Mate For Hire
For Hire Series - Book 3
Tressie Lockwood
Mate For Hire
For Hire Series - Book 3
Copyright © July 2020, Tressie Lockwood
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Cover art photos:
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No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
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This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story line are created from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.
Contents
Also by Tressie Lockwood
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
About the Author
Also by Tressie Lockwood
Also by Tressie Lockwood
For Hire Series
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Liar For Hire
Shifter For Hire
Mate For Hire
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Shona and Neena
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Planning His Wedding
The Bribe and the Baby
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The Sartoris
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Accepting His Name
Raising His Baby
Reaching His Heart
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Single Title CLEAN Works
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No Way Forward
Involuntary Daddy
Matching Tony
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tressielockwood.blogspot.com
Chapter 1
“M-mate?” Lachelle kicked herself for stuttering. Her world tilted upside down and spun around. She had instant flashbacks of riding on the Merry-Go-Round as a child and hating every moment of it.
This woman, this paragon of feminine perfection, was the woman Gerard had pledged to marry when he was just eighteen years old? She was a shifter? Of course now that Gerard said it, the evidence stared her in the face. Silver eyes, she was tall, although not as tall as Gerard and the men of her species. Anyone could see the resemblance to the race of dragons.
When Lachelle’s commander had called her into the station to explain why she never reported a dragon coming to her rescue during an altercation, she thought contacting her sister for support was all she would need to do. No one told her this revelation was coming.
Not only did she have to face an entire station of fellow police officers with their hostile stares and insults over the fact that she introduced a nonhuman fiancé. She also had to deal with the humiliation and uncertainty of finding out another commanding officer was actually a dragon shifter and her man’s former fiancée.
How the heck does that work?
“Mate?” one of the men said with confusion in his tone. “Wait, she says he’s her fiancé, and now he’s saying he’s married to someone else?”
Lachelle wished the floor would open up and swallow the whole room of people, leaving her to her private misery. She wasn’t even sure what kind of expression to wear in the face of this mess.
“Why don’t we all go somewhere private?” Kelly turned to encompass Lachelle’s commanding officer, Gerard, her significant other—maybe—and his younger brother, Declan. Lachelle had the feeling Kelly didn’t much care whether Lachelle or her older sister Janessa joined them. “Charles, we can use your office.”
The officer didn’t move. He stared at Kelly. “You’re one of them?”
“Would you like to have this conversation right here?” she emphasized.
He capitulated and started toward his office. Lachelle didn’t move right away. She blinked in shock as Gerard walked off after Kelly, and every single shifter followed Declan.
Halfway across the station, Gerard stopped and turned back to look for her. She raised her chin and zipped past him. So he was forgetting about her existence already with the return of his childhood sweetheart?
“Lachelle,” Gerard said softly.
She ignored him and headed into her boss’s office to plunk down on a chair. Honestly, she should have waited until her boss invited her to sit, but her legs couldn’t hold her up much longer.
Gerard stood near her, but his entire focus was on Kelly. Lachelle couldn’t figure out what was on his mind by his expression. She never could. He was always somber and quiet. Today, even more so.
Kelly held the floor, folding arms under her breasts and accentuating them without even trying. Not that Gerard was focused there. The commander was a bit too worked up, but he seemed to remind himself that the beautiful woman standing before him wasn’t human. Every now and then, he cast her a look of disbelief. Lachelle figured he tried to put together the image of leggy Kelly Durante with the video circulating around the internet of a fire-breathing dragon.
“This can’t happen,” Charles muttered. He glared at Lachelle as if she invented the dragon shifters. “You knew about them, Waverly, and you didn’t say anything. That makes you culpable.”
“With all due respect, sir, culpable for what? I didn’t hatch the dragons.”
“Watch your mouth!”
Gerard growled deep in his throat, eyes going a stormy gray at Charles’ tone. He didn’t like when another man disrespected Lachelle. He barely held it together whenever she was upset, which forced her to control her emotions.
At Gerard’s growl, Kelly laughed and batted him on the nose. Lachelle expected her to say, “Bad dog.” Startled, Gerard quieted down.
“As you can see,” Kelly said, “there’s such a thing as dragon shifters. We’re here, and we have been for a very long time. We’re not going anywhere, but you don’t have to worry. We don’t eat people.”
Charles paled behind his smooth chocolate skin tone. He fell into his chair, eyes bulging.
Janessa spoke for the first time since they arrived at the station. She plunked her hand on her hip, sneering in disgust at Kelly. Lachelle loved her sister all the more because she could tell her big sister had already decided to dislike this blonde who thought she was hot stuff. “I want to know what Gerard is talking about when he called you his mate. Who the heck are you, other than a shifter I mean and a police officer?”
Pink stained Kelly’s cheeks. For a minute, Lachelle wondered if Janessa intimidated her. “I’m not sure this is the time or place to talk about that.”
“Oh you’re going to talk about it,” Janessa snapped. “If I have to make you.”
“Baby,” Declan warned.
She rounded on him. “What? You can’t tell me you aren’t curious. All this time, Gerard and Lachelle have been seeing each other, obviously getting serious, and here she comes?”
Lachelle’s temple throbbed. Just hours ago she and Gerard declared their love for each other. She hadn’t told her sister yet, but with the fact that she and Gerard had been living together, it wa
s obvious to anyone who knew them they were an item.
Kelly walked over to the window and peeked through the blinds. Not until that moment did Lachelle realize the noise outside had increased—shouts, sirens, and someone saying something on a bullhorn. Did they think they had a hostage situation on their hands?
“I have no problem talking about what happened during the civil war and afterward when Gerard and I ran away with a small group,” Kelly said.
Gerard gasped, and so did his brother.
Charles frowned. “Civil war? The civil war was in the eighteen hundreds. You don’t look older than twenty-five. You people live that long?”
Kelly preened, flattered. “I wasn’t talking about human history.”
Lachelle stared at the man she loved. He was obviously struggling, and this time she recognized the emotion in his beautiful eyes—guilt. Her heart ached for him, but she hesitated to take his hand and offer him comfort. She’d never felt so insecure in her life, and she didn’t like it.
“We need to get out of here,” Declan said. “My priority is to protect my people. If yours do something stupid, I won’t be responsible.”
Charles slammed a fist on his desk. “Aren’t you the monsters?”
The hostility in the room jumped a hundredfold.
“Now, now, boys,” Kelly chided them all. “Why don’t I calm things here, Gerard, Declan, and we can get together later to catch up?”
Again she left out the humans in the room. Lachelle wanted to smack her.
“Fine.” Declan signaled to his men and then turned to Charles. “Is there a back way out?”
“Back way?” One of his men sounded highly offended, but at a look from Declan, he clicked his teeth together.
Charles led the way to the rear of the building, but when Lachelle would have gone on as well, he stopped her. “Just a minute, Waverly.”
She tensed. “Sir?”
He let the others step outside. Gerard stood near the door, keeping an eye on Charles. Her commander probably thought he was out of earshot, but the dragons had hearing that far exceeded human range.
“I don’t want to do this…” Charles began.
Her stomach muscles clenched.
“Hand over your badge and your weapon.”
“S-sir?”
“I’m sorry. Just before you arrived, I got a call from the mayor. He’s demanding that I let you go.”
Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away before he could notice. She’d wanted to be a cop for years. To get to this point and have it snatched away—no, he couldn’t be serious. And yet, her commander wouldn’t joke about her job.
“I can talk to him, sir, and explain—”
“Explain what? That you knew about these deadly creatures? You took an oath, Waverly, and from where I’m standing you didn’t keep it.”
“They’re not monsters. They’re just different.”
“We don’t know anything about them except that they’re dangerous and powerful.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
She felt stupid. He referred to Kelly. “I guess you’re going to fire her too?”
“I’m not her boss. Either way, that has nothing to do with you.” He gestured, still waiting for her to release her badge and weapon.
With a sinking heart, she turned them over. Years ago when her first fiancé was murdered, she thought nothing could ever be that bad again. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Chapter 2
“Gerard.”
He stood with his back to her, gazing out the window. They waited for the others to join them. Restaurant after restaurant had turned them away. Finally, Declan contacted a friend who lived in the city and owned a small warehouse.
The man stored furniture for his online store in the warehouse. When he agreed to allow Declan and his group to meet with Kelly there, his guys arranged the place almost like a restaurant with tables and chairs, and even couches in the main area.
To one side, near some oversized windows, Lachelle joined Gerard to be alone. While they weren’t out of earshot, she felt isolated enough to have a conversation with him. The problem was, she didn’t want talk. Dread rolled up and down her spine. To hear the words, that there might be a dragon law that said Kelly had claim on him was too much to take in.
Not to mention whether he even wants to stay with me.
That was the crux of the matter. Did Gerard’s feelings for her fade the second Kelly showed up? How did it work with them? A part of her wanted to ask him. Another part preferred to stay ignorant.
“So, um, does this mean you’re married to her?”
He spared her a glance as she moved up beside him. His hands pushed deep inside his pockets bunched into fists. Usually, he would free them to hold her hand. It was rare for her to be near him and him not reach for her. She’d claimed in jest that she was his drug.
“We didn’t bond.” His voice was monotone.
“Yeah, but you were about to. What happened?”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. He didn’t answer.
“I’m having a hard time understanding. I don’t know what any of this means, and it would help if I could at least know how you feel right now.”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You don’t know if you love me anymore?” She bit her tongue. Her complaint sounded like a whine. It was weak and wimpy and drove her insane. “It’s a simple question that you should be able to answer. I mean it hasn’t been a day since we—”
“Hello, everyone,” Kelly sang as she strolled into the warehouse. “I know I’ve kept you waiting a while, but I come bearing gifts.”
Every shifter in the place breathed in deep with a supreme attitude of satisfaction. Here was another common trait. Their appetites were off the charts, and Kelly arrived with food. She had convinced someone to provide them lunch. Two of Declan’s men he left with Kelly carted in white bags Lachelle assumed contained catering for the dragon group.
One of Declan’s men forgot himself and tore into a bag. “You’re an angel.”
Kelly’s peal of laughter grated on Lachelle’s raw nerves. “Gerard, I’ve got something special for you and me. Our table will be this one here.”
She waved a hand to the two men already chowing on food at the table. They vacated the spot, carrying their food with them. Janessa dragged over another table and bumped it against the one Kelly chose. She added chairs all around.
“You seem to forget you’re not in charge here,” Janessa told her. “We’ll all share the table. And in case you missed it earlier, my sister is with Gerard now. He’s hers.”
The sweet smile left Kelly’s face. Lachelle imagined a cold breeze blew through the warehouse. Then again, it might have.
Kelly raised her chin. “That’s impossible because Gerard and I are bonded. That’s forever.”
The entire warehouse went silent. Lachelle’s scalp tingled. Her stomach roiled, and she swallowed just in case something wanted to come up. The last thing she wanted at that moment was to eat.
She dared to peek at Gerard. He’d gone pale, and his jaw hung slack. Confusion clouded the silver eyes and then curiosity. As if in a trance, he wandered over to the table, once again forgetting about her.
Kelly pushed him into a chair, grinning at Lachelle with triumph. She sank down beside him and had the nerve to begin filling a plate with food for him. Lachelle didn’t move.
“Lachelle,” Janessa called.
Her legs refused to respond. How could they when her brain shut down? She’d cared about partners in the past, but lately she began to think she loved Gerard even more than she had her former fiancé. Gerard, who had been devoted to her like she was the air he breathed or some crazy romantic crap. Now this. It didn’t make sense.
“Lachelle!” Her sister appeared in front of her and squeezed her arm. She lowered her voice. “Are you okay? We can go anytime you want to. This mess is too much even for me. I fe
el like punching that woman in the face. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
“That woman can probably hear you.”
“And what?”
Lachelle looked beyond her sister to the table where Gerard continued to allow the bold and pushy Kelly to care for him. Of course if she was honest she would admit that Gerard was in as much shock as she was. He sat in silence, not even responding as Kelly spoke to him.
Kelly chattered away, grinning at Gerard one minute and flirting with Declan’s men the next. She didn’t appear to pay Lachelle and Janessa’s conversation any mind at all. That was how low they ranked on her measure of importance, she supposed.
“I’m not leaving,” Lachelle said. “I want to hear what she has to say about where she’s been. I mean how many of them are going to show up out of nowhere after everyone thought they were dead? Are they immortal?”
“For real, right?” Her sister shook her head and linked arms with Lachelle. “Come on. Eat something. It will help.”
“I don’t know how.”
“It will keep your hands busy so you won’t try to disprove the immortality theory.”
Lachelle snorted.
They headed over to the table, and just because she was feeling spiteful, Lachelle started to take a seat farther away from Gerard. Her sister nipped into it, blocking her path, so she was forced to take the last remaining seat next to her supposed boyfriend.
Mate For Hire: For Hire Series - Book 3 Page 1
