Taming the Tiger (BBW/Shifter Mail Order Bride Romance) (Mail-Order Mates Book 4) Read Free Page B

“I don’t want to keep dating until I’m old and dried up. I want a family of my own. Not this same bullshit over and over. I tried with you and it didn’t work. I don’t need to revisit that mistake.”
    “Can you honestly tell me that you don’t feel the connection we have?” Dom took his hand off the door. “If you can look me in the eye and tell me honestly that you’ve listen to your tiger and it says nothing about me, leave now.”
    She turned and faced him. Her eyes were crystal-clear green. “You are not my mate.”
    Dom felt like he had been kicked in the chest. He nodded curtly. His mouth was as dry as sandpaper and he couldn’t speak. He hadn’t cried in more than a decade. Not since his grandpa had died. But he was sure if he opened his mouth now, he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions. He let Gwen open the door and leave his house.
    He leaned back against the door and slid to the ground. She had to be lying. There was no way she wasn’t his mate. He felt it. He knew it was true. His tiger couldn’t be that wrong. He knew that he had fucked up all those years ago, but he had really changed. He wasn’t young and stupid anymore. He wanted to get married and have cubs too. And he knew that he wanted all of that with Gwen.
    There was no way he was going to be able to do this all by himself. He thought about what he knew about women. Granted, his knowledge was slim, but he knew they talked with their friends about everything. He needed to get her friends on his side. Recently, she had been hanging out with Erin Brooks and Amy Franklin. He knew those two women liked him a lot. They were new in town and hadn’t known him when he and Gwen were dating. He had even spoken at Amy’s wedding. Getting their approval would be easy.
    His problem was going to be Rachel Drummond. The waitress was almost ten years older than Gwen and a spinster to boot. She and Gwen couldn’t be more opposite. Gwen was vivacious and had a big personality. Rachel was meek and quiet. As much as Gwen loved having a good time, Rachel loved staying home and having a quiet night. There were only two things they had in common as far as Dom could tell: both women were tall, and they both had outrageously curvy bodies. Rachel wasn’t his favorite person in Sunset Falls, but he wasn’t blind.
    She hid her body behind dowdy clothes but she was stacked. He didn’t know if that was the kind of thing women bonded over, but it was all that made sense. When he and Gwen had started having problems, it was Rachel she spent a lot of time talking to. They didn’t seem to be as close these days, but they were still friends. And nobody in town hated him with Gwen as much as Rachel. If he could get her seal of approval, he would be golden.
    Of course, a snowman had a better chance of making it through the desert than Dom had of getting Rachel to approve of him. Not impossible, but just damn tough. He looked at his watch. He could have breakfast at Two Wolves this morning. Rachel worked the morning shift most of the time. He was going to start his campaign to win her over this very morning.
    ***
    Gwen felt awful. She sat in her bed with the covers pulled over her head. It was getting close to her shift at the hotel, but she didn’t feel like getting up just yet. She and Dom hadn’t argued for years. Since their breakup, it had been clear sailing. They had avoided each other for a long while. Then, it was just small talk if they happen to run into each other. Now, seven years later, they were comfortable acquaintances. That was all ruined now.
    She had been mad when she first got home. He shouldn’t have brought up all that drama. If he had let her leave, none of this would have happened. But no, he had to push and push. She’d never heard him say before that she was his mate. That was new to her. Not that she’d never thought about it.
    She rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head too. The look on his face when she’d said they