garden party on his estate. He knew she had good intentions even if he didn’t prefer to work that way.
“If you don’t want to talk about the carnival, then tell me how you’re doing,” Maude said.
“I do want to talk about the carnival,” Ben insisted. “I’ve been talking about making it into American Shifters Weekly for the last year. You can bet that I’m going to have a role in the celebration.”
Maude looked pleased. “Good. Then what do you think of the carnival idea?”
“I think it’s great. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do it on such short notice, though.”
“It’s going to be an annual thing,” Maude said. “The company I talked to is very keen to get repeat customers. I think we’ll have no problem getting them out here on short notice.”
“You’ve already talked to a company?”
Maude waved for the maid to come and take her plate. “Yes, dear. It’s very important we get the ball rolling already. The Ladies’ Club wants to do most of the legwork if you boys don’t mind.”
Almost all the men in his group were over the age of thirty and all of them were successful entrepreneurs. It made Ben smile that his mother and her friends still called them boys. “I don’t think anyone will mind if you ladies want to help us sponsor the event.”
“Perfect! I talked to the mayor too. If you boys will work with us, we can get everything going tomorrow. I think we should go for the week after the magazine comes out.”
“Why not the same week?” Ben motioned for the maid to take his plate too. He didn’t think she’d be staying long. His mother hated having to tell her “helpers” when they needed to do things. She’d gone through ten maids in the three years since her longtime “helper” had retired.
“That’s the same time as the state fair. Lots of people in town vacation there every year. I don’t want to make them choose and have to compete.”
“I guess that would be a good date going forward, too. I think that could work out. Should we set up a meeting between the mayor’s group and the Ladies’ Club?”
“That would be wonderful.” Maude looked at her fingernails. “So, have you heard anything from Olivia lately?”
Ben ground his teeth. Olivia Grey was the consultant working with all the people who’d signed up with Lovely and Kind Brides. It was a mail-order bride company that specialized in shifter bachelors. She had a knack for finding matches and nurturing relationships. She’d done so well in Sunset Falls that the company was going to be running a national ad campaign featuring all the couples in town.
“I have not,” Ben said.
“Hm.” Maude picked at invisible lint on her blazer. “I saw her last weekend at another Lunar Pack wedding.”
Ben nodded. “The twins mentioned it when I was in Two Wolves last week. Looks like the pack is going to keep Olivia busy all summer long. She hit a goldmine there.”
“How is it that the wolves are getting new matches every week but you still have zero? Are you sure you’re not being too picky, Benjamin?”
“I think you’d want me to be a little picky about the future mother of your grandchildren.”
“That’s true.” Maude looked up. “You know, maybe it’s not you.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Maybe a person of your caliber requires a different agency. You know, I was searching on the internet last night and I found an agency that may be more your style.”
“Let me guess. They have an outrageous fee?” One of the best things about LK Brides was their low fee. The fee was more of a formality than an obstacle to keep people out. It made sense that a man who wanted to start a family should be prepared to financially support one. LK had been started at a time when women didn’t work. Their current ad campaign for the summer had brought in a lot of media by featuring stay-at-home dads. Shifter men got brides who were the breadwinners. It flew in the face of conventional thought for shifter men, but Ben loved it and it made him even happier he was with such a forward-thinking company.
“It does, but it only makes it more likely you’ll find a woman of your caliber.”
“Alright. I think we’re done for the night, Mother.” Ben kissed her on the cheek.
“Just think about
it! I’ll email you the application,” Maude called after his retreating figure.
Ben didn’t need to change agencies. If he was going to find a match, it was going to be with LK. He could wait.
***
“To Tessa!” The bartender put four shots down in front of Tessa and Zelda Simmons.
“To Tessa!” Zelda raised her hands to her half-sister with a shot in each hand. She downed the shots one after the other.
“Whoa, girl. Slow down.” Tessa laughed. “We don’t need you getting alcohol poisoning on my last night in town.”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” Zelda moaned. “What am I going to do with you gone?”
“You’re going to leave too.” Tessa downed her shots and they were quickly replaced by a drink. She and Zelda weren’t going to have empty glasses all night. They were celebrating Tessa’s final night in town at the bar Zelda worked at, the Dirty Dozen.
The girls weren’t just half-sisters, they were best friends. They had the same dad but different moms. Their daddy had gotten both their mothers pregnant at the same time and had then run out of town. He was one of the rare shifters who actively avoided having a family.
Their mothers became friends miraculously when they found out what an asshole the girls’ father was. The girls had grown up in the same apartment building and gone to the same school for years. This was going to be the first time they’d been apart their entire lives.
“How do you know this guy is even worth it?” Zelda slurred. For a bartender, she had a surprisingly low tolerance for alcohol.
“I know. We’ve been talking for two weeks. Plus, this company is legit. They know what the hell they’re doing.”
“Whatever. I’ll be waiting for you to come running home when this alpha-hole shows his true colors.”
Tessa laughed. “I can take care of myself. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’m the one who’s gonna be worried about my sister.”
“Yeah? What are you going to do, bite his toe?” Zelda chomped her teeth, imitating how Tessa’s snapping turtle bit.
“Hey, turtles can be dangerous.”
Zelda snorted. “If he’s wearing sandals, maybe.”
She didn’t give her sister a hard time about her animal, but she figured she wouldn’t get the chance again soon. When they were girls, Zelda used to regularly threaten anyone who dared make fun of her sister. Tessa was the one who had inherited their father’s shifting ability, but thanks to dormant shifting genes on her mother’s side, she had ended up a rare turtle shifter.
“You really need to sign up,” Tessa said. “You can get out of here too. What kind of guys do you think you’re going to find here?”
Zelda downed her drink. “One who can keep me busy at night and leave me alone during the day.”
“Is that really what you want?” Tessa probed. “I know you want the same thing as me. A family of your very own and a nice life. You aren’t going to get that here. Hell, between the two of us, I think we’ve canvassed every eligible man in a fifty-mile area.”
“And some of the ineligible ones,” Zelda joked.
“That’s right, and look where that’s gotten us.”
“I’m perfectly happy with my situation,” Zelda said. “I have a good job, great friends, and a rocking night life. If it wasn’t for my traitorous sister deserting me, I would have a damn perfect life.”
“So you’re saying you don’t want to settle down too?”
“I’m saying when it happens, it happens. I don’t need to go dragging my ass all over the internet trying to get a date.” She waved at three bikers who’d been eying her since they walked in. “I don’t have any trouble meeting men.”
Zelda flipped her black hair over her shoulder and crossed her legs. Her short skirt put her thick thighs on display. One of the men took off his hat and fanned himself. She knew all the eyes in the bar were on her. Not that she blamed them. She was a bigger girl, but that didn’t mean she needed to hide her body away. She looked good and she knew it. There was no way she would ever need to beg someone to date her.
“It’s not begging for a date,” Tessa lectured for the millionth time. “It’s finding a quality man who wants the same thing out of life that you do. Those guys are hot, but are they going to marry you?”
“Honey, I don’t need to get married. I just want someone who can last all night.”
Tessa put up her hand when the bartender approached with more shots. “I get the picture. But it doesn’t cost anything to sign up. Just fill out the application and see what happens.”
“No, thanks.” One of the men was coming over. Zelda adjusted her top and leaned on the bar, smiling.
“I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”
“You don’t have a hundred bucks.”
Tessa pulled money from her pocket. She fanned the bills in her hand.
“Sorry, buddy. This lovely lady just bought my time for the night,” Zelda told the approaching man. He looked curious but tipped his hat at her and turned away. Zelda snatched the money from her sister’s hand. “I’ll sign up in the morning.”
Two
“I’ve got a match,” Ben told Frank as soon as he opened the door.
“Hey, man.” Frank laughed and pulled Ben into a hug. “I heard. Clint says you won’t shut up about it.”
“I can’t believe it.” Ben’s eyes hurt and he wasn’t sure he was even blinking anymore. He felt like he’d been walking around all day with his eyes comically wide open. “My mom’s been getting on my case about this exclusive match agency. It’s been annoying as hell, and then boom, Liv emails me about a match.”
“Hey, Ben.” Frank’s wife Amy hugged Ben gingerly over her very large baby bump. “Congratulations! I hear you’re bringing another one of us to town.”
“It’s a little creepy when you say it like that.” Ben laughed. “You aren’t a cult.”
“No cult could bring in new members as fast as LK is doing,” Amy joked. “Tell me all about the girl before we talk carnival plans.”
“I guess it’s better to tell you before Clint gets here.” Ben took a seat at the table and Frank put a can of beer down in front of him. “I’m not exactly sure what to say about the girl. She isn’t giving me much.”
“What does she look like?”
“I don’t know. I think the picture she put up is old. Pretty. Even if she’s lost a lot of weight or shaved her head, she would still be a very beautiful woman.”
Amy shook her head. “Only in Sunset Falls would losing weight be an issue. I love this place.”
Ben shrugged. “I need a lady who can handle a shifter pregnancy. This is biological. And I’ve seen the women that LK Brides and Liv can find. If I got anything less, I would be damned angry. You can’t parade all these luscious, beautiful brides through town and then give me something else. That would be bait and switch. I’d sue.”
Frank and Amy laughed. It did seem like Liv was taking every curvy prospect from LK’s database. There was a type in Sunset Falls and even though each of the brides had a unique look, they were all curvy in some way. After seeing the first few brides come to town, Ben knew it was their looks that had made him sign right up with the agency. Shallow but true. He wouldn’t ever lie and say that looks didn’t matter to him.
“Why do you think the picture is old, though?” Frank asked. “Isn’t that against their rules?”
“It is. I can’t be sure. The lady, Zelda—she’s a little strange. She won’t give me much to work with.”
“That’s strange,” Amy said. “I wonder if she’s hiding something.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Ben said. “The system matched us up. There’s no reason to hide anything. I’m predisposed to like her exactly how she is.”
“How much have you guys spoken?” Frank asked.
“We’ve emailed back and forth. She’s coming to town this weekend.” Ben made himself blink. That was only three days away. He had a whole team of staff c
oming to clean up the ranch and make it look nice. It was already clean, but his mom had rattled him when he told her about Zelda coming. Ben didn’t want to have one misstep. He was having a lot of his bachelor stuff removed and replacing it with paintings or softer décor. He didn’t think many women would want to live in a house with animal heads on the walls and a pool table in the living room.
“That’s a good sign,” Amy told him. There was a knock at the front door and she got up to answer it this time.
When she was out of the room, Frank leaned in to ask a question. “How much does she know about your money situation?”
“Nothing,” Ben said. He had made sure to keep that out of his profile.
“What if she looked you up on the internet?”
Ben paled. “I didn’t consider that. You think she would?”
“I wouldn’t rule it out.” Frank sighed. “You have to be careful. A quick search and a little reading and she could have found out everything about you and your family. Your mom is always doing some charity event or other. There’s a lot of pictures out there, too.”
Ben frowned. He had been so excited to get a match he had forgotten how easy it was to find out everything about him on the internet. He didn’t like to expect the worst from people, but it had happened to him in the past. His family had made a considerable amount of money leasing their land to oil companies. He didn’t even keep track of exactly how wealthy he was anymore. Once his net worth had started getting into the hundreds of millions, counting it had stopped being fun. The money had started with his great-grandparents and had grown with each generation.
He’d started with a few million from his parents when he graduated college. It was through investing and business ventures that he’d grown his own personal fortune. There was a good chance that once his mother died and he inherited her vast fortune, he would be a billionaire. He was one of the richest shifters in the entire world but he kept a very low profile. They went to many charity events, but neither Ben nor his parents had attended any private schools or vacationed with the extremely wealthy.
Ben liked his life. There was a reason his great-grandpa had decided to keep his family in Sunset Falls when he struck oil on one of his rental properties. It was a great town to raise a family and be part of the community. There was a reason Sunset Falls had made the American Shifters Weekly list once before. Ben was proud of what he’d accomplished with his investing, but his status made it hard to make new friends and date. He was grateful for the friends he’d had since childhood. He wished he was like Clint or his friend Dom, who had both found mates in Sunset Falls. That wasn’t the case for him, though, and any woman he met was going to have to find out eventually about his wealth. He hoped that his LK match would be able to look past all the money and see him instead.