Page 12 of The Secret
“Liss,” she says, holding out her hand.
“Dan,” I say, grasping the slim wiry fingers in mine, and warmth moves up my arm to my shoulder. A broad smile curves over my lips in response to hers. The idea that there’s more company than I was expecting here—and particularlyher—races through me. My summer is looking better and better.
“What are you all working on?” I say, pulling a rickety chair out from the table and sitting down at it. A cold beer magically appears in front of me.
Liss lets out a drawn-out groan that goes straight to my groin, and Brian laughs, holding up battered hands for my inspection.
“Building.” He rolls his eyes.
“Ah,” I nod knowingly. I’ve done my fair share of that and also have the scars to prove it.
“How long are you all here?” I say, looking at some old armchairs next to the table, one with a book propped open on it.
“As long as they’ll have us.”
“Or until the funding runs out,” Emma interjects.
“Or probably my money before that,” Liss mutters as her mouth curves ruefully.
“What are you building?”
“Water supplies, sanitation mostly,” Brian says. “Access to clean water is a huge problem.”
And yeah, I get that. Water is the cornerstone of the worst diseases right across Africa.
“And what do you all do for fun around here?”
Brian chuckles quietly, and Liss raises an eyebrow. “Sleep?”
“On your own or …” I wink at her, but it feels clunky. Come on, I’m not that rusty. I can still flirt, right? Something about her smiling face makes me feel a little bit reckless.
She scoffs. “I think you need to see the beds and dorms before you start making any suggestions.” She winks back at me, and an electric feeling buzzes down my body. Energy radiates off her like a furnace. I examine her soft, thick curls, the pink bow of her lips.
“Hey, hey, no propositioning the ladies,” Brian says, waving his hands over the table.
Emma rolls her eyes. “Fat chance of that here.”
“Cards,” Brian declares firmly. “That’s what we do for fun.”
I rub my hands together, trying not to keep staring at Liss. “Poker? That’s right up my alley.”
And they all laugh.
6
LISS
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
The day after Dan arrives, I wander out into the rising heat with my coffee from the volunteers’ accommodation at the back of Gloria and Adebe’s house to find our new guest sprawled, fast asleep, in a hammock tied up in the shade outside the building.He slept out here?
His body glows in the half-light of an African dawn. The dusty clothes he was in last night are twisted up around his torso, his shirt half unbuttoned. My mouth goes dry at the smattering of blond chest hair, toned abdomen, and the trail disappearing into his shorts. An indecent amount of muscle is hidden under that baggy bush shirt. A rattling noise in the kitchen behind me makes me jump, and I blush even though no one’s caught my ogling. I stick my head back through the beaded curtain.
“Coffee’s made and in the pot, yeah?”
Emma lurches sleepily across the small catering area, nodding, and I collapse into one of the garden chairs on the veranda beneath the eaves of the building. Dan shifts in the hammock, but it tips precariously then dumps him unceremoniously onto the ground. I snort as he rolls and groans, then sits up and blinks, shaking his head. With a sleepy grin, he glances over at me, and my stomach dips at the tousled hair and the lazy look in his eyes.
“Coffee?” I say, gesturing at my cup to hide the pink climbing up my cheeks.
