Snowbound at Solstice: A Christmas Novella (Mannix Dragon Shifters #2)

Excerpt

But she was at a loss for what else to do.

She hoped to have the answer at the end of her holiday. Well, calling it a holiday might be overstating it. Staycation? Hibernating in her cabin? Hiding from the world?

When the dragons arrived at the till, she pushed aside her unease and smiled at them. Why did they have to rival the heroes from the romance novels she read every night? Hot. Sexy. Muscled. The epitome of her every fantasy.

“Hey, beautiful,” Ryder said. She glossed over the fact that he’d called her beautiful. He was a flirt. It didn’t mean anything more than that, but his voice made her shiver. It was as smooth as the expensive Scotch whisky she kept in the locked display case behind the counter. He could easily have been a radio announcer for one of those late night intimate confession shows.

“Did you find everything?” she asked.

Garryck’s eyes narrowed. He was too observant and always had been. “Is everything okay?”

“Yep. Same old, same old.” She forced her smile to be bigger. She plucked a box of crackers from their basket and rang it in. When she reached for a jar of olives, Ryder caught her hand.

“Hey, now,” he said as he cradled her hand in his. “What’s going on?”

She blinked down at where they touched. He was so warm… and strong. Even his fingers exuded strength. The things he could do with those long, lean fingers were probably enough to make her weep.

She trembled.

“You didn’t put up any holiday decorations this year,” Garryck said. “Is everything okay?”

She pressed her lips together and drew her hand back. “You heard I’m shutting the doors for a few weeks, right? So I hope you got everything you need…”

“Holly…” Garryck leaned on the till, closing the distance between them by a few inches. It seemed closer than that, close enough that her body wanted to bend toward him like it was drawn by a magnet.

Their gazes met. In that moment, she almost believed the three of them were the only people in the world. His attention didn’t stray. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he would be content to have stayed like that, peering into her eyes, forever.

Ryder drew closer too.

The intimacy of it was overwhelming. Something suspiciously like butterflies fluttered through her stomach. In a different life, the one in her dreams, she would hurl herself at them about now. She shuddered, unable to shake the feeling that her father’s spirit was hovering close by and preparing to gather an otherworldly army to haunt her if she gave in to temptation.

The phone rang again. She jumped.

“I’m fine,” she said as she snatched something from the basket blindly.

“Are you going to answer that?” Ryder said.

“No.” She shook her head vigorously. “It’s almost closing time anyway. And then I’m locking up and won’t be back until January.”

Ryder smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s good. You deserve a break. You need to take care of yourself.”

She nodded blindly and keyed in the next item. They didn’t say anything while she finished ringing up their purchases. After the last purchase was tucked into a shopping bag, Garryck handed her the exact cash—dragons didn’t use credit or debit. There was something about the way he eyed her that made her pause before finalizing the transaction. Her Christmas sweater scratched the back of her neck.

The men glanced at one another. Ryder nodded, then Garryck put his hand on the counter next to hers. She swore his heat seeped into her fingers even though they weren’t touching.

“Why don’t you come back to Montrose? Come spend your holiday with us.”

Her mouth fell open on a gasp. “I…”

Ryder grinned at her. “I think we surprised her.”