by Lola Kidd
A few hours later, when she got home, she was exhausted. Good thing she had taken the next day off work. At the time, she had been optimistic, but now she could just use the sleep. She was tired all the way to her bones. Scrooge, her cat, rubbed against her leg as she checked the fridge. She stroked the cat and took a bottle of juice out of the fridge, then took out a can of cat food and fed Scrooge.
“At least someone is happy to see me tonight.”
She turned on her laptop as Scrooge devoured his food. While it booted up, she changed into loungewear. Her little black dress went back in the closet and her uncomfortably high heels went under the bed. She washed off her winged eyeliner and red lipstick before sitting back down at her computer.
She immediately left Devon a bad review on the site. Hopefully no other curvy girls would fall for his story. He’d really thought he was doing her a favor. What an asshole! She had a few extra pounds on her, but she was still smoking hot—and she was smart, kind, and a great girlfriend. It was his loss.
She quickly flipped through her other options. There was never a dearth of messages in Kira’s inbox. She wasn’t on just one dating site, but four.
Little good that did her. She had no trouble getting people to email her and ask her out on dates, but she couldn’t find a match. She was sick of dating. Kira wanted a husband and a family. She’d been on so many dates these last five years that she couldn’t even keep them straight—and there was something wrong with all of them. It was amazing how many people hated cats. Hello! She had a cat. She loved cats. She even had it in her profile, but she still got messages from men who hated cats.
She was starting to think it was hopeless. Were there any normal men out there? She spun away from her laptop in frustration. Her mother had warned her about this. You can’t trust men you meet online, her mother had warned.
There was only one site left for Kira to try. The only reason she hadn’t was her mother’s staunch insistence that this was the only site to try. Kira had been sure she would be able to find a man on some of the newer sites, but now she doubted it.
She took her laptop with her to the couch and put on her favorite new show. With a loud sigh, she went to the Lovely and Kind Brides site. This was it. Her fifth dating site in five years and her last. If LK couldn’t find her mate, she was done with online dating. She was going to have to go back to getting set up on blind dates. She shuddered at the thought.
Blind dates were what had made her go to online dating. As bad as her dates were then, they had nothing on blind dates. Not only had they soured her on dating, they had soured her on her own friends and family. Seeing the men they set her up with, she had wondered how low an opinion they had of her. Those men were seriously repugnant.
The LK questionnaire was much longer than any of the others she had filled out. She texted her mother when she was in the middle of it. Even though it was late at night, her mother texted back excitedly right away.
Finally? I’m going to get some grandchildren. You aren’t going to be disappointed, Kira! LK is where it’s at.
Kira laughed and shook her head. She’d never thought she’d see the day when her mother was begging her to date a shifter.
LK was the most reputable dating site in the world. They’d started as a mail-order bride agency specializing in finding shifters brides in the 1800s. Once the Internet had happened, they had become a lot less popular. They still had very good word-of-mouth, but they had failed to connect with the younger generation. It wasn’t until they’d launched their wildly successful Sunset Falls advertising campaign that they had blown up again.
Kira was very skeptical of the whole mail-order bride angle. It brought up images of desperate women trying to get away from their terrible families on trains. It all sounded so archaic. Why were there no mail-order husbands? She was probably going to regret this tomorrow. Did she really have what it took to be a mail-order bride?
She was very lovely, but she didn’t know if she could be called kind. Nice, for sure. Lovely and kind was a whole other deal. They probably wouldn’t even be able to match her.
By the time she had finished the questionnaire, she’d already gotten through four episodes of her show. It was ridiculous.
She was ready to shut down her laptop for the night when her email dinged. She couldn’t believe her eyes. A match! She had just filled out the application and she already had a match. Impossible. They couldn’t be that quick.
She opened the email, burning with curiosity. There was a picture of a very attractive man. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. His name was Cade Lincoln and he lived just over the border from her. He was a mountain lion shifter. Kira’s heart skipped a beat looking at him. If he was that gorgeous, she wondered what his mountain lion looked like.
Could this be her future husband?
She didn’t tell her mother about the match. She had to meet this man first. Maybe it would be her last first date. She’d heard a lot of good things about shifters. They were very centered on their families and were very loyal, two things that were very important to her. A hot man who could turn into a mountain lion, and he wanted a family—this could be a match made in heaven. She was a cat lady, after all. And this was one big cat to love.
She clicked the reply button and quickly sent off an email. Now all she could do was wait for his response.
Three
“Cade!” The men around the bar raised their glasses as Cade entered the bar.
He ducked his head as always. He hated when they made a big deal out of things, and every time he entered the Brazen Bull, his friends couldn’t help but embarrass him.
Jack Keller, the owner of the Brazen Bull and chief bartender, started pouring his favorite drink. Cade was at the Bull at least three times a week. It was his favorite after-work stop.
He took a seat at the bar between gorilla shifter Wyatt and bear shifter Leo. He and Wyatt both worked for the city and Leo worked as a driver for the local furniture store. Jaguar shifter Raymond and lion shifter Aaron rounded out their crew. All five of them had grown up in Maple Creek and had been friends since elementary school. They were his oldest friends and his most trusted confidants. He was nervous before his date and wanted to talk about it. These four were the only ones who knew about his earlier match. They knew how much was at stake for him now.
“I missed you after work today,” Wyatt said. “You left like a bat out of hell. You got something cooking for later tonight?”
Jack handed Cade a beer and nodded before leaving to wait on other customers.
“I’ve got a date later tonight,” Cade said sheepishly.
Leo whistled. “Is it with that hot little Nina Malone? I’ve seen you spending way too much time at the front desk this week.”
“I hope not,” Raymond said. “I dated her a while back and she’s an ice queen.”
Leo laughed. “Everyone is an ice queen to you. I swear you think every woman in Maple Creek is covered in a sheet of ice.”
“Not every woman wants to be part of the trio,” Aaron said.
Raymond had a twin brother, Abraham. The two jaguar shifters were looking for a woman to complete their alpha triad, but that was easier said than done. Cade knew how picky the twins were. He wasn’t sure they’d ever find a woman who could marry them both. But good luck to anyone who tried.
“It’s actually another LK Brides match,” Cade said. “This one is ninety-eight percent.”
“Good luck, man.” Aaron clapped him on the back. “I know the last one was really tough on you. Good for you, getting out there again. I would drop that agency like a hot potato.”
“Can’t blame a woman for running,” Leo said. “This town really is the worst. Does this one know where you live, at least?”
“She does. And Maple Creek is not the worst,” Cade said, irritated.
“Not this again.” Ray rolled his eyes. “You know just as well as anyone that there is nothing to do here and nothing for anyone to be. Th
is town is a dead end.”
“The recession did a number on us, just like lots of other small towns,” Cade said. “That doesn’t mean we have a bad town. We just need a little revitalization.”
“Looks like someone’s been looking at one too many of his mom’s scrapbooks,” Wyatt teased.
The men laughed. Cade knew he should have kept his mouth shut, but he hated when they talked like this. Maple Creek wasn’t the best town in the world, but he knew it was something special. They were right; he had looked at one too many of his mom’s scrapbooks. He had seen what Owen Brooks had been able to do for Sunset Falls. He wondered if he could do the same for Maple Creek. He’d entertained the idea before, but had never really come up with any good ideas.
Sunset Falls had a lot more going for it than Maple Creek did. The town was filled with shifter entrepreneurs. Maple Creek was a blue-collar Midwestern town. It did have a high shifter population, but there was nothing special about the place. They had all the same elements as Sunset Falls, but nothing that would attract tourists.
His friends weren’t exactly making his pre-date jitters better. How was he ever going to convince a woman to live here if even his friends thought this place was terrible?
“Why do you stay here, then?” Cade asked his friends.
“Where else would we go?” Raymond shrugged. “Everywhere around here is the same. We have a job here. The people are nice. My family is here. What else is there out there for me?”
Leo nodded. “Not a lot of options, man. I don’t want to live in the city, so I may as well stay here.”
“But why Maple Creek?” Cade pushed. “There has to be something special about this town. I know you guys always rag on it since that’s a cool thing to do, but I know there’s something special here. This is the place I want to raise my family. It’s not just some random mound of dirt I live on. This is my home. It’s our home.”
“What do you propose we do about it?” Aaron asked.
Cade shook his head. “I’m not sure, exactly. We need to have a little pride in our town.”
Raymond sighed. “You’re just saying useless stuff, man. You can’t have pride in something like this. If this town had something to promote, I’d be the first in line to try to do it.”
“There will be,” Cade said optimistically. “And I expect you to be first in line when that happens.”
“This is on the house. Anyone who wants to make Maple Creek better is all right by me.” Jack put another beer down in front of Cade. “We haven’t had any real progress here in more than a decade. The downturn started way before the recession for us.”
“Exactly,” Leo said pointedly. “How can we turn this around any more?”
“We’ll find a way.” Cade meant every word. He even had an idea how to revitalize the town.
For Sunset Falls, the arrival of new brides had been what had sparked the change. That was going to be his step one. Once he had found his mate, he would convince his friends to try LK Brides too. He only needed three. Once four of them had found brides, everyone in town would be itching to join the agency. Heck, maybe he’d even call the agency after that. Maple Creek could be a picturesque town. All he had to do was get this date right.
*
By the time he pulled into the guest parking lot at Kira’s townhouse, he was feeling a lot better. That conversation with his friends had invigorated him and calmed his nerves. He was confident in his ability to make a change for the better in his town. Unlike his last match, Kira was from a small town too.
They were meeting at her townhouse for their first date. She’d offered to cook for them, and he had brought a bottle of wine and a movie. It was a bit familiar for a first date, but Cade was pleased. She was inviting him into her home, so she must have a good feeling about him too.
He walked up the steps with a hopeful heart. Kira had the door open before he knocked. She was even more beautiful in person.
“You must be Cade.” She stepped aside. “Please come in. I hope the drive wasn’t too bad.”
His mountain lion was transfixed. He could barely remember how to form words. His animal liked the human woman already. “I’m used to driving in the snow.”
“Should I put the wine in the fridge?”
“No, we can pour glasses right now. I brought us red.”
“I don’t really drink wine,” she admitted with a laugh.
Cade laughed too. “I hope you really like movies.”
She nodded vigorously. “I love movies.”
He held out the two options he’d brought. “I didn’t know if you’d like a comedy or a dark comedy-drama. I’ve heard good things about both.”
Kira pointed to the dark comedy-drama. “Let’s start with this one.”
A great sign. Maybe they’d watch both tonight. He wouldn’t be opposed to extending his stay in Middleton. He didn’t work on Saturdays and they could go and get breakfast the next morning. He’d passed an IHOP on his way to her place, and he’d almost pulled over to take a picture. There wasn’t a chain restaurant within thirty minutes of Maple Creek. They didn’t even have a McDonald’s anymore since the franchisee in town had folded up shop three years earlier.
He was getting way ahead of himself. Maybe she just wanted to see both movies. That didn’t mean she liked him already. Not like his mountain lion liked her, anyway.
Something brushed against his leg, making him jump. Cade reached down and picked up a scruffy black cat. “Hey, buddy.”
“Oh, that’s my cat, Scrooge,” Kira said. She patted the cat on the head as he spun around in Cade’s arms.
“Guess he doesn’t like me so much,” Cade said as Scrooge catapulted himself from his arms.
“He takes a while to warm up to people,” Kira assured him. “Do you mind eating in front of the TV? I know it’s gauche, but I love to do it as a treat.”
“I eat in front of my TV every night,” Cade said.
Kira led him to her kitchen, where there were steaming pots of food on the stove. She pointed to the pots. “The one on the right is ravioli and the back is fettuccine noodles. I couldn’t decide and made both. There’s white sauce to pour over it.”
“You can make noodles? Wow, color me impressed.”
Kira laughed and put her hand on his arm. “I’ll let you in on my secret.” She reached into the cabinet next to the stove and pulled out a giant mixer. “I can make fresh pasta in minutes with this baby. I like homemade, but it can take so long. I look for as many shortcuts as I can.”
“What other tips have you got?”
She opened another cabinet. “Bread maker, sausage-making attachment, paddle attachment. Basically, a ton of attachments for the mixer. That thing is a workhorse. My mom got it for me when I moved into my first big-girl apartment and I’ve cherished it ever since.”
They took their bowls of pasta to the couch and Kira started the DVD. Cade couldn’t have cared less about the movie. He was glad they were eating on the couch, sitting side by side. If they’d been face-to-face, he wouldn’t have been able to eat a bite. Kira was so beautiful. Her black hair tumbled down her back in soft waves, stopping just above the middle of her back. She crossed her long legs over each other on the couch and set her bowl in her lap.
Cade wished he could pull her close and run his hands through her hair. His chest tightened. So this was what everyone talked about. This was it. He’d found his mate. That bad experience he’d had with his first match had only been practice. It had led him here. He was so grateful for LK Brides and his mother’s persistence. If he’d never signed up with the agency, he might never have found his mate.
Now, he needed to communicate that to Kira without freaking her out. He needed to know how informed she was about shifters. Not all the women who signed up with LK Brides knew about shifter mating. He was thinking about writing the site and telling them to add that to their welcome packet. It would cut down on a lot of confusion between couples. He knew he couldn’t be the only shifter ma
n in this situation. You could find your mate through the agency, but if they didn’t know about shifter mating, it could be difficult to explain the strong connection and bond a shifter feels to his or her mate almost instantly.
“So, you work for the city?” Kira asked him when there was a break in the movie action.
He nodded. “Yeah. Recently got a promotion.”
“I remember you mentioning that. Lucky you. From what I’ve heard, that local government is a pain to move up at.”
“You know people who work there?”
She nodded. “A few of the guys from my high school work there. Crazy, right?”
“Small world.”
They compared names and talked about their mutual acquaintances. Kira had never been to Maple Creek, but she had a good idea what the town was like. This gave Cade hope. She wasn’t going to run away when she saw the reality of day-to-day life in his hometown.
By the time the first movie had ended, Cade knew he was staying for the second. They did the dishes together in her small kitchen—he washed and she dried—before settling in for the second flick.
Cade’s animal was very happy. If she wanted him to stick around for another movie, she had to like him too.
Four
Kira sneaked a peek at Cade out of the corner of her eye. He was watching the movie raptly on the edge of his seat. It was so cute. She was surprised he liked the movie so much. She had picked the other movie to watch because this one was kind of a “chick flick.” It was about a group of college girls who were in an a capella group. Even more surprising, this was the second movie. But Cade had already seen the first and said he was excited for this. Kira hadn’t believed him but by his reaction, he must have. This man just kept getting better and better.
“That was great,” Cade said as the credits rolled. “What did you think about that?”
“I really liked it. Though I have to confess, I haven’t seen the first one yet.”
“You haven’t seen the first one! Why didn’t you tell me? We’re going to have to make a date to watch that one.”