Page 84 of Twisted Beauty

He spent close to an hour watching Liv nap in the lounge next to him, her curves barely contained in that pink bikini and her chest rising and falling with each breath. His hands itched to touch her, but he explored every part of her body with his eyes instead.

When she turned onto her stomach, he ran a finger down her spine and she hummed.

“You want another drink?” Matt asked.

“Only if we have it alone out on our balcony.” Her voice was rough, sleepy, and so sexy.

He swept her hair off to the side, leaned over and kissed the back of her neck.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, would you two get a room already?” Katie said.

“We had one,” Liv muttered. “You made us leave.”

“I have a better idea.” Matt got up and Liv turned onto her side to watch him. So he leaned over and scooped her up in his arms.

“Hey!” she shrieked, but broke into laughter as he carried her through several rows of tourists in lounge chairs, toward the ocean and away from their group of prying eyes. Finally he waded in, holding her until he was deep enough to lower her in with him. She let out a little yelp when her body touched the water, then relaxed in his arms.

“Wow, it’s really warm. You’re not as much of a jerk as I thought.”

Matt laughed. “So generous with your compliments. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

Shit. He didn’t mean to say that. He didn’t love her, just some things about her. Not at all the same. She had to know that, didn’t she?

“And I love how you always ask before sweeping me up in your arms and dragging me off against my will.” The note of sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable.

Okay. Good. That was a relief. “Against your will, huh?”

“Definitely.” Liv swung around to face him and wrapped her legs around his waist. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. She sighed and opened for him, and he slipped his tongue between her lips, tasting her sweetness mixed with a hint of tequila. Short of having her alone in his bed for hours on end, he couldn’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

After exploring her mouth with his tongue until they were both out of breath, he pulled away and noticed the sky turning a dusky orange as the sun neared the horizon.

“We should probably go rouse the troops,” he said. “It’s getting late and I don’t think we want to walk back in the dark.”

They arrived back at the lounge chairs to find two men Matt didn’t know sitting in his lounge, chatting with Nate and the rest of their group. One was blond and buff, in navy board shorts, while the other had a slight build, dark hair and wore a bright red speedo. They couldn’t have looked more different. They were both dripping wet from the ocean, with bodyboards laying at their feet.

“Hey there,” Matt said. “Mind handing me that towel?”

“Well aren’t you scrumptious,” the smaller man said to Matt as he handed it over.

“This is Sebastian.” Nate gestured toward him. “And his husband, Garrett.”

A gay couple. Well, Matt hadn’t expected that kind of open-mindedness from a guy like Nate. Maybe he wasn’t giving him enough credit. No, the guy was still an ass. You couldn’t be in PV without having at least a few gay friends. The expat community here was huge, and some of the gay bars were well worth experiencing. He made a mental note to take Liv to his favorite. The one Aleta had dragged him to last year.

“Garrett.” Liv beamed, like he was her favorite person in the world. “It’s so great to see you again.”

She knew him? He did actually look familiar, but Matt couldn’t place him.

Garrett stood and wrapped her in a bear hug. “You too.” He let go and gestured to the smaller man, who was still seated and still staring at Matt. “I don’t believe you’ve met Sebastian yet.”

Liv tilted her head. “The Sebastian?”

Sebastian tore his eyes from Matt and looked up at Liv. “Don’t you know it. And you are—?”

“The newest beneficiary of your mad design skills,” Liv said as she wrapped a towel around herself. “My Picture of Paradise blog?”

Sebastian’s face lit up. “Well, I’ll be. I’ve got a whole mockup to show you when we get back to our little jungle hideaway. It’s sheer brilliance, if I do say so myself.”

Picture of Paradise, huh? In the back of Matt’s mind, it irked him that she hadn’t said anything about it.