Pursuing the Panther: BBW Shifter Mail Order Bride Romance (Mail-Order Mates Book 7) (2 page)

“I’ve got a match,” Ben told Frank as soon as he opened the door.

“Hey, man.” Frank laughed and pulled Ben into a hug. “I heard. Clint says you won’t shut up about it.”

“I can’t believe it.” Ben’s eyes hurt and he wasn’t sure he was even blinking anymore. He felt like he’d been walking around all day with his eyes comically wide open. “My mom’s been getting on my case about this exclusive match agency. It’s been annoying as hell, and then boom, Liv emails me about a match.”

“Hey, Ben.” Frank’s wife Amy hugged Ben gingerly over her very large baby bump. “Congratulations! I hear you’re bringing another one of us to town.”

“It’s a little creepy when you say it like that.” Ben laughed. “You aren’t a cult.”

“No cult could bring in new members as fast as LK is doing,” Amy joked. “Tell me all about the girl before we talk carnival plans.”

“I guess it’s better to tell you before Clint gets here.” Ben took a seat at the table and Frank put a can of beer down in front of him. “I’m not exactly sure what to say about the girl. She isn’t giving me much.”

“What does she look like?”

“I don’t know. I think the picture she put up is old. Pretty. Even if she’s lost a lot of weight or shaved her head, she would still be a very beautiful woman.”

Amy shook her head. “Only in Sunset Falls would losing weight be an issue. I love this place.”

Ben shrugged. “I need a lady who can handle a shifter pregnancy. This is biological. And I’ve seen the women that LK Brides and Liv can find. If I got anything less, I would be damned angry. You can’t parade all these luscious, beautiful brides through town and then give me something else. That would be bait and switch. I’d sue.”

Frank and Amy laughed. It did seem like Liv was taking every curvy prospect from LK’s database. There was a type in Sunset Falls and even though each of the brides had a unique look, they were all curvy in some way. After seeing the first few brides come to town, Ben knew it was their looks that had made him sign right up with the agency. Shallow but true. He wouldn’t ever lie and say that looks didn’t matter to him.

“Why do you think the picture is old, though?” Frank asked. “Isn’t that against their rules?”

“It is. I can’t be sure. The lady, Zelda—she’s a little strange. She won’t give me much to work with.”

“That’s strange,” Amy said. “I wonder if she’s hiding something.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Ben said. “The system matched us up. There’s no reason to hide anything. I’m predisposed to like her exactly how she is.”

“How much have you guys spoken?” Frank asked.

“We’ve emailed back and forth. She’s coming to town this weekend.” Ben made himself blink. That was only three days away. He had a whole team of staff coming to clean up the ranch and make it look nice. It was already clean, but his mom had rattled him when he told her about Zelda coming. Ben didn’t want to have one misstep. He was having a lot of his bachelor stuff removed and replacing it with paintings or softer décor. He didn’t think many women would want to live in a house with animal heads on the walls and a pool table in the living room.

“That’s a good sign,” Amy told him. There was a knock at the front door and she got up to answer it this time.

When she was out of the room, Frank leaned in to ask a question. “How much does she know about your money situation?”

“Nothing,” Ben said. He had made sure to keep that out of his profile.

“What if she looked you up on the internet?”

Ben paled. “I didn’t consider that. You think she would?”

“I wouldn’t rule it out.” Frank sighed. “You have to be careful. A quick search and a little reading and she could have found out everything about you and your family. Your mom is always doing some charity event or other. There’s a lot of pictures out there, too.”

Ben frowned. He had been so excited to get a match he had forgotten how easy it was to find out everything about him on the internet. He didn’t like to expect the worst from people, but it had happened to him in the past. His family had made a considerable amount of money leasing their land to oil companies. He didn’t even keep track of exactly how wealthy he was anymore. Once his net worth had started getting into the hundreds of millions, counting it had stopped being fun. The money had started with his great-grandparents and had grown with each generation.

He’d started with a few million from his parents when he graduated college. It was through investing and business ventures that he’d grown his own personal fortune. There was a good chance that once his mother died and he inherited her vast fortune, he would be a billionaire. He was one of the richest shifters in the entire world but he kept a very low profile. They went to many charity events, but neither Ben nor his parents had attended any private schools or vacationed with the extremely wealthy.

Ben liked his life. There was a reason his great-grandpa had decided to keep his family in Sunset Falls when he struck oil on one of his rental properties. It was a great town to raise a family and be part of the community. There was a reason Sunset Falls had made the
American Shifters Weekly
list once before. Ben was proud of what he’d accomplished with his investing, but his status made it hard to make new friends and date. He was grateful for the friends he’d had since childhood. He wished he was like Clint or his friend Dom, who had both found mates in Sunset Falls. That wasn’t the case for him, though, and any woman he met was going to have to find out eventually about his wealth. He hoped that his LK match would be able to look past all the money and see him instead.

“Why so glum?” Clint asked as he came into the kitchen with Amy.

“I’m fine. But there have been a few developments with the Ladies’ Club.”

Ben caught his friends up on the latest over dinner. By the end of the night, he was still feeling anxious about his weekend meeting. There was no canceling now. He would have to meet the woman and hope for the best.

***

Zelda kept the AC in the car on full blast as she drove through the desert. It was hot as hell, but at least there wasn’t much humidity. She could get used to the climate. It was much like home, except much drier. She’d packed four different moisturizers for her skin. Her hair loved the climate but she didn’t want her face to feel like an old shoe by the time she left.

It had been a very crazy week. The night Tessa left, she had signed up with Lovely and Kind Brides. The next morning she already had a match. She’d called Tessa the minute her plane landed to let her know the good news. She couldn’t lie; she was excited to meet this guy. He looked pretty nice in his picture, but she would hold off judgment until she saw him in person. Anyone could take a nice picture. She had uploaded a few mediocre pictures of herself from a few years back. She hadn’t wanted him to only like her for her rocking bod and beautiful face.

Tessa claimed LK was able to pick higher caliber men than the kind Zelda normally dated. If that was true, the guy shouldn’t care how she looked. So far, it was going well. They’d emailed back and forth a few times before she told him she’d come to his little town. He sounded like a really nice guy, but he was a little vague about his job. It sounded like he did something in finance, but he wasn’t specific. That also made Zelda nervous. Maybe the guy had a less than legit job. She didn’t think LK would let something like that slip through, but it was possible.

He’d offered to fly her into his town on a small plane but she’d refused the offer. It wasn’t that far a drive from the airport, and she liked driving. It gave her a chance to relax and sing along with her favorite songs. It wasn’t too hard to find his town, either. She just plugged the directions into her GPS and let the little box tell her how to get there.

Sunset Falls looked like something from television. City girl Zelda was charmed by the little town as she made her way around to Ben’s ranch.

It looked like the kind of place where you could walk to your neighbor’s house for sugar without locking your doors. If she stayed, she’d also be much closer to Tessa, who was in Washington State. She wasn’t getting her hopes up yet but the place had potential.

She was a bit disappointed to see that Ben lived more than a few miles outside of town. The way he’d described it, it had sounded like a quick jog into town from his home. Clearly their ideas of an acceptable jogging distance differed greatly. Zelda had lived in the city her whole life. It was strange to think she might be living in the country one day soon. Sure, it was cacti and sand instead of corn and grass, but it was still vastly different from her home in the city.

She was in for a bigger shock when she got to Ben’s “ranch.” She had thought she would see a one-story home with a red rood and terracotta walls. Nope. It was a mansion. He lived in a freaking mansion.

Zelda sat staring on the driveway up to the estate. That’s what it was: his estate. She looked around but didn’t see any guest homes. That didn’t matter. He’d said he lived alone, but Zelda didn’t know anyone with a house and property this size. She’d passed a few ranches on her way up and their homes were modest.

It didn’t look there were any animals around, either. There was also a lot of grass and flowers. That was unusual for the desert. He had to have a lot of money to keep all that grass so green and all those flowers watered.

She was glad she had bought a new dress for the occasion. It was a retro-halter from her favorite shop in the Quarter. She took a few minutes to take the pin curls out of her hair and spray it place with lots of hairspray. Then she slicked on some bright red lipstick before getting out of the car and ringing the doorbell.

She held her purse in front of her demurely and tried to calm her jangling nerves. This wasn’t life and death, she reminded herself. Either she liked him or she didn’t. She would still be able to find a husband if Ben wasn’t the one for her.

There was movement inside and then the great black door was swinging open. The hottest, tallest, most muscular man she’d seen a long while opened the door. He was wearing a business suit and tie. Zelda wasn’t sure where to look. There was so much to take in.

He smiled at her and put out his hand. “Hi. You must be Zelda.”

“That would be me.” She looked him over head-to-toe and back up again before meeting his eyes and smiling.

Ben stared at her like a fool before realizing he hadn’t invited her in. He stepped out of the way. “Please come inside.”

Zelda looked around the foyer as Ben looked at her. She was even more beautiful in person. Her dress showed off just enough of her curves to leave him wanting more. He could see the curve of her waist and she had cleavage for days. The dress hit just above the knee but her mocha-colored calves were shapely. She had wide hips, but her dress didn’t let him get a good look at her ass. Ben was smitten. She even had a pretty voice with a lilting accent.

“Nice place.” She turned to him. “You didn’t say you lived in a mansion.”

“It’s not a mansion.” Ben led her to the back porch where he’d set up appetizers and drinks. He held out her chair at the table.

“This is a mansion. I saw the other ranch homes. Some looked like regular farmhouses and some were actual ranches. None of them looked like this.”

Ben shrugged. “Fine. It’s a mansion. I don’t know. It’s my house. Do you like it?”

She took a small bite of a bacon-wrapped jalapeño. “I guess. What did you say you did again?”

“I work in finance.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means I move money around to make money. It’s a little complicated. What do you do?”

“I’m a bartender,” she said proudly.

“What kind of bar?” Ben poured himself a sangria.

“It’s kind of a shifter and biker bar.” She laughed. “It’s a little complicated, I guess. It’s a bit of a dive bar, but I love the place. All my regulars are real sweet guys.”

“How was the drive up?”

“Easy. I can’t believe that people get lost. Just follow the GPS.” She tried one of the jalapeño bites.

“I haven’t made the drive myself in a long time. I’m glad it was easy for you. I get so bored driving through the desert. I’m always afraid I’ll fall asleep at the wheel.”

“That would suck a lot. So you usually take your private plane in?”

“It’s not my plane. It’s a company,” Ben corrected. “We’re really lucky to have Kai Waters in town. He’s a pilot and he does all of our ferrying. I don’t know what they did before he got to town.”

Zelda nodded. “I’ve never been in a private plane before, but I hate the little ones. It feels like I’m flying on a kite.”

Ben tried to pay attention as she talked, but she was playing with her food. Her slim fingers were circling the stem of her glass as she spoke. It was an absentminded movement but Ben was captivated. He wanted those pretty fingers to be sliding down his body. His panther was getting impatient. It had already decided that it had to have Zelda. Ben wasn’t arguing, but he had just met the woman. Even though she was his mail-order bride, he didn’t think she’d agree to the rough and quick mating his panther wanted.

He realized he’d missed a question while he was ogling her. “I’m sorry. What?”

“The town is really nice. Is this the first time you’ve made that top ten list?”

“No, but the first time in a really long time.” Ben told her how he and his friends had helped spearhead the campaign to get the town recognized. As he told the story, he was proud of what they had done. “There’s going to be a carnival type thing at the end of the month to celebrate.”

“Whoa. There aren’t many carnivals like that where I live.” She sighed. “This town is quaint, isn’t it?”

There was something strange about the way she said it. Ben didn’t like how it sounded. “It is. I’m not sure that’s how I would describe it. I would say picturesque.”

“If you like that kind of thing. Doesn’t it ever get boring?”

“Not really. I’ve never lived in a big city, though. It might take some getting used to if it’s not your kind of thing.”

“Would you ever think about moving to a city?”

“Not at all.” Ben didn’t even need to time to think about that one. He wasn’t a city guy. He liked his little town. “Are you saying that you don’t want to live in a small town?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it before. I figured I’d wait until I see it to make a judgment.”

“I think that’s best.”

Ben started telling her about all the great things to do around town. He knew it sounded like a sales pitch, but he wanted her to like his home town. Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect than he wanted. When she yawned twice, he switched tactics. He could show her Sunset Falls. She would understand better once she’d seen it for herself. Instead, he told her about his college days and his family.

She perked up once he started talking about the events he had to attend. There was a definite shift in her demeanor. Before, she had been leaning forward and hanging on his words. Once he had started talking about his family, she sat back and her arms were crossed. He could smell the change. Something was wrong. Whatever he was saying, it was making her anxious. He turned the topic to her family and that seemed to relax her some. She clearly loved her sister very much and was sad that they lived far apart now. Ben would have to meet this sister. She was an LK Bride herself, and that would help his case no matter how things went on Zelda’s first visit. If her sister was happy, there was a good chance she’d convince Zelda to give Sunset Falls and him a chance.

She sat up straight and looked him in the eye when she finished telling him about her sister. “I don’t think this is going to work.”

Ben was stunned. “What? You just got here. I think it’s a little too early to say any of that.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think this is going to work at all. But I have a proposition before I head back to the airport.”

Ben slumped in his seat. “Sure, let’s hear it. Of course I’m going to try to convince you to stay no matter what.”

“I think we should sleep together. I did come all this way, and you’re very good-looking. It would be a crime if I came all this way and we didn’t get to experience each other at least one time.”

Ben’s panther liked the sound of that. His human side wasn’t so thrilled. It was a tantalizing offer, but it wouldn’t work. How the hell had he annoyed her enough to make her want to leave in a ninety-minute talk? He wanted to sleep with her very badly, but he wanted her to stay even more. He had no idea what he should do.

***

Zelda was being brash, but when wasn’t she? She had come a very long way and it was a waste. The least he could do was show her a good time before she hit the road again, because she was definitely leaving. There was no way they were going to work. She had no idea why someone like him would even sign up with LK Brides. He was handsome, successful, and from the looks of it extremely wealthy. He was looking for a cookie-cutter wife for his cookie-cutter life.

She wasn’t even close to a vanilla girl. Yes, she wanted a family and a husband, but she still wanted to have fun. Having kids didn’t mean you couldn’t go to a bar and dance on tabletops every now and then. When she pictured her future husband, he was a hard-living blue-collar worker. Someone who would work hard to provide during the day, play with his kids in the evening, and then spend all night between the sheets pleasing his wife. She wanted a big, burly, manly man. That was what had appealed to her about shifters in the first place.

Shifter men were known to be the manliest of all men. She hadn’t expected to get a Richie Rich. Hearing where he was from, she’d thought maybe he would be a ranch hand or something. And it wasn’t like he had been wearing a tuxedo and a monocle in his pictures, either. He was a very nice guy, but he just wasn’t for her. That didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun before she went.

Ben looked at her for a long time before speaking again. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Zelda shrugged. “Okay, then. It’s been really nice meeting you.”

She stood up and started walking around the house to her rental car. She didn’t remember the way back through his house, but it was easy enough to walk around the outside. Her wedges sunk into the grass a little so she had to stop to take them off. While she was bent over, Ben caught up with her.

“Would you hold on a minute? Why are you so quick to leave? Have I offended you in some way?”

Zelda got the shoe off and straightened up. “Nope. You’ve been perfectly nice. You just don’t seem like my kind of guy. You’re just a little too…vanilla for my taste.”

Ben made a pained face. “Wow. I didn’t think that would be a problem. But if that’s how you feel, there’s little I can do about it. I’m not sure why you even came. You saw pictures of me.”

Zelda understood what he meant and flushed. She laughed. “Oh, no! I don’t mean
that
. I mean…well, you seem a little…”

Ben understood what she was trying to dance around. He laughed too. “I see. I think you should stay a little longer. You’re clearly attracted to me and I’m very attracted to you. I think once you get to know me a little better, you’ll change your mind.”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s better if I cut my losses and head back now. I can still make the weekend shift at my job.”

Ben stood in her way. “One kiss. I’m going to kiss you once. Then you’re going to go check in at the local hotel. You can’t miss it.”

“I saw it on my way in.” Zelda was intrigued. He was pretty full of himself if he thought he was that good a kisser. She’d done her fair share of kissing. There was a snowball’s chance in hell that he was going to get her to stay with a little kiss.

“You agree?”

“What happens after I check in at the hotel?”

“We’re going to go on a few dates and then you’ll decide if you want to stay or not.”

“Okay. Maybe. If you kiss me real good.”

Ben smirked. “That won’t be a problem.”

He grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her to him with one hand. He crushed her lips beneath his until she parted her lips. Then his tongue was inside her month, probing along her bottom teeth. As he kissed her, he pulled her closer with his free hand. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and Zelda moaned. She dropped her purse on the grass and kissed him back.

“Benjamin?” A voice made them both jump. Zelda backed away, confused.

Ben’s eyes were bright yellow, and when he spoke his voice was more panther than human. “Mother!”