Page 41 of Outback Secrets

His pulse raced as heat spread from that one spot throughout his entire body in a matter of seconds.

‘What happened?’ she asked, tracing her finger around the scar.

His heart sank. Of course. It was interest he’d seen in her eyes, but not attraction. She was simply curious, like everyone else.

‘I was …’ His pulse thudded as he tried to remember the story he told the town whenever he had to get his gear off for the annual Undies Run, but he couldn’t for the life of him recall it.

Time seemed to drag. Henri stared at him, her finger lingering on his shoulder, her eyes swimming with curiosity.

What the hell was it?

At that moment, he caught sight of someone walking up the beach towards them and, despite being too far away to see who it was, he dropped his towel, stepped forward and took Henri’s face in his hands.

Only as his mouth sank against hers, did the lie come to him.

A slingshot. He and his friends mucking around with sticks and stones when they were kids. Due to his friend’s bad aim, he’d been struck hard by a rock. That’s what he’d told everyone had happened to him.

* * *

Henri’s hand dropped as Liam’s moved from her face to the back of her head, his fingers curling under her wet hair. Despite the morning sun baking down on them, she shivered.

His lips had totally taken her by surprise, but it didn’t take long for her body to get on board. A delicious hum buzzed through her as his tongue darted out of his mouth and teased hers open.

She let go and gave herself completely to the moment, welcoming him into her mouth as she reached up and steadied herself on his strong, broad shoulders. Her fingers tingled as they swept over his skin. He was hot and damp and there was sand rubbing between them, but he tasted of mint with the hint of coffee, and she couldn’t get enough of it.

Couldn’t get enough of him.

She groaned involuntarily as his hand moved slowly down her back, lingering on her hip and grazing the skin at the top of her thigh as he kissed her like both of their lives depended on it.

Every part of her caught fire and she struggled to breathe, but damn if she could bring herself to break away for oxygen. Kisses like this didn’t come along every day, at least not in her world.

When was the last time she’d been this turned on? Hell, the last guy she’d slept with hadn’t even managed to make her feel this way when he’d been buried deep inside her.

But she didn’t want to think about anyone else. Not when something torturously hard was gently pressing into her belly. Her mind skipped forward a few beats as she anticipated what might come next, then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

Liam pulled back, picked up his towel and wrapped it around his torso. He nodded over her shoulder. ‘Morning, Grant.’

‘Certainly looks that way from where I’m standing,’ came the voice of Bunyip Bay’s self-proclaimed matchmaker.

As Grant came up beside them, Henri stood there on the sand, her heart still racing and her nipples so hard they were visible through her bathers, but unable to think straight enough to scoop up her own towel and cover herself.

Was he the reason Liam had kissed her?

Of course. She sighed and finally bent to pick up her towel, a different kind of heat flooding her. Could she be more of a fool?

But if that kiss was Liam pretending, she could only begin to imagine how much better it could be if his heart was in it.

She turned and summoned a smile for Grant, who was wearing tiny black running shorts and jogging on the spot. ‘Hey there. How are you?’

He beamed. ‘I’m great. I’ve been trying to set this guy up for ages, so this is a happy sight. I must admit when I heard about you two, I couldn’t picture it, but now that I’ve seen you together … well, congratulations.’

‘Thanks,’ Liam said, turning a knowing smile on Henri.

Still flustered, all she could manage was a quick nod.

‘You not working today?’ Liam asked.

Grant shook his head. ‘I’ve got the day off. Ryan and I are heading down to Perth to meet a possible surrogate, but I convinced him to let me take a quick run first—helps calm the nerves—while he does a couple of errands at The Ag Store.’