A Very Jaguar Christmas (6 page)

Both Everett and Howard raised their brows and smiled at her.

She felt her face warm. She could say that to her female friends, and they totally understood. Say that to men, and they immediately envisioned something completely different.

“Well, before you go home and do that, do you want to have lunch out?” Everett asked.

She couldn't believe he'd ask.

Howard smiled. “I'd say yes, if you were asking me.”

She laughed. “Sure. It's nearly noon.”

“Okay, I just made reservations. I can drive,” Everett said.

Howard just shook his head. “See you around. If I learn anything more about the jungle incident, I'll let you know.”

“Thanks, Howard,” Demetria said. When he left the room, she turned to Everett. “You didn't think I had other plans?”

“I considered it, but I figured you would have said you had to run to have lunch with someone.”

“Always an agent.”

“Got to keep on my toes.”

“So where are we going?” she asked.

“Does the Japanese hibachi steak house at the mall appeal?”

“Ohmigod, yes. Really? I never get to go there. It's so expensive. For real? You're paying, right?”

Everett laughed. “Yeah, I'm paying. And if you don't have anything else to do, I thought we could see a matinee movie and do a little Christmas shopping. I usually do it online—fewer crowds and less of a hassle. But I wouldn't mind checking out a few stores if you want.”

“Yes, I'd love to. I usually try to run in, grab what I need, and run out—I'm not a window shopper—so that sounds like a great plan. We could even split up if the places I want to go wouldn't interest you, and vice versa.”

“It's a deal.”

* * *

Everett told himself he needed to go slowly to not make Demetria feel as though he was desperate to see her. She was an independent free spirit, and he didn't want her to believe he was planning to monopolize all her time during her vacation. Though when she mentioned staying in her pajamas late into the day during her time off, that sure made him wish he was lounging with her and enjoying the holidays, chilling out, and more. He was trying not to mentally make plans with her for the next two weeks.

It wasn't working. As soon as the night was through, he'd be asking her out for tomorrow.

He'd hoped if he made the reservations for the restaurant, she wouldn't back out or ask Howard to join them. He knew Howard would understand where he was coming from and would butt out. As Plan B, if she had said she had other plans, Everett would have asked Howard if he wanted to join him. Wouldn't
he
have been surprised? Demetria too, he suspected.

Everett was glad she'd said yes to everything. When they arrived at the mall, he realized he actually hadn't been here during the holidays for a number of years. Online purchasing was just so much less of a hassle. No vying for parking spaces or dealing with all of the crowds.

And yet, he really felt the Christmas spirit at the mall. He enjoyed hearing the Christmas music, seeing Santa and his elves, the kids all lined up eager to sit on Santa's lap, and the shops all decorated in Christmas trees and wreaths or other holiday fare.

Demetria was all smiles, looking at all the decorations and smelling the sweet scents from a candy shop decorated in giant-sized candy canes and lollipops.

“Did you want to go in?” He could probably get some gifts for his family in there.

“Yeah, after we eat. This is where I'll buy us dessert.”

He smiled. “Dessert's on me. I need to pick up some gift boxes too.”

“Okay, but next time…”

So many people were rushing to do last-minute shopping that it was hard not to bump into someone. Everett took advantage of the situation, wrapping his arm around Demetria's shoulders to pull her close and shield her a little. At least, that's what he told himself.

She smiled up at him. “Crowded, isn't it?”

“Yeah. That's why I normally shop online. But this is fun for a change.” Only because he was with Demetria. She made it fun.

“I agree.”

Everett swore more people had brushed against him than not when a young boy holding a sticky, red-and-green candy cane nearly ran into him. “Hey, buddy, watch out.” He spoke with authority to get the kid's attention, but not in a mean way. Still, wide amber eyes gazed up at him, as if the kid could see Everett was really a jaguar in human disguise and all of Everett's wickedly sharp jaguar teeth were on full display.

A woman with two more children that looked just like the boy—who couldn't have been much older than four—quickly intercepted him, giving Everett an apologetic, frazzled smile. “So sorry. Just saw Santa. I shouldn't have let them have the candy canes Santa gave them until we got home. I usually have more help when I'm at the mall.”

“No problem.” But when he took a breath as she hurried past him to grab another of her triplets, he smelled wolf. He cast a glance back at the slightly built woman, a brunette with amber eyes, her boys all favoring her. The boys were staring at him as if he were a big, bad wolf, eyes rounded, mouths open wide.

The mom looked back at him as if to see what the matter was, frowned, then hurried her children along again.

“Did you know her?” Demetria asked. “Cute kids. I can't imagine trying to take triplets to the mall during the holiday rush without some help.”

“Nah, I didn't know her. She and the boy closest to me just smelled of…” He shook his head.

“Of what?” Demetria slid her arm around his waist.

Everett tightened his arm around her shoulders, glad she was hugging him. “Of wolf. I just can't imagine anyone with young kids, triplets and all male at that, owning a wolf dog.”

“Girls can be just as out of control.” Demetria glanced back at them. “I missed the scent. Some people like to live dangerously.”

“I guess.”

After that, they ate at the hibachi restaurant, enjoying the entertainment as the chef tossed a cooked shrimp at Everett and he caught it between his teeth. Demetria smiled and took hold of Everett's arm, leaning close and whispering, “I'd love to see you do that as a jaguar.”

“The chef would leave all of it for me and run.”

“More for us then,” she said, since they had to share a table with six other people.

“You sound hungry.”

“I am, but I'm saving room for dessert.”

He smiled at her, and she laughed. “Why is it that when I'm saying something perfectly innocent, you don't look as though I am?”

“Hey, I'm the innocent here.”

She laughed again. “Somehow I find that hard to swallow.” She pulled out her phone to take a picture when the chef created a fiery volcano in the center of the grill. But then another woman offered to take a picture of the two of them sitting together with the fire display in the foreground.

Even better.

After that, they had fun in the candy shop. Everett bought a bunch of boxes of candy for gifts and peppermint fudge for dessert. Demetria eyed it for a long time, then asked the clerk for a sample, though Everett had offered her a bite of his, waggling his brows at her. After that, she chose a piece of it too.

They shopped some more, then went to the theater to choose the movie. The choices were a sci-fi adventure thriller and a Christmas murder mystery. Everett left it up to Demetria. They both read the reviews, but neither of them knew anyone who had seen the new releases yet.

Demetria picked the Christmas murder mystery because it looked like it had a happier ending than the other. Halfway through the movie, Everett was sure the choice had been a mistake. Demetria was tense, wiping away tears trailing down her cheeks and visibly upset. Hell, who would have thought the hero would have flashbacks of fighting terrorists in the jungle now that he was at home during the Christmas holidays. He was trying to solve the murder of his best friend, involving the woman he loved, a woman who hadn't known how the hero felt about her.

Even Everett felt uncomfortable with the similarities in the story to their own true-life situation, as much as they were dissimilar. He tried to see it as just a made-up story, not like their lives in the least, but that didn't help. Not when he was sure Demetria was feeling distressed.

He didn't want to intrude, but he didn't want her to believe she had to see the rest of the movie because he wanted to, that it would be okay if she felt like leaving. Either way was fine with him. Then again, maybe she cried a lot at movies, and if he said anything, he would embarrass her.

Damn, he hated second-guessing the situation. But he didn't want her feeling bad.

“Is the movie all right? Do you want to go?”

She shook her head. “I'm fine. I want to see the happy ending.”

They saw the happy ending—boy and girl fell in love, and the murder mystery was solved—but Everett was sure they should have watched anything other than that movie. “Well, that was kind of a downer,” he said, walking her to the car and rubbing her back lightly.

“I had a lovely time, Everett. Don't worry about it.”

“If you're not doing anything tomorrow…” he said.

“I'm going to just…veg tomorrow. I've really needed this vacation.”

“Sure, I understand. Me too.” But he still would have loved to spend some time hanging out with her. Maybe he should have started out more slowly. “If you decide you want to do anything, just let me know. I was thinking of going to see that ice sculpture place. They're featuring Christmas around the world. I've never been before, and I thought it would be fun.”

She smiled, but her smile was sad. “I haven't been either. Maybe some other time.”

“Sure thing.” He dropped her at her car parked at the JAG headquarters, but before he could open her door, she hurried to get out of the car, her body language saying she wanted out of there, no kissing, no hugs. He wished the evening had ended a whole lot differently.

Demetria had a wonderful time with Everett, but she wished she hadn't picked that movie to watch. How was either of them to know that it would hit so close to home? She tossed and turned all night, unable to quit envisioning Everett and Matt in the jungle fighting to save Lacy, and Matt losing his life.

She finally managed to sleep in, did her laundry, changed bedsheets, and dusted. She did everything she could think of while trying to get her mind off Everett and how unhappy he'd seemed that she'd so quickly ended the night with him. But she couldn't help it. Everett was the hero in the movie, had the crush on her while she'd been dating his best friend, and yet, she hadn't loved Matt like the woman had loved the man who had died in the story. As a friend, yes, but not as a man Demetria had wanted to promise her love to forever.

How could things get so complicated?

She gave up on trying to sort it out in her own mind and called Tammy. “Hey, girl, need to talk. When is your next break coming up?”

“I work only half a day today. Students are training in combat maneuvers for the rest of the afternoon and through the night so I've got a break. Want to get together?”

“Yeah. I'll fix enchiladas.”

“You sound down. You're on your vacation. You're supposed to be happy. Is there something wrong with the case you've been working on? Brayden Covington's case? Don't tell me Lucian's being a total jerk again.”

“No. I went and saw
Christmas Trouble
.”

“Oh.”

“You've seen it?”

“Umm, yeah. I never read reviews or what the movie's about. The title said Christmas, and my mate wanted to go. Believe me, getting him to see a Christmas movie is like pulling jaguar teeth. So we went and we both immediately thought of…” Tammy paused. “Well, anyway, I'll be over in half an hour. Do you want me to bring dessert?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Tammy could always cheer her up. The problem was that Demetria had never told Tammy how she had felt about the two men.

Demetria finally threw on jeans, sneakers, and a sweater, brushed her hair and applied a little makeup. Then she turned on her Christmas tree lights before Tammy arrived. She was there in twenty minutes, as if she figured Demetria was about to go off the deep end.

“Hey, Demetria,” Tammy said, handing her their favorite chocolate-chip mousse cake from a shop near her and giving her friend a hug.

“Sorry to be so glum.”

“No problem. I brought the fixings for Christmas margaritas, perfect to go with your out-of-this-world enchiladas.”

Demetria smiled.

“Let me just grab my bag out of the car.”

“You're staying the night?” Demetria was thrilled. “What about David?”

“He's got nighttime tactical maneuvers with the students. You and I haven't had a sleepover in eons. Besides, I can't drive after we have a couple of Christmas margaritas and”—Tammy pulled a handful of Christmas movies out of her bag—“I brought a bunch of fun Christmas movies that David prefers I watch by myself. He'll play a shoot-'em-up computer game instead while sitting with me on the couch. It will be fun to watch with someone who really wants to see the movie with me.”

Demetria laughed. “Okay, sounds good.” She started serving the enchiladas and rice.

Tammy began making the margaritas, adding some cranberry juice to change the lime green color to red and running a wedge of lime around the edge of the glasses, then dipping them into a saucer of sugar and adding thinly sliced limes on top.

Demetria picked one of the Christmas comedies and started it, and then they settled on the couch to eat and drink and be merry. Until she got a call from her mother. “Hey, Mom. Tammy's here to watch Christmas movies with me.”

“Oh, okay, dear. I just wanted to let you know your father is back in town.”

“I'm coming over.”

“I don't need your protection. I'm fine. I'll call the JAG branch if I have any trouble. Have a good time. I just wanted to let you know in case you got word he was back in town.”

“Mom—”

“I'll handle it. Okay? I guess I shouldn't have told you.”

“Of course you should. I'll let you deal with it then. But you call me too if he's a problem. All right?”

“You know I will. Have fun with Tammy. Night, dear.”

“Night, Mom.” Ugh. Demetria couldn't believe her dad was back in the area. After leaving them with no word for the last two years?

She was still thinking about that when Tammy took a sip of her margarita, turned to her, frowning, and said, “Wait, you did not go to see that movie all by yourself, did you?”

* * *

Everett had spent the day playing video games, thinking about Demetria and their time together and wishing things had ended better between them. He was trying to pretend that seeing the movie hadn't happened.

Before he retired to bed, he sat in his boxer briefs fighting the third dragon he had to kill before he could get on with the story on an RPG, a role-playing game, when his cell rang. It was two in the morning. Worried something was wrong, he grabbed the phone off his desk and saw that Demetria was calling. He was both concerned and eager to talk with her.

“Hello, Demetria? Is everything all right?”

“I can't believe you took Demetria to see
that
movie.”

“Tammy?” For a moment, he tried to sort out his confusion. His sister was slurring her words, which meant she'd been drinking. Hell. “Where's David?” As if he was supposed to keep Everett's sister in check.

“Out training. Nighttime. Maneuvers.”

“Are you home?” She couldn't be. She had called from Demetria's house. “You're at Demetria's place?” Which was why she knew he and Demetria had gone to see the movie. He was a little slow on the uptake.

“Yes, and she told me you took her to see
that
movie.”

“She wanted to see it. It was her choice.” Everett took a deep, settling breath. “We didn't know anything about the movie. I asked if she wanted to leave partway through it, but she said no. What did she say to you?” He hadn't meant to sound so defensive, but Tammy was clearly on the offensive.

His sister let out her breath in an exasperated way. “She won't talk to me about it. She always talks to me about everything. What did you do to her?”

“I didn't do anything to her.” Except upset her by taking her to see the movie. Everett ran his hands through his hair as he studied the paused game screen, the blue dragon spewing ice instead of fire at his party of highly trained warriors. “Let me talk to Demetria.”

“She's sleeping.”

“I am not,” Demetria said in the background, sounding like she was half-asleep.

“Do you want to talk with him?” Tammy asked, paused, then added, “Demetria shook her head.”

“Are you planning on going home tonight? If so, I'm coming to get you.” No way was Everett letting his sister drive home, considering how she sounded.

“No, I'm staying with Demetria. She needs me.”

“Is she really upset?”

“She looks like a sleepy big cat.”

He smiled and wondered what the sleepy big cat was wearing for the slumber party.

“Let him come over. He can wash the dishes.” Demetria's words were just as slurred as his sister's.

Everett's smile broadened. If he was getting an invitation, he was on his way. Solely to make sure the ladies didn't get themselves into trouble, of course. But if he could end this on a better note with Demetria, he was all for it. “On my way over.”

“She didn't mean it!” Tammy said. “Did you, Demetria?”

Everett was hurrying to dress. “What's her address?”

“This is a Guardian party, no Golden Claws allowed,” Tammy said.

“Tammy…” he said in his authoritative Golden Claw voice.

“Oh, all right. Next time you take her to the movies, ask me if it's all right first.” Tammy gave him the address. “Do you want a drink too?”

“Don't let her fix one for you,” Demetria said. “She broke the glass. I can't afford for her to break any more.”

“It slipped. It was the fae's fault.”

Smiling, Everett shook his head.

“Slippery fingers, lime, whatever,” Tammy said.

“Don't you have to work tomorrow?” Training started at five in the morning, but Tammy usually got off at three in the afternoon. And she needed her sleep.

“Uh-huh.”

“It's two in the morning.”

“I can't see the clock. Is it really two in the morning? Ohmigod, I have to get to bed. Night, Everett. Night, Demetria.” Then Tammy hung up on him.

He wasn't sure what he'd find when he arrived at Demetria's place—probably both women sound asleep. He was glad he didn't have to work tomorrow. He'd stay, make sure Tammy was fit to send in to work and Demetria was okay, then return home to sleep.

When he arrived, he found the door locked, which was good. But no one was answering, which he'd suspected would be the case. He used his lockpicks on the door and entered the condo, closing the door and locking it.

Only the Christmas tree lights were still on.

“Just me,” Everett said, well aware both women had guns, though Tammy probably hadn't taken hers with her to see her friend. But Demetria might not be sober enough to realize he was just there to help.

He turned on a light in the dining room and kitchen and saw the mess on the floor: margarita mix, tequila, broken glass, slices of lime—the works. He walked around the mess and headed into the living room, where he found Demetria snuggled up against a couch pillow, her silky, dark hair falling over her neck like a scarf and her feet tucked under another couch cushion. She was wearing a pair of red flannel pajamas decorated in penguins and snowman. He smiled, never having seen her in something so whimsical. Now when he thought of her lying around in her pajamas all day, he'd have a better visual. He pulled a red-and-green afghan off the end of the couch and covered her with it.

Dirty dishes and glasses were sitting on the coffee table. He'd take care of those too.

Then he checked on his sister in the guest room. She was snuggled under the covers.

“Hey, Tammy, I'm here. I'm going to clean up the mess you ladies made and just hang around until you get on your way to work tomorrow. All right?”

Tammy looked up at him with narrowed eyes, as if she couldn't get them open any wider and wasn't sure who she was seeing. Then she took a deep breath. “Oh…Everett. 'Kay.” Then she closed her eyes, covered herself again with the blue comforter, snuggled against her pillow, and fell back to sleep.

He checked again on Demetria, but she hadn't moved, so he went into the kitchen to begin Operation Cleanup.

Even though he would have been at home still playing his game and killing the dragons plaguing their world, he was glad to be here as a brother, a friend, and a Golden Claw agent whose mission was to take care of jaguars in need. Still, he'd never believed he would be serving as a maid.

He was nearly done mopping the floor when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye and turned to look. Demetria was leaning against the wall next to the china cabinet, looking half-asleep, her dark hair in curls around her shoulders.

“Are you okay? Do you need something to help settle a hangover?” he asked, continuing to mop the floor.

She snorted. “What are you doing?” Her words were still fuzzy.

“Cleaning up after the party and ensuring Tammy gets to work tomorrow. You don't want to see Martin when he gets a call that one of his trainers didn't show up first thing in the morning. Or hear how upset David would be if he learned he had to be out training all night and his mate didn't come into work the next morning to teach. If she had just…vanished.”

Demetria sighed. “Got it.”

“Why don't you get some sleep if you can? I'll leave first thing in the morning.”

She nodded and turned, and nearly fell.

He sighed, set the mop against the counter, and stalked toward her. She held up her hand to ward him off. “I can do it.”

“Yeah, and you'll make it by the time I leave in the morning.” He gently scooped her up in his arms, feeling way too much like he was taking her to his bed, and carried her down the hall to the room she indicated was her bedroom, putting her in her own bed. He covered her up and, well, hell, kissed her cheek. Which is what he had wanted to do before they ended their time together last night. Well, kiss her lips, hug her, more.

Her eyes widened a little. He smiled and said good night. Then he went back to his maid duties.

When he was done, he removed his clothes except for his boxer briefs and stretched out on the couch, covering himself with the afghan, wrapping himself in Demetria's scent, and thinking this was as close as he might ever get to heaven.