by Lola Kidd
The Leopard in Love
(Mail-Order Mates Book 8)
Lola Kidd
Copyright 2015 by Lola Kidd
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without the express consent of the author.
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About This Book
Pilot Kai Waters has watched all the bachelors of Sunset Falls find love. It never occurred to Kai to try to get matched himself. As a busy single father, he has his hands full already. He’d like to find love but he doesn’t want to take away from the precious time he has with his son.
Curvy Sarah Roberts is visiting Sunset Falls from out of town and isn’t looking for a romance. The only thing on her mind is relaxing, going to the town’s Christmas festival and visit with her family. Little does she know that Olivia Grey has one more match up her sleeve and she’s convinced that Sarah and Kai are perfect for each other.
Will Kai and Sarah go along with Olivia’s master plan? Find out in the eighth and final book in the Mail-Order Mates series.
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Epilogue
A Note from Lola
Other Books by Lola Kidd
One
Kai looked around the busy airport. He was supposed to pick up two passengers in front of the gift shop at four o’clock. It was now four fifteen and neither woman was in sight. He began to pace. His leopard hated being in crowds. It was one of the reasons he’d pursued starting his own private flight business instead of commercial flying.
When another fifteen minutes had passed he went to check the flight boards. Of course, both flights were running late. He bought himself a magazine and settled in for a long wait. He’d bought another two magazines by the time his first passenger showed up.
“Sorry I’m late.” Olivia Grey looked a little more harried than normal. “I still need to get my bags. I’m so sorry. Have you been waiting long?”
Kai nodded. “I have, but it’s part of the job. No way I could come back to town without you, anyway. You’re the guest of honor.”
“Thank you for being so understanding. Where’s the other woman?”
“Her flight is late too. Come on, I’ll help you get your bags.”
Kai and Olivia navigated their way across the airport and then went to wait in front of the other woman’s gate. No point in making her walk across the airport when they could go to her. Olivia picked up a salad to eat while they waited.
“How have things been in Sunset Falls?” She opened her salad and splashed a few drops of ranch dressing on it.
“Things have been great. I have to thank you for bringing me more business than I know what to do with. I’m considering bringing on a second pilot and buying another plane.”
“That busy?”
“You have no idea. I’m out of the house four days a week now. I’m trying to cut back now that the holidays are coming, but the money is too good.”
“You have a son, right?”
“Yes, KJ. He’s in middle school and can take care of himself well enough. I’ll have to make a decision pretty soon. I don’t want to be gone this much in the summer when he’ll be home alone all day.”
“I guess that means our ad campaign has been a success for both of us. I was going to wait to tell people, but I love sharing.” She put down her fork and paused dramatically. “I’m writing a book! A publisher approached me and I had to scramble to get an agent to negotiate foreign rights but it’s all very exciting.”
“Congratulations! I’m guessing it’s going to be a dating book?”
Olivia nodded. “Specifically for women looking to date shifters. I’m going to suggest they use LK Brides to find the lucky man. My guide will also help human women navigate the pitfalls of dating one of you wild men.”
Kai laughed and then sighed. “I think you’re going to do very well with that guide. It can be hard for a human woman to date a shifter. I’m an example of that.”
“You lost a few human women, huh?”
He smiled wistfully. “You could say that. KJ’s mom ran off the minute she found out I was a shifter. She gave birth and left the hospital without saying a word to me.”
“Oh, no! That’s so sad. Have you ever heard from her again?”
“No. I don’t think I’d want to at this point. She wasn’t my mate, and it would only complicate our lives. It was just as much my fault. I should have been honest with her from the start. She only found out because I put my shifter status on the birth certificate.”
“You could have handled that a lot better, but it doesn’t make what she did any better.” Olivia picked up her fork again and looked at Kai thoughtfully. “Can I ask you a question, since we’re getting randomly personal?”
“Sure, ask away.”
“Why didn’t you sign up with the service when everyone in town was getting matched?”
Kai was stumped. That wasn’t the question he was expecting. “I never thought about it. Wasn’t even on my radar. I mean, you did a great job, but it isn’t something I’m interested in.”
“Even after seeing all the happy couples?” she prodded.
He thought about all the men in town and their new families. He remembered when the trend had started picking up the year before. It was like he’d woken up one day and women started raining from the sky. Before, there’d only been a few women and young families in town; now there was an explosion of couples. There were tons of babies running around, and a new social club. There had been a Ladies’ Social Club for older women for years but the LK Brides had formed their own little group. It was a very exclusive club but no one in town seemed to mind. They were even sponsoring the upcoming Christmas tree lighting.
Even with all the good things happening, Kai hadn’t thought to sign up with the mail-order bride agency himself.
“I like things how they are,” he told Olivia. “KJ and I are happy. He’s going to be a teenager before I know it. I don’t want to waste the last few years of his childhood running around on dates.”
“That’s why you should hire me!” Olivia said. “I’ll find you a perfect match and you won’t have to do the running around thing.”
“It would be a match for me and KJ. None of the other men in town had a kid when they got matched.” Kai shook his head. “I’m not willing to risk it right now. Maybe when KJ is in college, I’ll think about it.”
Olivia pulled out her card. “Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me. I’m not going to feel like I’ve done my job in Sunset Falls until I get you a mate.”
“That’s very nice of you. I’ll be sure to keep this in a safe place the next few years.”
He wasn’t just being nice. Olivia had matched all the shifter bachelors in town who’d signed up with the agency. She had a great track record for creating happy families. Kai wasn’t looking now, but he knew in a few years his house would be empty. He was sure he’d feel the longing for a mate much harder when KJ was gone. It was easy to lose himself in his work and his son, but even now, KJ was
getting more and more self-sufficient.
Where he’d once had a sweet little boy who loved spending time with him, he now had a preteen who was quiet most of the time. KJ liked to hang out with his friends and was spending more time alone in his room. It scared Kai how quickly his little boy was growing up. It seemed like every time he blinked, KJ was a little bigger and pushing him away more. If he stopped to take up dating, he would lose even more time. Spending time away at work helped both of them. Spending time away for dates seemed selfish. It just wasn’t something Kai could do at the moment.
“Are you looking for Sarah Roberts?”
The question interrupted Kai’s reminiscing. “I am.”
The small, curvy blonde pointed at herself. “That’s me!”
“Wonderful.” Olivia stood up with her salad container. “I’m Olivia and this is Kai.”
“I hope you haven’t been waiting too long. Sorry my flight was delayed.”
“Not your fault,” Kai assured her. “We can get your bags and get on our way.”
She pointed to her backpack. “This is it.”
“Well, then, we can go now. Welcome to Kai Air.”
***
“Sarah!” Aunt Reba hugged Sarah tight to her chest. Sarah breathed in the familiar scent of her aunt’s perfume and relaxed. “We were getting worried. How was the flight?”
“Long.” She took her bags from Kai and shook his hand. “Thank you for the ride. I really appreciate it.”
The giant shifter ducked his head. “No problem. I was coming to town anyway. Call me when you need a flight back to the airport.”
“Thank you for taking good care of her, Kai.” Her uncle Pete shook Kai’s hand too.
“Anytime. You have a nice night.”
“You too.” Sarah watched the shifter walk away. He was certainly one tall drink of water. Her pulse had raced when she first saw him in the airport. She’d assumed he and Olivia were a couple waiting for a flight. The glamorous woman certainly looked the part of Kai’s wife. Sarah always felt like a clumsy clod next to women like Olivia. When she’d seen that Kai was holding a sign with her name on it, she had dreaded the flight to town.
To be trapped in a small plane with a beautiful couple in love seemed like the worse flight in history. Unnecessary torture after her thirty-hour trip to the States from Australia. But she’d been very wrong. Kai was the pilot and Olivia was the other passenger. She’d turned out to be a very exciting seatmate. She was one of the most successful agents at a mail-order bride company. Sarah had never heard of such a thing, so it was interesting to hear about Olivia’s job and how she had helped put Sunset Falls on the map.
It was almost as nice as getting to sneak peeks at Kai the entire flight. That man was sex on legs. She realized she had forgot to ask him a very important question. She turned to her aunt and uncle since they seemed to know him. “What kind of shifter is he?”
“I think he’s some kind of cat,” Reba said. “I don’t think he shifts anymore, though.”
Pete shook his head. “He doesn’t. If the gossip is true, he stopped shifting when his son was born. I’ve never brought it up and he’s never mentioned it so I’m not sure what the entire story is there.”
“That’s terrible,” Sarah said, aghast. “That’s like someone cutting off their hand when their child is born. Why would he do that?”
“The boy doesn’t shift.” Pete shrugged. “If it’s all true, I think it’s nice to make a big sacrifice for your child.”
“That’s too much,” Sarah said. “He’s a nice man, but he has to be a bit off his rocker.”
“Enough about him,” Reba said. “You must be exhausted and starving. I’ll make you a plate while you tell me all the gossip from home I’ve missed in the last two years.”
Sarah did her best to catch her aunt and uncle up on life back home. It was surreal to think they hadn’t been back in that long. She’d been working so hard, she hadn’t had a chance to notice. She’d been crushed when her only aunt had told her she’d be moving to a small town in the US. The tale became even more bizarre when the pair decided to open a Chinese food restaurant. Now that she’d seen the town a little, the shop made sense. There was no other Asian food restaurant in Sunset Falls and not many restaurants to begin with. They’d been primed for success.
They talked until Sarah was practically falling asleep in her food. She was sure she’d missed some gossip but there was time for more chatting later. Reba showed her to the guest room and Sarah was asleep before she even had a chance to undress.
The next morning, she woke to an empty house. There was a map to the restaurant on the island in the kitchen. Sarah had breakfast and walked the few blocks to see their new business.
“This place is so cute,” she told her aunt.
“Thank you.” Reba looked around proudly. “I think we’ve done nicely for ourselves with this little shop.”
“We don’t open till eleven, so it’s nice for us.” Pete added. “It’s almost like being retired without all the boredom.”
Sarah laughed. “Like you’d ever retire. I’ve never seen you without a job of some kind.”
“That’s very true. Work keeps the mind young,” Pete told her. “It’s easy in America too. They have all kinds of help for small business people. Everyone in town is so friendly. We’ll never go out of business here.”
“Still not better than Australia,” Sarah said. “I don’t know how you guys did it.”
“You’ll see after a week,” Reba said. “This place is like heaven. Not too hot. Not too cold. Nice people. Everything in walking distance and our dollar goes a long way. It is so wonderful here. Don’t be surprised if your parents follow us in a few years.”
“We’ve got our first customer,” Pete said, looking to the front of the store. “Time to get to work, Reba.”
Sarah read a book in back as they worked, then helped to clear the tables after customers had left. It wasn’t as nice as a beach vacation, but Sarah liked being able to chat with her aunt about her book as she went along. Plus, beach vacations were a dime a dozen. None of her friends could say they had a working vacation at an Australian-run Chinese food restaurant in a famous shifter town in the States. At the very least, she was going to have great stories to tell when she got home.
“Hello?”
Sarah looked up from her book to see Olivia Grey poking her head into the back of the shop. “Your aunt said I could find you back here. I was wondering if we could talk.”
“Yeah. Hi.” Sarah saved her place in her book and pushed out the chair next to her. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to talk to you about signing up for my services.” Olivia smiled. “I’m sorry I’m being so forward. I’m very excited about getting the ball rolling. You seem like you’d be perfect for someone I know.”
“What?” Sarah laughed nervously. She’d heard all about Olivia’s American matchmaking. If Olivia thought she was perfect for someone, odds were it was going to be a match made in heaven. “I’m not from the States, you know. I can’t get matched with an American shifter.”
“Aren’t you even a little interested in what I do?” Olivia asked. “You seemed receptive yesterday.”
“I think it’s interesting, but I don’t know if it’s for me.”
“You can give it a shot. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to meet your match.”
“You seem very confident in your ability to match me quickly.”
“Have you heard my track record?” Olivia smiled. “I can help you sign up right now. How many people get hands-on help from me, start to finish?”
Sarah laughed. She’d come to America to have a little adventure. She was feeling bored back home. Not that it meant she wanted to move to America anytime soon, but she was feeling a bit of wanderlust. She had something she needed to get out of her system but couldn’t articulate it. She was also a little curious. Who would Olivia match her with?
“Why not. It can’t
hurt to try, right?”
Olivia clapped her hands together. “Wonderful. We can get started right now.”
Two
“Thanks for the help.” Sarah hugged Olivia. Filling out the myriad of forms had been very time-consuming and a little confusing. Sarah was glad to have expert help.
“Thank you for signing up. Usually I have to drag people in kicking and screaming.” Olivia joked. “I’ll email you as soon as I have someone lined up.”
“What was all that about?” Reba asked Sarah after Olivia had left. “Did you sign up with her?”
“I did.” Sarah smiled. “I know it sounds crazy, but it feels right.”
“You’ve never even talked about getting married,” Reba said, baffled. “You’re here for vacation. You can’t get matched.”
“What’s this about getting matched?” Pete asked, coming into the back room. “You’re already married, my dear.”
“Not me.” Reba swatted him playfully. “Sarah signed up with that Olivia woman from Lovely and Kind Brides.”
“Why?” Pete asked. “That woman will have you married in no time. You don’t want to stay here. Do you?”
“They have matches worldwide.” Sarah was defensive. “I could get an Aussie shifter. Why are you both being so negative?”
“We’re just surprised.” Reba assured her. “If you want to get matched and married, we’ll support you one hundred percent.”
A customer came in, ending the conversation abruptly. Sarah took her book and went to the bench outside. She couldn’t believe her aunt and uncle. Yes, it was sudden, but she was a grown woman. She did want to get married and start a family. Just because she had focused on school and her career for years didn’t mean she wanted that to be her entire life.
People were always trying to make her fit into a neat and clean box. Dang it, she didn’t want to be boxed in! She wanted to make changes and defy expectations. Why couldn’t she be a successful veterinarian and a great mother? Her parents were ones to always make the assumption that she’d stop working to start a family. It was so archaic. She wanted to have it all and maybe Olivia would be the one to help her accomplish that. She could find her a handsome shifter husband who wanted a career woman wife.
