Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete (12 page)

“Grant or I can go with you if you like,” Evan said, swiping a few strands of hair away from his face.

“Come on guys, you haven’t let me out of your sight since I moved here,” I shook my head. “I think I can handle this on my own.” I still couldn’t believe I’d quit my job and moved to Shifter Villages to live with Grant and Evan…and I really couldn’t believe I was getting married tomorrow.

I glanced around the bakery. Almost every table was filled with townspeople gobbling doughnuts, egg muffins, and slurping on coffees. Business was booming. “Besides, you need to be here to make more pastries and feed all these shifters!”

“Well, be careful. They still haven’t caught the person responsible for setting those fires,” Grant warned.

“I’ll be fine. I’m just going for a dress fitting right up the street.”

I gave the men a kiss, lingering a little bit too long on their full, soft lips. Who could blame me? I grabbed my pocketbook and set out from the bakery for the dry cleaners. They had a seamstress on site and we were doing the final fitting of my dress for the wedding.

The wedding—just thinking about it made my heart sing. Like my co-worker, Sherry, who’d recently married her lion shifter, Adrian, I’d decided that Kane’s Bar and Grill was the best venue. Grant and Evan wanted to invite everyone in town, and Kane’s was one of the few places in Shifter Villages big enough to hold that large a crowd.

As I entered the drycleaners, Tina, the seamstress, rushed over to greet me. “Are you all set for the big day?”

I nodded. “I’m so excited!” I tried not to gush and run on about my plans, but dammit, I couldn’t help it.

“So, what theme did you decide on…the tea or the picnic?”

I grinned. “Neither, haha. I had been tempted to have a teddy bear picnic, or a tea, or something very formal. I’d always imagined some fancy wedding at a museum with roses and glitz. But with Grant and Evan, it just didn’t feel right.”

Tina’s eyes glinted. “Tell me!”

I slipped out of my clothes and into the wedding dress. I let out a sigh of happiness as I glanced in the mirror. It was so pretty and simple; strapless and white with a crisscross waist and ruching. I couldn’t wait to see what Grant and Evan thought when they saw it.

“You look gorgeous!” Tina trilled.

“Thank you!” I twirled around in the dress. It felt wonderful.

“But what is your theme? Come on, I have to know,” Tina whined.

“Oh sure! I…was, uh, looking at the dress.”

Tina smiled, “Well?”

“Rustic country—we’re getting married country style with a good ‘ole fashioned hog roast and comfort food like mac and cheese and fresh fruits and veggies from the farmer’s market.” It was crazy that I wanted a country wedding, but I knew it was just the right thing for my men and me.

“Ooh, that sounds fabulous!” Tina gushed.

“The boys wanted to do something different for our wedding so we are having a huge red velvet cake along with lots of wedding pies; strawberry, raspberry, apple…mmm.” I licked my lips, thinking about it.

“Yum!” Tina smacked her lips together. “Anything the ‘Crazy Cakes Bakery’ makes is great! Red velvet cake is my favorite.”

“Plus, there will be a cookie table where guests can choose a cookie assortment and take a box of them home for a treat.”

“Double yum!” Tina tucked a few pins into the fold of the dress. “That’s it then. I’ll have this ready for you in the morning. Just think—you’ll be Mrs. Myles by tomorrow night!”

“I know—I can’t wait. Thanks Tina!” I gave her a hug.

As I walked away from the drycleaners I felt like I was floating. I wrapped my arms around my chest, hugging myself. Mrs. Myles…Mrs. Grant Myles…Mrs. Evan Myles….Mrs. Grant and Evan Myles. There were so many combinations. I couldn’t help but giggle, and I covered my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

A low growly voice from behind stopped me in my tracks. “So, I hear you’re hitching up with the baker bums.”

I turned around. “Brad!” His face looked a little mottled and his hair was a mess. It looked like he’d spent some time with a liquor bottle—too much time.

“Come on, Judith…you know you were meant to be my mate. Why would you want a hillbilly life with some bakery bozos when you and I can travel the world and become the king and queen of this town?”

“Get a life, Brad.” I shook my head and started to walk away. This guy was a pig.

“Gimme one good reason those cupcake bakers are better than me.”

Oh, there were plenty of reasons, but I didn’t have time to waste. “I love them,” I said simply. “Now, I’ve spent more than enough time talking to you today. I need to get back to my men. Why don’t you go find that waitress…what’s her name…Marcie, Marcie Shore.”

“I don’t want her…I want you,” Brad tripped over his words.

“Well, I don’t want you, and you’ll be lucky if she still does.”

“Fucking bears,” Brad hissed, lunging towards me.

I moved away and he fell with a loud thud flat on his face on the ground.

“Ouch,” I said. He sure was going to have some bruises on that handsome face of his now.

“Mr. Big Guy, huh?” I stepped over him. “Don’t ever accost me again, or I’ll have Grant, Evan and Sheriff Matthews on your ass.”

I walked briskly back to the bakery. I wasn’t even that shaken up. Brad was such a friggin’ loser.

I pushed the door open to the bakery. I couldn’t wait to see my bears. As I walked in Adrian was on his way out, a large bag of Crazy Cakes Bakery goodies in one hand and a small leather bag in the other.

“Adrian!” I gave him a hug. “It’s so awesome to see you!”

Adrian grinned. “I hope you like the new look. They were so busy I had to come here to do it.” He pointed to the small black bag in one of his hands.

“The new look?” I cocked my brow.

“It’s for the wedding and beyond. I think they like it!” He tilted his head towards the counter.

I glanced behind the glass counter and did a double take. There were my two bears, Evan and Grant, grinning from ear to ear. My jaw dropped as I looked them over. Their scraggly hair had been neatly trimmed and their beards shaved down to just a wee bit of very sexy scruff.

I rushed over to them, wrapping my arms around them. They looked amazing. But I didn’t really care if their hair was scruffy or not. I just couldn’t wait to see them.

“I love you, Judy,” Grant kissed me softly on the lips.

“You’re our forever love,” Evan took a quick nibble of my neck. He slid one hand around my waist and patted my ass with the other.

“I love you two so much!” I hugged them tighter, nestling into their embrace. I was so lucky to be the bears’ babe!

The End

I was sixteen when I ran away from home. My mom passed when I was six, and I was raised by my dad...sort of. He’d treat me like a princess some days, get drunk and smack the shit out of me others. As I got older, his drinking got worse, and the good days were few and far between. Finally, I couldn’t stand the abuse anymore. I had no money, no car, and no place to go. I trekked to the highway and stuck out my thumb. All I had was a book bag filled with clothes, some money I’d saved babysitting, and a worn paperback romance novel that I’d read over and over again. A shifter stopped and picked me up. I mean, he didn’t say he was a shifter, but from his size I figured he was. At first I was afraid to get in the car with him, but I couldn’t face going back home. So, I took a chance. When he asked me where I wanted to go, I told him I would go anywhere he was going. That’s how I ended up in Shifter Villages five years ago.

I knew I’d made the right decision to get away from home, but life was hard in Shifter Villages too. I worked long hours at my job and money was tight. Though I didn’t graduate high school, it was easy to get a job working at the Dixie Diner in Shifter Villages. Women were a novelty in town and they were quick to hire me, thinking I’d attract business…and I did. At first the attention was flattering, but I made the mistake of falling for all the lines the guys fed me and sleeping with many of them. I had a reputation, and it wasn’t a good one.

It would be hard to move from the town with little money and no job or place to go to, but if I had a car, I could at least get away on the days I had off. Though the small apartment I rented near the center of town was tiny—just a one bedroom with a kitchenette, it ate up almost all of my earnings. I worked every extra shift I could get at the diner. Every month, after paying for rent and food, I saved anything left so I could buy a car. So far I had just over a thousand dollars saved—one thousand, one hundred eighty four dollars, to be exact.

I didn’t really have any friends in SV except for Elvis, the cat I found when I moved here and took in. But that was all going to change. It might take me another year, but I would save the money to buy a cheap car so I could visit other places; maybe even move one day. I wanted to do better for myself than spend my life alone, working at a job that had no future. I wanted that happily ever after like the heroine in my romance novel had. My name is Marcie Shore and this is my story…my confession…

~ * ~

My finger wavered as it hovered over the ‘submit’ button on the website. Should I or shouldn’t I? On the one hand, I really wanted and ached for love. On the other, I knew that once my profile was on the ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies’ site it would be the gossip of Shifter Villages. I could just imagine the chatter. Word got around quickly in SV and as one of the few women in the town I knew first-hand how cruel the talk could be.

I was known as ‘Hardcore Shore,’ a play on my last name. I was the good time girl, you could fuck me and leave me and there was no baggage. There was no emotional attachment—I was just an easy lay. But that’s not who I really was. I cared…I cared a lot. But somehow after I’d landed here, I’d ending up looking for comfort in all the wrong places. Over the years, I’d had one meaningless one-night stand after another, and I knew my reputation around town was mud. I thought I’d finally found love with Brad Stanford, but he’d only jerked me around.

I wanted love so badly, but as I visualized a dozen faces mocking my desire to find a forever mate on the ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies’ site, my hand trembled. I could just imagine the jeers of the men as they ate their scrambled eggs and coffee at the diner. I knew that I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t press that button. The image of the customers in the coffee shop laughing at me…I’d be the butt of every joke. I’d just have to wait till I got a car and could get out of town to meet someone and get a fresh start. It would be hard to wait. I wanted someone to hold me so badly. I had an ache in my heart that wouldn’t quit. But I don’t know what I had been thinking. There was no way I could put my profile on the site.

Taking a deep breath, I got up from my chair to get another glass of cheap wine. Deep down, I knew I was wasting my time when I visited the site. I knew I’d never submit my profile, even as I was writing it. I wanted to pretend I was like any other girl who was looking for love—not one with my reputation.

Even though I knew I’d never submit it, I had spent a lot of time writing my bio and deciding between the few pictures I had, so maybe I would save the information. Maybe I would use it on another dating site where no one knew me…not the Shifter Village’s ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies Marriage Mates’ site.

As I walked into the kitchen, Elvis rubbed up against my leg. “Hey kitty, are you looking for a drink and a treat?” I reached down and picked up his dishes. He was such a sweet cat and so loving. I only wished men could be like him. I filled one dish with water and topped off his food with some dry cat nibbles. Elvis sniffed the dried food and turned away, walking back into the bedroom.

“Being fussy again, are you?” I shook my head. Elvis was the ultimate in finicky. I poured myself the glass of wine and went back into the bedroom. Elvis was sitting in his usual position on top of my keyboard on the desk.

“Scoot, Elvis,” I said, setting down my glass. I picked him up and plopped him on a bare section of my desk. “I need to make a copy of my profile.” Of course, while I was copying it, I would take a look at the men on the site one more time. I knew most of them and I’d slept with several. It made me sad that they were looking for love, just not with me.

“What?!” My eyes widened in shock as I pulled up the home page for the website. There was a big ‘Thank You for Your Profile Submission’ banner that popped up on the screen.  What the hell? I had never clicked the submit button!

I quickly flicked to the section of the site with the female profiles. Profiles were listed in alphabetical order, but new profiles were displayed at the top for a week.

I let out a gasp. There was my picture, right smack at the top of the page.

Elvis started purring loudly, and then it hit me. When he’d settled himself on the keyboard, he’d walked across the keys and he must have pressed on one that submitted my profile!

“Oh my God, Elvis…look what you did!” 

Shit! I needed to get that off of there—and fast. My fingers fumbled as I flicked around the page looking for the delete button.

But as I searched, I did not see any way to remove it. Finally, I found the FAQ’s on the site. I was shocked to read that I would have to email the site administrator, who was also the creator of ‘Luscious Lads and Ladies,’ a bull shifter named Vic Harris. The FAQ’s stated that several people had deleted their profiles too quickly after dating someone they met on the site. They thought they’d met the right one and removed their profiles, only to find the person wasn’t ‘the one’ after all. Then they wanted their profile to be placed back on the site again, but complained about the time it took to rewrite and upload a photo.

In order to prevent that from happening, Vic wanted everyone to write him personally and let him know they wanted to be removed. This way he could delete their page, but save it within the system so if they changed their minds it could easily be recovered. He asked for three business days to delete a profile. Today was Friday!

“Damn! This might not be off till Wednesday!” I glowered at Elvis, but he was busy yawning, oblivious to the havoc he’d created.

With shaking hands, I wrote Vic an email and explained that I had changed my mind and I did not want to be on the site. I asked him to remove me as soon as possible. I don’t know what I had been thinking to even make a profile to begin with—too much cheap wine and an aching heart. If word got out I was on there, I would be the talk of the town. I could only hope that he removed it before anyone saw it—but as popular as the site had been lately, there was fat chance of that happening!