Treasured by a Tiger (Mate Me Book 6)

2

Preston watched Liam Jefferson run around the backyard of the Clover Leaf Inn. Caroline stood off to the side, chatting quietly with Georgia. She was speaking soft enough even his shifter hearing couldn't pick it up. He suspected it was a skill she'd perfected with having a shifter as a son. Preston remembered the day he'd met Caroline clearly. She'd come to his office wanting help rejuvenating the inn she'd inherited. Her beauty stunned him. What scared him was her son, Liam. He didn't speak and just stood watching the men work. Preston hadn't thought he wanted children. He was happy being the owner of his company. He took women home and slept with them, but never dated. His parents were the poster parents for finding your mate. Preston's parents claimed to be mates, but he wondered about it. His mother was a tiger shifter and his father was human. They married and had Preston four years later. He was their only son. Watching his friends around him, whose parents were true mates, he saw they had multiple siblings. Anderson had two younger sisters, Peter and Troy had a younger sister, even Greyson, who moved after his time in the Marines, had a brother. When he'd asked, his mother said she had a hard time conceiving him.

When Caroline came into his life a year and a half ago, he'd watched and waited. His tiger kept pushing for him to take her. When he'd asked her out, she told him she wanted to focus on the inn and wasn't in the right headspace to date. He wondered what happened to Liam's father; it wasn't something you asked a woman. The rumors he'd heard from friends were the man died in combat and hadn't had the decency to tell her what type of shifter he was.

Now a year and a half later he stood in her guest house helping her paint and renovate the place. She'd asked him to send over some of his men and she'd pay them for their work. Preston couldn't stand the idea of any unmated men getting near Caroline. The crew he'd put together to do the renovations were all mated men or unmated women. He wouldn't allow anyone to take his mate from him. Dating Evelyn had been a mistake, one he knew from the moment he agreed to her scheme. It made Anderson realize what he'd given up and shown Preston what he was missing without Caroline at his side. He stopped asking her out, hoping she would let him know when she was ready. He didn't know how much longer he could go without touching her. Several times he'd shifted into his tiger and sat in the woods watching her home. Scott Howard worried Preston when he snuck into the inn. Caroline didn't have a security system. Something he fixed after Jordan and Georgia's wedding.

"Preston!" Liam's voice came from the front of the house.

"In the bathroom, Liam," he called back. He'd been working on tiling the bathroom shower.

"What are you doing?" Liam asked, standing in the doorway holding a digger vehicle toy.

"Putting new tile in your mom's bathroom," he explained. It had become a ritual for Liam to find him while he was working and ask a bunch of questions.

"But we are moving," Liam answered with a confused look on his face.

"You are?" Preston asked, turning to look at the little guy. He looked exactly like his mom, with blond hair and blue-gray eyes.

"Yes. Mama said we are going to live in a new house." Preston felt panic fill his chest. Preston set his trowel down, patted Liam on the head, and went to find Caroline. He couldn't let her move away. They were mates.

"Caroline!" he called, walking into the inn.

"Just a minute," she replied. He found her at the front, checking in an older couple.

"You'll want to check out Mia's Cafe while you are in town. Our national park has a lake where you can rent boats or kayaks to explore. We also have many trails for hiking."

"Thank you dear. We heard great things from our friends who came not too long ago." Caroline gave them a smile, handing them a key to their room. Preston watched her. She was a natural at running this place. He remembered June struggling with attracting people the last few years the place was open.