Loved by a Dragon (Mate Me Book 1)

19

Roxie bounced one knee in Xander's sports car. She was nervous, officially meeting his family as his future mate. He put his hand on her knee.

"They will love you because I love you," Xander assured her, and she nodded. He didn't know that Mitch's family had pretended to like her to her face, but said nasty things behind her back. One of their biggest jabs at her had been her weight. She knew she wasn't thin. She shopped in the plus-sized section of the stores. It didn't mean she didn't think she was beautiful. She knew she was, and to Xander, she was all that mattered.

"Trust me, I can smell your nervousness." Xander stroked her leg, the contact calming her down.

"I'm trying very hard not to let my past color my opinions."

"I understand, your past made you who you are today. Just remember we aren't high society. My family loves living in our close-knit community of White Valley."

"I like White Valley. You have such cute shops. I never would have thought we had something so nice a town away." Roxie smiled up at him, and he grinned.

"I'm happy to hear that, I've been hoping once we mate, you'd move in with me. I don't need an answer right away. I have something at the house to show you after dinner. No, I won't tell you, you will just have to wait and see," Xander teased. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"Please?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Nope." Xander parked his car in front of a home twice the size of his.

"And I thought your house was big," Roxie mumbled, taking his hand, walking up the stone pathway to the door. She hoped the gift she brought would be well received by his parents.

"Don't let it intimidate you, my mother loves to throw parties and insisted on an enormous home to do so." Xander kissed her temple and rang the doorbell. Within a minute, a woman with the same hazel eyes and sandy hair answered the door. Hers was up in a twist with an intricate clip holding it in place. She wore a flowy maxi dress with flat sandals. She still stood taller than Roxie's five foot seven.

"Xander and you must be Roxie, you are so beautiful! Let me get a good look at you." His mother pulled her away from Xander, taking both her hands.

"It is nice to meet you, Mrs. Austin," Roxie greeted her soon to be mother-in-law.

"To my eldest's mate, I am Mom or Koraline. Come sit, Xander's father is out back with his smoker working on dinner. Xander go get your dad and tell him to come meet his newest daughter-in-law," Koraline ordered, taking Roxie into the adjoining room. Roxie looked over as Xander laughed quietly.

"Yes, Mother." He went into the kitchen and disappeared.

"Tell me, Roxie, are you the one Xander found at Josie's Mate Me event?" Koraline handed her a glass of wine and sat on a delicate settee across from Roxie.

"I was there with my roommate Evelyn. I almost didn't go because I wasn't in the market for a new husband," Roxie began.

"Aren't we all when we fall in love? It was the last thing on my mind when I met Rhett, but he just had to have me," Josie commented, Roxie recognized her from the party. She sat in the lap of a man with black hair and blue eyes. She assumed he was Rhett, Xander's brother.

"So how did Xander grab you?" Koraline leaned forward eagerly.

"Josie was bringing him over to introduce him to my roommate Evelyn. She works at an art museum in Green Falls. The rest is history. We hit it off really well, and he whisked me off to Rome for a week. I was hesitant to believe in mates, he spent the week showing me how a genuine man treats his mate," Roxie finished, just as Xander and his father came in.