Page 10 of Holiday Home 4

But there it is,Liam thought as he glanced toward the end of the L-hook that her kitchen counters made around the room. Tended and taken care of by an expert hand.

“I’ve got all the regular brands of soda, water, lemonade, wine.”

Liam blinked, then slowly turned his gaze back to the stunningly beautiful woman he shared the room with. Everything but the final word had been expected. Was that… a joke? FromVictoria?

“Sure, I’ll take a glass of wine,” Liam said, daring himself to call her bluff.

Victoria’s expression didn’t budge one way or the other. And then, moving from the refrigerator to one of her cabinets, she dug out a tall bottle and two wine glasses. Not long after, she’d filled themboth.

Liam just sat where he was, blinking like someone who’d just had a flashbang go off in front of his face. A short time later, carrying over two glasses of swaying red liquid, Victoria returned to her seat. After that, she placed one of the filled glasses before him.

It was like looking directly at a dare. Was she testing him? Was it related to what they’d spent the past forty-five minutes doing? Surely, not… right?

Victoria eyed him, fingers pinching the stem of her wine glass. But not lifting it. She seemed to be waiting for him. Expectantly, anticipatorily? He didn’t know. But he did know this: it was his move.

Yet… it didn’t feel that way. She was the exact type of woman to make any man second guess his courage, his actions, even his very thoughts. To make them back down.

The old Liam would have shrunk from the challenge—if that was what it actually was, strange as this all was—immediately. He would have hemmed and hawed, then looked the other way, shrugged, and probably found Victoria smirking—if she had such a smirk in her repertoire—when he looked back at her.

But he wasn’t that Liam any longer. Some old vestiges might still stick to him, bits of muck that weren’t so easily scrubbed away, but that was all they were—vestiges. The effect they could have on him grew less and less with each passing day, each wonderful new experience.

And well, perhaps this was his chance to experience another one. He vividly remembered the short but thrilling embrace they’d shared on New Year’s Eve and the conversation that had enabled him to get her phone number. Withoutthatmoment, he might not have worked up the courage to ask for it. Without having asked for it, he couldn’t be here right now, enjoying the sight of her in that snug, shoulder-less sweater.

So, a choice was made. Consequences be damned.

Liam lifted the glass, stared briefly into the swirling red liquid filling it, then took a sizeable drink. He tried to savor it in his mouth before swallowing. It had a ripe taste of blackberry or plum, and… he didn’t really know. Like women had been for him a few months ago, he didn’t know much about wine.

“It’s good,” he said after finishing his drink.

“It’s quite expensive,” Victoria said, raising her glass. The rim touched her lush lips, and she took a slightly deeper drink than he did. Liam’s eyes watched her throat expand, then constrict as she swallowed two full gulps. The unfairly beautiful woman set the glass back down on her kitchen island.

“Non-alcoholic, too.”

Liam pulled his mouth to the side. Of course. He should have known better. The last person to break a rule would beVictoria. He set down his glass, then flicked the glass stem. It made a pinging noise.

“Were you considering letting me drink a couple of glasses, then see if I acted like I was tipsy?”

“The thought did cross my mind,” Victoria said, smiling softly, “but I changed tact after seeing how hesitant you looked.”

He just grunted and took another drink. “Well, now that I know, I don’t have to pace myself. I’ll down the whole bottle, expensive or not.”

Victoria raised a delicate eyebrow. “And just how long were you intending to stay here and drink with me?”

He shrugged. “Until you kick me out, I guess. There’s nowhere else I’m in a hurry to get to.”

Aware as she was of Avril’s interest in him, Victoria’s eyebrow stayed raised. “Nowhere?”

“Nowhere,” he repeated. “Here seems like the perfect place to spend an afternoon.”

As Victoria didn’t weigh in on his statement in either direction, Liam elected to take her silence as permission to linger. He picked up his glass and took another drink. This time,hewaited for her to make the next move.

Sipping her wine, the gorgeous woman examined him with an inscrutable expression. She let the silence go on longer than he had, clearly comfortable in it. He’d have expected nothing less; she was a professor, after all. Control and poise were part of the job, though he was sure she’d have had them both in spades, even if she’d been a garbage collector.

Probably wouldn’t have this house, though,Liam thought idly, waiting for Victoria to disrupt the silence settling in her kitchen.

“We’re coming ever closer to our trip,” she eventually said.

“Yeah, we are,” he agreed. “Have you thrown any more points toward where we ought to go?”

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