Page 35 of The Virgin's Chosen Dragon

Max stared at him for a second. “Man, you’ve fallen, and fallen hard,” he said, shaking his head. “But I guess I’m happy for you. I just hope you’re ready for the fallout; your parents aren’t going to be happy, and neither are Eden’s.”

“They’ll just have to get over it,” he said. “Eden and I are a package deal now.”

“Well then, I guess we’d better go celebrate,” Max said. “It sounds like you’re going to be the first one of us to get married.”

“Now hold on, we haven’t even talked about marriage yet,” he said. “Let’s not rush things. We still have a lot of stuff to figure out.”

“All I’m saying is that I’d better get the first invitation,” Max said, grinning at him. “If I hadn’t invited you here, you never would have met her.”

“Oh, so now you’re trying to take the credit,” he said. “Fate isn’t going to like that. You’d better be careful, my friend.”

Max laughed, “I’ll take my chances with fate,” he said. “I told you before, I create my own destiny, and it doesn’t include love; I’m more than happy to watch from the sidelines.”

“Now you’ve done it,” he said. “You’d better watch out, or we’ll be having a double wedding.”

***Eden***

Eden looked up from the book she was reading to watch Theo wading in the water, trying to spear a fish, with a smile on her face and her heart swelling with love. He’d been at it all morning without any luck, but still seemed to be enjoying himself, and she hated to interrupt him, but her stomach had been rumbling for the last half an hour, and she didn’t think she could ignore it any longer.

“Hey, mighty fisherman,” she called, setting aside the book and getting to her feet. “Let’s take a break and getsomething to eat, I’m starving, and it doesn’t look like you’re going to catch lunch for us.”

Theo trotted toward her, gave her a big wet kiss, then shook the moisture out of his hair, making her scream when the cold drops hit her skin. “I think I’m done for the day,” he said. “This must not be the right place to fish, I’ll have to ask Max, or maybe Mateo. He seems to know the island pretty well. How’s your book?”

“Just getting good,” she said. “But my stomach was distracting me.”

“I’ll throw on a shirt, and we’ll head up to the village,” he said. “Now that I’m out of the water, I’m starving.”

After the short walk back to the village, they made their lunch selections, then found a table in the shade with a view of the water and dug into the food like they were starving. “This was one thing I missed while we were gone,” Theo finally said. “The villagers did their best with what they had available, but I missed all the variety of food we have now.”

“And indoor plumbing,” she said. “There’s nothing like a hot shower. Bathing in the ocean was fine, but I always had a layer of salt on my skin.”

“But I’ll never forget those few days for as long as I live,” Theo said, reaching out to take her hand. “And we have all summer to enjoy both the island and the modern conveniences Max has provided.”

“Theo, I wanted to talk to you about that,” she said, looking over at him. “Would you be really upset if we didn’t stay the whole summer? Now that I’m not going to medical school, I have a lot of stuff to figure out. Maybe we could cut our stay a little.”

“Sweetheart, I’m happy as long as I’m with you,” he said. “I still have to figure out what I want to do with my life, but I can do that anywhere.”

“Then we’ll go back sooner?” she asked. “I have to figure out where I want to go to school.”

“You just tell me when, and I’ll figure it out with Max,” he said. “I’m not supposed to go back for another week.”

“Another week here would be perfect,” Eden said. “There are still a few places on the island we haven’t explored, and I want to spend a lot more time on the beach.”

While they finished their lunch, they made plans for the next week, then started to get up from the table, but Max appeared out of nowhere. “What are you two up to today?” he asked. “No naps on the beach, I hope.”

She laughed, “Don’t worry, we’re staying right here in the modern world,” she said. “I’ve had enough adventure for one vacation.”

Max laughed, “Then you wouldn’t be interested in the water skiing lessons this afternoon,” he said. “That might be too exciting.”

“Wait, water skiing?” she asked. “I’ve always wanted to try that.”

“We’re meeting at the dock in thirty minutes, so you’d better……” but his words died away when he looked down at the water. “I don’t recognize that boat. It’s not one of ours. Sorry, you two, I’ve got to go.”

They watched Max hustle away as a boat snugged up to the dock and a young man jumped off with the lines in his hands, then began to tie up. Max got there just as the young man began helping a woman off the boat, and for a second Eden couldn’t breathe. Her lungs froze up, and a feeling of panic washed over her. It couldn’t be, she told herself, closing her eyes for a second, it couldn’t be, but when she opened them, her mother was yelling at Max, her father standing behind her, the same beaten look on his face.

“Eden, what’s wrong?” Theo asked, his voice full of concern. “You just turned white as a sheet.”

“Theo, my parents just got off that boat,” she said, her voice coming out as more of a squeak than anything else. “And my mother does not look happy, poor Max.”

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