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Quick as that, understanding finally dawned on the lovely face opposite his. For no real purpose other than his satisfaction, he pretended that she still needed him to say it properly.
“The place I want to camp tonight is in the igloo that you, me, and Anna built. Right in your backyard.”
She liked the idea. She liked it enough to entertain saying yes. He saw those two truths within the slight curl of approval that framed her lusciously full lips. However, she didn’t assent to his proposal right away.
“That’s an interesting place to pick. Any reason why?”
“I’ve never slept in an igloo before.”
“Nor have I.”
“So, I think it’d be something to check off the bucket list for us both. We can test if it stays warm all night.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
Liam met her inquisitive but flirty look with one of unrestrained desire. “We could warm each other up.”
“I suppose we could,” Tess said, smile effused with such beauty that it seared itself into his mind. “Sleeping in an igloo together, maybe keeping each other warm? That’s all you have in mind for us tonight?”
“Not quite,” he said, maybe a bit too quickly, though he could no longer restrain his eagerness. Now that she hadn’t immediately shut him down, hope’s roaring firestorm raged inside him. “Since it’s nottechnicallypart of your house, I think it might have its own rules.”
“My backyard isn’t part of my house?” Tess inquired, lifting a bemused eyebrow. “I don’t believe that sounds right.”
“Anna and I helped build it, so it definitely falls under a special ordinance.”
“Does it? I must not be caught up with the modern legislation on igloo ownership.”
“Yeah, the courts are still ruminating over how it works. But for now, the igloo’s more like… neutral ground. Like Switzerland.”
Tess kept on smiling, which was all the fuel that Liam needed to keep on pressing his case. They both knew how desperate he was for her to agree to what he was proposing—and they both knewwhy.It all depended on whether Tess was willing to take the next step in their relationship. Which, apparently, now involved a trip to Switzerland.
“Switzerland,” she repeated, eyeing him amusedly.
He confirmed it with a nod.
Tess’s smile remained as radiant and jovial as he might have ever seen it. That alone was enough to keep his hopes alive. Nevertheless, the anxiety he felt while waiting for her response doubled its rate.
“Okay, Liam,” the gorgeous woman eventually said. “We’ll call it Switzerland.”
His heart soared into his throat, yet it froze there as Tess lifted a single digit.
“But are yousureyou want to spend tonight in Switzerland? If you do, then I’ll come along—and we’ll see where the night takes us. However, if we do go there, then that means you won’t get to find out whatmyplans for tonight entail. I won’t give you any hints, either. You won’t get to find out what tonight might have been if I was in charge.”
Already having steeled himself for such a tradeoff, it still didn’t feel great as he forced himself to nod. He understood. This was what he wanted.
Tess smiled once more. Though she’d told him a couple of days ago that she was no angel, she then totally undermined her stance with what she said next.
“Until I next decide that I want to see them through. Which might be in a day or two… or it might have to wait untilnextChristmas. Who knows?”
Elation caused Liam to grin. “Personally, I’m hoping for ‘in a day or two,’ not next Christmas.”
Leaning forward, Tess placed her lips against his. The soft warmth effused within her lips met the thrumming fire he felt within his. Their lips shared the burden of heat, mouths moving in tandem.
“I know you are,” the beautiful brunette professor said as she pulled back. “Now… to Switzerland?”
Liam had never nodded faster in his life.
“To Switzerland.”
