This Cat's for You, page 1
This Cat's for You
PEPPER MCGRAW
Contents
Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Excerpt
Thank you for reading
Other Books by Pepper
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About the Author
This Cat's for You Copyright © 2022 Pepper McGraw
Digital Edition
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Cover Images and Inside Images from Dreamstime:
Christmas Background © Anna Velichkovsky
Gray Cat Wrapped in Christmas Lights © Zsuskaa
White Kitten © Anna Velichkovsky
Woman’s Legs & Christmas packages © Adrenalinapura
Paw Prints and Heart © Zsuskaa
Pawprints © Fourleaflover
Christmas Santa Claus Kittens © Chanin Nuisin
Edited by J.L. Troughton
PMG Publishing
Description
It’s a pawsitively purrfect holiday season for the cats at PPM as they set their matchmaking sights on a bunch of grumpy bears and their purrfect cat companions and fated mates.
Lumiki has been waiting years for Wade Meier to realize that they’re fated mates and for him to claim her. Unfortunately, Wade is a very stupid bear and has shown no sign of ever coming to that realization. She’s about to give up on him when something completely unexpected happens. Now she’s questioning everything, including what she’s always believed to be true.
Zach Meier is Wade’s cousin. He’s known Lumiki his entire life. She’s his baby sister’s best friend and he’s always considered her to be like another sister. Suddenly though, he’s seeing her in an entirely different light, which is completely messing with his head. There’s no way Lumiki is meant for him, not when she’s been right there all this time and his bear has never given any indication that they might be mates.
This match is a complete and utter mess. Even the matchmaking cats of the goddesses are confused about who is supposed to be with whom. It will take a holiday miracle to sort this match out.
One
BYGUL WAS THE top matchmaker for Pawsitively Purrfect Matches. Being the best wasn’t exactly a surprise. He was the cat of a goddess, after all, and not just any goddess, but Freyja, herself.
This meant, of course, that he was a very busy cat, with a caseload a mile long. He was often working a number of matches at once or at least setting the wheels in motion for matches down the road.
The goal was always to find the most pawsitively purrfect human companion for each and every cat, which wasn’t anywhere near as easy as it sounded.
Matchmaking was highly unpredictable and didn’t exactly run on a timeline. After all, some matches just didn’t work out as planned and though humans weren’t exactly predictable, they were nothing compared to the cats, especially earthbound ones.
Bygul’s caseload included homeless cats he came across as he monitored the territories he’d been assigned as well as referrals and other cats brought to his attention by the goddesses. Of course, whenever the goddesses became involved, those cats took priority.
Some matches took longer than others, and once Bygul added matematching to his services, well, they all started taking longer than usual.
After all, he liked to see his humans as happy as the cats he matched them with and often this involved finding them not only their purrfect cat companions, but also their purrfect mates.
Unfortunately, that was when things got really complicated.
The other cats at PPM became interested in expanding their services as well and demanded to learn how to make their own mate matches. Thankfully, most cats were fickle at best and they soon lost interest and moved on to other pursuits.
Sadly, there were three cats more stubborn than the rest combined.
This was how Bygul went from working every match on his own to directing a small team made up of three matchmaking cats named Tivali, Soraya and Muezza.
One would think that having a team would make things more efficient, but instead, things just took longer.
He’d tried to explain this to the goddesses, but they seemed to believe that despite the loss of efficiency for him, the other three cats had gained so much with his guidance, that the entire program came out ahead.
He didn’t even have the words to describe how much that did not make sense, but there was simply no changing the mind of a goddess.
So for the last year, Bygul had continued in his spot as the top matchmaker at PPM, but he’d done so with three idiots tagging along.
Junior top matchmakers if you will.
They didn’t quite deserve the title.
Maybe junior, junior, junior top matchmakers, but that would be too much of a mouthful, so Bygul had taken to calling them his junior sidekicks (or idiotic ones depending on his mood).
The point was that because every single match now took longer with a team, the result had been a huge delay in Bygul getting back to Worcester Falls to keep a promise he’d made almost a year ago to an earthbound cat.
At the time, he’d believed Mason Worcester was going to be their final bear match in the Worcester Falls community and Bygul had been thrilled.
Finally.
They could leave the grizzlies behind.
But then at the Christmas cookout at Maggie Winter’s place, he’d met an arctic fox.
She’d been sitting on the ground, cuddling a cat in her lap, crooning softly to him while weeping over a bear.
A stupid, idiotic polar bear.
Bygul had stretched out beside her, though she couldn’t see him, of course, and had laid a paw right on her knee.
Genghis Khat—for of course, it was Maggie’s cat she’d been cuddling—had sent him a look, one that had said he needed to fix this and had lifted his head and given her a nudge, making her chuckle and resume her petting.
“It’s okay, Genghis Khat,” she’d said. “I know not all bears will recognize their mates like Kate did.”
Bygul let out a snort.
Kate Worcester hadn’t recognized her mate at all!
It had taken a lot of work—days upon days of matematching effort before she and the idiot panther had made their match!
“And I’m just not as bold as Isana.” The arctic fox peeked across the yard toward where Isana Meier and her mate, Mason Worcester, were standing arm-in-arm. “She’s always been so brave.”
More like stubborn and difficult, but whatever.
She sniffed. “It’s not like I can just walk up to Wade and—and tell him I’m his mate or—or kiss him or—or anything like that. I bet that’s all Isana had to do to win her mate.”
Seriously? As if Isana Meier wanted Mason Worcester? Didn’t she realize it was entirely the other way around?
“Wade and I have known each other our entire lives and he’s never looked at me that way. Not even once. And I’ve always loved him. Always.” She let out a huge sigh.
“I don’t know why I’m thinking about this again. I accepted long ago that Wade will never be mine. I would never have the courage to tell him a thing and even if I did—” She shook her head. “It would be a disaster. So fine. If he’s too stupid to notice what’s standing right in front of him, then that’s just fine. Who needs a mate anyway?”
Well, those words were almost like a dare to Bygul’s ears.
Unfortunately, his case load just wouldn’t wait any longer.
Not to mention that Tivali, Muezza and Soraya had their own caseloads and territories.
Unfortunately, this meant the fox would simply have to wait her turn.
Bygul certainly didn’t intend for that turn to take almost a year to come around. It was just that there were so many other cases taking priority and unfortunately, none of those cases were the purrfect match for her.
In the months he’d been busy not helping the arctic fox make her purrfect matches, he’d managed to do a bit of sleuthing and had discovered her name was Lumiki and she was the hostess at The Ice Box in Worcester Falls.
He’d also discovered the Wade she pined for was the bar manager at the restaurant where she worked.
What was it about these shifter bears?
Clueless, idiotic, stubborn.
Finally, though, everything was coming together.
Things were winding down with most of his cases and it was time to turn his attention back toward Worcester Falls.
He and his idiotic sidekicks had just managed to deliver the most purrfect earthbound mother cat and kittens exactly where they were needed most and were set to launch his most pawsitively purrfect matchmaking plan yet.
Then, because nothing could ever go exactly as planned, the goddesses sprang that crazy cat, Shredder, on them, which unfortunately, pulled their attention away from The Ice Box and things just went sideways from there.
Zach was not a happy bear.
Most days he really loved his job. He was a kitchen manager at The Ice Box and worked the dinner shift, which allowed him to sleep late.
Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of those days.
His older brother Bryce was out for the next two days which meant Zach had to take over some of Bryce’s management duties at The Ice Box, including getting up at an ungodly hour to go in and get the restaurant ready to open.
He hated mornings. He hated opening. And he hated the lunch shift.
In other words, today he hated his job.
This was why he parked in the alley and entered The Ice Box from the back.
It was also why he didn’t turn on any lights as he headed down the back hallway toward Bryce’s office.
It was because he was in a bad mood that he didn’t notice the lights at the front of the restaurant were already on or that the light inside Bryce’s office was also on.
It was because he was in such a shitty mood that he din’t register the sound of a voice crooning softly from inside Bryce’s office until he was halfway through the room.
And it wasn’t until he was almost to Bryce’s desk that he realized he wasn’t alone in that room.
It was only when he saw the epic ass lifted into the air, pointing out from under his brother’s desk that he realized he wasn’t alone and it was only then that he registered what he was hearing.
“Aren’t you the sweetest things I have ever seen? And you are the best mama ever.”
Staring at that quivering ass encased in the tightest skirt he had ever seen, Zach felt a wave of heat like he’d never experienced wash over him. Who was this woman and why was she in his brother’s office?
“Such a good mama, taking such precious care of your babies. Yes, you are.”
There was something familiar about her voice, but he could’t quite figure out what it was. Her head was under the desk so he couldn’t really see much.
“They’re so lucky to have you. Yes, they are. Such sweet babies. Such a good mama.”
All Zach could really see was that amazing ass and those incredible, shapely legs and those heels.
No.
The only one he knew around here who wore heels like those was—
It couldn’t be.
She wiggled her ass again and another wave of intense heat rolled through him and his polar bear suddenly woke, swiping out with his claws.
Damn. He had to get her out from under that desk before he lost control of his bear.
Zach cleared his throat loudly.
The woman froze for a moment, then slowly wiggled her way out from under the desk.
Zach stared as if in a trance, unable to look away as she slowly, slowly backed out, sank back on her heels and looked up.
Lumiki.
His baby sister, Isana’s best friend.
A girl he’d grown up with.
Someone he’d always treated as another little sister, someone he was afraid he’d never see in that same light again.
She was also the hostess for The Ice Box.
“Hi Zach.”
“Lumiki.” His voice was rough. He cleared his throat, then held out a hand and helped her to her feet. “Ah. What were you doing?”
“Oh! You have a mama cat and kittens.” She beamed up at him.
He shook his head. Surely he hadn’t heard her right. “What?”
She waved a hand at the desk. “Look! Aren’t they adorable?”
He turned and stared.
“Ah, fuck.”
Lumiki gasped. “Zach!”
“What? You cannot believe this is a good thing.”
“Of course it is! They’re adorable and need someone to take care of them.”
“Yes. And I know exactly who to call for that.”
Lumiki looked devastated at that statement, but he couldn’t let that sway him.
Zach had to somehow do all the management crap Bryce usually took care of plus his own job today.
He didn’t have time to take care of a bunch of kittens.
Besides, this was a restaurant, not a rescue center.
Unlike his sister’s place, since she actually ran one of those.
Five minutes later, he couldn’t believe his ears. “But I’m your brother! Where’s the family loyalty, Isana?” He paced back and forth in front of his brother’s desk, trying to ignore Lumiki, who was back under it, cuddling kittens and crooning to their mama, and more importantly, trying to ignore her epic ass.
A practically impossible feat.
“It’s because you’re my brother that I can, Zachariah. I know good and well that you will take care of that mama and those kittens and ensure they’re safe and snug and well-fed through the holidays. Do you know how full my shelter is right now? I’m bursting at the seams! There’s just no room, Zach. The mama obviously feels safe in the office right now and that’s good enough for me. Just make sure she has enough food and water and the temperature is kept cozy for her. Bring in some blankets so she can snuggle and make a nest for herself and her babies. Get a litter box and just let them be.”
Zach groaned. “A litter box?”
“Yes. One with low enough sides the kittens can climb in it. When they’re old enough for adoption, I’ll help you find homes for them. I promise.”
Zach’s eyes narrowed. He heard something in her voice that didn’t exactly inspire confidence. “Homes that aren’t mine, I presume.”
Isana let out a tinkling giggle. “Now, Zach, you know I’ve always said bears would make the worst pet parents.”
“You used to always say that,” he growled darkly. “Then you mated a grizzly who happens to enjoy playing papa bear to a bunch of cats.”
“Yes, well, Mason’s quite the unique bear. Now, call me if you have questions about how to care for the kittens and good luck. Love you.”
“Wait, Isana—”
But it was too late. She’d already hung up.
Zach let out a low growl then dropped his phone on the desk, which prompted a loud hissing sound from beneath it.
“Sorry, sorry.” He leaned over the desk to look down at Lumiki. “Well, you got your wish. Isana can’t take them, so we’re stuck with them.”
“Yay!” Lumiki backed out from under the desk and beamed up at him. “They can be our restaurant kitties!”
“What? Are you crazy? Not a chance. We’re finding them homes as soon as they’re big enough to be separated from their mom.”
Lumiki climbed to her feet and glared at him. “That’s not very nice.”
“You should be happy I’m letting them stay at all. If Bryce were here, they’d probably already be outside in the alley.”
Lumiki raised an eyebrow at him.
“Well, unless someone told Isana.” He groaned. “And someone always tells Isana.”
Lumiki giggled.
Zach narrowed his eyes at her. “And don’t think I don’t know who’s to blame for that! Crazy foxes. Just for that, you’re elected for kitten care.”
“No way! I will share the care with you, but I’m not taking it on all by myself. And just to be clear, I live in an apartment and I see where this is going. There are five kittens plus mama cat under there, so don’t even think of trying to get me to adopt all six at the end of this. It’s not happening.”
Zach barked out a laugh. “Okay. All right. Fine. How about this? We work together and get my cousins to adopt them all.”
Lumiki narrowed her eyes at him. “Which cousins? You have like a bazillion.”
He grinned. Couldn’t argue with the truth. “The bear ones.”
She snickered. “You really think you can convince Wade, Steve and Luke to adopt them all?”
“Nope. Doesn’t mean it won’t be fun trying.”
She giggled. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Excellent.” Zach thought about it a moment, then grinned. “I think we should make a game of it.”
‘“What?”
“No. A wager.”
“A wager?”
“Yep. Whoever gets the most kittens adopted wins.”
Lumiki eyed him suspiciously. “Wins what?”
A ton of truly lascivious, wicked things raced through Zach’s mind all at once, but that wasn’t why he’d suggested this wager.
