Page 51 of Holiday Home 4

No apologies needed,he said.The next time you report in, I hope the news will be on the greener side of the river.

Unlikely,she immediately said.Now, back to my original message, I see that you spent a lot of points on Bora, Bora and Maldives.

And also the twelve that I owed to Fiji,he chimed in.

And the twelve points for Fiji,Victoria agreed.Why have you spent so many points on those other two locations, though? Have you decided you want to visit them more than Fiji?

I wouldn’t say that,Liam said, feeling an uptick in his heart rate. Nervousness? He felt a little silly about experiencing that, especially with a hundred miles between him and the severe but beautiful professor. Like he’d been caught doing something wrong, only for his mother to avoid calling him out on it, waiting for him to admit it himself.

But I’ve got so many points, and they’re going to expire in two weeks, one way or another. So, I’ve decided to spend allof them by that time. Bora, Bora and Maldives were just the closest behind Fiji, so spending the extra points there felt right.

You couldn’t have piled them all into Fiji?

It wouldn’t be all that dramatic if I did. This way, things seem kind of close. It’s a race between three different places.

But you will ultimately elect to keep Fiji in the lead?

Realizing that his palms were becoming mildly sweaty, Liam wiped them on his comforter before replying.Thiswas where his plan would either soar to the moon… or hurtle into the ocean, never to be seen again.

That’s kind of up to you, isn’t it? You’re in control of whether we go to Fiji, whether it’s close or not.

It was probably no more than a minute before her next response. Yet, it stretched into an almost unbearable eternity. Lying in bed, waiting for her response, he nearly felt queasy. But this wasn’t all that brazen, right? It was a simmer. And she’d said a simmer would work out far better.

I suppose I am, and I do want to go to Fiji.

Without realizing that he’d been holding his breath for the back half of that minute, Liam exhaled a relieved breath. He also finally responded to Anna’s most recent message, which had come in a few minutes ago. For his response to Victoria, even if his instincts yearned for him to tread carefully, he decided to move that dial just a centimeter or two toward a higher temperature.

So do I. I’ve got eighty-three points left. They’re yours to claim, so long as you really want them.

With how you’ve been rating the pictures you’ve already received, that would mean twenty-five to thirty more.

Forcing his tense fingertips to type out his message, he sent,If they’re like the ones you’ve sent before, then yeah.

He wasn’t going to back down. Not this time. Not with the prize dangling in front of him. Twenty-five to thirty morepictures of Victoria Moreno in killer bikinis on the beaches of years past? All so she could guarantee which location they’d be at when he saw her in killer bikinis on a beach in two months? Nervous about his boldness backfiring or not, he had to see if those wings of his were wax or not. He just had to.

It was a very Greek-oriented night, he also realized.

Your criteria happen to be rather strict,Victoria replied.

It has to be, or I’d be fawning over every picture you sent, giving them all five points. Your worst vastly outdoes most people’s best. Helen of Troy, remember?

Between now and Victoria’s following message, he was confident she was capable enough to identify the tipping point that existed as of today. He had eighty-three points remaining. Fiji had a seven-point lead over the two destinations tied for second. If she wanted to guarantee that they went to Fiji, she only needed to obtain thirty-nine of his remaining points. At that moment, even if he piled the remaining forty-four points into one of the two second-place spots, they couldn’t catch up to Fiji. So, to lock up her preferred location, she only needed to send him half the number of pictures she’d mentioned.

Assuming Tess or Anna didn’t spend their final few points to screw her over, which would probably shell-shock them both, it was a guaranteed route to victory. Victoria was rather fortunate that Avril wasn’t one of the participants in her voting game. It freed her from worrying about an additional angle to her dilemma.

You haven’t shared anything about our deal with Avril, have you?Victoria asked.

No, nothing,he replied, fully understanding why she might worry about such a thing. There were hints of Avril Knight all over his plan, deep in its veins. It was just that, rather than being her hand at work, it was more her spirit.She doesn’t know anything about it. I got a funny look from her when I only puttwelve points to Fiji, but I didn’t let anything slip. Nor will I. I promise.

All right, good,Victoria replied.I felt that I needed to double-check.

I understand,was all that he replied with.

Another brief silence followed, so Liam busied himself responding to Anna’s newest text. Afterward, she wished him a good night, and Avril had seemingly fallen asleep even before Victoria’s first text. That left him and the gorgeous, dark-haired professor, miles apart or not, alone. And at least one of them was wide awake and hopeful.

So I might better understand what you prefer from these pictures, the more displayed skin, the better, correct?

The cavalier nature of her question punched Liam in the gut, eliminating what little chance of dozing off there might have been before it. His face burned as he read her message, yet he didn’t turn back the dial. He kept the stove’s heat where it was—where she’d now set it.

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