by Lola Kidd
It had gone so well, but there was still something niggling at the back of Amy’s mind. He was perfect and had said all the right things. He was too good to be true. She’d met men like him before and none were ever as good as they seemed. That wasn’t how life worked. He had to be hiding something or have a less than desirable trait. No one was perfect.
She needed a little more time to get to know him. This was starting to feel like something good. Something that could really change her life. If she could spend more time with him, maybe she would be able to figure out if he was as wonderful as he seemed. It wasn’t a hard drive home but she didn’t feel like doing the drive anymore. She hadn’t planned on staying out all night with Frank. It would be so much easier to sleep in town.
She always kept a stash of clothes in her car. She never knew when she was going to sleep over at Karen’s house. It was so much easier to keep a few things in her car for unexpected events, like the time she had spilled chili on herself before a meeting with her editor. Things happened, and she liked to be prepared for anything that life threw her way.
“There’s one just down the road. I’m parked at my shop. I can drive you over to the Lunar Motel. Or I can take you to your car and you can follow me there.”
“I’ll follow you there. I’m actually parked near your shop.” They split up and Amy drove back to his shop once she’d retrieved her car. He drove a big black SUV. Not too surprising. He wouldn’t have fit comfortably in Amy’s little car. She barely fit in the damn thing herself.
She pulled up next to him and rolled down her window. “Lead the way.”
“Sure thing. If you lose me for some reason, it’s just at the end of this street behind us. You can’t miss it.”
Amy nodded and followed him. There was no way to lose him. There was no one on the street. Much like home, everything closed down at nine o’clock weeknights. The only thing open was the gas station.
The motel looked pretty nice. It had two levels and was very well lit. The Lunar Motel’s sign featured a howling wolf, so she supposed it was owned by a wolf. There was a high concentration of shifters in Sunset Falls. Akron had its fair share of shifters, but not like this town. More than half of the inhabitants of Sunset Falls were shifters.
Frank parked and met her at the front of the hotel. “Since you’re going to be in town tomorrow, I was wondering if you’d want to help me with a little project I have underway.”
“I’d love to.” Amy stared at his lips expectantly. Was he going to kiss her? This was technically the end of a first date. She wanted him to kiss her. But she didn’t want to seem too forward. They were in front of a motel, after all. She didn’t want him thinking she was some kind of goodtime girl.
“Great. Come by my shop whenever you want. I have a rush in the morning and afternoon, but I’m usually quiet between three and five on weekends.”
She nodded and licked her lips. “Sounds great to me. I’ll come by a little early so I can have a cup of coffee.”
“Good.” Frank nodded twice before leaning down and taking her in his arms. He pulled her close and folded his body over hers. His lips gently brushed against her own, barely opened. As his lips warmed on hers, Frank deepened the kiss. His tongue gently caressed her mouth as he held her close. One of Amy’s hands gripped his giant bicep while the other anchored to his waist. She lost herself in the kiss and shut everything else out.
When Frank pulled back, her eyes stayed closed. She sighed deeply. “Good night.”
“See you in the morning.”
His voice was thick and he looked over his shoulder not once, not twice, but four times before he reached his car. Amy looked up to see a red-haired woman watching from inside the hotel lobby. She felt like a teenager caught necking on the doorstep after curfew. She dipped her head and smiled. Frank Franklin was going to be trouble, alright. She hoped it was the kind that lasted a lifetime and not the kind that drained your bank account after promises of forever.
That kiss had been perfect like everything else about Frank. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been kissed like that. Probably never.
The woman behind the counter gave her the side-eye when she came inside with her backpack. Amy had to ring the bell for service even though the woman could clearly see her. “Hello? I’d like a room, please.”
The woman blew out a puff of air. “Were you out there kissing Frank?”
Amy stood up straighter. It looked like Frank was very popular in town. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
The woman looked glum and crossed her arms over her very large chest. “Dammit. You’re his Lovely and Kind Bride, aren’t you?”
“No! I mean…how did you know?” Amy felt like kicking herself. How the hell had this woman figured it out? “Do you work with Olivia or something?”
“Frank’s only been signed up for a few days. How the hell did he get a match before me?” The woman shook her fist in the air. “It’s not fair, I tell ya! I’ve been waiting for more than two months. Everyone is getting paired off but old Gwen.”
“You’re an LK Bride too?” Amy looked the woman up and down. She was a knockout. She had a to-die-for figure and she was tall without being too tall. Amy always felt like she was all arms and legs but this woman wore her height well. She looked like the pin-ups from the World War II era. Amy couldn’t think of a single man who would turn this bombshell down. Nor could she imagine this woman signing up with LK Brides.
“I want to be a bride,” the woman said. She put out her hand. “I’m Gwen Johnson. Obviously, I work the front desk here. I can help you get a room. I think I’ve whined enough for the night. I’m sorry.”
Amy shook her hand. “It’s fine. I’m Amy. I know how frustrating dating can be. I’m still not sure about this whole LK Bride thing. How did you know I was with Olivia? I haven’t even told Frank. You’re one smart cookie.”
Gwen laughed. “Are you kidding me? Honey, I want to hear this story.”
Amy realized her mistake. Gwen had no idea that she was hiding being Frank’s match. She’d just made an educated guess. It was too late now. She had a good feeling about Gwen. She’d never met a fellow redhead she didn’t like. Amy gave her the quick version of how her sister had signed her up. “I had to meet him. Curiosity got the best of me.”
“Frank’s a great guy. If you got matched, I think you’re going to be fine. They’ve got a one hundred percent success rate in town.”
“Really? That’s comforting, at least.” Amy leaned on the counter. “Frank seems really nice. Too good to be true, really. I’ve met a lot of nice men who turned out to be less than nice in the end.”
Gwen scowled. “I know how that goes. Frank’s not like that.”
“Have you ever dated him?”
Gwen laughed loudly and pounded her hand on the counter. “Heavens, no! We’ve been friends since we were cubs. He’s a great man, but he’s not my type.”
“Why is that?” Amy pried. It couldn’t be bad to get a little backstory on Frank from an outside source.
“No, you misunderstand. I’m more a rough-and-tumble girl. I need a little…fire in the bedroom. Frank’s a gentle giant. Not exactly a match.”
Amy nodded. That was a little bit more than she wanted to know but an interesting aside. Gentle giant? She hoped that wasn’t code for boring in the sack. “I see. Thanks for the insight.”
“No problem. I hope it works out for you two.”
“Could you maybe keep my Bride status just between us? I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet.”
Gwen mimed zipping her lips. “You can count on me to keep your secret. But don’t make me wait too long!”
“I’ll do my best.”
Gwen set Amy up in a room on the second floor of the hotel. The rooms had obviously been remodeled since the hotel was first built. It was cute and very clean.
Amy flopped back on the bed. So far, so good. She was starting to feel hopeful about the whole mail-ord
er bride thing. Maybe she had found her match.
***
Frank got to work once he dropped Amy off. It was only a week until his interview with Allison. He needed to get his menu set and go over what he was going to say when he was cooking. It wasn’t too late, so he pulled out his phone before he started baking.
It rang twice before Olivia picked up. “Hello?”
“Olivia, it’s Frank Franklin out in Sunset Falls.”
“Hi, Frank. I’m sorry to say I don’t have an update to give you.” Olivia still sounded chipper. “I’m not quitting on this woman yet. I feel very strongly about this match. I think she’ll come around.”
“That’s why I was calling, actually. I don’t need to get matched anymore. If the woman is this unsure, she doesn’t want to meet me. It’s fine. You know LK Brides has to strike out sometimes.”
“Are you sure? I have no problem starting over, but I’ll repeat, I feel very good about this match. Don’t give up on me now, Frank. I think she’s starting to come around.”
“No, I don’t want to start over. I don’t want to get matched at all anymore. I think maybe I need to cool it for a bit. Play the field a while longer.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Olivia’s voice was cold and formal when she spoke again. “If that’s how you feel, Mr. Franklin. Best of luck to you.”
She hung up without even saying goodbye. Frank felt terrible, but he didn’t want to explain to Olivia why he had to ditch the service. He didn’t want to jinx anything with Amy by telling Olivia he’d found his mate. He still had to woo the woman. He hadn’t expressly told her he was a shifter yet, and for all he knew, she would run for the hills screaming when she heard he was a bear-shifter.
He hoped not. If she ran, he was going to spend the rest of his life alone. There was no doubt in his mind that she was his mate. His bear wouldn’t be able to settle for second best now that he’d met her. It happened now and then. Some shifters ended up missing out on their match and being alone for life. At least he’d still have his shop and his friends to keep him busy.
He tried to push that possibility out of his mind as he set up all the ingredients he would need. He had to stay positive and not put those negative thoughts out into the universe. His mom had told him that if you thought in a positive way, positive things would come your way. With that in mind, Frank spent the rest of the night thinking about all the things he would do to Amy when he got her alone and how much she would love it. He was going to send the best thoughts into the universe and hope they came back to him soon. It couldn’t hurt to try.
Five
“So what’s he like?” Karen asked again, exasperated. Amy could picture her sister pulling at her auburn hair, annoyed.
“He’s nice.” Amy tried to think of a better descriptor but they all seemed to fall short. There was no better way to describe Frank’s personality. He was just the sweetest, nicest man she’d ever met.
“Is he boring? Come on, Amy. You can tell me if he’s boring. I would understand.”
“No! Being nice doesn’t make a man boring.”
Karen snorted. “Could have fooled me. You’ve never described a guy as nice and meant it as a compliment.”
“I know, but Frank’s not that kind of nice. He’s actually really a nice person but he’s so interesting. He has all these things going on in his life. A big group of friends and he’s close to his family. He’s so much more than just nice.”
Karen always knew what Amy was thinking. What if he was boring? No man could be that nice, successful, kind, and drop-dead gorgeous without having some flaws. Amy had spent the evening trying to trick Gwen into revealing some of Frank’s character flaws.
He had pushed their “date” back until after closing. His shop had gotten swamped and there was no time for them to talk. No problem for Amy. She’d taken some coffee to the hotel hostess and talked for a very long hour. She only took three things from the conversation. First, Frank was really as great as he seemed, according to Gwen. Second, she and Gwen had very similar dating histories. Gwen had never been married but she’d still had her fair share of heartbreak. Third, if she did happen to move to Sunset Falls to be with Frank, she’d have a great friend in Gwen.
“Does that mean you like him?” Karen asked hopefully.
“I don’t know,” Amy answered truthfully. She told Karen all the intel she’d gathered from speaking with Gwen. “So, you can see my problem.”
“He’s sounds great,” Karen said dreamily. “That means we must be missing something, right?”
“Exactly! Karen, no one is this great.”
“Tom is.”
Amy rolled her eyes. Tom was a nice guy but he was far from perfect. He could never make any plans and he was terrible at confrontations. Once when they were all at a bar, a man had spilled a drink on Karen. Amy’s first husband, Richard, had been ready to knock the guy out when he wouldn’t apologize to Karen. Tom got Karen napkins to mop herself up and suggested they go to another bar. That might have been the “mature” way to handle the situation, but it drove Amy nuts. She didn’t want a guy to fight all the time for no reason but in this occasion some fire was called for. It made Amy feel safer knowing the man she was with could protect her in any situation that arose.
“Right. Tom’s great.” She didn’t need to get an argument about Tom at the moment. “I need more time to get to know this guy. Listen, I have to go. I need to finish editing this chapter before I leave.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“I love you too.”
Amy hung up her phone and then got to work. She only had a few pages left to edit before she could start getting ready. She’d had some free time after leaving Frank’s in the afternoon and talking with Karen. She had gone shopping to procrastinate a little more before getting to work. There was a great boutique in town that had sexy clothes. Amy was surprised to find her size and had quickly scooped up a new shirt before coming back to the hotel to work. Gwen had recommended the boutique and she hadn’t been wrong. Amy would be returning to the shop to buy more when she had time.
Amy kept a close eye on the clock as she worked. It had been a very long day for Amy and she was ready to see Frank again. It was nice getting to see him at work. Even when it was a madhouse of screaming children with a line literally out the door, he was calm and cool. He took time to speak with each customer while still hustling them along. Amy was impressed.
She started getting ready as soon as she’d finished the last page of edits. The biography was even better than she had expected. Her editor was going to love her when she read it. Amy was very proud of her work on the biography of a minor duchess in England during the Restoration. She’d been working on it for three years and was on her final edits. She known it was going to be a great piece, but reading it again she was moved by her own work. That didn’t happen often.
Amy hummed as she took down her hair and fluffed it out. She’d borrowed some hairspray from Gwen and had put her hair up on rags to coax it into a curl. Gwen had assured her that there would be no charge for the towels she had to cut up to get the “curlers.” Her hair now framed her face in full waves and was still soft to the touch. Amy took her time doing her makeup so it looked natural but still glamorous. It was her favorite makeup look but it took time to do. She didn’t wear it often but when she did, she always got compliments.
The process of getting ready for her mystery night with Frank helped calm her nerves. She was starting to like him. More than like him if the butterflies in her stomach were any indication. She didn’t want to like him yet, but she couldn’t help herself. He was doing all the right things and she was starting to fall for him. Really fall for him. She reminded herself that there was no rush. She was only in town for one more night, but she could come back after Thanksgiving. She didn’t need to fall in love with the guy on day one.
Not that it would be unusual for her. Amy sighed. She’d been through this so many times already. E
ach time she’d thought the guy was different and she gave him her heart too fast, only to be disappointed. She’d been so good for the last few years. Now she was falling back into her same patterns. She had to keep her guard up just a little longer. If Frank was a good guy, he’d take it slow and wait until she was ready.
Amy gave herself one last check in the mirror before leaving for the shop. She looked tastefully sexy. She admired her body from the side. Even with her little tummy pooch, she still looked great in clothes. Maybe she didn’t need to go on that diet after all. The new shirt showcased her great chest even better than her favorite sweater. Her makeup was on point and her hair was perfect. She was as prepared as she could get.
***
Frank set up the last of the small plates on the counter in back. The day was not going as planned. He didn’t think he was going to get many customers since he had already sold out of pies for the season. The weekend before Thanksgiving had never been this busy. People were coming out of the woodwork to try his new treats and to grab a coffee. Normally, he welcomed the business but he had plans today. His shoot with Allison was in a few days and he wanted to get Amy’s opinion on the menu. It was the perfect way to spend time with his mate.
Having to postpone the date only made Frank more nervous. Last night, he had been bold and brazen. He’d even kissed her before he left! Today was a whole different story. He knew Amy was his mate. There was no doubt of it anymore. His bear had told him everything he needed to know when they kissed. Now, he was afraid of ruining their relationship. Not jinxing it, flat-out ruining it. He was afraid of coming on too strong now that he knew Amy was his mate.
After he’d closed the shop for the night, he had rushed through cleaning. He had all the tasting plates set up in his kitchen along with a little bistro table. He ate his breakfast there when he came to the shop early to go over his finances. He’d added a vase of flowers and a tablecloth so it looked nicer for Amy. It looked very romantic, and Frank was proud of the little touch. He hoped she would like it.
