“I will treasure it forever,” Felicity promised. “And I have something for you, too…”
“Is it in your pants?” Robert joked.
She grinned and unbuttoned her shirt. “I finally got my luggage,” she reminded him. “And I packed something lacy, just in case I happened to need it…”
His expression when she got her shirt off was everything that Felicity had hoped for. Her lingerie wasn’textrafancy, but it fit her well, cupping her petite breasts and covering just enough to be tantalizing. It was also holiday red...and it didn’t stay on for very long at all.
CHAPTER20
Boxing Day
Felicity walked up to the restaurant with light feet despite the many stairs and stood at the top to admire the view. It was early, and the kitchen was full of song and baking bread. She’d only been here a little more than a week, and already, this felt like home. Her day and a half of being barred from the kitchen and restaurant might have felt like punishment if she hadn’t spent most of that time in Robert’s arms.
She felt sated and satisfied. Robert had taken Shifting Sands Resort from a wonderful place to live and work to a true, whole home.
She tripped to the kitchen door, inhaling the familiar smells and sounds.
“Ah, Felicity! We have a test for you. Try this!” Breck met her at the door and thrust a cup at her.
Felicity took it and peered down into the opaque white contents. “What is it?”
“Milk.”
“Why milk?” Old stories said that brownies were often tempted into servitude with milk, and she did like it…
“If it spoils, we can still use it as buttermilk.”
Felicity had to laugh, because it was a very practical test. “Try it!” she commanded, handing the cup back.
Breck cautiously tipped the cup up to his mouth and swallowed. “Oh, hey, wait. I poured in skim milk. This tastes like cream!”
“When a home is whole, a brownie makes everythingbetter,” Felicity said proudly.
“I should have joined the Girl Scouts,” Breck said, taking a second sip of milk. “Not that I could get much better than I am.”
“Can I come back and work in the restaurant again?” Felicity asked wistfully.
“Chef said to come serve dinner, if you passed. We’ve all missed you terribly,” Breck said broadly. “Theodora had to take your harmony in Little Drummer Boy at Christmas dinner.”
“She…?”
“Of course, we had to rework it for a baritone.”
As Felicity had predicted, no one in the kitchen cared if Theodora had a deep singing voice or didn’t frequent the clothing-optional areas of the resort.
And as Theodora predicted, no one cared that Felicity wasn’t a shifter.
“You don’t slack off, you’re cheerful and easy to work with, and you like my food,” Chef said, sweeping her into a hug when she showed up for the dinner shift. “I’m not supposed to allow mice in my kitchen, anyway. Something about food safety and surprise inspections.”
“It should all be much safer now,” Felicity chortled as she hugged him back. “Everything’s fixed! No more broken home!”
When Robert showed up for dinner, she sat in his lap and kissed him soundly, to the amusement of everyone around.
“This is my last meal as a guest,” he said. “I got my plane ticket refunded and I’ll be joining the construction crew to help with landscaping in the bay village when they go back to work in the new year.”
“That place still needs a real name,” Breck said, filling his water glass. “I’m lobbying for Pleasure Bay.”
“That would be a lot to live up to,” Robert observed. “Maybe Joy Cove?”
