Page 51 of Holiday Home 5

Tess smiled. “It helps that those talented hands are attached to a mind that’s so willing to learn.”

“We were just talking about that, actually,” Victoria said. “It earned my compliment, as well.”

“I do my best,” Liam said, shrugging. Oddly, he felt more flustered now than he’d ever gotten last night. Maybe it was how two professors talked about him, like he was one of their favorite students, both agreeing that he had a lot of potential. For some reason, it made him a little self-conscious—even if it also made him somewhat happy.

“You always do,” Tess said, beaming at him. “But it’s also been about two hours since you visited us. We’re ready to head out and look for a good beach to relax on. So, while Avril and Anna gather what we bought yesterday and get some more things from the resort for a picnic by the waves, I’m here to get you two.”

Liam must have appeared crestfallen, for Tess lifted an eyebrow. Heaping further doses of dismay onto his tastebuds, Victoria didn’t try to buy them extra alone time.

“I didn’t realize so much time had passed,” Victoria said, standing up for the first time in nearly two whole hours. She took a long drink. “I’ll go get into today’s swimwear, then be right back. You wouldn’t happen to have anything left at your bure of the breakfast I heard you ordered from the resort?”

“There’re some leftovers, yes. Enough to tide you over for our brief jungle hike, so remember to put a little more on, as I have.”

Tess motioned to the visible bikini straps underneath her breezy, off-white shirt. Victoria nodded, then gestured toward Liam.

“Come on, Liam. I’ll let you pick what I wear.”

As far as consolation prizes went, it wasn’t theworstone in the world. But knowing that he was about to cover up Victoria’sdelicious nipples, not get the chance he’d been salivating over for… well, weeks or months at least, certainly deflated him. Once they were back inside their bure, digging through their suitcases, Victoria rubbed his shoulder.

“It’s a delay, not a cancellation,” the buxom brunette assured him, appearing amused by how disappointedly his shoulders had sagged. “And after a luxuriating day at the beach, I’llneedalongshower to wash off all the salt and sand.”

That was enough to unburden most of the weight. Not all, but enough. Seeing a few of Victoria’s bikinis also helped revive his good mood. Knowing that Tess was waiting for them, he didn’t get to mull his options as much as he might have liked, but he picked one he knew he’d love seeing her in for the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon. And then love seeing her escape from once they were underneath the warm outpour of their shower later today.

Chapter Twenty-Two

White Sands, Clear Waters

The decision the others had made while waiting for him and Victoria was to cut across the island, heading through the forest to reach one of the eastern-facing beaches. With how thin the island was, it was maybe half a mile from one side to the other, so it wasn’t much of a trek. The forest was dense and gnarled, however, so their idyllic vista still required a little bit of trudging. Liam ended up with more than one scratch on his forearms as he maneuvered branches out of the way, and three separate roots tried to trip him up.

After he’d picked both his and Victoria’s outfits, they returned to Tess, who escorted them back to her, Anna, and Avril’s bure. Once there, Victoria resolved some of her slight hunger pangs with the leftovers in their mini-fridge. Anna andAvril returned before long, likewise dressed for a brief excursion into an island rainforest.

The former had a cooler basket at her elbow, which he assumed she’d picked up at the resort. The latter, face buried in a small map of the area, spoke and pointed animatedly at something on it.

“Welcome back,” Tess said as the younger women arrived. “I’ve collected the other two members of our wayward group.”

Avril looked up from the map. Although Victoria’s skin had long since absorbed any signs of the golden massage oil, the younger woman squinted at the older woman’s collarbone and neck.

“Took you two long enough,” Avril said. “Well, grab what we need while Anna and I load up the basket, and let’s go.”

Along with numerous beach towels, sunscreen, a cooler specifically for drinks, and all the other standard amenities for a day at the beach, Avril asked him to remove the beach umbrella from the center of the deck’s table.

“Stick it in the sand once we’re there,” she said. “We can use it as shade.”

Both shadeandshades were clearly on the women’s minds. Each of them had sunglasses on, though Tess’s sat on her head, not yet in use. Thanks to Victoria’s last-second suggestion, he also remembered to grab his pair. When they departed, after he made a well-received suggestion to bring along their deck umbrellas as well, he left them hooked on his shirt’s collar, waiting for the time when he needed them.

With everyone loaded up with beach supplies for the day, no one wanting to have to return to the resort until much later in the day, they headed into the forest. Between the paths, signs, and Avril’s map, there was no chance of getting lost. Especially when they were walking all of two thousand feet.

Upon breaching the dense forest’s eastern wall, sand so white that it was almost blinding greeted them, and a dazzling blue ocean shimmered just beyond. A diminutive island stood on its lonesome, rocky, uncivilized, maybe half a mile into the sea. Beyond that, they could see the mountainous center of Viti Levu many miles farther away. With some binoculars, perhaps they could have even seen the hilltop they’d stood on yesterday.

“This way,” Avril called, waving the group to follow. She turned south, becoming the first to set her sandals on the sand. They walked for barely a minute before they rounded a bulge in the forest line. Avril stopped and spoke again.

“And feast your eyes on paradise,” Avril said, gesturing ahead of them. There, at the place they’d be staying for the afternoon, an untouched expanse of beach stretched straight ahead. Pure white sands, an ocean lapping at its border, eight hours of sunlight, and four incredibly beautiful women. That was the day’s lazy plan.

It wasperfect.

Wherever the island’s landmass sat beneath the waves, visible and even walkable at many places along the stretch of beach, the water turned bright turquoise. Only a few hundred feet out, once the rock was no longer so close to the surface, it returned to its resplendent blue. Beautiful as those sights were, he knew there was a better sight closer by.

After everyone sprawled out their blankets in a line, after they dug holes and stuck and unfurled their umbrellas in the sand, and after they put their coolers under the newly made shade, it was finally time to see some beach attire.

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