“The snow is really kicking up,” Deja murmured as she glanced out the window. She had returned back to work a week ago. It felt good to have regular conversations with adults. Not that she didn’t love Augie, but it was nice to have an actual conversation with someone who could form syllables.

“The weatherman is calling for another foot of snow by midnight,” Alana replied as she came to stand next to Deja. They both tried to look out the front window, but the flurries had picked up, causing a whiteout.

“The temperature sure is dropping tonight.” Deja shivered from the cold that was seeping through the thick windows.

“Hopefully, they’ll close up a little early tonight,” Alana murmured as they walked toward the bar. “It is the Christmas season.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Luna, the bartended, snorted. Deja knew that closing early on a Friday was not happening. Not that there was anyone coming into the Ski Bar and Grille that was located on top of a mountain in the middle of a snowstorm.

“She’s right, they’re not closing tonight.” Deja hopped up on the stool and let her feet swing freely. “We might as well wait out the snow. We’re not going to be able to get down off the mountain in this.”

Deja was a little worried about the ride home. Augie was with his trustful babysitter, Sharon, and she knew he was safe. It had been a Godsend to find Sharon. She began her search for a babysitter when she was pregnant and found it was hard for her to be able to find someone to watch Augie that she trusted. Sharon came highly recommend from Luna, whose sister was neighbors with Sharon.

The minute they met, they had hit it off and became close friends. Sharon was a retired police dispatcher who babysat for her grandchildren and took on Augie. It pleased Deja that Augie would be around a family atmosphere instead of a facility. If she had to think of a facility, she might have quit her job to be able to care for him.

Sharon barely allowed Deja to pay her. Deja had to almost force money into the woman’s hand. Sharon refused to take what normal babysitters charged from a single mother.

“Alana, can you cover my table? I want to go and check on Augie,” Deja asked, worry filling her chest. If she didn’t need the money, she would have just took the day off with the snow rolling in the way it was.

“Sure.” Alana strolled over to the table with their only guest in the entire bar. Deja headed toward the back breakroom as she pulled her cell phone from her back pocket to call Sharon.

“Hey, Deja,” Sharon answered.

“Hey, Sharon. How’s my main man doing?” she asked, leaning up against the wall. She bit her bottom lip, thinking of her little man’s chubby cheeks. She smiled as she heard his cooing in the background.

“Oh, he’s doing just fine, Deja.” Deja could hear Sharon make baby talk to Augie. She smiled as she imagined his smiles.

“That’s good. I’m going to try to head out a little early with all this snow coming down.”

“You be careful coming down the mountain. You know it’s going to take you a lot longer to get here. You know August will be fine spending the night. Safety first, young lady.” Sharon’s voice became a little stern, as only a mother protecting her child would be. She was a mother figure to Deja, which caused her heart to warm. She missed her own mother dearly. Sharon reminded her of Sylvia Scarlett.

Tears welled up in Deja’s eyes at the thought of her deceased parents. She wished that her mother was here to meet her grandchild. Sylvia would have just loved Augie. His amber eyes would have had her mother wrapped around his little finger. Her mother passed at the young age of forty-nine due to breast cancer.

Deja thought she had been devastated when her mother died, and then her father, Stoney Scarlett, passed away a year later from what Deja was sure was a broken heart. Deja was left to make her way through this world on her own. Her father just wasn’t the same after the passing of his wife. She had been nineteen years old when her father took his last breath.

“I’ll call you back and let you know,” Deja chuckled, wiping the lone tear that blazed a trail down her cheek. “I just feel bad if you were to have to keep him—”

“Now you know, little August is a treat to have. It’s no problem. I’d rather have you safely tucked away in the hotel than crashed in some ditch, freezing to death. I have plenty of milk and diapers to get him through the night, and I have my other grandkids tonight to give my daughter and her husband a break. He’s fine.”

“Okay, Sharon. I’ll call you a little later. I’m going to see if they’ll even let me off early, and if not, get a room if it gets too bad.” Deja disconnected the call after they said their goodbyes and pushed off the wall. She knew there was a slim chance that she’d be able to get off early.

She walked back out, into the main part of the restaurant. Ski Bar and Grille was a large bar that patrons could have a good time in on the mountain. With a bar, pool table, and good food, it usually stayed packed. It was decorated like a large hunting lodge, with a roaring fire in one of the large fireplaces that lined the wall to help fight off the cold.

“Hey, Deja. You have a couple of guys who asked to be seated in your area,” Alana said with a wink.

“Really?” Deja readjusted her apron in front of her as she walked toward the bar. “Why my section? The whole restaurant is open for them to sit anywhere.”

“I don’t know, but they’re two tall, dark, and handsome men. If you’re refusing them, I will gladly—”

Deja glanced at the table and froze in disbelief.

“I’ll take it,” she murmured as she stared at the two figures seated at the table.

It couldn’t be.

She silently cursed herself for throwing her hair up in a messy bun today before work. She sent up a prayer of thanks that she had actually had a few minutes to shower. She blew out a deep breath and headed in the direction of the person whose eyes she got to look into every single day.

Augie’s father had returned.

The tall, muscular figure turned around and his amber eyes hit hers, taking her breath away.

Dixon.

Dixon’s tiger let loose a growl as his eyes greedily took in Deja as she made her way to him. Her body was curvier than he remembered. His slow perusal of her had his cock growing stiff with need. Her breasts had become fuller. He remembered how they fit in his large hands perfectly. His eyes continued their descent down her body and found her hips to be rounder. He liked the new look of her body.

He loved for his women to have curves, and Deja had them in all the right places. His only complaint was the dark circles beneath her eyes. His tiger stood at attention, not liking the fact that she hadn’t been getting restful sleep.

“Well hello,” she breathed as she stood at the table, a faint smile ghosting her lips.

He froze in place and didn’t know what to say. It was as if his brain had left him. Only his cock stood at attention, and he knew he couldn’t lead with that. He just stared at her, trying to take her in.

“Well, apparently, the cat has my good friend’s tongue. I’m Percy,” Percy chuckled, reaching his hand out to Deja.

A genuine smile crossed her face as she laughed. She reached out and took Percy’s hand in a handshake.

“I remember you guys. You were here last year around this same time. What brings you back two years in a row?” she asked. She turned to him, and he could have sworn something passed through her eyes, but he couldn’t put a finger on what it meant exactly.

“An annual meeting,” he blurted out, finally able to speak. Her eyes widened slightly.

“In this weather? I haven’t heard of any conventions around Christmastime around here,” she noted. He held back a groan as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. He ached to be the one to take his tongue and soothe her plump lips.

“It’s an unofficial meeting of sorts.” He couldn’t tear his eyes off of her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. His fingers itched to remove her hair from the large bun on top of her head. His tiger clawed at his chest, begging to get out so that he could go to her.

He breathed in her scent, and it relaxed his animal, but only a little. It was the same scent that he knew was hers, but it was slightly different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, so he shook it off. It had been a year since he saw her, so maybe his memory was slightly off.

“How long are you going to be here, Dixon?” she asked softly, holding her small notebook against her chest.

As long as it takes to convince you to come with me, he thought to himself. He instead basked in the glow of hearing her say his name.

She did remember, he thought.

“A few days,” he said. Tomorrow, he and the council would meet for their annual retreat, then afterwards, he would start his wooing of her to win her over.

Even though tigers were known to be solitary animals in the wild, their shifter counterparts were a little more social. Dixon was considered royalty among the shifter worlds. His family had been head of the council for centuries.

The council consisted of prominent members of the tiger shifter community around the country. Each year, they got together to discuss issues in the community. The meeting was also a way for them to fraternize with each other, to reinforce the trust between members. The seven members would meet tomorrow at the main lodge.

“Well, what can I get you fellas?” she asked.

You.

He held his tongue and glanced down at the menu quickly, while Percy gave her his order. She turned to him and he ordered his food. He wasn’t truly hungry, but he knew that he needed to feed his animal. Tonight, he’d do whatever he must to have her leave with him.

“I’ll be back soon with your drinks.” She smiled before walking off. His eyes narrowed in on her round ass as she walked away.

His animal rumbled low in his chest.

She would be his.