Brayden’s Mate—Chapter 25

They stopped next to the front door of the lodge and Cooper turned off the motor. Brayden jumped down and helped Taylor off the snowmobile. “Is this your first time at the lodge?”

“I don’t know how, but yes. It’s beautiful.”

“It is, isn’t it?” He took her hand and led her toward the front doors. “Thanks for the ride, Doc.” He called over his shoulder.

“Anytime.” Cooper said.

Taylor looked over her shoulder. Cooper shrugged.

Brayden had been awfully quick to pull her away from the handsome doctor. “So he’s the doctor?”

“Yeah.” Brayden didn’t offer any other information.

Interesting. Cooper was handsome, but older. He was probably close to thirty-five years old. Maybe Brayden was being possessive. Taylor smiled to herself. It was cute.

Once they were inside, he helped her out of her coat, and they took off their boots. “What are we doing?” She asked.

“We’ll see who’s here. You can meet some of my family.”

Little alarm bells went off in Taylor’s head. Being jealous of another man was one thing, but meeting his family was another. They’d only just met.

Her face flushed. This was moving extraordinarily fast.

The real problem was that she was a little caught off guard, but she really didn’t mind. Brayden was a ruggedly handsome man. And he was intriguing on many different levels, not the least of which was that he could turn into a bear at will.

Taylor had never been one to like anything – or anyone – ordinary. She’d picked a career involving public speaking that most people would cringe at. Then there had been her high school boyfriend who had been the president of the senior class and the football quarterback. They’d broken up after he moved away to go to college and Taylor had thrown herself into her career. She’d had a few short-term boyfriends, but none of those had been serious enough to warrant meeting of the parents.

“My sister Skylar’s working the front desk,” he said, as they walked across the lobby his fingers lightly linked with hers. She kept her hold loose to give him the opportunity to let go, but he didn’t.

Skylar watched as they approached and came around from behind the desk as they neared. Taylor saw the moment Skylar recognized her. Skylar’s face lit up in a wide grin. “You’re Taylor Stone – the weather girl.”

When Skylar called her the weather girl, it didn’t sound so bad. She grinned back. Nodded.

“What are you doing with my no-good brother?”

Taylor looked at Brayden sideways. He shrugged. “I got lucky.”

“I’ll say you did.” Skylar held out her hand. “I’m Skylar. His big sister.”

Taylor shook the other girl’s hand. There was nothing big about Skylar except maybe her smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Let me find Nate and we’ll go have lunch in the restaurant.” Without waiting for an answer, Skylar took off behind the desk.

A couple of minutes later, a man who must have been Nate came out to stand behind the desk. The three of them went into a large restaurant across the lobby. It was a formal dining area with white table cloths and fresh flowers on each table. The room had large floor to ceiling windows on three sides offering an astounding view of the mountains.

It was early yet, so only a scattering of couples were seated at tables around the room. Skylar stopped and whispered to the hostess who nodded, then Skylar led them to a secluded table near the far window.

“This is absolutely beautiful.” Taylor said as she took her seat. Brayden sat on her right and Skylar on her left.

“It is, isn’t it?” Skylar agreed. “Our parents did well.”

A young man brought a tray with three flutes of orange juice. Taylor took a sip. Not just orange juice.

“Mimosas,” Skylar said. “Our house specialty.”

“Your specialty.” Brayden clarified, squeezing Taylor’s hand next to his under the stable.

Skylar grinned.