“You haven’t changed your mind about taking over the clinic already, have you?” Poor Doc Mitchell sounded worried.

  “Oh, absolutely not. I’m returning as soon as I can. My friends arrived and they want to run with me tomorrow night on your property. Is that okay? They’re jaguars.”

  “Yeah, come by the house and I’ll give you a survey of the land and you can run around the acreage to your heart’s content.”

  “Oh, thanks, that would be wonderful. Thanks so much, Doc.”

  “The place is yours. Enjoy it while you’re here.”

  “We will.” Gabrielle thought he was such a nice man. She hoped he would work with her for a while once she began to see patients here. She called Nicole next. “Hi, Nicole. This is Gabrielle. I’m going swimming with Landon after skiing tomorrow night, but I wondered if you would like to come with my jaguar friends and me and run on Doc Mitchell’s property.”

  “I would love to. That would be too much fun. I’ve never seen jaguar shifters in their fur coats. Maybe they can teach me some of those fun moves you did with us the other day when we were playing as a family,” Nicole said.

  “They would be happy too. We’ll have fun. We’re eating dinner now. I’ll tell the sisters you’ll be running with us and will let you know when we’re ready to go tomorrow night. I guess we’ll actually need you to drive us.”

  “I’ll be happy to. I’ll see you later. I can’t wait,” Nicole said.

  Then Gabrielle and Nicole ended the call. “It’s a go at Doc Mitchell’s place, and Nicole will be with us.”

  “Yes,” Odette said.

  Landon smiled. “I wish I could run with all of you.”

  “Next time we’ll have to plan it better. We’ll come to visit when the new moon phase isn’t here and run with you too,” Zelda said.

  “I would love that.”

  Gabrielle didn’t want Landon to feel left out, but she would be going to bed with him after running anyway so he would see her the rest of the night.

  “Tomorrow morning, the two of you are welcome to join us when we go swimming,” Landon said, then took a bite of his mushroom-loaded burger.

  “We’ll see. We do have to get our beauty sleep,” Odette said.

  “Yes, unlike Gabrielle. I swear she can live on only a few hours of sleep and keep working away at it,” Zelda said. “Boy, is this pizza great.”

  “It is.” Odette smiled at Gabrielle.

  Gabrielle knew the sisters would love to swim because they were jaguars and they loved the water. But they would have to wait until spring thaw to swim in Doc Mitchell’s lake as big cats. She also figured she would swim with the sisters sometime while they were here—during regular pool hours, if they felt more comfortable about doing that. They were special agents with the JAG after all. And they did abide by the rules.

  After they ate, the sisters insisted Landon take Gabrielle up on the intermediate slopes while they hit the expert slopes. Which kind of surprised Gabrielle because she figured they would need to get their ski legs first. They hadn’t skied since last winter.

  They all geared up and then her friends rode the chairlift following Gabrielle and Landon. She figured they would ski off to the right trail where it led to one of the expert slopes, but she and Landon were already headed down the intermediate slope and she was concentrating on her form by the time the jaguar sisters left the chairlift.

  At the bottom of the intermediate slope, Gabrielle turned to head for the chairlift again, Landon right beside her, when she saw her friends sailing down the intermediate slope. She smiled.

  Odette shrugged. “We figured we would take one trip down the intermediate just to make sure we remembered how to do this.”

  Gabrielle sure had wondered about that, but she figured the real reason they came skiing tonight was so she and Landon could still ski together. Skiing with him during the day was so much fun. But at night, with the sun setting and the lights coming on, it was romantic and spectacular. The shadows of the skiers followed them down the slopes.

  She and Landon went up again, and when they reached the bottom of the slope, they headed for the chairlift, wanting to make the most of the skiing tonight. This time she saw her friends coming off a black diamond slope. She smiled and waved at them with her ski pole and nearly fell. Landon grabbed her shoulder to steady her.

  No waving with ski poles in the future.

  Then she and Landon were on the chairlift again. “It really is okay with your sisters that I stay in your guest room, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, you bet. I’m surprised they hadn’t suggested it already.”

  Gabrielle laughed. “Well, I wanted to do it, but I was afraid my friends would feel I was forsaking them for you, but they really wanted this too.”

  “I will forever be in your friends’ debt. We’ll have to have them over to the house for dinner the night before you leave, to thank them properly.”

  “That would be nice.”

  After several more trips down the mountain and at closing time for the ski lifts, they saw the sisters skiing toward them from the bottom of another expert slope. They were all smiles.

  “Wow, to think we can do this several times a year with a free room here when we come in the future,” Odette said.

  “Yes, I so agree. We’ll be able to cook at your place and save on meals, and take you out to the tavern since we can’t buy you meals at the lodge,” Zelda said as they all skied toward the lodge.

  “Oh, tomorrow I’ve got to take you into town to see the tea shop. Maybe in between skiing in the morning and the afternoon? It’s only open afternoons. And I can show you the giant snowman we built named Sparkle.” Gabrielle remembered the snowman was lighted now, and she couldn’t wait to see it after they swam and went to the house.

  Then she thought about how they had no transportation into town.

  Landon quickly said, “I’ll drop you off in town tomorrow. I need to run some errands anyway.”

  “You could eat lunch with us,” Zelda said, and Gabrielle knew she meant it.

  He shook his head. “It’s okay. Once I finish errands, I’ll grab a hamburger, and when you’re done, I’ll take you back to the lodge.”

  Gabrielle thought the world of him for wanting them to have their own time together too as she, Landon, and her friends skied to the lodge together.

  Chapter 16

  Landon knew the sisters didn’t want to separate Gabrielle and him, but she needed some time with her friends, and he was perfectly happy to give them their space. “Do you all live near each other in Daytona Beach?”

  “We live about a half mile from each other,” Zelda said. “We were all at the beach one night really late. We were as surprised to see a wolf as she was to see a couple of jaguars. Odette and I were playing in the surf, and she was standing on the beach watching us. Of course, as soon as we noticed her, our first thought was that she was a big dog that looked like a wolf. We were certain no wolves lived in Daytona Beach, and we didn’t know about wolf shifters at the time.”

  “Exactly,” Gabrielle said as they reached the lodge deck and removed their skis. “I knew right away they were jaguars, of course. This happened about eight years ago. I didn’t even know jaguar shifters existed back then. At first, I thought they had escaped from a zoo. Or maybe there was a big-cat rescue organization somewhere near Daytona Beach that I hadn’t heard of. I was really worried they were real cats and not shifters. They could easily have killed me if so.”

  “We weren’t sure what to do,” Zelda said. “We just watched Gabrielle, not wanting to give her a heart attack if we left the water. She didn’t bark, like a dog would, or make any sound at all and she wasn’t leaving. We were afraid she thought if she turned away from us and ran off, we would attack her. If we had been all jaguar, we probably would have. We carefully left the water, trying not to look like big cats prowling on the hunt, but that’s just the way we move. Then I figured if I shifted, the dog would just realize we were human and go on about its business. Imagine my surprise when the dog, or in reality a wolf, shifted too.”

  “We were totally in awe of Gabrielle,” Odette said.

  “Yeah, like I was of the sisters. I invited them to my house for drinks after that. We shifted back into our respective furry forms, loped off to our vehicles, shifted, dressed, and they followed me home. We must have talked until three in the morning.” Gabrielle smiled. “We even went for a swim in my pool. We’ve been friends ever since.”

  “We sure have been,” Odette said. “You couldn’t find a better friend than Gabrielle.”

  “I just didn’t know you were in the matchmaking game,” Gabrielle said to her friends.

  “Well, we knew you needed to be with a pack,” Zelda said.

  “Before it gets too much later, we’ll get some hot toddies and nachos so the two of you can go up to the room and get changed into your swimsuits,” Odette said.

  “Okay, thanks.” Gabrielle led Landon to the office’s storeroom where they left off their skis, poles, and ski boots while the sisters went to the rental place and dropped off theirs.

  It didn’t take Gabrielle and Landon long to reach her room, and then the two of them were quickly stripping out of their clothes in her room and exchanging them for their swimsuits. They didn’t want to take too long in case the sisters wanted to return to their room while Landon and Gabrielle were swimming.

  Then they went downstairs and Landon put out the pool party sign. They waved at the sisters who were drinking their hot toddies and snacking on red and green nachos fireside, both smiling at them and raising their mugs to them.

  They smiled and waved back at the sisters.

  Landon wanted to swim their laps and return to the room and change so he and Gabrielle could free up the room. He was certain the sisters would like to relax in their room soon, after their flight and because they were still on Eastern Standard Time, two hours later, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves for now.

  In the swimming pool area, Gabrielle seemed to have the same notion and was out of her cover-up and flip-flops before he even had time to pull off his shirt. She moved to the deeper end of the pool and dove into the water.

  He yanked off his shirt and removed his sandals, then jumped into the water after her.

  Gabrielle was too enticing to just want to swim laps with, so Landon swam after her as she did a breaststroke across the length of the pool. He dove under the divider to the outside part of the pool and caught her foot, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  “I’m going to miss this with you.” He kissed her cheek. Their warm breaths and the warm water collided with the cold air and created a magical mist.

  “Hmm, me too with you. I never believed I would be swimming with a hot wolf in a pool surrounded by snow and trees covered in Christmas lights.” Gabrielle wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m so glad I’ll be with you at night until I leave. You are sure you’re all right with taking us into town tomorrow so I can show Odette and Zelda the tea shop?”

  “Yes. You need time to be with your friends too. Otherwise, I would happily monopolize all your time.” He kissed her nose. “Ready for our laps, then we’ll head up, change, and go to the house?”

  “Yeah, I figured we wouldn’t spend as much time frolicking as we usually do so we can free up the suite for them.”

  “Exactly.”

  They swam more laps, but frolicking just seemed to be part of the routine and though he was trying to just swim, she fell behind on her lap and grabbed his feet. That had him laughing, though while they were in the pool after hours, they tried to suppress any loud laughing or conversation so they wouldn’t bother anyone who might be putting kids to sleep or was trying to get some sleep themselves.

  They kissed and hugged and chased each other, then called it quits so her friends could return to their room.

  They left the water and he pulled on his shirt and sandals while she was getting on her cover-up and flip-flops. The sisters were still enjoying their snacks when Gabrielle and Landon reached the lobby.

  “We’ll be right back and you can go up to your suite,” Gabrielle told them.

  “Take your time. We’re fine,” Zelda said.

  But they would be as quick as they could. Besides, he was sure Gabrielle would want to see the lights on the snowman like he wanted to, and then he was eager to go to bed with her. He was glad the guest bedroom had its own bathroom en suite so they would have more privacy.

  Once they had dressed, they pulled on their warm outer gear and put their wet bathing suits in the pocket of the bag that Gabrielle had left in the room for him.

  They stopped on their way through the lobby so she could give her friends hugs before she and Landon left the lodge.

  “Night, you two. We’ll see you in the morning,” Zelda said.

  “Breakfast at the bar and grill,” Gabrielle said.

  Odette smiled. “Okay, night all.”

  Then Landon and Gabrielle headed out into the cold to drop off all their stuff at the house. Once they reached the house, they could see the snowman all lit up. “Oh, I wish my friends could see it like this.”

  A family was taking pictures of themselves while they stood at the base of the snowman. They waved at Landon and Gabrielle who smiled and waved back.

  “We can bring the sisters over here to see the snowman tomorrow night after going to the tavern,” he said as Gabrielle took a picture of the snowman and sent it to her friends.

  “What will we do about taking showers?” she asked as they went inside the warm house. His sisters had already gone to bed, giving them privacy.

  “We have a bathroom attached to the guest room. Totally private.”

  “What are we waiting for then?”

  He smiled and carried their bags into the room and closed the door while she began stripping out of her clothes in a hurry.

  He was soon joining her in the shower, thinking how his showers had become wild and exciting instead of just a time to wash up. It sure wouldn’t be the same without her.

  Then they were in bed together, and he thought this couldn’t get any more perfect. Unless they were mated.

  * * *

  The next morning, Gabrielle and Landon woke late, and though she absolutely loved being with him in bed, all cuddled up to him and nice and cozy and warm, she groaned. “Being with you is not conducive to getting up early. If we ever did mate”—he raised his brows looking hopeful, and she smiled—“we would really have to work things out better than this.”

  He smiled and kissed her mouth. “We will, if it comes to that. I think I heard my sisters leave earlier.”

  “And you didn’t wake me?”

  “It was way too early and I fell back to sleep. Wild night, you know.”

  “Hmm, well, I smell the eggs, ham, and hash browns they made. Coffee, Irish tea.” Gabrielle grabbed her phone off the bedside table and texted Odette: Did you already have breakfast?

  Gabrielle was afraid they already had.

  Odette responded: Yep, and the food is great at the bar and grill. We’re off to ski. Meet you for a break of hot chocolate topped with loads of whipped cream at ten.

  Gabrielle groaned again and texted: Okay. Sorry about that. I meant to have breakfast with you.

  Odette responded: No way. This is all working out just as we planned. Off to get on the chairlift. See you later.

  Landon had already dressed. “What did they say?”

  “They’ll meet us for hot chocolate at ten.”

  “Okay. What do you want for breakfast?”

  Gabrielle was still lying in the bed, not wanting to get up. “What your sisters had. It smells delightful.”

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Do you want breakfast in bed?”

  “No. Go work on it. I’ll make myself presentable and I’ll come in to help you. I have to admit it’s tempting, but we’ll never get going if I don’t get my lazy butt out of bed.”

  Landon smiled. “Sure. See you in a bit.” He left to make breakfast, and she got up and dressed.

  What a way to wake up, though, with a hot wolf willing to make her breakfast in bed! Not to mention all that came before that.

  Gabrielle soon joined him to help make breakfast, but he was about done and beginning to serve the food. All the kittens were coming to greet her, including Princess Buttercup, and she stopped to pet them.

  She washed up and then made Landon some coffee and started some tea for herself. “Wow, you are sure handy.”

  She brought her tea and his mug of coffee to the table.

  “I am only too happy to make us breakfast.”

  “Your sisters must have been super quiet this morning. I think I heard a little bit of noise, but so barely audible that I drifted off to sleep again. I had no idea you had been awake too.”

  “Yeah, my sisters are the best. I figured we both needed the extra sleep.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Perfect.”

  “Great. I watched you add all that milk and sugar to it when we had breakfast here before, so I winged it.”

  “You winged it just right. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you, did you ever figure out the Secret Santa gift? Who it was for and who it was from?” he asked.

  “Oh, yeah, it had to be for one of the jaguar sisters. It was a stuffed jaguar, but they claim that they don’t have a clue who might have given it to them, and there wasn’t any scent on it indicating a jaguar interested in either of them gave it to them.”

  “Nicole or her brother could always look into it,” Landon said.

  “The sisters are good at what they do too. But we can mention Nicole to them, if they think they might need someone else to help them check into it.”