Page 14 of Holiday Home 5

“With you, yes,” she agreed, still skewering him with an ear-to-ear grin. “She loves to fool with you.”

“I’m going to get you back,” he promised quietly. The others, now exiting their serene trances, started cleaning themselves off.

“Please do,” Avril purred. She suddenly began speaking at a normal volume. “Thank you, Liam. Pleasedoget my back.”

He was left with no recourse but to suffer the ache of a public space for a little longer as he began washing Avril’s back.

Chapter Seven

Not Some Other Guy

With each step nearer to the hot spring, the smell of sulfur grew more pungent. Liam wasn’t the only one to wrinkle his nose, yet it didn’t slow anyone down. Now rid of the mud, their bodies yearned for a dip into the hot spring. Liam, at least, was ready to try and find abitof relaxation in his day. If the beautiful women with him would allow him that chance.

He couldn’t help but glance around as four graceful forms slipped into the water. He was right there with them. Each of them experienced the immediate release of tension as they slid into the hot spring. Anna and Tess shared a blissful sigh as they descended into the soothing water up to their necks.

Liam agreed with their commentary, though he stayed inaudible. He went a little farther, disappearing beneath the clear, warm water, enveloped on all sides by its soothing gift. He remained there until his lungs began to protest, then rebroke the water’s surface tension and seized a satisfying gulp of air.

The spring was slightly smaller than the mud pool, but that still meant the five of them could float around without worrying about bumping into one another. That was what Avril ended up doing. Eyes shut and floating on her back, she soaked in the therapeutic experience. In one corner of the spring, Avril and Anna started discussing some meal ideas involving the items everyone had gotten at the market. That left a certain voluptuous, dark-haired professor unattended, and Liam found her in the opposite corner of the spring, distant from everyone. Momentarily, he wondered if she wanted alone time, but their eyes connected. He received the slightest “you can come over” head tilt that anyone had ever received.

Yet, it was plenty. Motivated and hopeful about spending some time chatting with Victoria, Liam cut through the water like a dull knife. Even though there was ample room, hot springs never felt like the kind of place to swim freestyle. Cool water, lake, pool, or ocean, go for it. Hot water, no! That’s too much like a bath, and you don’t swim in a bath.

After moving beside her, he leaned against the wall only a few inches—possibly a little closer than he should have put himself—to her left. Victoria didn’t comment on his choice of location, so he didn’t fret over it. For a few seconds, they relaxed in silence.

“How have you been enjoying your first day in Fiji?” Victoria asked.

“It’s been pretty amazing so far,” Liam said. “Feels like you’ll stumble upon some beautiful garden or shimmeringlagoon no matter which direction you look. It’s a good thing we have a week to explore these islands.”

Victoria nodded, then asked, “What would you say your favorite part has so far been?”

The answer rose above the rest, the king of the hill; all other contenders were left bested and broken at the base of the hill in an instant. He glanced toward Victoria, finding her discerning gaze upon him.

He could lie, but…

“Probably what was going on about twenty minutes ago.”

“When we were coating ourselves in mud?” Victoria hoisted an eyebrow.

“I liked that a lot, yeah, but I was thinking about the minute or two immediately before that.”

Victoria shook her head at him, but he could see her levity—a rare but enjoyable sight.

“What about you? The Garden of the Sleeping Giant, right?”

“It’s in my nature,” Victoria said, then realized her unintentional pun. “I’ve been to enough tropical islands to generally know what I’ll find there, but there’s always something new to learn.”

That drew one of Liam’s eyebrows skyward. “Wait, are you saying you already knew the answers to most of what you were asking the tour guide?”

Victoria looked positively sexy with the sly smile that she let curve her luscious mouth. “I’m a professor. I have to see if the local tour guide, whose job is to answer tourists’ questions, has an appropriate amount of knowledge.”

“And did this one?”

“He did.”

“What happens when one doesn’t?” Liam asked.

“The death sentence.”

Liam grinned, and even Victoria appeared pleased by her joke. Riding the high, swaddled in warmth, sitting next to the most voluptuous woman he knew, for some unknowable reason, Liam decided to stick his foot directly into his mouth.

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