Page 30 of Holiday Home 3
“Don’t do it again,” he said, trying to poke her on the side. Again, she swatted his hand away.
“I’ve had my lectures already,” she said. “I don’t need a third one a day late.”
“I’m not lecturing, but I feel like I’m allowed to say my piece, seeing as how I was the person you directly impacted.”
“Directly impacted,” she repeated, snorting. “Yeah, okay.”
“I was. Weshouldtalk, too. I’ve got some things to say.”
“You could have called or texted me yesterday.”
“No, I couldn’t have.”
As her gaze narrowed, he failed to hold back a broad grin. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms under her breasts.
“That right?” She sighed and stared into her lap. “Well, you can go ahead and chew me out if you want to. And… sorry. Yesterday didn’t go down the way I was thinking it would.”
“I’m gonna want to hear justhowyou thought it’d go any wayotherthan how it did when we’ve got some more time together, but it can wait. Oh, and I’m not going to chew you out. Everything is all good.”
Her brilliant green eyes zoomed back to his face.
“I’m not mad—not anymore, anyway. I think I got over it pretty quickly, all things considered.”
She stared at him for a few moments. Anna didn’t reappear and ruin things during that time. She sure was taking an awfully long time to make a simple cup of hot chocolate. They both were aware of that.
“Well, congratulations. I mean… I’m glad.” As she tried to tone down her pouty snark, he admired how attractive she couldremain, even when sulking. Modeling agencies everywhere would have paid hand over fist just to get her on their cover while pouting. “I’d understand if you all were still mad at me, though. Tess was right about how my timing made me look.”
“She’s not upset with you, either,” he assured her.Well, she might be. But if she is, she has a funny way of showing it.“So, you’re good when it comes to the two of us, at least.”
“I’m glad,” Avril said again. “Really. I am.”
Liam smiled. “Good. I assume you’ve fully worked things out with Anna?”
Avril didn’t meet his gaze then, so he knew they must not have. “It’s fine. Just worry about yourdate.Try to hold her hand for at least a few seconds, okay?”
“There’ll be a hug in there, too, I bet,” he said lightly. “She gets to set the pace. I remember you giving me some advice like that at some point.”
“I gave you that advice for a recently divorced professor, not my timid best friend. Her pace is fucking glacial. If you two were actually dating, I’d be expecting to hear about your first kiss when I was thirty.”
“Good thing we aren’t then,” he said. “Just means more for you.”
Avril reacted as if he’d finally gotten past her defenses and poked her. “In a feisty mood, aren’t you? Did Tess give you the cold shoulder or something? There’s not exactly much time for me to get you off before Anna gets back. She can only pretend to still be making you your drink for so long.”
Liam slowly shook his head, mouth bending like a flag fluttering in the wind as he tried not to grin from ear to ear. “No, we didn’t have a fight. It’s nothing like that at all.”
Her stare flattened. “Okay, well, if it’s the opposite, I don’t want to listen to you brag about all the sex you had before you came. I’m not in the mood.”
There it was! A perfect opportunity to baffle her and pique her interest. It’d taken a bit of awkward setup to lead her to his ambush, but the payoff was well worth it.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Avril,” he said as matter-of-factly as he could manage. “Tess and I don’t have any type of relationship like that.”
“Huh?”
The first thing she did was recheck the entrance to the kitchen. But Anna wasn’t there yet, still on her admirable journey to take as long as she physically could to make him a cup of hot chocolate. So, he returned to admiring Avril’s baffled stare.
“There’s no way Tess and I would ever end up having a relationship like that,” he said, finding it increasingly difficult to keep a grin off his face. “And as you now know, Anna and I are just pretending to be dating. So, I’m not in a relationship with anybody right now. You know, in case you’re still into me like you said you were.”
“What the fuck?”she mouthed, more as a rapid response of incredulity than an actual question he was meant to answer.