The Tracker's Secret: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 2) by Ingrid Seymour (the gingerbread man read aloud .txt) 📗

Rosalina rubbed my arm, her eyes growing sad. “I’m sorry. Maybe we can wait until you and your mom...”

Man, Rosalina knew me so well. It was as if she could read me like a book.

I shook my head. “That might be years, and by then, there would be no point in having a housewarming party.”

“Don’t say that. Things will change. You’ll come around.”

“Fat chance.” I walked away from her, wishing to change subjects. “Did you find out Aaron’s mate’s schedule?”

Rosalina sighed, abandoning that side of the conversation reluctantly. She turned toward her desk and reached for a piece of paper. “I did. He’ll be there this afternoon. His name is Josh Rice.”

I nodded in appreciation for her detective skills. She always had a way of getting information out of people. I didn’t know how she managed, but after I located the mates, one of her jobs was to do research to get their names, addresses, and any other relevant information to get in touch with them and make a meeting between them and our customer happen.

“Okay, that’s great.” A nervous thrill ran through me at the possibility of Aaron meeting his mate today.

Since I’d been doing this, I had never seen two mates not fall for each other right away. As soon as I brought them together, the attraction was immediate and inevitable, and it was both physical and emotional. But with these two I feared that their prejudices about werewolves and vampires might be too ingrained and more powerful than whatever else they felt.

I checked the time on my phone. It was almost 10 AM. “Aaron will be here anytime now.”

“Actually, he’s here.” Rosalina pointed through the window at the black Jaguar parking across the street.

Aaron got out of the car and headed our way, a swagger in his step, and a slight smile on his lips. I told him I’d found a mate for him, but I hadn’t gone into any details. I had invited him here this morning to explain.

“Good luck,” Rosalina said, sitting back at her desk, a frown going across her forehead.

She seemed worried, too. If Aaron decided he didn’t want to meet Josh, we would have to give the deposit back and forget about receiving the rest of the payment. We had already gone over our finances, taking that money into consideration, and the numbers had looked really good for our business’s future. We would certainly breathe a lot easier if we could set aside some money for our monthly loan payments.

I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders as Aaron walked through the door. Today, he wore baggy jeans, a pair of unlaced military boots, and a red, yellow, and blue gym jacket. He took off his diamond-studded shades and greeted us with a warm smile and a happy “good morning.”

Rosalina and I greeted him back, and I invited him into my office, my heart skipping around restlessly.

After we sat down, Aaron said, “Give me the good news, Toni.”

I gave him a tempered smile, which caused his excitement to die down a little.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“There is a slight... hitch.”

He heaved a heavy sigh. “What? He doesn’t want to meet me?”

“Actually, we haven’t talked to him yet. I wanted to talk to you first. His name is Josh Rice. He’s about twenty-one years old and very good-looking, but he doesn’t meet all the requirements you specified.”

“He’s not a werewolf,” Aaron said, guessing where I was going with this.

“No, he isn’t. But that’s not all, he’s actually a vampire.”

Aaron sprang to his feet. “A vampire?”

“I understand it’s not exactly the type of mate you were looking for, but I can assure you that the two of you will be compatible.”

His eyes searched the room, then he sat back down slowly, looking lost. He didn’t appear angry, which I had been afraid of. Instead, he seemed tired and extremely disappointed.

“I’m sure you’re right,” he said. “I would probably fall madly in love with him, but I have enough problems as it is. I can’t invite more.”

“Whatever decision you make, Aaron, I will understand it. I know how complicated things can get in our world. All I will say is that you shouldn’t let fear stop you from looking for happiness. Besides, you wouldn’t be alone anymore. You would have someone by your side to help you weather whatever storm comes your way.”

He shook his head. “I can’t. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”

Pain shaped his features as he stood up again and walked out of the office. I walked after him, stopped by Rosalina’s desk, and watched him exit.

She sank in her chair. “I guess that was a no.”

Outside, Aaron reached his Jaguar, but he didn’t get in. Instead, he laid his head on the roof of the car and just stood there as other vehicles drove past him. After a long moment, he pulled away from the car and turned around to face our building. Rosalina and I exchanged a glance.

I held my breath, expectantly.

Aaron squared his shoulders and walked over with firm steps, a determined expression on his face. He pushed the door open and reentered the office.

“You’re right, Toni. The hell with being afraid. I want to meet him.”

I WAITED OUTSIDE OF the ice cream shop minutes before Josh’s 2PM shift. I was slurping on the last bit of a vanilla milkshake when the young vampire parked his car at the very back of the lot and walked over, his reflective umbrella in hand.

Besides the trance, this was another part of the process that I found difficult. As easy as it would have been to schedule an “accidental” meeting between two mates who would inevitably fall in love, making my life a lot easier, I couldn’t do that.

Not everyone was ready to meet their soulmate. Rosalina was the perfect example. She didn’t want that kind of commitment and simply wasn’t in the right place for something so serious