by Lola Kidd
The Mountain Lion’s Valentine
Holiday Mail Order Mates
Lola Kidd
Copyright 2016 by Lola Kidd
Cover Design: Melody Simmons
Edited by: Carol Davis at A Better Look Editing
Proofreading by: Eliza Dee at Clio Editing Services
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
Kira Temple has had enough first dates. The curvy girl is ready to settle down and she’s signing up with Lovely and Kind Brides for some help. The mail-order bride agency helps shifter men find love and Kira hopes they can find her one of her own.
Mountain lion shifter Cade Lincoln is worried. He’s just gotten a match with LK Brides. The woman is gorgeous and seems perfect for him. Except the last women Cade brought home took one look around his hometown before running away. What if his new match does the same?
Cade has to find a way to make Kira see the beauty in Maple Creek. Follow Cade and Kira as they try to find their own Valentine’s Day surprise in the first Holiday Mail-Order Mates book. This is a standalone novella with a HEA!
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
A Note from Lola
Other Series by Lola Kidd
One
“I saw that one last week, Mom,” Cade Lincoln said to his mother.
She furrowed her brow. “Did you? Oh, well, you can look at it again. It really is such a sweet ad.”
He nodded and let his mother prattle on about the latest Lovely and Kind Brides magazine ad. He was used to it by now. Like many shifter mothers in town, she was obsessed with the mail-order bride agency. His mother lived at the Maple Creek Home for the Elderly. It was the largest employer in Maple Creek and the town’s only claim to fame.
The senior living center was one of the highest rated in the country. It was big enough to be a town of its own at this point. There were a few free-standing homes where groups of two to four lived and then the main building where Cade’s mom lived. It was a nice place. He had been worried when he had to drop her off, but after touring the village he was more than satisfied. She had companionship and she was safe. He didn’t have to worry about her anymore from day to day.
Mrs. Lincoln worried about her “poor boy” every day. Even the orderlies were starting to tease him about it. The mountain lion shifter was coming up on his thirty-fourth birthday and he was still without a mate. His mom had been concerned about it when he was in his late twenties. Now, her concern was reaching fever pitch. That was where LK Brides came in. The mail-order bride agency specialized in finding shifter men brides. They had gotten big press six years earlier when they found brides for a whole town of men.
Since seeing it on the news, his mother had been hounding him nonstop to sign up for himself. She could only ask him so many times when he visited. The ads were a perfect way to keep the conversation centered on his mate hunt while not asking directly.
“You see, that’s Owen Brooks and his wife Erin.” His mom pointed to the smiling couple on the glossy page. “They have four little cubs now. Four. Can you imagine? His mother must have her hands full when she watches those boys.”
“Um-hm.” Cade feigned interest. “How’s dinner been this week, Mom? I heard they had a new chef.”
At the mention of the chef, his mother snapped the magazine shut. It was as if he’d said the magic words and broken her spell. He should have guessed it earlier. His mother was a wonderful cook and always gave him an earful when they got a new cook at the home.
“He should be ashamed of himself,” she scoffed. “Chef? He isn’t even good enough to call himself a chef-in-training. He can barely fry an egg without burning it! I don’t think he’ll make it another week.”
“He can’t be that bad.” Cade went to the chair next to the window. “You hated the last chef and she lasted three years. Are you sure you aren’t being too hard on him?”
“You should try the food.” His mother stood up. “We’ll go down and get lunch.”
“I’m not actually hungry,” Cade lied. He was starving, but if the new chef was actually bad, he didn’t want to make it even worse for the guy.
“Help your mother find her walker, dear.”
Cade knew the look on his mother’s face. She wasn’t going to be sitting back down. He had made a mistake. It was better to look at her magazine ads and have her harp at him about finding a mate than go to the cafeteria. He prayed it would be empty when they got there. Everyone had a daughter or granddaughter who was perfect for him. They would all want to hear about how his latest date had gone, or if he’d followed any of their advice. And it wasn’t just the women. The men were just as bad.
He pretended to look for her walker while covering it with a blanket. “I can’t find it, Mom. Why don’t you show me the ad again? Are there any pictures of the boys?”
“It’s right there under the blanket.” She pointed behind him.
Cade sighed and uncovered it. The pink tennis balls scratched across the linoleum in the hall a moment later. His mother could be fast when she wanted to prove him wrong. Cade followed slowly. He blinked in the bright light as they entered the cafeteria.
“There’s Blanche.” His mom waved to her best friend and made her way across to the table.
Cade’s stomach growled as the aroma of meatloaf and gravy hit his nose. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. His pocket buzzed as his mother greeted her friends. He ducked his head and quickly checked the message. It was an alert. He had an email from LK Brides. Perfect timing, as always. He stifled a groan and slid his phone back in his pocket. He was dying to check and see what they were emailing him about, but he couldn’t risk it. He wanted to be alone when he opened the email in case it was important.
He also couldn’t risk his mother finding out he had signed up with the site. She would be so disappointed if she knew that they hadn’t been able to find him a mate.
“Cade.” Blanche hugged him and pointed to the chair next to hers. “That’s your spot.”
“Can I take your orders?” A cafeteria worker was waiting at the side of the table.
“Give us two with everything,” his mom said. “You know my son Cade, don’t you?”
The woman nodded. “I sure do. Nice of you to join us today.”
“Pleasure’s mine. I always love dining with pretty ladies.”
“Really?” Blanche’s eyes were open wide. “Then you must have at least a dozen dates this week.”
That was the worker’s cue to leave. “I’ll be back with those trays.”
Cade wished he could follow. They were going to tag-team him until the food got to the table.
“I haven’t been on a date since the last time we talked,” he said.
“That was a month ago!” Blanche exclaimed.
“Guess the pretty ladies don’t like me so much.” Cade shrugged.
“I wish I had someone for you,” Blanche said. “If you decide to play for the other team, I have a very nice and very single son for you to meet.”
Cade laughed. “I just might have to consider it, the way things are going.”
His mom rolled her eyes. “If you’d just give LK a chance, you’d be matched by the end of the week.”
“I don’t know if I’d meet their financial threshold.”
“You make more than enough money,” his mom scoffed. “I checked it before Thanksgiving. With the promotion, you’re an even better candidate.”
“You got a promotion?” Blanche asked. “I didn’t hear about that. I thought there were no open positions.”
“There weren’t,” Cade said proudly. “They created a spot just for me.”
“My son is a very hard worker,” his mom said. “He would be a great husband for any wife. That’s why he needs to sign up with this service. A man like you is perfect for the agency.”
“I don’t know if I’ve told you this,” Blanche said. “My son signed up with LK Brides two years ago. Not the gay son, my older son. He never got a match. He found his wife by going to the speed date event. Have you tried one of those yet?”
Cade wanted to talk more about his promotion. He couldn’t believe how they’d just glossed over that. He’d been working for the city for more than a decade. It was hard to break into management since there were so few spots available. Most people just died in their jobs. The city had recognized that he was such a valuable worker that they had created a new management position just for him. Not only was he making more money every year, he was also in charge of more people now. It was the most exciting thing happening in his life. Still, all these women cared about was his dating life.
“Can I get you guys anything else?” The cafeteria worker slid two trays in front of Cade and his mother.
His mom shook her head. “No, thank you. Cade can go get our drinks.”
Of course he would get the drinks. When he had a plate of steaming-hot food in front of him, she wanted him to get up. He got up without even asking what she wanted. His mom always drank Pepsi. Not Diet Pepsi, not Coke, not RC, just Pepsi. While he got the drinks, he took the chance to check the email from LK Brides. It said they had found him a match. Ninety-eight percent. You couldn’t get any better than that. Cade almost dropped his phone when he saw the percentage.
He couldn’t tell his mother this, but he’d been matched once before. Last year he had gotten a ninety-three percent match. He and the woman had gone on a few dates before he invited her back home. He had thought she was the one, a sweet woman from Chicago. She was gorgeous and accomplished and very intelligent. They’d talked for hours. He had gone to visit her, since her job was in the city. When he had invited her to Maple Creek, that had been the end of their relationship.
She had taken one look at the small town and practically run for the hills. She had lived in the city her entire life and wasn’t ready for country life. Personally, Cade didn’t think Maple Creek was that small. It did have more than one stoplight and two grocery stores. The population might have been under ten thousand, but it was a nice little town. Well, it was nice enough. Cade knew his town had problems, namely the lack of anything to do. They didn’t even have an award-winning football team like many of the towns around them. On Friday night, you could go to the bars or you could drink at your house. That was about it. For city girls, that had to be the definition of hell.
When he’d gone to visit her, they had gone to the museum, the ballet, and the opera. Not that Case was particularly interested in any of those things, except the museum, but it had been fun. There wasn’t even a zoo near Maple Creek. The closest movie theater was twenty minutes away. None of that had bothered him until the woman had come to visit him. What did he have to offer? The only reason for him to stay in Maple Creek was the old folks’ home. He didn’t want to move far away from his mom and he didn’t want her to leave the other old folks.
While he was excited at the thought of a new match, he was also very nervous. He was going to have to wait a while before connecting with this woman. If he talked to her now, his nerves would ruin everything. He was too desperate. And a ninety-eight percent match? She could really be his mate this time. He’d gone in and changed his questionnaire after the last match. He’d even included “must like the country” in his bio. He’d hoped he’d be able to find a woman who loved small towns and didn’t mind watching movies a year after they came out.
He wished he could tell his mom about it, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up. If it worked out, he’d have the greatest surprise for her, but he had to be sure before he let her meet anyone. He had thanked his lucky stars after the last woman had left that he had never introduced them. He knew his mom would always support him, but he wanted to make her proud.
Finding the perfect mate was going to make them both very happy. But first he had to find a way to make the perfect mate stay with him. Maple Creek could be a great town. He just had to find a way to show it to a woman. All he knew was, he couldn’t let this one get away.
Two
“I’ll have the burrito,” Kira Temple said with as much dignity as she could muster.
“I have the tacos and the empanadas.” Her date banged his hands on the counter.
“Would you like drinks with that?” the girl behind the counter asked.
“We sure would.” He winked at Kira as he took out his credit card.
Kira was counting down the minutes until she could leave. She should’ve known this was a bad idea. His profile picture was a videogame character. She didn’t know much about video games, but she did know she didn’t care for them. If video games were that important to him, there was no way this was going to work out between them.
When he’d shown up, he’d looked exactly like the stereotypical gamer nerd. Kira had tried not to let that deter her and had given the man a fair chance. She wasn’t shallow. She knew what it felt like to be judged on looks alone.
So what if he was bald, and his clothes didn’t fit right? Yeah, he’d taken her to a cheap restaurant for their first date. But maybe it was close to his house.
No… From the minute he had hugged her full body, she had known it wasn’t going to work. He’d pressed his ill-fitting pants all the way against her and tried to kiss her on the cheek. It was a bit much for an Internet date. She’d even overlooked all of that, until they began ordering. Looking around the restaurant, she felt as if she had come to her senses.
She was better than this. The wink? What did that even mean? Should she be grateful for his buying her the seven-dollar burrito and two-dollar drink? Was he trying to say he was a super nice guy? She didn’t even want to know. But her food was already ordered. At the very least, she was going to get a good meal out of this. Super Burritos was one of her favorite restaurants in town. She had driven for over three hours to get here and she wasn’t about to leave on an empty stomach.
“Want to sit over by the window?” Devon asked with tray in hand.
“That looks fine.”
She put her coat on the back of the chair and sat down. It was a good thing they had come on a Wednesday night. This place was usually packed, but they only had to wait three minutes for their food. The faster they ate, the faster she could leave. But who knew. Maybe the dinner conversation would be scintillating and she would want to stay longer. Stranger things had happened.
“That’s a really pretty dress you’ve got on.” Devon handed Kira her burrito from the tray. “It would look even better on my floor.”
She opened her burrito and took a bite. She swallowed the delicious mix of meat, cheese and beans before even looking at him again. She had to eat a few chips and swallow a sip of soda before she could wash the bad taste out of her mouth. This was going to be worse than she’d thought. She was going to have to eat in her car on the way home. At least the roads were clear. When their first date had been canceled due to a blizzard,
she should have taken the hint. It was the universe’s way of telling her, No, girl!
“I think I’d better get going.” Kira wrapped up her burrito and put her coat back on. Four hours wasted on this little man.
“What?” Devon look shocked. “You have to have a better sense of humor than that. I was only kidding.”
Kira barked a harsh laugh. “That’s the funniest thing you’ve said all night.”
“You barely just got here. You seriously cannot leave now. I spent good money on the burrito. At the very least you could talk to me.”
His tone got more agitated as he continued to talk. A couple at the next table turned to watch them conspicuously. At least if the guy got violent, there were witnesses. If her mother could see her now. This was exactly the kind of thing her mom had warned her about. Meet strange men and strange things will happen to you.
“You bought a burrito. Not me. Trust me, honey, you couldn’t even afford me.”
Kira marched to the front counter and asked for a bag. She put her burrito in the bag and left the restaurant with her head high. As she reached her car door, Devon came jogging over.
“You’re making a big mistake.”
She stopped to laugh. “I don’t think so. Just let it go, man. Find someone else.”
He put his hand on her door to stop her from opening it. “You’re really fat, girl. You’re lucky to have someone like me interested in you.”
Kira’s face turned red and her eyebrows knitted together. Was he serious? Could he not look in the mirror? He was at least forty pounds overweight himself and more than just a little balding. She could practically do her makeup in the reflection on his shiny head. She didn’t want to dignify his comment with an answer, but she just couldn’t help herself.
She put her hand on her hip and pushed his hand off her door. “Grow up. I may be fat, but you’re the one you should be worried about. Women can smell a loser a mile away.”
Kira got into the car, tossed the burrito on her passenger seat, slammed her door and drove away. This date really took the cake. She should’ve known the moment she saw him to just turn around and not come back. At least she had the burrito. The drive home was a lot more depressing than the drive there. She’d gotten dressed up for this!