Free Confessions of a Mail Order Bride - Complete by Kate Kent Page B

from work to stay in Shifter Villages the night of the wedding and for a few days after. We made plans to meet at the Big Bull Inn, the hotel I was staying at, and drive to Adrian and Sherry’s wedding ceremony together. After the wedding we would have several days to get to know one another and see if we were a match. I was so excited.
    I dropped my bag in the trunk, got in the car, and gunned the engine. Though the drive to Shifter Villages was several hours long, time flew as I visualized Brad and the future we would have together. In no time at all I was near the area. I passed a number of large billboards right before I entered the town, including a large cupcake shaped one advertising the Crazy Cakes Bakery. It was weird. It looked like someone had spray painted ‘FU Firk’ or ‘FU Dirk’ or something like that on it. But I still recognized the photo of the two scruffy bear shifters plastered on top of the board immediately. There were other billboards too, including one for ‘C and K Realty’. I didn’t see one for Brad’s realty company, Stanford Home Realty. He probably got so much business from word of mouth he didn’t need to advertise.
    It was easy to find the Big Bull Inn, and as I parked the car I admired the beauty of the building. The stone inn was surrounded by lush foliage. If the inside was as charming as the outside, I was going to love it here. After parking the car, I opened the trunk to get my luggage when a deep voice from behind the building almost made me jump.
    “Bag?”
    I turned around to see one of the biggest men I’d ever seen. His face was scarred, but it was his eyes that really frightened me. They were a faded blue shade and almost lifeless. Behind him, a baldheaded man even taller and brawnier called out to me.
    “Are you Judith Banks?”
    “I…I am.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” the man held out his hand. “I’m Vic Harris, and this is my brother, Max.”
    “Oh, you’re the owner of the Big Bull.”
    “That’s right. My brother and I are co-owners,” he jerked a finger towards Max. “He doesn’t say much, but he’s a good guy.”
    “I understand.”
    “Max, take Judith’s luggage to her room.”
    Max grunted as he took the bag out of the trunk and walked off towards the hotel.
    Vic shook his head. “He’s been like that ever since mom was killed.”
    “Your mom was killed?”
    “Yeah, some wolf shifter hooligans were trying to rob her and Max came to her defense, mom was killed, and Max was scarred up like hell…”
    “I’m so sorry for your loss. That’s awful.”
    “Yeah, it’s been very hard. And this latest mess hasn’t helped.”
    “Latest mess?” I asked.
    “Someone set fire to the Crazy Cakes Bakery and burned it down a month or so ago. About two weeks ago, they tried to start a fire at Kane’s Bar and Grill. They’ve been vandalizing the billboards, robbing homes, and God knows what else. They tried to pin it on Max.”
    “Oh, that’s horrible.”
    “It sucks. But of course they didn’t have any proof. Deputy Bob found a lighter on him and booked him for no reason. Pretty lame I’d say.”
    “That does sound lame…”
    “I think he was just looking for an excuse to lock him up. People tend to think Max is guilty just because of the way he looks.”
    “Sorry to hear that,” I said. I had a good idea of how Max was feeling, but he needed to get over it. I’d been judged because of my size and the scars on my abdomen from when I was burned as a kid, but I owned it. As I got older, very few people made any comments. Most men seemed to appreciate my curves and a lot of women complimented me on my style. And the scars—granted they didn’t look great... When I was a kid, I was teased in the locker room while I changed clothes in gym class. But I refused to be self-conscious about the scars. No, I didn’t flaunt them. I avoided midriff tops and two piece swimsuits. But if a bit of scarred skin showed now and then at the pool or at