A Catamount Christmas, Paranormal Romance (Catamount Lion Shifters Book 5)

by J. H. Croix

  He ate at a small table by the windows, staring out over the town. Catamount was in the midst of harvest season with Thanksgiving and Christmas not far off. Town workers were hanging holiday lights along the streets. Max’s chest felt funny when he realized he had no family here to celebrate the holidays with. Growing up, his family had been woven deeply into the community. The shifter community was tight-knit and his parents had both been born and raised in Catamount. His grandparents had passed away before his father died, which left no one behind from their family in Catamount. Over the years, his family often joined a number of other shifter families for holiday gatherings at Roxanne’s Country Store. He wondered if that tradition had carried on, and more specifically, if he’d manage to repair his relationship with Roxy enough to be able to join in. Even though he’d spent years tolerating the echoing loss of Roxy in his life, he hadn’t been prepared for how it would affect him to see her. The constant beat of missing her had morphed into an intense, visceral longing for her now that she was within his reach.

  Roxanne moved quickly, emptying the boxes of deli supplies that had arrived with this morning’s delivery. Normally, she assigned the storeroom stocking to Joey Anderson, Gail and Hank’s nephew. At seventeen years old, he was young, strong and a hard worker. He did a little bit of everything around the store. She’d tried to get through the usual inventory data entry, but she was so distracted by thoughts of Max, she couldn’t focus. She hefted a box containing various condiments on the counter and began pulling them out and stocking the shelves. She couldn’t turn her brain off, but at least it didn’t matter if she wasn’t thinking straight with this task.

  Max’s words kept playing on repeat in her mind. “I missed you. More than I can even say.” Those two sentences rang like a bell inside of her, stirring up old hopes and dreams she’d long ago let drift away. She shook her head sharply and quickly placed the last item on the shelf, broke down the empty box, tossed it roughly in the corner of the room and grabbed the next box.

  “Geez, are you mad at the blue cheese dressing, or something?”

  Roxanne glanced over her shoulder to find Phoebe North standing in the doorway of the storeroom. Like Shana, Phoebe was an old childhood friend. Her dark eyes held a gleam of mischief. Roxanne slowed her motion and set the bottle of dressing on the shelf and gave it a little push. She had practically been throwing the bottles on the shelf. She turned to lean against the table nearby and shrugged.

  “So what if I’m mad at the blue cheese dressing?” she asked.

  Phoebe stepped into the room and leaned her hip against the table. “I’m guessing you’re not,” she countered with a short laugh. She brushed her dark hair off her shoulders. “Don’t you usually have Joey handle the stocking?”

  Roxanne nodded. “Usually. Just felt like doing it myself today.”

  Phoebe eyed her, and Roxanne suddenly felt like she was under a microscope. The downside to having friends who’d known you forever was they noticed just about everything. Roxanne also figured word of Max’s return had traveled through Catamount by now.

  Phoebe didn’t waste time getting right to the point. “I heard Max Stone is back in town and he happened to be here yesterday.”

  Roxanne nodded, her stomach churning and her chest tightening. She hated how quickly Max’s sudden reappearance in her life had turned her inside and out, and shown her just how much she hadn’t gotten past him. It was so much easier to believe she’d long ago moved on from him when she didn’t have to face him. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was seriously insane to have agreed to dinner with him. Yet, she couldn’t find it in her to back out now. Every time she thought about it, her heart pleaded with her not to shut him out.

  Phoebe’s gaze shifted from curious to concerned. “Are you okay?”

  Roxanne shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s just… I don’t know…out of the blue. He’s here and apparently he plans to stay. He said he missed me and wanted to talk and now I feel all crazy inside. I thought…” Her words trailed off because she didn’t know how to explain her muddled feelings.

  Phoebe, who’d been there day in and day out after Max left town, took two steps and enveloped Roxanne in a hug. When she stepped back, she ran her hands down Roxanne’s arms and gave a little squeeze. “You loved him so much. It was always going to be weird if he showed up again.”

  Roxanne swallowed against the tightness in her throat and nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird. I guess I thought he’d never come back, so I didn’t think about what it might be like if he did. I wish I knew what he wanted.”

  “He said he missed you? How long was he here?”

  “Oh, maybe five minutes. He came to the deli yesterday afternoon. He said he wanted to talk and asked me to dinner. Like an idiot, I said yes.” Roxanne flinched internally at the tinge of bitterness in her words. Her young, teenaged self was still in her heart, still hurt and angry at how things had played out between them, while her older, wiser self liked to think she’d moved past it all. That tinge of bitterness hinted perhaps she hadn’t.

  Phoebe’s dark gaze was thoughtful. “Maybe it’s best just to clear the air. If he does anything to hurt you again, we’ll run him out of town this time.”

  A little laugh bubbled up. “Right.” Roxanne’s smile faded. “It probably is best to clear the air, but hell, this is so out of nowhere. I hate how it makes me feel.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s here, so you’re kinda stuck with that.” Phoebe paused, watching Roxanne for a few beats. “What are you gonna do if he wants to try again? I mean, he said he missed you. Since he said that within the first few minutes of seeing you, I’m guessing he wasn’t just being nice.”

  Hope sparked inside, a hot flame she couldn’t seem to extinguish. Annoyance with herself and at her apparent weakness flared behind the hope. Max was the only man who had this effect on her, but she chalked it up to youth before. They’d been seventeen and head over heels in love and lust the way only youth allowed. She didn’t know if the wild mess of feelings inside now was simply the echo of what once was, or the banked embers of something that never died.

  Roxanne met Phoebe’s concerned gaze and shrugged. “I have no idea. I never thought I’d see him again. I hate how mixed up inside I am. All he did was show up and I’m all a mess!”

  “You’re not a mess, you’re just used to always being on control. Maybe it will be weird, but I say have dinner with him and say your piece. If he’s here to stay, either you spend all kinds of time avoiding him, or just get through this. Maybe it won’t be anything, maybe it will. Except for how things ended with you two, Max was always a good guy. Maybe you can finally find out what the hell happened. When are you supposed to meet him for dinner?”

  “Tonight.”

  “Geez, he’s not wasting any time is he?”

  Another laugh bubbled up. Phoebe’s wry humor helped ease the churning tightness inside. “Guess not.”

  “Hey Roxanne, did we get any boxes of flour for out front?” Diane’s question preceded her as she strode down the hall and poked her head around the corner of the storeroom. “Oh hey!” she said with a grin when she saw Phoebe.

  “I haven’t gotten to that part of the shipment yet. Give me a few minutes, okay?” Roxanne asked.

  Diane nodded. “Got it. I thought we had more, but one of the teachers from the elementary school came by this morning and cleaned us out for some baking science project.” The doorbell chimed out front, and she spun away. “Let me know if we have any,” she called over her shoulder.

  “I’ll get going. Call me if you need to tonight,” Phoebe said before stepping to Roxanne and giving her another quick hug.

  After Phoebe disappeared through the doorway, Roxanne remained still for a moment, staring at the shelves. She needed to just get through this day and somehow get through dinner. She couldn’t help but hope a little more time with Max would show her that her feelings yesterday had been nothing more than a reaction to the surprise of seeing him again. She was
over him…she had to be.

  4

  Max stood on the sidewalk beside the town green, his eyes idly following the granite walkways crisscrossing the green. He lifted his gaze to Roxanne’s Country Store across the street. He’d realized this afternoon, as the day was passing and his anticipation at seeing Roxanne again was building, that he hadn’t thought to ask where she wanted to go for dinner. While he’d given her his number, he hadn’t gotten hers, so here he was gathering his nerve to see her again. He felt silly. She had such a powerful effect on him, he was anxious about doing anything that might cause her to back away. Her wary response to him yesterday gave him pause. He hoped she might still hold a flame in her heart for him, but he didn’t really know. His cat growled inside, on the verge of annoyance at the human side of him, which tended to think things through. If his cat had his say, he’d barge into the store now, throw her over his shoulder and find the closest place he could to make her his again.

  With a mental shake, he strode across the street and pushed through the swinging door into the store. Diane Franklin, whom he remembered from the many afternoons he spent here years ago, glanced up from the front register. “Hey there, Max! Saw you come in yesterday, but I was busy. How are you?” Diane asked.

  Max was so focused on seeing Roxy that he was distracted by Diane’s question. He paused and glanced her way. What had she said? Oh right, she asked how he was. “Oh, I’m good. How are you?” He forced himself to be polite. It wouldn’t do for him to ignore her just because he wanted to see Roxy. Right now.

  Diane smiled, her brown eyes warm. “I’m great. I have two grandkids now. I’m sure you can guess rumor is traveling that you’re back here for good. Is that so?”

  He nodded. “That’s the plan. I missed Catamount the whole time I was gone. After my mom passed away, there was nothing left keeping me in Virginia.” He managed to answer politely enough, but he was impatient inside. Roxy was somewhere nearby, and every fiber of him sensed it.

  Diane nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about your mother passing. I’m sure you know many of her old friends here would’ve loved to have seen her again.”

  “I can imagine. Uh, you don’t happen to know if Roxanne is around this afternoon?” He blurted his question out, unable to keep from asking.

  Diane’s brows hitched up, her eyes assessing. “She’s out back. Does she know you’re stopping by?”

  He shook his head, physically forcing himself to hold still. It wasn’t like he worked here. He couldn’t exactly storm to the back just because he wanted to. Diane was quiet for a moment after he shook his head, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Well, go on back if you’d like. I’ll page her and let her know you’re headed her way.” She gestured beyond the aisles to a door Max knew led to the storage area of the store. He didn’t wait for her to reconsider and strode quickly for the door.

  Memories careened through his mind once he stepped into the back hallway. He passed a closed door that he knew led to a small sitting room where he and Roxy used to sneak off and make out whenever they could. It was the only room downstairs that hadn’t been completely turned into workspace for the store. Moving past that, he heard motion in what he thought to be the storage room. He turned through the doorway and saw the freezer door open. A pager sat on a table by the door. “Hey girl, Max Stone is here and he’s headed your way.” Diane’s voice came through the small speaker on the pager.

  Max eyed the pager and then the massive freezer in the back of the room. He walked toward it. Just as he reached the door with icy air pouring out of it, Roxy stepped through. His breath caught and his pulse lunged, the old, familiar need for her coiling tightly inside. Her blue eyes widened when they landed on him. She stopped where she was. Several locks of her blonde hair had fallen loose from the knot atop her head, held in place with a pen. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold. Everything froze for a moment. Then, with his heart banging hard and fast against his ribs and his longing to touch her so acute, he couldn’t hold back.

  He closed the distance between them in two long strides. Her head tilted back, and he heard her sharp intake of breath. All he knew was he needed to touch her. He lifted a hand and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Roxy.” Her name came out roughly. His hand moved of its own accord, stroking into her hair, his thumb tracing along her jawline and down onto the soft skin of her neck. Her pulse beat wildly as his touch passed over it. He tried, oh he tried, to hold back, but it was too much to have her this close.

  He dipped his head and brought his lips to hers, meaning only to give himself that. But when she sighed against his mouth, he was done for. He fit his mouth over hers and kissed her with everything he had. If she’d tried to stop him, he would have stopped, but she didn’t. She held still for a beat before her lips parted. He dove into the warm sweetness of her mouth. He’d been living on memories of her kisses for so long, his knees nearly buckled at how good it felt to actually touch her. When he stroked his tongue into her mouth, hers met his in a sensuous tangle. He stepped closer and slid his hand down her back. At the feel of her luscious curves against him, his cock hardened instantly. He needed her like the air he breathed.

  Roxanne tumbled into a cauldron of sensation. Max’s kiss set her aflame inside. His kiss was better than any she’d remembered with his tongue stroking boldly inside her mouth, tracing her lips, softly nipping and tugging on her bottom lip—essentially driving her wild with desire. She hadn’t expected to see him just now, so he’d caught her off guard and undefended. A tiny corner of her mind tried to persuade her she could resist him, but it felt so good, so, so good to be in his arms again, she couldn’t stop it.

  His lips meandered away from hers, blazing a hot trail of kisses along the column of her throat. The icy air from the freezer drifted around them, a contrast to the fire burning between them. He tugged her close, cupping her bottom with his hand and pulled her against his arousal. She groaned and shifted her hips restlessly. She was so wet, instantly drenched with need, and feeling his hard cock against her nearly undid her. Her hands explored the hard planes of his chest, frantic to re-acquaint herself with every inch of him.

  There was a clatter from the deli kitchen down the hall and then the sound of a door opening nearby. Max’s teeth closed on the lobe of her ear, sending a prickle along her skin, before he pulled back. She didn’t want him to stop and tried to step closer even though she was already plastered against him. His hand moved up her back in a slow pass, coming to rest at her nape where his thumb stroked back and forth in a soft caress.

  Their breath heaved, misting in the frosty air surrounding them. She slowly became aware of where they were and what had just happened. She was torn between two impulses—part of her wanted to tear herself from his embrace and run, while another part of her wanted to stay right where she was and never move again. It had been as long as he’d been gone that she’d felt this right with someone. She slowly lifted her head—his tawny gaze held hers. Her belly was spinning with flutters and her pulse was galloping wildly.

  She shivered in the icy air and finally gathered herself together enough to step back. It almost physically pained her to create any distance between them. His arms slipped off of her as she stepped back, while his eyes remained glued to her.

  “Well, I, um…” She paused and blew a puff of air.

  “Fifteen years was too long to wait to kiss you again. I missed you,” Max said, his voice low and taut.

  “I missed you too.” Her words escaped on their own, just flew right out without her permission. Her hand clapped over her mouth. Her consternation must’ve shown on her face because Max shook his head quickly.

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to tell me you missed me,” he said.

  His comment only stirred her up because it was just like him to practically read her mind. Once upon a time, she’d loved how well he knew her. Right now, it made her feel too exposed. She felt spun tight inside, caught in the twist and turn of the intense emotions only
he could elicit and struggling against the tide of hopes and dreams she’d thought effectively buried rising up with a power she couldn’t ignore. She closed her eyes, needing to shield herself from his gaze for a moment. After a few deep breaths, she opened them again and reached back to close the freezer door finally.

  “I stopped by to ask where you wanted to meet for dinner. Diane sent me back here,” Max said, watching her carefully.

  “Oh. Right. Guess we didn’t settle on that. Um, how about the Trailhead?”

  “Perfect. How about I meet you here and we walk over there?”

  Before she could even form a thought, she nodded. Max’s smile flashed and her heart squeezed, emotion rolling through her. Back when they were young, Max had been fairly quiet and somber. His smiles were pure and rare. And oh, how she’d missed them! Her own smile spread before she could stop it. When she realized she was standing there smiling like a foolish girl, she shook her head sharply. He seemed to sense her abrupt withdrawal and leaned over to drop a quick kiss on her cheek. “Okay, I’ll let you finish up. I’ll stop by around six.”

  At that, he spun around and strode quickly out of the storeroom. Her eyes tracked over him hungrily, savoring the easy swing of his arms, his confident stride and the strength he emanated. When he turned the corner, she took a few steps to lean against the table in the center of the room. Her body was still reverberating from his kiss. She was hot, flustered and drenched with need. She gulped in air and stared at the floor. Shit, shit, shit. Why did I go and let him kiss me like that? I can’t just fall at his feet like a fool. But you wanted to kiss him. Admit it, it felt amazing.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, desperate to slow her rampaging pulse and ease that sweet wildness he elicited inside of her. He’d always had this strange ability to make her lose her tendency to be guarded and sarcastic. She loved her friends and family dearly, but when it came to men, she’d always had a mildly cynical view. The whole shifter fantasy of mates who were meant to be had seemed like silly yore to her even before Max broke her heart. Then, he’d gone and left her behind, her heart battered and bruised because she’d been stupid enough to let down her guard with him.