Page 80 of Holiday Home 3
“No, no,” Avril whispered, flicking him on the chest. “You’ll ruffle my clothes.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Rein it in, baby,” Avril chuckled. “Think about the other prizes you might win tonight.”
“So, there will be prizes?”
“Obviously,” she snorted. “What kind of poker game doesn’t have stakes? And it’s not just you who could win somethingtonight. But you definitely want to take first place in as many rounds as you can.”
“I’m going to,” he said, caressing her jaw with his thumb. His eyes traveled a little lower, and a new smile reappeared. “Your neck looks all better, by the way. Can’t see anything left of the marks I made.”
“Oh, there’s still a little left of one, but I put a bit of concealer over it.”
“Maybe I can give you one or two more before the break ends?”
Avril’s verdant eyes glimmered, and she grinned. “Maybe. We’ll see how you do tonight.”
They’d assumed there would be time for more fun. Yet, as their mouths hovered closer, a sound paralyzed them both. At the same time, their ears perked up, and alarm flashed across their expressions. Hurriedly, Liam moved back, which allowed Avril to hop down from the table. She hastily smoothed her outfit, though he hadn’t done much to ruffle it.
Seconds later, the footsteps they’d heard on the marble floor out in the hall ended. He and Avril looked toward the second player to arrive, a person who had also shown up earlier than expected. She seemed mildly surprised that she hadn’t been the first player to arrive, at least so far as Liam could tell. With Victoria Moreno, it was always hard to guess how she truly felt about something.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Competitors
Holy fuck,Liam thought the moment he laid eyes on a woman so impossibly sexy that it nearly unraveled him on the spot. Refreshments. That was what the table was missing. Something to quench his throat after Victoria’s arrival completely parched it.
The bustiest woman of the four had elected to wear a bright teal evening dress, which vibrantly contrasted her olive complexion. A single strap passed over her left shoulder, and the dress clung tightly to her voluptuous body, especially around her midriff, where bands of green crossed diagonally up her torso like a rising whirlwind. Its tightness continued at her breasts, which were prominently displayed thanks to the dress’s low cut.
As was always the case—Avril had surmised correctly about his love of breasts in her video—Victoria’s unfathomably sexy breasts played a pivotal role in how rapidly the moisture evaporated from his throat. An incomparable sight burned itself like a sunspot into his memory. Compressed by her dress, her splendid breasts seemed almost ready to spill out of it if she were jostled. A wardrobe catastrophe for her but a miracle for him.
As she strode into the room, the sight of a single long, toned leg dropped his gaze. A single slit separated her dress’s skirt up past the midway point of her left thigh, and thanks to her choice of heels, she stood at his height tonight. Complementary to her dress and sheer, unbridled beauty, a pair of thin golden bands clinked together on her left wrist.
For a moment—for several moments—Liam was captivated. During those moments, an insatiable urge roared through his veins. Technically, he was already in a relationship with three of the most beautiful women on the planet. Some variety of one, at least. All things considered, it should have been impossible, comical even, for him to admit that he wasn’t satiated.
And yet, that was precisely how he felt. And during those few seconds, Liam desperately desired Victoria Moreno. A fourth woman. A woman who was Tess’s close friend and had nearly been Avril’s sister-in-law.
“You wanna roll that tongue back into your head?” Avril grunted beside him, forcing him back to reality. “Just rolled out the red carpet for her, didn’t you?”
Heat seared his face as he realized just how apparent his gawking had been. Next to him, Avril was staring at him with a mix of dryness and amusement. If anyone enjoyed watching him bumble about, it was her.
On the other hand, he couldn’t quite make out how Victoria felt about his social gaffe. On Christmas Eve, she’d intimated that being looked at didn’t upset her. In fact, she’d really onlywarned him about keeping himself from being caught staring byAvril,who they both knew would tease him mercilessly if the chance arose—just as it did now. But he felt like he’d done a little more than just look. He’d fantasized about her in a way that he hadn’t done before, and immediately after laying eyes on her.
“I put a lot of effort into my outfit for tonight,” Victoria calmly said, directing her words primarily to Avril. “It’s good to know that that effort was not wasted.”
“Uh huh,” their dealer said, folding her arms beneath her breasts, which were far more covered but also hard to hide. “So, you intentionally dressed up for someone half your age. Dang, Auntie, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
A flicker of displeasure, but only a flicker, soured Victoria’s icy blue stare. If Liam had any guess, it was due to Avril’s nickname for her, which she did not much like, not the playful accusation leveled at her.
“You are the one who set the stipulations for tonight,” the older woman reminded Avril. “Dress the part to play a Bond girl. So I have.”
“So you have,” Avril conceded. “You’re almost too sexy to be here, Auntie. When did you get that dress?”
“A few years ago.”
“Oh?” Avril said, interest piqued. “What were you doing a few years ago that warranted buying such a sexy dress?”
“Is that your business?” Victoria replied. She walked up to them and then by them. She’d been carrying a clutch in her right hand since she’d arrived, and she set it down on the table near one of the chip stacks. Apparently, she’d already decided which seat she would be sitting in when play began.