The Leopard in Love (BBW Shifter Mail Order Bride Romance) (Mail-Order Mates Book 8)

by Lola Kidd

  “I doubt it. I’m not an LK Bride with a cute little shifter baby.”

  Sarah had heard all about the very successful advertising campaign featuring the couples in town. She’d even seen a few when it was popular to share clips on social media. Those babies had been everywhere for a few months in the spring. It was going to be even more popular this time around. Sarah had seen a few of the cute little babies that had been born this year. The ones from last year had gotten a little bigger too.

  There was no way they wouldn’t all make a huge splash. Her biological clock ticked a little louder every time she saw one of those little cherubs. It seemed like a baby was the hot new accessory in Sunset Falls for the year. Everywhere she turned, there was a new adorable little baby. The oldest toddler from the ad from last year had come in with his mother earlier. It had prompted this new line of questioning from Reba.

  “But you don’t think you could be an LK Bride in the future? That would be a great ad. You’re just engaged this year and they come back next year and you have a baby. That would be so good. It would be an instant hit.”

  “Pretty sure that if I marry Kai, I’ll have a kid right away. Not a cute little baby but an almost full-grown child.”

  “You don’t seem to like KJ very much. I don’t know what he said to you on the bench outside, but he’s actually a great kid. I think you two would get on great.”

  “Stop pushing her to get married.” Pete put the lunch order on the counter to wait for pickup. “If she doesn’t like him, she doesn’t like him. Let her go back to Australia and find her own happiness.”

  If only it were that easy. Sarah was still struggling with the decisions in front of her. She was trying not to think about any of them and enjoy her vacation. There were moments when she deeply regretted signing up with Olivia while she was on holiday, but another part of her wanted to go all in with this mail-order bride thing—the part of her that loved historical romances filled with adventure and sweet love stories. That part of her wanted to pack all her bags and dive headfirst into the new romance. The trouble was, she had no idea which side was going to win out.

  “Speak of the devil.” Pete looked at the name on the front of the pick-up order. “Kid used a fake name but came in to pick it up himself. He clearly isn’t a professional school skipper.”

  Sarah watched KJ freeze in the doorway when he saw her sitting in the restaurant. She sighed. “No need to stop. You’ve already left school and I’ve seen you. No taking any of it back now.”

  He went and paid for his food, then sat down in the seat across from her. “I hear you have a date with my dad tomorrow.”

  “I do. What do you think about that?”

  He shrugged. “Whatever. He likes you. Do you like him?”

  “I think so.” Sarah smiled. “He’s a very good man.”

  KJ opened his food boxes and dug in. “I guess.”

  “Why did you skip today?”

  “I didn’t skip. They were going to suspend me. I just did them a favor and left before they had to ask.”

  Sarah’s mouth dropped open. “You were suspended?”

  “I was going to be suspended. Dunno if they did it yet.”

  “How did you get yourself suspended?”

  “I got in a fight.”

  “Did you win, at least?” Pete asked from the counter.

  KJ smiled and shrugged. “I dunno.”

  “That means you won,” Pete said. “Fighting is never right, but if you’re going to do it you’d better win.”

  “Peter!” Reba looked scandalized. “Don’t encourage the boy. KJ, you acted inappropriately. You should never fight.”

  “The kid was trash-talking shifters. I had to punch him. He didn’t know I was one or he wouldn’t have been running his mouth.”

  Sarah frowned. “That doesn’t make it better. You should have told an adult.”

  KJ snorted. “Yeah, ’cause that helps. I bet a nice, calm conversation would have changed his mind.”

  “You mean like punching him in the face did?” Sarah countered.

  “He’ll think twice before he runs his mouth around my kind again.”

  Sarah had to admire the kid’s chutzpah. She probably wouldn’t have the courage to physically fight for something she believed in; she was more of a petition and protest kind of girl. “I’m going to have to tell your dad about this. You’re staying here until he comes to pick you up.”

  “You go right ahead. He’s going to find out anyway. But don’t think you’re punishing me or anything. I was going to hang out around here anyway.”

  Sarah pulled out her phone and called Kai. As she’d expected, he wasn’t very happy. He couldn’t come to get KJ for a few hours. Sarah said she’d be fine to watch him until then.

  When she hung up, she spoke to KJ. “We’re going to your house. No point in us sitting around here while we wait. You can read a book or do something productive.”

  “I don’t read.”

  “I guess you’re going to start. You’re not going to be sitting on your butt the whole suspension.”

  “You can come and work here,” Pete suggested. “You can bus tables and learn how to set orders up.”

  “Really?” KJ said.

  Pete nodded. “Sure.”

  “I have to do a project with Clint on Saturday, but I’m in every day besides that.”

  “You understand we aren’t going to be paying you, right?” Reba told him. “This is a volunteer experience.”

  “Can I get food while I’m volunteering?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Pete looked at Reba, who nodded. “Great. Come in when we open each day and you can work for three hours.”

  Sarah was surprised KJ was so excited about working, but she didn’t argue with him. She couldn’t believe he’d gotten in trouble again. Skipping school, and now he was fighting. She wanted children, but she wasn’t sure if she could handle a ready-made problem child.

  ***

  “I’ll drop him off before I go down to the school tomorrow,” Kai told Sarah. “Thanks for staying with him. You really didn’t have to do this.”

  “I wanted to. I didn’t think it would be good for him to be gallivanting around town by himself.”

  “This really isn’t like him. He’s a good kid.”

  Sarah smiled. “People keep saying that, and I’m sure he is. He’s going through a rough patch, is all. You’ll get him straightened out.”

  “I hope so. First step is getting that damn McGarber guy fired.” Kai filled Sarah in on the details of the problem. “A few of the alphas and some other shifter parents will come in with me tomorrow morning. We’re not leaving until something is done about this jerk.”

  “Good. It sounds really detrimental to the kids. I can’t believe someone like that would live here at all.”

  “He’s from one town over.” Kai growled. “Sorry. I’m really angry about this. KJ wouldn’t have had this fight if it wasn’t for this guy. The kid he fought was repeating stuff McGarber had told him.”

  Sarah shook her head. “That’s terrible.”

  “You know, enough about that. You’re going to be around for the winter festival, right?”

  “I will.”

  “I’m going to jump the gun here and ask you to go on a third date with me. I’d love to take you to the tree lighting.”

  “I’d like that.” Sarah stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

  The stress of the day melted away as Kai took the curvy Aussie in his arms. He was surprised at how quickly he could get used to having her in his arms. His panther didn’t want to let her go. It was a good thing KJ was in the living room watching TV. Even so, Kai didn’t want to move too fast for Sarah. She was a human and didn’t understand the pull of a mate.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow, if that’s all right.”

  “Sure.”

  He let Sarah out and locked the door behind her. All that night, he thought about her. He wondered if telli
ng her she was his mate would be a good idea. She seemed to understand some of the aspects of being a shifter. It might not freak her out too much, and it could give her incentive to stay in Sunset Falls a little longer. She was good with KJ. He hadn’t been expecting that, either. She wasn’t running for the hills even though it was an awkward situation.

  By the morning, he had resolved to try. He was taking her on a picnic in the desert. There was a spot near the Falls that was gorgeous. It was technically closed at night, but he’d gotten permission from the owner to be there. It paid to have the best courier service in the country.

  First, he was going to have to take care of the McGarber problem. He was feeling confident that it would be easy. There were so many parents who were coming. After he’d dropped KJ off at the Chinese restaurant, he met up with the parents at Two Wolves.

  “Great to see you, man.” Matt shook his hand in greeting. Matt then introduced him to the parents he didn’t know. There were fifteen adults coming. Matt, Mark, and Owen didn’t have any kids in the middle or high school but they were the three alphas in town. Kai hadn’t told the school that he was bringing people with him. When they turned up at the school, the secretary didn’t want to let them all inside.

  “Martha, this is Owen Brooks.” Owen spoke into the intercom outside of the school. “Tell Principal Eurest that either he can speak with us now or we can speak to a reporter. I think the rest of the community will be very interested to hear that the local principal turned away a group of concerned shifter parents.”

  They were all waiting outside the main office moments later. They wouldn’t all fit inside the office, so Principal Eurest came out to meet them. “Hello, friends. What can I do for you today?”

  “You can tell us why you have a staff member spreading anti-shifter ‘facts’ around the school,” Kai said. “My son was suspended yesterday because he got in a fight. That fight wouldn’t have happened if Mr. McGarber hadn’t been telling kids his ‘facts’.”

  Principal Eurest turned bright red. “Right. Okay. Well, I mean I haven’t heard these allegations before today. So you’ll have to give me time to start an investigation.”

  “Investigate all you want, but I want to know what you’re going to do when it turns out we’re telling the truth.” Matt crossed his arms. “All of these kids can’t be lying. The pack has been having problems with this guy since last year. Now it’s escalating. I want to hear what you’re going to do about it.”

  “Well, I can’t give any promises at this time. I need to investigate.” Eurest was sweating.

  “That’s fine,” Kai said. “But my son won’t be returning to this school until the matter is settled. I don’t think this school is currently a safe environment for shifters.”

  There was agreement from the parents behind Kai.

  Owen nodded. “I agree. I’ll wait to hear what you’re doing, but if you take no action, I’m going to pull the Pride members from your school.”

  The parents filed out as Eurest tried to explain. No one wanted to hear it.

  Kai was angry as Owen walked next to him outside. “You did great in there, man,” Owen told him. “You’re a natural. I’m surprised you haven’t taken a bigger part in community events.”

  “Never thought about it before.”

  “Maybe you should. Talk to me if you want to get involved.” Owen shook Kai’s hand before they all parted ways.

  It had never crossed his mind to join in the community events. He didn’t think the town needed any more leaders. But it had never crossed his mind to sign up with a dating agency, either. He was going to have to start rethinking his long-held ideas.

  Six

  “Mum and Dad are coming for Christmas!” Sarah told her aunt and uncle the good news. “I just talked to Mom. They’re going to be arriving on the twentieth.”

  Reba clapped. “That’s so wonderful, and unexpected.”

  “I know,” Sarah said. “I guess the weather hasn’t been so hot. They’re ready for a change and we’re only a short flight away.”

  “You’d better finish getting ready,” Pete warned her, checking his watch.

  “I’m going.”

  Sarah went to her room to finish dressing. It was the night of the Christmas festival, also her and Kai’s official third date. She’d seen him over the weekend but that hadn’t been a date. He’d come into the shop for lunch and they’d gone to the bakery together afterwards. All Frank’s delicious treats were so good Sarah considered staying for them alone. Reba had been talking up the shop since they’d first moved to town. There was no way she’d be able to get out of town without trying the place out.

  Kai had sent her home with a basket of goods for Reba and Pete. He’d been in a surprisingly good mood despite all the stuff going on with KJ. He was suspended until Monday, but it sounded like McGarber was going to be fired. Matt and Mark Lunar were also pushing for the school to have some shifter sensitivity training. It couldn’t hurt, in Sarah’s opinion. She’d had to sit through a course in vet school. People would believe the most outlandish things if shifters were involved. By bringing things out into the open, most of the myths and urban legends were debunked.

  KJ, Reba, and Pete were coming with them to the festival, but Kai was taking her somewhere special afterwards. He promised her a little romantic meal in a special spot. She couldn’t even guess where they were going, but she was excited. The more time she spent with Kai, the more she liked him. She was starting to warm to the idea of moving to the States. Even if it was only for a trial run, it would be fairly easy. She could get a license to practice in America and try something new.

  “I’m ready.” She came downstairs in her jeans and boots. It was a very American outfit and she loved it. Funny how an Australian snow boot was a very popular winter fashion choice in America.

  The trio met KJ and Kai at the park down the street. Even though there wasn’t snow on the ground and it wasn’t very cold, there was a festive spirit in the air. KJ and Kai were both wearing Christmas sweaters and Reba was wearing a whole Christmas outfit. Sarah was wearing small Christmas ornament earrings she’d borrowed from her aunt. Only Pete was wearing normal winter clothes. People waved and stopped to talk as they got closer to the tree.

  A few of the LK Brides she’d met at the restaurant stopped to say hello to Sarah. She’d only been in town two weeks but she was fitting in nicely. She’d heard good things about how friendly Americans were and it was nice to see it was true.

  The LK couples and their children were going to have a part of the festival. Sarah had heard Olivia was going to be bringing them onstage sometime during her little speech.

  She’d asked Kai and Sarah to come up too, but Sarah had declined. It was too soon and she hated being the center of attention. Kai didn’t seem to mind very much.

  KJ went to hang out with his friends as soon as he saw them. He was having a sleepover at one of his friends’ houses for the night. It would give Sarah and Kai more time alone that evening. It made her a little nervous. Third date and having the house all to themselves. She would like to get more intimate with Kai and it seemed like he wanted the same thing. They hadn’t spoken about it yet, but she’d worn her cutest underwear in preparation.

  They found a spot near the base of the tree to settle in before the tree lighting began. Pete and Kai went to get everyone some hot chocolate. By the time they returned, the mayor was introducing Olivia.

  “Thank you,” Olivia said as she took the podium. “I’m sure many of you know who I am, but I’d like to invite a few friends onstage right now.”

  A whole section of the crowd got up and made their way to the stage. There were more people than stage. Families wrapped around the stage and stood behind Olivia. Once they’d settled in, she turned back to the crowd.

  “This is why I came to Sunset Falls last year. I’m a matchmaker with Lovely and Kind Brides, and I love my job very much. This is the best part. If I do my job well, the end result is a new happy f
amily. I couldn’t be more proud of what my friends in Sunset Falls have helped me do.”

  Sarah couldn’t help but marvel at all the couples Olivia had matched. It looked like a fifth of the whole town was onstage.

  In the middle of Liv’s speech, Kai slipped his hand in Sarah’s. The small gesture warmed her heart. They were just another normal couple attending a festival. Only in Sunset Falls would their unusual relationship be not so unusual. Plus, there was comfort in the fact that she would have so much support if she stayed. Not only her aunt and uncle; there was a whole gang of other LK Brides who had successfully married their matches.

  Not all of them were from Sunset Falls, either. There were many women who had come from out of town and at least two from foreign countries.

  It could work out just fine, Sarah told herself. Just seeing all those happy families while Kai held her hand made her infinitely hopeful for their future. She wondered if Kai was feeling the same thing. He liked her too, but did he see how special their future could be?

  ***

  “I had a lot of fun,” Sarah said as she buckled her seat belt.

  “Me too,” Kai said.

  He was nervous. This was it—he was going to tell her at the picnic. She’d already had a great time at the festival. They’d spoken to Olivia after she lit the tree. She didn’t pry into how things were going, but Kai could tell she was excited for them. He was too. Sarah’s parents were coming for Christmas, and if things went well, he could ask her dad for her hand in marriage. It was fast, but he knew it was right. She fit perfectly into his family and he could see himself growing old with her. He only hoped she felt the same way.

  “Close your eyes,” he told her when they were getting close to their destination. She obliged with a smile and kept her hands over her eyes for the rest of the drive. Once he had parked, Kai took her out of the car and led her to the spot he had set up. “Open your eyes now.”

  “Oh!” Sarah’s expression was priceless. This was what he had worked for. “This is all so beautiful. Did you do it yourself?”

  Kai nodded, filled with pride. He had decorated the entire picnic area with Chinese lanterns and Christmas lights. It looked magical. He’d gotten the idea from the Internet and had run with it. There was a white tablecloth on the picnic bench and a basket on top. “Sit. I’m sure you’re hungry.”