Page 11 of Holiday Home 5

“Need some coconuts for your massage oil?” Tess asked, coming up from behind and tapping him on his elbow.

He followed her nod, which led to a pyramid pile of coconuts. The sign sprouting up nearby listed them as only costing three Fijian dollars. He assumed that was a good deal, remembering that the US dollar was slightly over twice as strong as its Fijian counterpart. Of course, he couldn’t remember thelast time he’d bought a coconut, so he didn’t have much history to base that assumption on.

“I don’t know if I’m quite ready to start making homemade massage oil,” Liam admitted, smiling at the beautiful brunette. “I’m not even sure how to extract what I’d need. Do I just break open the coconut, stick something in it, and drain it? Is coconut massage oil evenmadefrom coconuts?”

“It is,” Tess confirmed, chuckling and walking beside him as they moved around semi-aimlessly.

“Well, I’ve got some already-made oil to go. I brought along some other kinds too.”

“Oh?” Tess asked, eyes moving from a pile of bananas to him. “What other kinds?”

“You’ll have to wait and find out.”

“When I’m feeling it on my skin?”

“Exactly,” he said, smiling warmly.

“I cannot wait.” She glanced toward Victoria and Avril, who were investigating offerings of guava and papaya as they listened to a woman doing her best to entice them. “I think I’m not alone in that. You really impressed the others on the plane.”

“That was the idea,” Liam said, fondly remembering how Victoria and Anna had watched him massage Tess.

“It was a pretty bold one,” Tess noted lightly. “Though it certainly seems to have paid off.”

“That’s what I’m trying to be, at least on this trip. I’m also alittletired of not being allowed to kiss you when the others are around.”

Tess raised an eyebrow. Her lips creased at the corners, too. “It’s bothering you?”

“More and more with each passing day,” Liam admitted.

Briefly silent, Tess brought her arms behind her back, fingers tapping against her wrists. “Well,” she eventually said,holding his gaze hostage with the beauteousness of her eyes, “my lips are right here.”

They were. And they were so soft, so full, so enticing. At the same time as Liam made his decision, Victoria and Avril made their purchases and began moving away. Not necessarily so far away that he and Tess were no longer in their peripherals. Of course, Liam could have waited a few more seconds, allowing both pairings to add a little distance.

Actually, he couldn’t have. He couldn’t have waited a second longer.

He kissed Tess, and she kissed him back. It was maybe a second or two long, hardly anything to write home about, but that wasn’t the point. He kissed her, and she kissed him. Liam didn’t feel a single iota of trepidation about who might see, and some people definitely saw. When their kiss ended,anothertourist, a woman who looked to be around Tess’s age, blinked rapidly at what she’d just witnessed and looked away. Liam noticed her, but Tess didn’t. Tess was busy beaming at him, suffusing her smile with so much love and affection as to be blinding.

“I know I’m going to love being on this trip with you,” she whispered.

Made dumb and mute by the brilliance of that heavenly smile, Liam could only nod in agreement.

Chapter Five

Beside the Sleeping Giant

They spent a good forty minutes in the market, each adding a bag or two to their grips before all was said and done. They had enough produce to last them the week, including a few items Liam had never eaten before. He’d heard good things about guava, so he hoped it would live up to its reputation.

With how early they’d arrive, they could also avoid the bulk of the foot traffic. By the time they were ready to leave, the number of customers had more than tripled. Reconvening near the stairs, everyone shared what they’d gotten. Once they’d all confirmed that they were ready to go, Avril ushered them back to their van.

Avril then decided to remind them all that she was ridiculously wealthy. For a normal person, now would have been the right time to head to their hotel. They’d just purchased a bunch of produce, many of which preferred to spend their day in a cool refrigerator, not in the back of a van. But they already knew they weren’t staying on this island, as evidenced by herrevealing that they’d take a plane to reach where they would be staying.

Well, yes, and no. Yes, they wouldn’t be staying on Viti Levu today, but that didn’t mean Avril hadn’t gotten them rooms on the island.

She drove them over the bridge connecting to Denarau Island, where they soon realized that she’d already booked three luxurious rooms in the Radisson Blu Resort. In what was almost too ludicrous to describe, they spent the next bit of their day checking into a hotel they wouldn’t even stay at. Bringing their luggage and recently obtained fruits and vegetables to their rooms, but not unpacking the former, then stowing away any and all perishables for later. All with the understanding that they would soon return and empty their rooms, board a plane, fly to whatever resort theywouldbe staying at tonight, and repeat the process there.

“Everyone,” she said, standing in the hall and stopping them as they exited their rooms. “Please also bring a change of clothes and your most modest piece of swimwear. Our next destination is going to get a little muddy.”

The women understood what Avril was talking about immediately. Less aware of the famous mud pool just a short drive northeast of the airport where they’d begun their day, Liam wasn’t as quick to retreat into his room. Nevertheless, he understood one thing. He was about to get his first chance to see Avril, Anna, and Victoria in bikinis. And the first chance to see Tess in one since they’d become a couple.

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