Page 29 of Holiday Home 3

Answering her request with a nod, he said, “It’s only eleven-thirty, so I’m not too hungry just yet. It’s also supposed to get a little warmer outside, so maybe we can wait twenty or thirty minutes before we go?”

“That works for me,” the raven-haired woman answered politely, though it was the gratitude shining within her soft green eyes that he focused on.

“Is she up?” he asked, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“Yes. She’s in the living room.”

“Sounds like a good place to warm up a little.”

Stepping into an apartment that most would have killed to live in, even if it was probably on the mundane side of things for two women as wealthy as Anna and Avril, he glanced at Anna asshe shut the door. Her gratitude had modified itself into a hint of worry, which he sought to relieve quickly.

“Don’t worry; it’s all good. Trust me.”

“I do,” Anna said, following him as he walked down the hall.

Two scintillating emeralds swiveled toward him not ten steps later, now that he’d made it deep enough into their apartment for its second tenant to notice him.

“You two aren’t heading out right away?” their owner asked, eyebrow raised.

“It’s a little cold out, so we’re going to let the day warm up a little,” Anna said.

“Guess it is,” said a woman with no fortitude for even a mildly chilly day.

“Do you want anything to drink before we go?” Anna asked him.

He began to shake his head, only to hinder the act upon glancing over his shoulder. He’dnearlybeen too slow-witted to snag this one.

“Yeah, sure. Hot chocolate?”

“I’ll get some made,” she said, moving by him as she headed for the kitchen. She also passed behind Avril, who lounged on their living room couch while watching TV. Once she disappeared into the kitchen, Liam imitated the first half of her path.

He’d decided thirty minutes ago where he’d take Anna on their “date.” However, it might have been only about five minutes ago, just before he’d hit the turn leading to the apartment complex, that he’d decided how to handle things with Avril.

Like Anna, he’d do it in a style that was not his norm.

The first thing he did was sit down beside the atypically pouty redhead. The second thing he did was steal the remote from her grasp and turn the volume of the baseball talk showshe was watching up loud enough that Anna wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop. The third thing he did, in response to her turning her head and glaring at him for doing the second thing, was kiss her.

He did it for far longer than the kiss she’d shocked him with yesterday. Leaning into her, his hand on her thigh, she spent the entire kiss completely off guard. Without any crowd to pass her shock off to, she was forced to bear it all. Later, she might try to play her surprise off, but he would know better. He saw it in her eyes when he pulled back, and by the sluggishness of her recovery. It was rare for her to be the recipient of such a ploy, not its provider, and he memorized the sight of her stuporous stare before she could adequately hide it behind another glare.

“Payback,” he whispered before she could say anything. “Now we’re even.”

She’d been almost morose when he’d sat down beside her. Outside of her first look when he and Anna had eschewed departing right away, her attention had remained pointed toward the debating pundits on the TV. Now, however, he had her full attention.

He watched the mouth he’d just kissed tug to one side. Rather than allowing her time to process, he reached forward and tugged at the collar of her enticingly close-fitting turtleneck.

“What, no scarves today?”

Avril finally snapped out of her fugue as his fingers briefly exposed the mottled work his lips had left on her neck a few days ago. Swatting his hand away, she threw only a single cautious look over her shoulder toward the kitchen. Confirming that Anna still wasn’t’ back, which his boldness should have more than declared already, her gaze snapped back to him.

“It’ll be suspicious if I wear a scarf every single day. It’s called avoiding notice.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “When I think of you, I think of subtlety and covertness.”

Her sour stare intensified. “And when I think of you, I think of anxiety and listlessness. So, what is today, opposite day?”

Liam languidly shrugged. “I said what it was. Payback. You about gave me a heart attack yesterday.”

Avril just grunted.