The Tiger's Summer Bride (Holiday Mail-Order Mates Book 4)

by Lola Kidd

  “You can’t find one single guy to go on a date with?”

  “Not a one.” Blair shook her head sadly. “I don’t know if I’m being too picky, but none of these guys are inspiring. I even had a repeat last month. I’m thinking I might start cycling though guys I’ve already dated. Maybe they’ve gotten better.”

  “That would be so tragic. You’d better be careful, or you’ll never find someone to get married to.”

  “Maybe I just won’t get married. The way you talk, it doesn’t sound so nice.”

  “That’s just the bad days. There are some good ones, too. Plus, you totally want to be married. You’ve wanted to put on that white dress since you were a little girl. You just need to find the right guy. After all the frogs you’ve kissed, I’d have thought you’d come across at least one prince.”

  “That’s what you’d think, but I’m starting to think that all that’s left is frogs.”

  Blair didn’t add that Nelly had married a frog. She never had anything nice to say about her husband or about being married. Whenever Blair called her out on it, Nelly would always say she loved her life and wouldn’t change anything.

  Blair knew that was a lie. She knew that if Nelly had the chance to go back, she might choose never to be married, or at least she would have gotten a divorce after her second baby. It made Blair nervous. She didn’t want to pick wrong and end up in a relationship like Nelly’s.

  “You should try LK Brides. I’m hearing a lot of people in town love them,” Nelly said.

  Blair almost spit out her wine. “LK Brides? What have you heard about it?”

  “Well, your co-worker did it. And you think he has a really great wife. There are a few other guys in town by now. One of Dell’s friends used them and met a really great girl. We double date with him sometimes. It’s for finding a mate, though, not just dating.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m just not sure if I want to meet my supposed soulmate.”

  “Then why even date?” Nelly laughed. “And I’m jealous. I’d love to go on a first date again.”

  “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Blair muttered.

  She considered it. For many people, it could take a long time to be matched through LK Brides. A few people in town had gotten matched quickly, but some had been waiting for months, or even years. She was still young, but it couldn’t hurt to get started looking for her soulmate now.

  LK Brides specialized in helping shifter men find their mates, but human women and men could sign up too. Not all shifters were matched with other shifters.

  Blair didn’t have any particular feelings about shifters. They were normal people, just like she was. There were some women who preferred to date only shifters, but she wasn’t one of them. There were perks to being with a shifter man, but she was more interested in the “man” part. If he wasn’t a nice person, it didn’t matter how cool his animal was.

  “I think I’m going to try it,” Blair said resolutely.

  “Good for you.” Her sister hugged her. “And I’m going to go and yell at my husband.”

  Blair laughed and went to say hello to her niece and nephew before heading out.

  When she got back to her apartment, she sat down and got to work. Getting her profile on LK Brides set up went very quickly. Which was great for her—the less time she had to think about it, the better.

  It was a very lengthy questionnaire. She could see why they were so good. She had filled out profiles on other dating sites, but none of them had been like this.

  When she finished, Blair made herself an ice cream sundae as a treat. She ate it while reading a magazine. It was an incredibly relaxing evening. She was about to brush her teeth and go to bed when she saw that she already had an email from LK Brides.

  She was matched! What the heck? She had just signed up and she already had a freaking match.

  Blair had to sit down for a minute. She hadn’t expected this. She had known it was a possibility, but she’d been sure it would take months before she found a match. She would be ready to meet someone months from now.

  She knew this been a mistake, and it was all her own fault. If she heard something twice in one day, that didn’t mean she had to do it. What had she been thinking? This was a serious site.

  She clicked to find out who the match was. To her horror, the screen filled with a familiar picture.

  Nate from work was her match.

  She laughed out loud, then looked at the profile to be sure. It was possible Nate had a twin brother he’d never told her about. But no, it was Nate from work.

  There was no way Nate was her match. There had been some kind of mistake.

  He was attractive, and nice enough, but he was so quiet at work. He was great at his job, but he never wanted to hang out. She had dated men like him before, and while they were sweet, it had never worked out. She needed a little more excitement.

  When Blair pictured her own shifter match, she saw someone big and burly. Maybe even a little dangerous. Someone who was an exciting alpha. Nate was big and burly, but he wasn’t a dangerous alpha. She had always been amazed that he was a tiger shifter.

  She quickly opened her email and shot him a line. Can you believe this? How funny is this? Guess you’ll be waiting a little longer for your real match now.

  They worked together every day, so she hoped to get this sorted out quickly. She didn’t want to make it more difficult for him to get a real match. He’d been waiting so long.

  She was ready to walk away from the computer when she had an email back from Nate. Why is it funny? I have a real match.

  Her whole body got tingly. Was he seriously not questioning whether or not they should be matched? Yes, LK Brides thought they belonged together… but they didn’t.

  She quickly sent him back an email saying that while she thought he was a great man, she saw him as a friend and nothing more. She didn’t think things between them would work out. They were both going to have to get matched again.

  He emailed back right away. Don’t worry. You’ll change your mind.

  Blair’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t expected him to argue with her. There was nothing else for her to say. She was going to have to sleep on it.

  Chapter 5

  Nate had to address the gorilla in the room. The actual gorilla.

  Wyatt wasn’t making any noise, but sometimes he could be a handful. He couldn’t seem to grasp that there were times when Nate needed to be alone. Wyatt loved being around people, and he loved talking to Nate.

  Even if Nate was busy doing something and couldn’t say a word to him, Wy would sit in the room, waiting quietly. Sometimes he would nap while Nate was working on his computer.

  Nate was naturally an introverted person. When Aaron had suggested that Nate take his spot in the trailer, Nate had been very apprehensive. But now he realized it was a good thing that he was living with someone like Wyatt.

  Wyatt kept him on his toes and ensured that the tiger shifter didn’t get too lonely. When Nate lived by himself or was on vacation from work, he could go days without speaking to another person. He didn’t see anything wrong with that, but he could see how that made it difficult for him to find a mate.

  That had been one of the reasons he’d signed up with LK Brides. Now, after this email exchange with Blair, he needed some quiet time to think.

  “Wyatt, could you please leave?”

  The gorilla just sat there. Nate was getting very frustrated.

  He got up and began pacing. He knew what the animal wanted. Wyatt wanted him to change so they could wrestle around. Normally, Nate wasn’t opposed to it in the evenings, but right now what he wanted was silence.

  Wyatt transformed back. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just need some peace and quiet for a moment.”

  Wyatt stood stock-still by the door. Nate paced for a while, trying to think of a way to win over Blair, but he came up with nothing. He had no idea what to say to her. He supposed he was going to sett
le with being friends. He needed to find a way to change her mind, but he wasn’t entirely sure what that was going to be. He’d known Blair for a very long time, and she didn’t seem to be interested in him sexually.

  “Maybe if you tell me, I can help,” Wyatt said. “I’ve been told I give good advice.”

  Nate was tempted to ask who had told him that. Wy was a good listener, but Nate didn’t think he gave great advice. He had a serious lack of boundaries, for one thing. Wy did things that made many people uncomfortable. That kind of thing wouldn’t work for someone like Nate. He had a hard time talking about his feelings at all, let alone being as bluntly honest as Wyatt was. He liked to think he was more tactful.

  “I’ve got a match back from LK Brides.”

  Wyatt’s face darkened. “Does that mean you’re moving out?”

  Nate shook his head. “She’s not interested in me. At least, not yet.”

  Wyatt tilted his head. “I know that’s a bad thing. But I’m glad you’re not going to move out. You said you really want to find your mate. I know you’ve been looking for a long time. Who is it?”

  “It’s a girl I know. I actually like her a lot. I’m pretty bummed.”

  “Who is it?” Wyatt asked. “Anyone I know?”

  “Sure is. It’s Blair, my co-worker.”

  Wyatt whistled. “That is one good-looking woman. She’s been hot forever. I had a crush on her while we were in school. She’s way too cool for me. I thought she’d be too cool for you too.”

  Nate stopped pacing. “Thanks for that information.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m actually trying to be helpful. But she is pretty cool. She goes on dates almost every night. Although come to think of it, the last time I saw her out at the bar, I think she was complaining about not being able to find anyone to date her.”

  “She said that at work today too. I told her to sign up for LK Brides. Never in a million years did I think she would be my match.” It sounded crazy saying it aloud.

  “I bet she can’t find a date because she’s dated everyone already,” Wyatt said matter-of-factly. “But she hasn’t been a on a date with you. You could ask her out.”

  “She said no already. She isn’t interested in me asking her out again. I don’t want to be too pushy.”

  “Yes, you do. You want to be pushy.”

  “No, I don’t want to be pushy at all. Women don’t like pushy men.”

  Wy laughed. “They say they don’t like pushy men, but they do. Maybe not pushy, but a man who’s in charge. A man who knows what he wants. Confidence. That’s what women want.”

  “I’ll take that into consideration.”

  “Glad I could be of help,” Wyatt said. “But if you do get her, try to get her to move in here with us. I don’t want to look for a mate.”

  Chapter 6

  Nate had been waiting all day at work. Blair looked as beautiful as always, and he really wanted to talk to her. But it was one of those days when he couldn’t get a moment to himself. He didn’t even have enough time to eat his lunch. He couldn’t get time alone with her until the end of work.

  He’d thought he’d have an easier time speaking with her now that they were matched. No such luck. She didn’t even want to speak to him at the end of the day. It seemed like she was making a point to avoid him. Usually, the three of them locked up the store together. Today, she left with a quick word about needing to do something.

  Nate thought about emailing her again, but it seemed pointless. The next day, he decided to give talking to her another try.

  It was a slow day. Aaron was still out making deliveries, so they were alone in the store. There was no chance of Mr. James coming in, because he’d already been in that morning. Nate was sure he had a solid half hour to talk with Blair.

  Normally, when it was just the two of them in the store, Blair couldn’t wait to talk to him. Today, she was keeping herself busy with work. He was going to use that to his advantage. If he asked her about work, she couldn’t say she was doing nothing and shut the conversation down. She was going to have to talk with him.

  “So, what’re you working on today?” Nate asked her, leaning on her desk.

  “The Memorial Day sale. It’s slow going. I can’t think of anything I haven’t used a million times before.”

  “Can’t you recycle something you did when you first started? I don’t think anyone would care. The great prices are the big draw for people.”

  Blair gritted her teeth. “I would care. I don’t want to be putting out the same junk work. There’s no guarantee that this will be my job forever. I’d like to be able to show a new employer a whole portfolio filled with cool marketing campaigns that I came up with.”

  Nate was taken aback. He didn’t know she put that much work and thought into the marketing portion of her job. She didn’t seem particularly passionate about it at first glance. But now that he thought about it, she did spend a lot of time working on each campaign. She spoke with Aaron and Mr. James about them, too. But she had never asked Nate for his opinion, so it was easy to overlook.

  “You come up with some really good ideas,” Nate said, trying to recover from his misstep. “I bet you’ll come up with something great again. Do you have a list of things you’ve already done?”

  Blair nodded and handed him a note. “Here’s some of the stuff I’ve done recently. I usually try to make the Memorial Day sale graphics patriotic, but they have to be different from the Veterans Day stuff. I’m not really sure how I can top myself this time.”

  Nate studied the list. She had crammed so much onto the small pad. She had even written things down the side of the page that he didn’t understand. He remembered all the events. There was at least five years of both the early summer and late winter sales.

  “I don’t know how you do this,” he said with a shake of his head. “I wouldn’t even know the first place to start. I can’t believe you do this four times a year.”

  “It’s not that hard.” She took back the list and looked it over. “You just think of something to work around. It’s easy to start, since the sales are usually on holidays. Though that can limit what I can do, too. There’s not a lot of room with the Veterans Day sale. But I can get much more creative with the Presidents Day sale.”

  “I never noticed that most of our sales are on patriotic days.”

  Blair laughed. “Yeah, I have to get creative with my use of red, white, and blue.”

  “Have you ever considered doing a spin on it? Like different shades of red, while, and blue?”

  She tapped her pen on her desk. “So, you mean maybe pink, cream, and periwinkle?”

  “Yeah, something like that. A new play on an old favorite.”

  She smiled. “I can work with that.”

  “Glad to be of help.”

  “Thanks. You were. I don’t know why I haven’t considered using different shades before. I guess once you get an image in your head, it’s hard to shake.”

  He couldn’t have asked for a more perfect segue. “So, what would you think about going to dinner with me tonight?”

  Blair looked at her desk. “I have plans.”

  “I know you’re lying. You haven’t been on a dinner date in weeks. Go out with me?”

  Blair sighed. “I knew this would get awkward. I told you we’re friends. I don’t see you as anything more than that.”

  “But LK Brides thinks we could be more. What do you have to say about that?”

  “It just won’t work. We’re co-workers. Think of how awful it would be at work if we don’t work out.”

  “Why would you assume that we aren’t going to work out? LK Brides has a good track record of picking the right match.”

  “Things rarely work out like that.” Blair sighed. “It was a mistake signing up for that site.”

  Nate shook his head. “It wasn’t a mistake. It was destiny. I guess I’ll have to change your mind.”

  Chapter 7

  “How’s it going?” Aaro
n asked as Blair approached.

  “Great.” Blair looked around. “I signed up with LK Brides.”

  “That’s great. I found Emma through them, and you know how happy we are.”

  “Yeah. Here’s the thing, though. I got matched with Nate.”

  Aaron was putting away all of his stuff and pulling out his lunch. “Who? Is it someone I know?”

  “Our co-worker Nate.”

  Aaron stopped he was doing. “Seriously? No way.”

  “Yes, way. I got matched with Nate.”

  Aaron laughed and shook his head. “You can never guess how it’s going to turn out when you sign up. Sounds like a pretty good match, though.”

  “I don’t think so. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Go on a date with the guy?”

  “Are you kidding me, Aaron? It’s freaking Nate. I can’t go on a date with him. He’s my co-worker.”

  Blair hadn’t thought she’d have to be patient and explain this to Aaron, of all people. They joked about how awkward Nate was all the time. Yet here he was, telling her to go out with the guy. Didn’t he know how awkward it would be when things didn’t work out?

  “He’s a nice guy,” Aaron said. “And you could stand to date a nice guy. How many terrible dates with terrible men have you told me about?”

  “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with nice guys. I think he’s a great co-worker, but not the best boyfriend material for me.”

  “I know you’re pretty freaked out by this, but you gotta trust the process. LK knows what they’re talking about. They’re one of the best sites for finding a spouse in the whole world. If you’re going to take anyone’s advice, it should be theirs.”

  “Thanks for the advice.”

  Blair turned on her heel and stomped back to her desk. Was the world going crazy? How was she the only one who realized what a bad idea this was?

  Chapter 8

  “I’m not going to the concert,” Nelly said, looking sad.

  “Are you serious? We’ve already bought the tickets. You can’t bail on me now,” Blair said.