He finally took my hand and, when we touched, a jolt of electricity buzzed between us. His eyes met mine, and I sucked in a breath. “I’m Lux. It’s very nice to meet you, Rain. Were you about to have dinner?”
I nodded. “Yes. Will you join me this time?”
Instead of answering, he slid into the seat until he was right across from me. “What are you having?” I asked right as Layla appeared asking the same question.
“I’ll take the meat loaf plate with extra mashed potatoes.”
I didn’t want anything that heavy, but the combo did sound amazing. I looked over the menu quickly as Layla brought me a new one. “I’ll have the baked chicken with vegetables, please.”
With a nod, Layla left us alone, but this time was different. It was like I had all this man’s attention. “What brings you to town?” he asked.
“Oh. I bought a house a few miles from here. It was once a farm, but it wasn’t anymore. I had only been living there a few days when I went outside to…” I told him the rest of the sob story. He listened with intent. No nodding or sighing, no trying to get me to speak faster. Some alphas did that. I hated it.
“That really sucks. The insurance is going to cover everything, though, right?”
I nodded as our meals were delivered. Lux’s plate boasted a huge brick of meat loaf covered with gravy and enough mashed potatoes to fill the tub in my bathroom at the Mates Motel. “Yes. I loved the house I bought, but I bought a good enough policy that they are going to build me a new house. I get to choose everything and make it my own. I was going to remodel anyway, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”
Lux waited until I’d had a bite before he started eating, and I immediately noticed the graceful way he cut out a perfect bite and then topped it with a gentle dollop of mashed potatoes. It was like watching an artist create a painting. If he was this careful eating, I wondered how methodical and purposeful he was at other activities. “Sometimes the worst disasters in life can bring good things. I’m glad you had insurance.”
“Me too.”
We ended up talking through the night and sharing a slice of cherry pie almost the size of my head. I didn’t know how Lux could eat so much and stay so slim, but then I remembered his job. He must’ve burned through tons of calories running and delivering packages.
“I’m about to close, you two.” Layla plopped the bill on the table between us. “Go flirt somewhere else.”
Lux paid for us both, even after I protested, and walked me out of the diner. As soon as I saw my car, I groaned. “Oh, no. My tire!” The rim was almost touching the ground. It hadn’t been flat on the drive here, so maybe I ran over a nail or something. “Damn it.”
I went back inside, Lux on my heels, and asked Layla and Gary if there was a repair shop open this late.
Gary came out and looked at the tire. “Huh. This looks like someone let the air out. I don’t see any cuts or holes. Interesting.”
“How so? You think someone purposefully let the air out of my tires?” I asked, thinking maybe this town wasn’t as sweet as it seemed.
Gary scratched at the back of his head. “Well, who knows. This is the matchmaking town. My son Cooper owns a tire shop, Wheelies, a ways down the road, but he’s up visiting his uncle, my brother, for the week.”
“What am I supposed to do now?” I threw my hands in the air, almost dropping my backpack in the process.
“I can bring you home,” Lux offered. “Or not home, back to the motel.”
A streak of anxiety shot through me. “The motel? How did you know I was staying at the motel?”
Gary chuckled and went back inside, mumbling something else about mates. Was he talking about the motel I was staying at? What did he mean by matchmaking town?
“It’s a small town. People don’t whisper gossip here, they yell it,” Lux put in.
“Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Yes, please. I would really appreciate it. I’m not putting you out, am I?”
Lux smiled, revealing a dimple in his chin. “No, Rain. You’re not putting me out at all. It’s my pleasure. Really. Come on, let’s get you home.”
Chapter Eight
Lux
I was not happy that Rain’s tire had been flattened, but I couldn’t be sorry to have him in my car. My fox was thrilled and maybe a little too excited to be so close to our mate. His scent, strong enough at least to me to overwhelm all the smells of frying food and everything else that hung in the air in the diner, was the most ambrosial fragrance I’d ever experienced. My dad told me about when he met his fated, the human who rejected him, and his senses were overwhelmed. As if he’d never smelled anything remotely good before.
At the time, I didn’t understand. He and my father had a good relationship. They laughed together a lot, cuddled on the sofa watching those wildlife programs on TV that they loved so much. Their relationship was better than many mates in the skulk, and when Dad explained about his past, I couldn’t believe that the human would have been a better mate.
And now that my own fated had entered the picture, I had a glimmer of understanding. First, his being a human didn’t matter to me—if only my being a fox shifter didn’t matter to him. But I’d sown my share of wild oats over the years and would have said I’d had strong attractions to many of the males who had landed in my bed. All shifters.
