Page 18 of Holiday Home 5

“If you think Liam will be staying with you—”

“Not me,” Avril announced proudly, chin tilted high.

All eyes shifted to the tallest, most buxom woman in sight.

“You’re pairing me and Liam together?” she asked, voice as disaffected by the younger woman’s antics as ever.

“And I’ll be bunking with my bestie and favorite professor.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. The others stayed silent. Liam was stunned.

“Are you alright with that, Liam?” Victoria asked.

Alright? He was inwardly popping champagne and party poppers. Outwardly, he trusted himself only to nod.

“See? No problem here.” Anna swiped a dismissive hand through the air. “Obviously, I need to put the most responsible woman in the group with the onlymanin the group. That just makes sense. I mean, these are the honeymoon suites, so each bure only has a single bed, and—”

“What?!” Anna asked, jaw dropping open. “These are for honeymooners?!”

“These two are,” Avril said, pointing at the nearby bure, then the one—the last one in the collection—a thirty or forty paces farther north. It was just visible through the palm trees and other dense foliage on its southern side. Privacy. There’d be so much privacy.

“That’s why I picked them,” Avril continued. “They’re the best available bures.”

Anna’s face turned bright crimson as she jerked her head back toward the resort area. Her eyes dashed from Tess to Avril, then back to Tess. “T-The staff, they’re going to think we’re a… a throuple!”

“Who knows?” Avril said, shrugging. “I got them because they’re the nicest ones. They’ve got the most space and the best views, and they’re right here on the beach! We’re basically ten steps from bed to sand under our toes. Look at ‘em. They’re also isolated from the rest of the resort, so we’re unlikely to ever see another guest unless we want to. It’s the perfect place for the perfect relaxing getaway.” She stared directly at her best friend. “So, relax, Anna. I stuck Liam and Victoria together. It’ll be as chaste as a nunnery in there, and our bures are a minute away from each other.”

Well…Liam thought. Some others might have experienced the same thought.

For once, Avril wasn’t in the know. For once, she’d tried to relieve everyone’s worries. Yet, like an immutable law of the universe, even when intending the opposite, she amped things up. And in doing so, he could have gotten down on a knee on this endlessly romantic beach, looked her in the eye, and asked her to marry him.

Chapter Nine

Room for Fun

Surrounded by luxury, staying in a suite whose king bed was literally—as promised by a certain redhead—only a couple of steps from the beach and ocean, Liam found himself unable to focus on any of that. For this very moment, while Avril jogged back tohershared bure, he could only look at the tall, dark-haired, and intense woman he’d be sharing the space with.

Was she pleased by this development, annoyed, completely ambivalent? He. Didn’t. Know.

So, he asked.

“Are you alright with this?”

“Concerning how Avril makes decisions for all of us, knowing we’ll have to go along with her ridiculousness once shedeems fit to reveal it, no. Concerning how stunning this suite is, how isolated it is, and that I can just look up when reading in bed to see the ocean if the doors are left open, yes.”

That… sort of answered his question. But not as fully as he’d have liked.

Victoria noticed how he lingered on the deck, which wrapped around three sides of the bure, including this western, ocean-facing one. He stood only a step away from entering the lavish honeymoon suite through a pair of currently opened sliding doors, thus allowing the aforementioned reading-in-bed opportunity. The room she stood in served as both bedroom and dining room, with the latter separated from the former by a half-wall to the north. It also sat lower into the ground; you needed to climb down a few steps to reach the small dining area, which gave the suite a sort of sectional but open feel.

From the dining room, you could walk to a more proper front door—one that led to pathways circulating through the bures and all leading back to the resort proper. If you went south from the bedroom, you reached a gargantuan trapezoidal bathroom, abundant with towels and potted plants, and possessing a large shower Liam hoped Victoria would never use. Because there was a tree growing out of their deck. White and without any leaves, it nestled itself into the corner of the southern part of the expansive deck. It was a pretty sight, but that wasn’t why Liam was so invested in this area. It was because of what cameoutof the tree. Midway up the narrow trunk, a showerhead emerged from the bark.

Thiswas the place he hoped Victoria would choose to shower each day. Two massive wooden panels rose higher than the railing around it, meaning that only someone inside the bure or directly adjacent to it—and peering through the plants like a peeping tom—could see the person using it.

There was even more luxury on the deck. Not even counting the hammock, chairs, and tables on the ocean-facing side, the northern part of the deck had a small pool sitting in it. Although it wasn’t too big, it was certainly private. For two honeymooners, it would be enough. Not for swimming but to sit within, share a toast, then consider making some romantic waves.

Above the main rooms, the thatched roof was supported by crisscrossing black beams, contrasting with the sparkling white floor tiles. Overall, it fit the promise made on the resort’s website. Modern yet Fijian inspired. It wasn’t that enormous of a place, yet it felt like it was brimming with open space. The vast deck and its ample opportunities definitely helped.

“Are you going to come in?” she asked.

---