Page 17 of Holiday Home 4

She was a pair of feathery wings, a glowing halo, and a golden harp away from being able to claim she was an angel. Even at the height of winter, when sunlight was challenging to find, her skin glowed healthily. She had hair that was slightly brighter still, a light brunette that now flirted with gold due to some recent highlights that she’d gotten at the start of the month near the wavy ends, which were finally beginning to extend beyond her shoulders. What would she look like after a week of beachgoing in April? Victoria wasn’t the only one who he was impatiently waiting to see in a bikini.

Stunningly beautiful, she was still full-figured and unraveling in her voluptuousness. That was doubly true as his gaze dropped lower. She had an attractively thin waist and flat stomach, which she’d developed to dizzying allure last year—and he silently thanked Victoria very, very much for having invited Tess to become her workout partner. Below that, she hadthe shapeliest butt that Liam had ever looked at, caressed, or spanked. God, he’dspankedit!

Beyond her physical perfection, she had the sincerity, kindness, and compassion required of an angel, and she’d been capable of fixing his troubles with just a smile since pretty much the day they’d met. Indeed, the day she’d taken up residence next door still felt reminiscent of an angel’s descent from the heavens. The memory of that day was permanently etched into his soul.

Most of his memories of her suffused him with warmth. The older ones filled him with precious joy. The new ones did too, though they were tinged with far more eroticism than he would have ever imagined three months ago.

He knew far more about Tess’s curvaceous body than he’d ever dreamed he might. She wore a pair of black leggings—she knew how much he loved seeing her in them—and a simple loose shirt today, which made it plain that she didn’t intend to leave her house. That was just fine. Wherever she was, that was where he wanted to be. He admired her. For several long seconds. Until Tess folded her arms beneath her breasts and re-raised her eyebrow.

Second, he worked the moisture back into his mouth. Third, he cleared his throat. Finally, he rediscovered his voice.

“Happy Valentine’s Day… plus three,” he said, removing and revealing the box of chocolates beneath his jacket.

There’d hardly been any doubt as to what was beneath, but Tess beamed at him all the same. His heart soared into his throat. She teased him when he called her an angel, but he couldn’t help it. She was just…divine.

And sinful, too. If there was a reason behind her falling to Earth, it had to be related to how insatiable she could become. And though Valentine’s Day might be in the rearview mirror, the typical activities of the day stared him right in the face.

“Thank you,” Tess said, accepting the box with one hand. The other climbed to his cheek, where it emblazoned his face with warmth. Leaning in, eyes glowing with affection, Tess kissed him.

He needed to go through his resetting process all over again.

Once their lips parted, Tess pushed a few errant strands of hair behind her ear. She hadn’t stopped smiling since he’d arrived and appeared in no hurry to stop now. After she nodded over her shoulder, Liam silently followed—his eyes were far too glued to the shapely outline of her butt for him to make conversation—her into her living room.

He blinked, finding an oddity capable—somehow—of disconnecting his attention from Tess’s glorious backside.

“Are we fine dining at one in the afternoon?” he asked, nodding toward a curious object sitting on her coffee table. A large silver dome, like the kind that servants removed before serving their aristocratic masters at dinner, announced its presence loudly as they entered the room.

“Oh, there’s no food underneath that,” Tess said, smiling over her shoulder.

“Where’d you even get it?”

“If you ask, Avril will succeed,” Tess answered as she sat on her couch. She placed the chocolates beside the platter but otherwise didn’t disturb it.

Someone has a flair for the dramatic today,Liam thought, joining her on the couch. Yet, he was certainly curious about whatever was hidden beneath. If it wasn’t food, then what? He’d only got her chocolates, so in terms of pageantry, he’d already been outdone.

“We have all day together,” Tess began, to which Liam happily nodded.

Yes, they did. He’d be away most of tomorrow, splitting time with Avril and Anna. Knowing the way the former’s mindworked, there’d probably end up being some overlap. Hopefully, he and Anna would come out relatively unscathed.

But for today, he had nowhere else to go. Today, even if it were three days too late, he would experience a romantic holiday with the woman he’d desired for as long as he’d known her. It was enough to make a man insane with glee. Indeed, Liam felt himself struggling not to vibrate with anticipation.

“Once I knew you were coming home around this time, I decided to set up a few things. After all, we can’t spend thewholeday in my bed—”

“Well, we possibly could,” Liam interjected.

Smiling, Tess leaned over and kissed him again. He felt breathless by the time her warm, soft lips pulled back.

“We’ve got all day for you to up your count,” Tess purred, which immediately caused Liam to inhale excitedly. Tess rubbed his cheek with her thumb, then bit her lower lip. “I’m sure you’ll make good progress on that goal you so boldly stated last year.”

Heart racing, he wordlessly nodded.

“Before that, though, I had some preamble in mind.” Tess’s eyes glittered as she reached toward the circular ring mounted atop the silver dome. “There’ll be a late lunch, dinner later, some movies, and so on. But before any of that, I figured we could share your chocolates over a game.”

Finally, she removed the silver dome. As she set it aside on the ground, Liam squinted at the object on the coffee table. Everything was already set up, but that wasn’t what he reacted to. Really, it was justwhatwas sitting in front of him.

“You want to play chess?” he asked, staring at the wooden pieces set up into opposing armies on their side of the board. They looked vastly higher quality—walnut, though he didn’t know it—than any chess set he’d ever seen. The pieces, especially, he’d find were much heavier than he was used to dealing with.

“I’ve long since disabused myself of the notion that I’ll win if we play a card game,” Tess said lightly. “So, the logical next step would be board games. You do know how to play, don’t you?”

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