The Jaguar's Halloween Bride (Holiday Mail Order Mates Book 5)

by Lola Kidd

  “I haven’t seen you there in a while, and I thought maybe you’d want to come with me. I know it can get lonely going to the gym by yourself all the time.”

  “I wasn’t going to the gym today. I was gonna stop in the shop and help close down.”

  “Well, you could come to the gym for twenty minutes and do a little cardio before you go to work,” Abe suggested.

  Lizzy shook her head. “I don’t think I have time for that. I should already be leaving for the shop. I’ll walk out with you.”

  “You’re wasting money if you don’t go,” Abe said as they went down the stairs.

  Lizzy gritted her teeth. “I don’t have time for it today.”

  “That’s what people always say,” Abe said cheerfully. “Once you get there, it’s much easier to get going. The hard part is making yourself go when you don’t feel like it. That’s why I’m here. I’ll be your motivation.”

  “I said I’m not going,” Lizzy said sharply.

  From the hurt look on Abe’s face, she could tell she had been too harsh. She felt terrible. He was only trying to be nice.

  “Sorry I asked,” he mumbled. He kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you later on tonight?”

  “You bet.” Lizzy took his face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth passionately. “I can’t wait to see you later. I have a surprise of my own.”

  Abe smacked her on the ass. “I can’t wait. I’m sure it’s something sexy.”

  Lizzy grabbed his butt back and winked at him. “My lips are sealed until later. Have a nice day at work.”

  “You too.”

  She hoped it had been enough to make him feel better. She would try not to snap at Abe again—and she was never going to go back to that stupid private group again. It was only going to make her sad, and it was silly to let those losers into her real life. They wouldn’t say any of that stuff to her face. She wasn’t going to let them make her feel insecure and drag her down again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Abe was feeling strange. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was off. He’d been troubled all day at work, and he couldn’t quite explain why.

  It was only when he got home and was getting ready for his date with Lizzy that he realized what was bothering him. He was annoyed that Lizzy didn’t want to go to the gym with him.

  He’d only been trying to help, and she had snapped at him. It wasn’t like she had to go to the gym or that he was trying to force it on her. She had said she wanted to go. She’d been nice to him before he left, though. She’d even grabbed his ass. Maybe she wasn’t mad at all. Maybe she was feeling rushed because she was late to work. He knew how being late could make you snap at people.

  He knew he was no angel and had done the same thing himself. He would forgive her. This wasn’t something she had to apologize for, either. Everyone had bad days.

  “She’s here!” Ray yelled up the stairs.

  Abe quickly put on his shirt and ran down to greet their girlfriend. Their mate. It seemed so strange to be able to say that, and so lovely. They tried not to talk about that too much yet, but it was being said. Neither he nor Ray wanted to rush it and make her uncomfortable. So far, she had been receptive to the mate talk, though.

  Ray kissed her and then Abe kissed her.

  “Look what I’ve got.” Lizzy held up a bag. “I finally got my costume. You guys want a private showing?”

  “Do we ever.” Ray pointed to the stairs. “Get ready up there and come down.”

  After she had left, Ray turned to his brother. “You feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I was feeling off, but now it’s fine.” He couldn’t wait to see their mate in her new costume. He knew it was going to be so sexy.

  She had gotten a genie costume. They were going to be dressed as her masters for the party. It was all her idea, and it sounded sexy as hell. Better than anything he or Ray could come up with.

  Her costume was the most involved, but that was fine by Abe. He and Ray were going to wear harem pants and open leather vests. Abe knew Ray wasn’t fond of the outfit, but if Lizzy wanted them to be sexy, sexy they were going to be.

  They sat in the living room for a few minutes, until they started getting antsy. Ten minutes later, they were still waiting.

  “Should we go check on her?” Ray asked.

  “I think so. I mean, what could be taking her so long?”

  Ray went up the stairs and came back down a minute later. “I think she’s crying.”

  Abe jumped up and charged upstairs with Ray at his heels. “Are you okay, Lizzy?”

  There was no answer. Abe looked back at Ray, worried. He stepped away from the door and lowered his voice. “You didn’t say something wrong, did you?”

  “Maybe. We should apologize, just to be safe.”

  Abe nodded and went back to the door. “Lizzy, we’re sorry if we did something wrong. Please come out and let us apologize while we’re looking you in the eye.”

  He heard her sniffling, and then she moved to the door with heavy steps. “It’s okay. You guys didn’t do anything. Go back downstairs. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  “We don’t want to go down without you. We’ll wait out here,” Ray told her through the door.

  Abe pressed his ear to the door and heard her sniffling a few more times. Then, finally, the door opened a crack.

  “I’m so embarrassed,” Lizzy said.

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about with us,” Abe told her. “What’s wrong?”

  She burst into tears again.

  He stepped forward and put his arms around her. “Whatever’s wrong, you can tell us.”

  Lizzy wiped her eyes and pulled away from him. “My stupid costume doesn’t fit. And it’s too late to get a new one.”

  “No problem. You can just get a bigger costume tomorrow.” Abe almost sighed with relief. Just a costume problem. He and Ray had done nothing wrong.

  “It’s too late to get a bigger costume. Were you even listening?” Lizzy demanded. “I had to special order this one. There’s no time to get a new one here in time.”

  The twins silently exchanged a glance. Neither of them had any idea what to say. This had never been a problem for them before. Yes, clothes fit them funny because of their wide shoulders, but they could always find a bigger size in the store. If not, they picked something else that was available in their size. They had never had to special order anything.

  “Can we make something?” Abe asked, trying to find a solution.

  “I guess I can try.” Lizzy didn’t sound too confident in her words.

  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Ray was quick to tell her.

  “Maybe I just won’t go to the party,” Lizzy said, obviously frustrated.

  “Why wouldn’t you go? You were really excited,” Abe said. “We were really excited for you to meet all our friends, too.”

  “Yeah, but Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, anyway. Maybe we can do a Christmas party or something for New Year’s. I can meet all your friends and family then.”

  Abe shook his head. She had made it sound like their party was a very big deal to her. And now she was saying she wasn’t even going to go. She seemed more upset that her costume didn’t fit than she was about missing their awesome party.

  Abe pressed his lips into a firm line. This was a strange turn of events. She was acting odd, but he didn’t want to ask her about it. She had already been crying, and he didn’t want to make her feel any worse. He would wait for a better time to speak to her. Maybe it would all blow over.

  It seemed like she might be overreacting. Maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to find a new costume. But she had had her heart set on the genie—that was probably why she was freaking out.

  “Why don’t we try looking on the Internet now to see if you can find anything?” he suggested.

  “That’s a great idea,” Ray said. He kissed Lizzy on her forehead. “I’ll make us some snacks.” />
  Abe followed Lizzy and Ray downstairs. This wasn’t turning out the way he had expected at all. He hoped they could find a new costume. He would be so upset if Lizzy couldn’t go to their party.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lizzy was definitely ready for this week to end. She was meeting some of her friends at a restaurant in town to relax and cheer herself up. She spotted the girls at a table in the back, and they waved her over happily.

  Emma looked chic, as always, in a red one-piece jumpsuit. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and she was wearing a shock of red lipstick.

  Macy had flecks of paint on her arms. She was finally painting the house she shared with her husband Jack. He’d owned the home long before she and her daughter Jill had moved in, but she wanted to make it more family-friendly. Jack had left the walls builder white, which made sense to Lizzy. He owned his own business and had little time to spend at home.

  “You look like you’ve had a rough week,” Emma said with a smile as Lizzy plopped into the booth. “I’m going to wave down the waiter so we can all get our drinks.”

  Macy nodded. “I’m going to get two. Nobody tell Jack.”

  “I don’t think I can have any.” Lizzy put her head down on the table. “If I eat another thing, I won’t be able to fit into any costumes.”

  “Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good. Did something happen?” Emma asked.

  The waiter was at their table. He took their drink and food orders and left. Once they were alone again, Lizzy began to explain.

  “My stupid costume didn’t fit, like I said. It’s going to cost a fortune for me to overnight a new one. I’m not even sure if I should bother. This one probably won’t fit either.”

  She started tearing up. She’d been like this all day. It was so embarrassing. It was bad enough that she’d cried in front of the twins. She couldn’t cry in public about her weight in the same week. It was humiliating.

  They had been so nice, too. She didn’t want to ruin their Halloween party, but she didn’t see any way she could get a costume that fit in time. She wished she had started looking earlier or had saved one of her old costumes. As it stood, she had nothing to wear and little hope of finding anything.

  “The twins won’t care what kind of costume you wear,” Macy said. “You could show up in a garbage bag and they would probably think you were the hottest girl there.”

  “A garbage bag is probably all that’s going to fit me. Thanks for the costume idea, actually.”

  Macy laughed. “That’s not actually a bad idea. You could go as a hot mess. I’m sure we could find a red trash bag for you.”

  “You kid, but I’m serious,” Lizzy said. “Do you know what it’s like to have no costumes fit you? I special ordered this one. It should fit. I have no idea what to do now. And I didn’t want to go as something funny, I wanted to be sexy this year. I have sexy boyfriends. I should be able to find a sexy costume, dammit.”

  “I know what it’s like to not have anything fit you,” Emma said. “We all have our issues, Lizzy. Don’t let this stop you from going to that party.”

  “I’m afraid I’m going to ruin it. Even if I show up, I’m going to embarrass them. All their hard-body gym friends will be there, and those girls are all hot. They’re all going to look hot, and then I’ll show up in my stupid funny costume because nothing else will fit me. It’ll be so humiliating.”

  “What are you talking about?” Macy said, exasperated. “The twins are so excited for you to be there. How could you possibly embarrass them? And not all skinny-minis wear sexy costumes, either. Big girls can be sexy, and skinny girls can be funny. Don’t limit your thinking, girl.”

  The waiter was back with their drinks. Lizzy waited until he was gone again before she spoke. This was too embarrassing for anyone else to hear.

  “You guys know about that secret Facebook group?” she asked them.

  Emma and Macy exchanged glances and shook their heads.

  “Let me tell you all about it.” Lizzy took a long drink. “I’m going to need a second drink before this is done.”

  “Oh, how bad can it be?” Emma asked.

  “Very bad. There’s a group where they gossip about everyone in town. It’s secret, so you can only see it if you’re a member. You have to get invited or have someone in the group add you. I only went there because I wanted to find a new bench. One of my customers told me about it, and it seemed like a good idea. If I had known about the gossip, I would never have joined.”

  “I know which one you’re talking about, now,” Macy said excitedly. “I was searching for some paintings in there. That group can be a bit much, though.”

  Lizzy nodded. “They’re very mean. They wrote very mean things about me. There was a picture of us from the party after the boxing match before the summer. They called me a pig, Fatty Fatty Boom Boom, and other terrible, cruel things.”

  “I wouldn’t listen to those people,” Emma said dismissively. “They have no lives. If they did, they wouldn’t be being mean on the Internet. Don’t let them ruin your day. Don’t waste one minute of your time believing any of that nonsense.”

  “Well, I did. And then I went back for more. After my article came out, I went to check it again, and sure enough, they were talking about me—only this time, they were talking about my relationship with the twins too. Apparently, I’m not even close to good enough for them.”

  “You can’t listen to people on the Internet.” Macy looked like she was mad enough to punch someone. “Those people don’t know you, and they don’t know anything about your relationship. Don’t let them make you feel bad, Lizzy. Emma’s right. They don’t know you. They don’t deserve a minute of your time.”

  “But what if they’re right?” she asked quietly. “You know, I always knew this relationship was too good to be true. If that’s what the whole town thinks I am, I can’t imagine what the twins think.”

  “They think you’re a great girl, or they wouldn’t be dating you.” Macy put her hand over Lizzy’s. “They’re great guys. They aren’t liars, and they aren’t cheaters. They’re not pulling some kind of prank on you, Lizzy. They like you. They like you a lot.”

  “Maybe. But you know Abe works out religiously. He’s around hot girls all the time. I’ve seen the kind of girls he used to date, too.”

  “The kind of women he used to date. That’s the key word there,” Macy said. “They’re looking for someone to date both of them. And while Abe might have had a few one-night stands in his day, Ray isn’t like that. Honestly, I don’t even think Abe liked those girls. I think he was just trying to find someone to spend time with. Don’t believe what you heard. He was very lonely before he met you.”

  “I’d like to believe that, but it can be hard sometimes. Sometimes, I don’t even know what I’m doing, trying to date men that attractive. They’re way out of my league.”

  Lizzy took a breather so she wouldn’t cry. Her friends both hugged her.

  “You should talk to the twins about this,” Emma said.

  Macy nodded. “I agree. If you could hear this from their mouths, I think you’d feel a lot better.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Lizzy said. “I’ve never said something like this to them. It would be nice to hear them say all this. They tell me I’m beautiful all the time, but I don’t know. I guess I don’t believe they’re being honest. I know it makes me weak, but I’d like to hear them say it clearly. Tell me that all my fears are stupid.”

  “That makes you human, honey,” Macy said. “Just talk to them.”

  Her friends were right. She was probably being ridiculous. The twins liked her a lot, and they were even calling her their mate. They wouldn’t say those things unless they were true.

  They always told her how hot she was. They had been excited to see her in her costume and were still trying to get her to dress up for them even if she felt silly. She was letting her insecurities get the best of her.

  Probably.

  They had be
en acting strange this last week. She hadn’t told her friends that part. After the costume thing, they had tried to find something else, but she hadn’t been able to. The worst part of it was, they’d been able to see what her measurements and dress size were. It was after that that they’d become weird.

  In the back of her mind, she was worried that now that they’d seen how big she really was in solid numbers, they were disgusted. They’d realized she wasn’t good enough.

  It was probably crazy, but she wouldn’t feel better until she could talk with them about her feelings. Once she’d heard them say that it was no big deal, she would feel so much better.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Abe had already done the wrong thing once. He knew it was risky to try again, but he’d felt so bad seeing Lizzy cry the other day. She had seemed down at their last meeting, too. She was still thinking about not going to the party and had been pretty glum.

  He desperately wanted to cheer her up. He and Ray were going to take her on a nice walk the next night, but he was driving past her place and couldn’t help but stop.

  He knew that whenever he was feeling sad, going to the gym always cheered him up. It couldn’t hurt to offer to go with her again. It was his day off, so he had all the time in the world to work out and go slow with her. If he could convince her to go, he knew she would feel a million times better by the time they finished.

  He texted her when he was outside her building. “Guess who’s outside? Buzz me up, girl.”

  She sent him back a kissy face emoji and buzzed him in. She was waiting at the door when he got upstairs.

  Abe wrapped her in a bear hug and picked her up. “Hello, gorgeous.”

  She giggled and hugged him around his neck. “What a nice surprise!”

  He put her down. “Just wanted to try to cheer my favorite lady up.”

  “Uh-oh. You’re not going to ask me to come to the gym with you again, are you?” she joked.

  Abe felt about two inches tall. His face burned hot. “I was. I guess that means you don’t want to go.”

  Lizzy’s smile was quickly replaced by a deep frown, and her eyebrows shot up. “Why would I want to go to the gym? I can’t believe you came here twice to ask me that.”