Page 36 of Holiday Home 3
“Could I ask something slightly off-topic?” he asked a little later.
“Of course,” Anna said, having mostly corrected her face’s coloration to its usual fairness by now.
“Is everything okay between you and Avril? I got the sense that something was going on while we were at your place.”
“Oh. You noticed.”
It wasn’t a question but an affirmation, but he still nodded. “Hard not to. I’ve never seen her sulk like that.”
“If you don’t mind, I would rather not overshare about it, but we’re okay. We just had a small disagreement last night, and we haven’t found a way to reach common ground just yet.”
It was a very diplomatic way of telling him to mind his own business, but one he accepted.
“Okay. If there ends up being anything I can do, just let me know. I won’t bother you about it further.”
He intentionally left out a promise not to bother Avril about it. If they’d argued about anything last night, dollars to doughnuts said it had something to do with what had happened at Tess’s place. This time, he couldn’t rein in his curiosity, either.
“Thank you,” Anna said, and the two of them finished their lunches.
“It’s on me,” he said, eyeing her as she reached for her purse once they were ready to pay their bill on the electronic device sitting on their table. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I think you’re being a little silly by being so adamant about paying for things when Avril or I’m around,” Anna said.
“Maybe so, but I’m picking up an expensively tailored outfit tomorrow, which I let you pay for. So, I’m getting lunch again.”
“Very well,” she said, putting forth no further argument.
It wasn’t like Zeke’s was fine caviar and expensive champagne, anyhow. After paying and leaving a decent tip, he and Anna departed the warm restaurant. On her way out, she collected just as many looks as she had on her way in. Only, this time, she seemed more innately aware of their meanings, and she ducked her head as they exited the restaurant.
“Do you want to head back?” he asked as they made it to his car. The cold wasn’t so severe that they felt the need to flee into it, so they loitered by the driver-side door.
“I’m not sure,” Anna said, looking around at the collection of restaurants and shops in the shopping center around them. “Would you mind if we did a bit of window shopping?”
“I wouldn’t mind that at all. Any place catch your eye?”
As she scanned the various options for their next excursion, he noticed her eyes drift toward him at least three times. She might have the means to perceive the small details, but she still had some work to do when it came to her own subtlety.
Once she selected a quaint bookstore as their next destination, they left his car in Zeke’s parking lot and walked across the parking lot to it. An older couple owned and worked it, and they were all smiles behind the counter as he and Anna entered. A few other shoppers milled about through the cozy interior, and whether she’d meant to or not, Anna gravitated toward an aisle of romance novels on one edge of the store. An aisle they eventually stood in alone, where only the eyes printed on the nearby covers could perceive them.
Ever since they’d agreed to try their hand at being more romantic, Liam had been musing over the right time and place to broach their first kiss. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited about the prospect… or aware of the irony that he would have kissed herafterhaving already kissed the two women who’d initially conspired to pair them up. But he didn’t want to end upfeeling like a skeevy asshole because he pushed her to kiss him before she was comfortable.
As he soon found out, Anna had been thinking about the same things he had. In fact, she’d finished thinking and decided to act before he did.
Alone in the romance aisle, her hand found his while he was still mulling things over. Starting, his gaze snapped down to the soft warmth he felt from her smaller hand. In response, Anna blanched.
“Sorry,” she said, trying to release his hand. “I should have asked first.”
However, he held her hand fast. “Couples hold hands,” he said. “No permission necessary.” He smiled, attempting to remain the steadier of them as they fumbled their way toward what really should be their final destination. “It’s nice holding your hand; it’s very soft.”
“Yours is very warm,” she replied, though he was pretty sure hers was still the warmer of the two.
Hoping to diminish some of her anxiety, he nodded toward the nearest wall of books. “See any you might want to take home?”
She followed his gesture, looking at the dozens upon dozens of books waiting for a home. “I might get a few. Whenever I bring home a book, Avril usually steals it until she finishes it first, so I normally get a few and then pick from the ones she doesn’t snatch.”
“That sounds like her,” Liam chuckled. “We’ll find her a book or two before we go.”
The tension in their clasped hands receded slowly, like how warmth could melt ice into water. They kept their hands connected as they walked the aisle, scanning for options she or Avril might find interesting. Even when another shopper entered the aisle, Anna continued holding his hand.