Tropical Holiday Tails - Zoe Chant Page 0,38

efforts to satisfy her, but the idea of her being several buildings away seemed like too much.

We won’t fail, his dragon chided him. We’re meant to be.

He lost sight of the actual holiday until the day before she was due to arrive, and was blindsided when Darla slyly asked him, “So, what are you giving her for Christmas?”

A gift.

He needed to get her a gift for Christmas, and now he was completely out of time to order something unless he begged a portal from the rather intimidating Mal Moore, and his mind was utterly blank.

“You could write her some poetry,” Breck suggested, correctly interpreting his dumbfounded look.

They were sitting in the elder’s common room, having tea with Mrs. Asher, Mrs. Shandy and Mr. Danby. By now everyone in the retirement home—probably everyone on the island—knew that the new doctor was Liam’s mate, and they teased him good-heartedly.

“Bake her some cookies,” Mrs. Shandy suggested. That was her answer to everything, now that she had access to the small kitchen in the retirement home.

“Give her something personal that was yours,” Mrs. Asher countered. “Something that means a lot.”

Mr. Danby grunted and muttered incoherently, then upset his tea.

Liam dismantled his room, trying to find anything that could serve as a gift. He’d never collected much of worth, not being the kind of dragon who hoarded things, and everything he found seemed pathetic or inappropriate. The items of value that he owned had come to him as presents, most of them from Darla, and re-gifting something from his former fiancée seemed tacky at best, and insulting at worst.

He frantically tried to write poetry that made even his dragon roll his eyes in disgust.

There was a tiny, half-stocked store being built in the village, and Liam wandered the shelves, staring at the practical offerings. He couldn’t give his mate deodorant or drink powder. He was staring at the soap offerings when he realized that he should also find a gift for James and he gave an audible moan.

“What are you looking for?” Jenny asked, reaching past him to pick up a tube of toothpaste.

“I need a gift,” Liam said. “Two gifts. I’m drawing a complete blank.”

Jenny’s smile was knowing. “She won’t care if you don’t have one,” she observed.

“I’ll care,” Liam protested. “I want to get her something. I have to.” His dragon was more upset by the idea of not having an expected gift than he was at the whole prospect of sex.

It was everything Caroline could do not to shove past Mal as soon as the portal was opened and run to find Liam, but she tightened her grip on her day pack and let the burly men in completely unseasonable short sleeves step through and unload her tiny U-Haul trailer of furniture and boxes in a few moments flat.

“Cool,” James observed off-handedly, clearly trying to smother his awe.

To her disappointment, Liam wasn’t waiting for her on the other side of the shimmering doorway, and when the last box had been carried through, Mal stopped her from following them. “Your possessions will be delivered to your rooms, but I’ve been asked to take you to Chef’s. Scarlet thought that you would like refreshment, and wanted a chance to introduce you to some of her staff.”

Caroline’s red panda gave a growl of impatience, but she accepted as serenely as she could manage. When Mal let the doorway collapse, she felt a moment of loss, but another door was built in its place, and then she and James were being ushered through onto a wide white marble deck overlooking the Shifting Sands Resort.

Even James couldn’t quite hide his amazement.

Shifting Sands Bay had been beautiful and quaint and unusual.

Shifting Sands Resort was astounding.

Even half-finished, with piles of building supplies scattered amid heaps of dirt and gaping holes, it was clear that this was going to be a magnificent resort. They were near the top, looking down, over an empty, half-tiled swimming pool and an expanse of emerald jungle peppered in beautiful private lawns, all circling down to a pristine white crescent of beach.

Caroline could see the bones of something beautiful in the chaos, and could imagine the sprawling resort finished to the same level as the restaurant, with pseudo-Greek columns and winding paths.

Mal stalked past them, to where Scarlet was standing at the railing of the restaurant and Caroline was surprised and a little embarrassed to watch his whole demeanor soften and warm as he gathered her into his arms and gave her a slow kiss