tequila volleyball,’ Elle said. She’d found a whistle somewhere and blew it once, then put the string it was on around her neck. ‘One on one, you can only hit the ball with your fists and no bouncing off the water or the sides. If it hits the surface, you lose a point.’
‘First to five?’ Gem asked, sliding back into the pool.
‘Yes, and I play the winner,’ Elle announced.
‘What does the winner get?’ she asked, hoping it was a shot of the tequila.
Elle smiled. ‘Bragging rights. The looser of each point gets a shot of this.’ She held up the bottle.
Half an hour of losing and she’d be legless.
Elle blew the whistle, one sharp, shrill sound. ‘Go!’
Gem threw the ball in the air and wacked it with her fist. Ciara tried to run forward but the resistance in the water made it feel like she was wading through sludge. Determined she wasn’t going to lose, she dove forward, hands clenched together and hit the ball as hard as she could before she face planted into the pool.
She righted herself in time to see Gem fall back into the water and watch the ball hit home on the other side of the net. She laughed, relieved not to be the first to hit the shots.
Elle took the bottle over as Gem coughed up water. ‘Open up and swallow as you go.’
‘You said one shot, not half the bottle,’ Gem protested.
Elle pulled an expression that on anyone else could be mistaken for innocent but on her looked too suspicious. ‘A shot is all you’re getting, honest.’
‘Give me the bottle then.’ Gem wasn’t fooled.
‘My game, my rules. The ref gets to hold the bottle.’
Ciara giggled quietly, knowing there was no way Gem was going to win.
‘Open up,’ Elle said, tipping the open bottle above Gem’s head.
‘Elle, give me the bloody thing. You’ll drown me in tequila.’
Blue, puppy dog eyes no man could resist followed. ‘Don’t you trust me?’
‘No one who knows you does, Elly.’
The voice did not belong to any of them and the girls all whirled around.
A man walked into the garden – a very tall, very hot and sweaty man with nothing on but trainers and a pair of shorts. Dark eyes, hair and a slight day old growth on his jaw that made Ciara feel dizzy wondering how it would feel against her face, her neck, her…
And how could she miss those abs? Better definition than the polo players at uni, no contest, and those little dips disappearing under his shorts at each side made her finger tips itch to reach out and touch…
For the second time that day she was imitating a fly catcher.
Elle stormed across the terracotta tiles to get in the man’s face. ‘Don’t you dare think you’re staying here! Granddad said we could have this place for a few days.’
The hottie didn’t shrivel away from the heat of Elle’s fury like anyone else would have, but his frown and the way his jaw hardened made her wonder if he had a temper of his own.
‘I’m not going anywhere except for a shower.’ He shoved by her and headed for the house.
Ciara had never seen Elle’s temples throb like they were about to burst before, but she guessed there was a first thing for everything. Elle took off after him, shouting ‘Pack up and get out, I mean it!’
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