The Weeping Willow Tavern was half the reason that Jacob had signed up for the mail-order bride service, MeetYourMate, in the first place. One-night stands weren’t his speed and—as Alpha of Red Moon—he practically had to pry some of these women off of him.
Didn’t matter now. Because any minute, Holly would come walking in and he’d glue his hand to the small of her back and parade her around proudly. Look at this. Look at mine. This is mine and I am hers.
He grabbed a Black Horn beer and snagged a coveted red-cushioned booth. Legs splayed comfortably, he whipped out his phone and began scanning through his texts to Holly (still programmed into his phone by her MeetYourMate username, Apples4Days). Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a woman sit down across from him and he perked up hopefully—
Oh. Not Holly. Instead, Miranda the horse trainer shared his booth, her fingers wrapped around a martini as she showed off her teeth in a smile. “Hey there, stranger,” she purred. “You come here often?”
“Only when I have to,” Jacob said and crooked his mouth into a polite smile. “Holly wanted to go out.”
“Mm.” Miranda stroked the stem of her martini glass absently. “I met her. She seems sweet.”
“She is.” Jacob’s eyes strayed to the door, willing Holly to appear.
Miranda, meanwhile, propped her chin in her hand. “Have you been avoiding me, Jacob?”
His eyebrows stitched together. “You know those horses don’t like me.”
“They don’t like your Beast. There’s a difference.” Her eyes scanned over him and she dropped her voice. “I noticed your girl doesn’t have her Mark yet.”
Jacob stiffened. That was not something he wanted to talk about, especially with Miranda. “Yeah, well. We’re working on it.”
Miranda rolled her shoulders back in a shrug. “Have you thought about my offer?” Her sharp eyes met his. “Mark me and I’ll help you contain your Beast. You know I’m good at training animals.”
With the loud country music clattering around them, her murmured voice should have been drowned out. However, the bear-man and the cougar-woman could murmur here in private, letting their supernatural hearing do the work.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” he grunted. “I’m not letting you turn me into a puppet.”
“That’s not what this is,” she explained, vibrant eyes shimmering. “I’m offering to help you train your Beast. Tame it. It wouldn’t be so hard to control if you just—”
“If I just what?” There was a growl in Jacob’s voice, his temper sparking.
“If you stop trying so hard,” she said.
“What can I say?” he said. “I’m a control freak.”
“And how’s that been working out for you?” She took a sip from her glass.
“You want me to let my bear run free,” he said dubiously.
“Under my guidance.”
“What do you get out of it?”
She shrugged. “Having a bear at my beck and call has its perks.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Then Jacob saw her—Holly, in the entranceway, looking lost. He got up quickly and said, “The answer is still no. Holly is my mate.”
“Think about it,” he heard Miranda urge, but she was already out of sight, out of mind.
Chapter 27
When Holly entered the Weeping Willow Tavern, she felt a strange mixture of overwhelmed and incredibly charmed. No, this wasn’t one of the chichi, everything-is-gluten-free bars she was used to in Sacramento. Rather, this bar had grit: girls in cowboy boots, men with large belt buckles, and sappy love songs blaring over the speakers. She couldn’t keep herself from grinning. It was folksy and she remembered for a moment why she had found this place so endearing to begin with.
“Hey, pretty lady.” His voice ghosted in her ear—she’d know that voice anywhere, and those arms, which wrapped tightly around her middle.
Holly chuckled and leaned back against him. “Hey, yourself.” She twisted around in his tight grip and closed her mouth over his in a small kiss. His hand cupped her face as he lingered there and he murmured when he sealed it off, “I missed you.”
He felt tense, like he was spun up, and even his hand on her face trembled. The Beast. It was acting up. Holly knit her eyebrows and asked, “Are you okay? We can go somewhere else—”
“No,” he said firmly, and then offered her a smile. “I’m fine. Trust me.” She wasn’t sure he was fine, but then he pressed a small kiss to her mouth before she could ask follow-up questions. When he broke off, he added, “Much better now that you’re here.”