Playing It Close by Kat Latham

felt light since he’d started hitting the gym when he was fourteen.
    Suddenly, she turned and called back to him. “Resources, eh? What are you, a detective?”
    Shite. He shouldn’t have taken them down that conversational rabbit hole. “Not a detective.”
    She gave him a thoughtful look. “A billionaire playboy tycoon?”
    He laughed. “What?”
    “Hey, you’re not the only one who likes a little fantasy in life. Mine just comes in the form of novels instead of films. Too bad you’re not Greek. They make the best tycoons.”
    “Right. The Greeks are doing really well, financially.”
    “Fantasy, remember?” She reached the van before he did and slid open the side door. Tony the driver rushed around from the driver’s side to help, but she’d already climbed in and settled on the bench seat in the middle, leaving Liam with a quandary. He could sit in the front seat, so Tony didn’t feel like a taxi driver. He could sit in the far back row, so he could stretch out. Or he could squeeze into the seat next to Tess, making it obvious that he didn’t want to separate from her.
    Fuck it. He didn’t want to separate from her, so why not sit next to her?
    He stepped into the vehicle and tossed both of their day packs into the back, making room for himself. She gave him a look of surprise when he sat down, taking up most of the two-seater space. His shoulders brushed against hers. She didn’t have much room with him next to her, so he tried to give her more by resting his arm across the back of the seat, right behind her.
    “Are you going to pretend to yawn and grope me next?”
    “Pinkie, you need to start seeing some real men if that’s what you think I’m doing here.”
    “I won’t argue with that,” she grumbled as she clipped her seat belt. “Except for the Pinkie part.”
    “How about Pixie? That any better?”
    “Hell no!”
    Her vehemence made him pull back. “All right. Jesus, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
    A thunder cloud passed over her face and he started pulling together the threads of their conversations. Last night she’d been annoyed when he’d asked whether she was eating okay. Pixie was apparently an insult, though he certainly hadn’t meant it as one. Was she sensitive about her size? She was small, but as far as he could tell perfectly formed. Quite appealingly formed, as a matter of fact. “No Pinkie and no Pixie. Just Tess.”
    “Yes, just Tess,” she agreed.
    Tony climbed into the driver’s seat and twisted around to see them. “Nice to see you again, Señorita Tess. You enjoyed our trip to the forest so much you wanted to go again?”
    A slow smile spread over Liam’s face as a blush colonized hers.
    “Mmm.” Her lips were pressed together so tightly it was a wonder any noise made it out at all.
    “So you’ve been up there before, have you?”
    The old van sputtered to life, and the seats vibrated as Tony shifted into reverse and backed out. She leaned over to whisper conspiratorially beneath the van’s loud rumblings, but she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. “Don’t say anything, but I think he’s got me confused with someone else.”
    “Uh huh. With that other pink-haired woman who’s staying at the hotel?”
    “Exactly. Wait—are we the only ones going on this excursion?”
    “We are.”
    She finally looked at him, clearly bemused—and he didn’t blame her. The hotel had originally told him they kept excursions to a minimum of five people in order to save on fuel emissions. He’d managed to convince them otherwise by donating an obscene sum to a carbon offsetting scheme. His turn to whisper a confession, only—unlike Tess’s—his admission was true. “Hope you don’t mind. I asked for a private trip.”
    “Just...just the two of us?”
    “Uh-huh. I heard there’s a waterfall and a small natural pool just off one of the trails. Since Maria said she didn’t know of any private coves around the lagoon, I thought you might like to explore the