Page 21 of Holiday Home 4
An eyebrow raised as two glimmeringly pure blue eyes looked up from their work. “But?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to end up disappointed with where we go?”
Grinning beatifically, Tess laughed. “I couldn’t be disappointed, no matter where we go. As I already said,allthe places in the running areveryromantic.”
Liam shivered delightedly as Tess lowered her hand. It didn’t infiltrate his pants as he might have liked, but it did ruminate around the sturdy object wishing for a chance to show itself off. Soon. Probably very soon. So long as this intermission didn’t persist too much longer.
“Then Fiji it will be,” Liam said a few minutes later, sitting up. His chest was riddled with kiss marks, wet and warm all over. Just before removing herself from above him, Tess laid her ear on his heart. Silently, she’d listened to its turmoil, which she was responsible for, for a good thirty seconds.
“I’m sure Victoria will be overjoyed to hear it,” Tess said with a smile.
“Actually,” he said, waffling for a moment. Was it wise to share the deal he’d made with Victoria? Even ignoring if it might upset her, it could potentially lead to a line of questioning that shone a light on the one secret he truly wanted to keep from her.
Yeah, you need to share it,his conscience ultimately stated. The situation with Victoria, while nowhere near as intimate as things were with Anna and Avril, had surprised him. He’d gotten swept up in a tide of desire for an incredibly attractive woman, and even now, he was probably more shocked at how things had gone than elated—though he very muchwaselated. Nevertheless, she and Tess were more than just colleagues. So, if Tess disapproved of his actions, he’d cancel the deal with Victoria and still put his points toward Fiji.
After seizing a deep breath, uncertain if he was about to ruin any chances of their game continuing, he explained the deal he and Victoria had made.
Tess was… surprised, not incensed, not frustrated, not disappointed. At least, that was how it looked from where Liam was sitting. At first, she’d listened solemnly as he’d mentioned getting a bit in over his head with the suggestion of how Victoria could convince him to vote for Fiji. And then, with her wearing a hint of an expectant smile, he’d explained that she’d agreed to it, not shut him down.
And then her jaw had slightly dropped.
“Hold on, she… saidyes?” Tess asked, blinking as if a squirrel had walked up to her and started explaining its political leanings.
Slowly, Liam nodded.
“My goodness,” Tess said, totally flummoxed.
So, they sat in silence for several seconds. Liam’s heart had a new reason to race. An unpleasant one.
“I can’t believe she agreed,” Tess said, massaging her chin. Her gaze seemed distant, staring off toward the place over his shoulder. “Wow. There’s my surprise of the new year.”
“I didn’t think things would work out, either,” he admitted, which redrew her focus to him. Tess narrowed her eyes at him, but not unkindly. The sliver of a smile tugging up one corner of her mouth provided additional evidence that she wasn’t livid with him.
“I’m starting to suspect that Avril and I have spoiled you too much. You’ve gotten far too comfortable getting everything you could ever want from the women in our circle.”
Liam blushed appropriately, understanding that it was a very light admonishment. “The wine got to me, I guess.”
“Thenon-alcoholic wine?” Tess snorted, folding her arms beneath her breasts. Still, her smile grew. “I think we both knowthe wine had very little to do with it. How a woman can exude such ludicrous degrees of severity and standoffishness yet make any man around her drool like a waterfall is beyond me. Even if sheisunquestionably attractive, still! Don’t you men have any sense of self-preservation?”
“I do,” he said in his defense. “But, non-alcoholic or not, she did offer me some wine. She wasn’t really acting all that severely and standoffish at the time. That was also pretty shocking. Compared to how things started”—he nodded toward the very space in Tess’s living room where he’d been first introduced to Victoria Moreno a couple of months ago—“it’s definitely made my head spin.”
“It’s an infectious feeling, I assure you,” Tess said, again growing thoughtful. Not angry. Still not angry. It was such a relief.
“I’ll cancel our deal if you want me to,” Liam said. A part of him had expected Victoria to be the one to do that after she’d returned to her senses. He’d been anticipating a text or call almost every hour since they’d set it up.
“Would you?” Tess asked, examining him.
“Of course,” he said immediately. “You’re the most important person in my life.”
Oh. That just got said out loud.
It was one of many prisoners within Liam’s heart, most of which pertained to just how strongly his feelings for Tess were. His feelings went far, far beyond just standard affection or lust. Love. He loved her. He’d been afraid to announce it openly for a while now, even if he’d, as she’d stated, started getting too comfortable having his way.
This was probably proof that her assessment was right on the money.
Somehow, that specific configuration of words escaped his mouth; they just wandered on out. He couldn’t rein them back in. They were now a memory in Tess’s mind.
Once more, rather than any number of negative or even neutral responses, Tess set his heart at ease. She beamed at him, then seized him by the wrist and pulled him into another deep, passionate kiss. From sheer relief, he nearly melted into her because of it.