Dating Agency Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 6) (5 page)

She should have kept a closer
eye on Mr Ben Doe. She had thought, or rather, hoped that he was a
genuine client. As a professional matchmaker, she had to be able to
sieve out the genuine applicants from the pranksters and perverts.
But she had been so eager and desperate for new clients that she
wasn't being as observant and discerning as she should be.

Penelope went to the window
and looked out at the quiet street. She came to Shadow Point to
visit her brother quite frequently, but she hadn't noticed how much
the small town had changed and grown through the years. The
population had more than doubled, and there were many new shops and
businesses in town. But the character of the town hadn't changed
much. Shadow Point was still essentially a small, close-knit town
with a large paranormal population. There were shifters, vampires,
witches, fae folk, half demons and other hybrid paranormals. The
human residents got along well with their paranormal neighbors, and
the townspeople were open-minded and welcoming to newcomers.

Penelope stared at the
lettering on her office window and smiled. She had been thinking of
applying for a secretarial job in Shadow Point when Graham suggested
she set up her own matchmaking agency.

“Why not?” Graham
had argued. “You're good at it and it makes you happy. Why
not turn it into a business?”

Why not indeed?

She had enough savings, she
was highly organized and efficient, and she could be her own boss and
her own secretary. It was perfect.

Penelope knew what was needed
for a business to succeed. Research, hard work and some luck.

She had started with the
research. She had to find out if she would get enough clients in
this small town to sustain her business. Wasting no time at all,
Penelope had started collecting all the necessary data in her usual
methodical fashion. She doggedly did her surveys and research,
analyzing the demographics and demands of the town, and projecting
the population growth with detailed charts and graphs.

And she had come to the
conclusion that a matchmaking agency was a viable business venture in
Shadow Point.

She was on the right track.
She just had to get her business off the ground. And not get
distracted along the way.

With a determined nod,
Penelope turned away from the window and went back to her desk. She
checked her emails and shut down her computer.

It was time to head home.
She needed to recharge and rethink her business strategy. She should
put up more prominent advertisements, she decided.

When things picked up, she
would be able to depend on client referrals and word-of-mouth
recommendations, but at the moment, she didn't have a single
successful match to boast of.

Her success rate was a dismal
zero percent right now.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

As it turned out, business
did pick up rather quickly after Penelope launched her advertising
campaign. She took out advertisements in the newspapers and
distributed pamphlets around the neighborhood. She offered discounts
to new sign-ups and redesigned her website.

Business, she was proud to
note, was brisk and positively booming.

Penelope smiled as she
ushered her two new clients to the door. “I'll contact you as
soon as I've found you a match. It may take a few weeks, a few days,
or if you're lucky, just a few hours.”

The two lion shifters smiled
at her. “Remember, the female has to be perfect for the two of
us. She has to want and accept us both.”

Penelope nodded. “Yes.
The perfect mate to complete your triad,” she told the two
alpha lions.

“I hope you can find
our mate soon,” the younger lion said eagerly. “Damien
said you're a great matchmaker.”

“I'll do my best,”
Penelope promised.

After her clients left,
Penelope returned to her desk and busied herself with paperwork. She
sniffed and narrowed her eyes as she remembered what her client had
just said. It was Damien again. His name had been popping up too
many times for her to ignore.

Her client base had ballooned
in the past few weeks. There were many new walk-in clients and many
referrals. When she asked who had recommended her agency, many of
them said, “Damien Ken.”

Damien had a lot of friends,
and a lot of them were female. He referred his neighbors,
colleagues, acquaintances, friends, and friends of friends. The
guy's methods were questionable, but he got the job done. He
cajoled, persuaded, bribed and even strong-armed people to her
office.

Penelope huffed. She didn't
ask for his help. But she wasn't going to turn anyone away either.
She needed to build up her client base as quickly as possible, and
make her first successful match. She was a businesswoman. Once she
established a solid reputation, clients would come flocking to her.

Her office saw a lot more
visitors now, but more often than not, the visitor was Damien.
Sometimes he showed up with a new client. But every now and then he
would pop into her office with a latte, some sinful baked goods or a
box of chocolates. “Sweets for my sweet,” he would
announced brightly as he bounded into her office.

She always retorted with “I'm
not your sweet.” But the guy remained undeterred and
unflagging in his enthusiasm.

Nothing seemed to discourage
the guy. He was a cockeyed optimist, if ever there was one. In the
end, she simply gave up pretending to be a cold, stand-offish,
disagreeable hag whenever he was around.

Damien was a little over the
top with his antics, but it was hard not to like the guy. He was
funny, warm-hearted and Penelope saw that behind his loud voice and
bawdy humor was a sharp intelligence and intuition. People just felt
comfortable with him, and although he loved to joke, his jokes were
never cruel. His laughter was infectious, and Penelope reluctantly
admitted to herself that she kind of looked forward to his visits.

He had even brought his
cousin, Reid, to her office one evening and shoved a stack of her
agency's pamphlets into Reid's large hands. Reid was happily
married, but Damien ordered his cousin to recommend Penelope's dating
agency to his neighbors and friends. “Spread the word, Reid.
Small business owners should help one another. Reid owns his own
plumbing business,” Damien told Penelope. “So if you
need a plumber, he's your man.”

Reid had grinned and promised
that he would tell all his single friends and clients about her
agency. As Reid left, he whispered to Penelope, “My cousin's a
busybody, but he's a busybody with the biggest heart. I owe my
happiness to him.”

A busybody with the biggest
heart. That was a pretty accurate summation of the man, she thought.

Damien had certainly helped
her a lot. Her business was thriving because of him.

Reid said he owed his
happiness to Damien. To be honest, Penelope in no small measure owed
her success to Damien as well.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

The phone rang and Penelope
answered it immediately. “Good afternoon, Miss Hatfield's
Dating Agency.” The words rolled off her tongue with ease.

There was a low chuckle and
Penelope gave a long-suffering sigh. It was Damien, again. She knew
what was coming. It was his standard taunt.

“So, have you found my
match yet?” he asked, not hiding his glee and amusement. “We
both know who's my perfect match. But you refuse to set up a date
for me.” He tut-tutted and snapped his gum.

Penelope took a long breath.
She had looked through the entire database but none of the females
seemed a perfect fit for Damien. Or perhaps she was just looking for
cracks and flaws that didn't exist. Could it be that subconsciously
she didn't want anyone else to be Damien's perfect match?

Clenching her teeth, Penelope
said as calmly as she could, “As a matter of fact, I've found
your match.”

There was a long silence.
Damien didn't even seem to be breathing.

“Hello?” Penelope
said. “You still there? Damien?”

“Yeah, I'll here,”
he said gruffly.

“I'll have to call her
and see if she's happy to meet you,” she lied. “I'll
call you right back, okay?”

Damien growled. “Fine,”
he snapped, and hung up.

Penelope put the phone down
slowly and turned to her computer. Her hands were shaking as she
pulled up a profile of one of her female clients.

She had to go through with
this. She was a matchmaker, this was what she did. Match her
clients, set up dates, give them their happily-ever-afters.

So why did she feel
physically ill looking for a match for Damien?

She balled her fists and
stared resolutely at her screen. She couldn't let her muddled
feelings cloud her professional judgment.

After reading through the
client's information and requirements over and over again, she
decided that this was the closest match she could find for Damien.

She would set them up on a
lovely, romantic date. With a deep, fortifying breath, she picked up
the phone and called Scarlett Washington. In a pleasant,
professional tone, she informed Scarlett that she had found a
potential match for her, and rattled off Damien's statistics like his
age and species. Scarlett was human but she seemed unfazed that she
would be going on a blind date with a bear shifter.

“Great,” Penelope
said, feigning enthusiasm. “I'll make a reservation at Wong's
Wok. You just have to be there at seven o'clock this Saturday. I'll
be there to introduce the two of you, and then I'll disappear and
leave you two to enjoy your date.”

Penelope pulled up Damien's
profile and stared at his phone number. Her hand twitched and she
stabbed at her phone with more force than necessary.

“Hi Penelope,”
Damien answered coolly.

“You'll be meeting your
date this Saturday at Wong's Wok,” Penelope blurted out.

“I see.” There
was a pause. “Will you be there?”

“Yes. I'll introduce
you to your date, and make sure everything is okay. Once you guys
are comfortable, I'll leave. The rest is up to you.”

“Mmmm.” He
sounded disappointed, or bored.

“Don't stand her up,”
she warned.

“What kind of man do
you think I am?” he said, and she detected a trace of anger in
his voice.

“All right then. The
two of you are very compatible. You're the same age, and you even
went to the same school. I'm sure you'll enjoy her company
immensely.” Penelope scowled. Why did she sound...jealous?

This was ridiculous. Was she
hoping that Damien would turn down the date?

“Thank you, Penelope.
I look forward to meeting my lovely date. If everything goes well,
I'll be sure to invite you to our wedding,” Damien said in a
snarky tone.

“See you on Saturday,”
she said but the line was already dead.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Damien wore a neatly pressed
white shirt and black jeans. He'd even knotted a tie around his neck
in a hurry. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his shoes
gleamed. He was here on a blind date and he was here to impress a
woman. Too bad his date and the woman he wanted to impress weren't
one and the same.

Damien realized that Penelope
wasn't like any of the other women he'd dated before. She was older,
more mature and she wasn't that easily swept off her feet by flattery
and scorching kisses. Oh, she liked his kisses, a lot. She had
responded with ardor and passion when he kissed her. She wanted him
but the stubborn woman refused to let her hormones rule her head.

He had to fight for her. But
this battle couldn't be won by brute strength and sweaty sex. He had
been inserting himself not so subtly into her life by getting her new
clients and dropping by her office with coffee and treats so that she
would get used to his presence. But he loved feeding her and
pampering her as well. And if he didn't see her or hear her voice
for more than a few days, his bear would go stir-crazy.

No woman had ever affected
him like that before.

He was in full predator and
warrior mode right now.

This was war. He was waging
a war for Penelope's heart.

The enemy was formidable and
stubborn, but he was never going to give up. He would wear down her
defenses and he was going to win her. Slowly, but surely.

His previous tactics had all
failed miserably. He would have to change course and put a more
drastic scheme into action. It was a tactical gambit, and the
outcome was uncertain. If he didn't play his cards right, everything
might blow up in his face.

Damien reached Wong's Wok on
time and saw Penelope waiting for him outside the restaurant. He
stopped in his tracks and forgot to breathe at the sight of her.
Penelope was wearing a little black dress which showed off her legs
and cleavage to full advantage. She was wearing contact lenses and
she'd let her hair down. She was drop dead gorgeous, but he knew
that already.