Strictly Business (Heads or Hearts), page 10
There was something very appealing about her, a kind of inner light and friendly warmth. Under other circumstances Alice suspected that she might like the woman very much.
The young boy was tall, with the typically gangly build of a teenager and he had dark hair like Liam’s.
As she and her workmates hovered at the window, spying on them, the trio began to move away, down the corridor towards the accountant’s office. Alice swayed on her feet. Any minute now she was going to be sick. Or she was going to faint. She wasn’t sure which.
Dennis snatched up the nearest phone. ‘Sally,’ he hissed to the girl just a few feet away from them in reception. ‘What’s going on? What’s the boss up to?’
The three women watched in tense silence as he received the answers. His eyes flashed mysteriously as he hung up.
‘Come on then,’ cried Shana. ‘Put us out of our misery.’
‘Well,’ said Dennis slowly, enjoying the power of his secret. ‘Her name is Mrs. Julia Conway and she’s moved here from Sydney. She plans to live here and the boss is going in to talk to Merv, because he’s buying her a house.’
A house! Alice was swamped by a wave of shock. That could only mean... Surely that meant the woman must be...
With a hand clasped over her mouth, she bolted for the corridor, heading in the direction of the Ladies.
‘Liam, what’s the matter with you?’ asked Julia Conway. ‘You’ve been pacing about like a caged lion all evening.’
Liam paused midway down the length of the balcony that opened off his apartment’s living room. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ve been a little distracted.’
‘More than a little.’ Julia laughed gently. ‘I doubt you’ve heard a word I’ve said in the past fifteen minutes.’
‘Have I been that rude? Sorry.’
‘Who is she?’
His jaw dropped. Julia’s blunt question had caught him completely off guard.
She laughed again. ‘I’m right. I knew it was something personal. You’re never like this when it’s work. If you were worried about a business matter you’d be on the phone getting to the bottom of the problem.’
He lowered himself into a cane wicker chair beside her and shoved his hands deep in his trouser pockets. ‘Am I really that transparent?’
‘To me you are, but then I’ve known you for nearly twenty years. And you’re so like Jack. He has a hard time keeping secrets from me too.’
The sound of taped laughter floated out from the living room where young Jack was watching television.
For a little while they sat in companionable silence.
‘What a deliciously balmy night this is,’ Julia said. ‘I know this tropical climate is going to be wonderful for me.’ She laid a cool hand on Liam’s arm. ‘Thank you so much. For everything.’
They shared a smile and then Julia gave his wrist a playful slap. ‘Now why don’t you hop on the phone and talk to this woman? Put your mind at rest. Where is she? In Sydney?’
‘Actually, no, she’s here in Cairns.’
Julia’s eyes widened. ‘That was quick. You were only here for a week or so before I threw a spanner in the works with my dash to hospital.’
‘Yeah.’ His shoulders lifted in a brief shrug. ‘It was kind of spontaneous.’
‘Spontaneous? How unlike you, Liam.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘I really like the sound of this.’
‘It’s nothing serious,’ Liam insisted when he saw the hope that flared in her eyes.
Liar. His right hand closed around the little jewellery box in his pocket.
In an act of complete spontaneity – or insanity – he’d bought a ring in Sydney – an emerald, of course. It had been a totally off-the-wall, spur of the moment impulse, fuelled by a whim of fierce sentiment and Liam still couldn’t quite believe he’d done it. He knew it was reckless and impulsive.
But it hadn’t felt foolish.
Not at the time.
Now, however, he realised just how rash he’d been. There were difficult bridges to cross before he asked a woman to share his life. He would have to reveal the shadows that stalked him.
Beside him, Julia let out a worried sigh. ‘Liam, don’t look so gruff. I didn’t mean to sound as if I was criticizing you just now. I’m all for spontaneity. You know I’d be only too delighted to see you indulge in a little romance. It would be better still if you fell completely head over heels in love.’
He smiled at her. ‘You’ve been pushing me at other women for years.’
‘With very little success.’ After a bit Julia said, ‘I hope you haven’t stayed in this evening to keep me company.’
‘It’s your first night in town. You’ve been ill. I’m certainly not going to desert you.’
‘I’m absolutely fine now.’ She glanced at her wristwatch. ‘It’s not very late. Why don’t you go out? I’ll watch a little television with Jack. I’d like an early night.’
Liam nodded, but he didn’t move. He sat staring out across the dark, moonlit water of Trinity Inlet, thinking about Alice, worrying about her. She was ill apparently and she’d gone home from work mid-morning, but she hadn’t answered his calls. He’d left three voicemail messages on her phone and she hadn’t returned any of them. And yet her workmates were almost certain that she was at home, which meant she was either too sick to answer the phone – or she was avoiding him.
Either way he was worried.
Movement beside him dragged him out of his dark thoughts. Julia had turned her wheelchair and was heading back inside. He leapt to his feet.
‘Shoo, Liam,’ she said waving a hand over her shoulder. And then she dropped her head back and winked up at him. ‘I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.’
Bending down, he dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. ‘All right, if you insist, I’ll go.’
She continued inside, while he retrieved his phone and called for a taxi. And then he went downstairs and waited on the footpath for the cab to arrive.
The night was indeed, as Julia had said, balmy. He drew a deep breath and caught a whiff of salt from the sea as well as perfume from a nearby garden, a very sweet, heady, floral fragrance. The deep breath didn’t calm him. In fact, he was astonished by how nervous he felt. By the way his heart was pumping anyone would think Alice Madigan was armed and dangerous.
But of course... she was armed... with a dangerously sensual femininity that had made him her captive slave.
This evening, however, when she opened her front door and saw Liam on her doorstep, all colour leached from her face.
‘Oh,’ was all she said and she clutched the door knob as if she needed its support.
‘Hello, Alice.’ He was alarmed by her apparent frailty. ‘I hope I haven’t got you out of bed.’
‘No, no.’
Despite her paleness, her beauty couldn’t be dimmed. Her dark hair was shining as if she’d just finished brushing it a thousand times and her deep red jeans and multi-toned T shirt offset her pale skin perfectly. He wanted to feast his eyes on her. ‘I was very sorry to hear that you weren’t well.’
She nodded, but offered no explanation.
‘It’s nothing serious, I hope?’
‘No. Just a stomach virus.’ She gave a little shrug, but its effect was rather spoiled by the bleakness in her eyes that suggested she was troubled by much more than a stomach bug. ‘You must think I make a habit of leaving work early.’
‘Not at all.’ Liam stood on the step with his hands shoved deep in his pockets and she continued to cling to the door. ‘May I come in?’ he asked and then, reluctantly, ‘Or are you too tired?’
‘I – I’m rather tired.’
The tension between them was palpable. He couldn’t stand it. Taking a step closer, he reached out and touched her cheek. It was soft and warm beneath his fingers. ‘I’ve missed you so much, Alice.’
She turned her head away quickly, but not before he saw the movement of her throat as she swallowed and the sudden glitter of silver in her eyes. Were they tears? What was the matter? His heart rocked.
Standing stiffly, with his hand returned to his side, he struggled to think of something else to say. This stilted conversation was agony, but it was an agony that had to be prolonged. He couldn’t walk away till he knew what the matter was. ‘I hope my parcel arrived safely.’
‘Oh, yes. I meant to thank you.’ She looked up at him again. ‘I’ve never had any Venetian glass. It’s just gorgeous. I love it.’
‘You found a place for it among all your other green things?’
‘Yes.’ She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and he thought for a moment that she was going to invite him inside to see it, but obviously she dismissed that idea almost as quickly as it had come to her and she gave the door a little push as if she was keen to shut him out.
‘I assume everything went smoothly in the office while I was away.’ He was grasping at straws now.
One corner of her mouth tilted in a wry smile. ‘We actually managed quite well without you.’
Her deliberate taunt found its mark. He sighed. ‘I guess you’re angry because I didn’t make contact while I was away.’
She didn’t – just stood there looking upset.
‘I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch,’ he said. ‘It was a little crazy in Sydney.’
She dropped her gaze quickly. Her feet were bare and she rubbed one nervously against the other.
‘Is it something else? What is it, Alice? What’s the matter?’
Her mouth tugged out of shape and then a little sound that was suspiciously like a sob escaped. ‘Just about everything.’
Hearing that, Liam gave up waiting for an invitation. He pushed the door out of her grasp and stepped inside.
There wasn’t much room in the narrow hallway and in the confined space he was acutely aware of her proximity. The scent of lemon shampoo lingered about her and he wanted to ignore whatever was bothering her and to draw her close, to have her in his arms, with her warm sweet body rammed tight against him, to bury his face in her fragrant, silky hair.
But he continued walking down the hallway and turned into her living room, and she closed the front door and followed.
Her living room was almost in darkness save for the gentle glow cast by a table lamp in the far corner. It was a room of intense atmosphere with strong pieces of furniture, richly coloured wall hangings, cleverly selected cushions and objets d’art. There was music playing softly – a woman singing a moody love song about walking in fields of gold.
The urge to drag Alice down onto the deep chocolate sofa was so strong Liam almost groaned aloud.
‘Now,’ he said gruffly as he stood to attention in the middle of her room. ‘You’re going to tell me what’s the matter.’
A look of despair swept over her lovely face.
‘And you’ll also tell me how I can help,’ he added more gently.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t want your help.’
The hardness in her voice caused an involuntary flinch, but he chose to ignore it. ‘Take a seat, Alice.’ He said this as he might have done to an employee in his office and he half expected an angry response, but she sat meekly in a deep armchair and he took the sofa.
They faced each other in the lamplight.
‘So, what kind of problem are we dealing with here?’ He was aware that he sounded more like a boss at a board meeting than a lover.
The wry smile returned, tilting her soft pink mouth to an unhappy slant. ‘On a scale of one to ten?’
‘If that’s the way you want to present it.’
Picking up a cocoa and black striped cushion, she hugged it to her chest and sighed. ‘From my point of view, right at this moment, it feels like a ten.’
‘Good, God, Alice, is it that bad?’ A knife point twisted in his heart. ‘You’re not seriously ill are you?’
‘No,’ she said quickly, but then she dropped the cushion as she covered her face with her hands.
‘What is it?’ Liam was across the floor and kneeling beside her. He couldn’t bear this. His heart filled his throat.
She dragged her hands slowly down her face and her eyes glittered again with the hint of silver. ‘I’m really embarrassed about this,’ she said.
‘What?’ he demanded in a breathless gasp.
‘I – I’m –’ She swallowed and a tear spilled down her cheek. ‘I’m pregnant.’
It was as if she’d thrown a grenade in his face. He felt strangely numb. He knew there was a reason why her words didn’t make sense, but for the moment he couldn’t think of it, couldn’t think at all.
And then slowly the shock subsided.
‘When? How?’
‘The Outback trip is the only time it could have happened. I’m sorry,’ Alice said. ‘I had no idea.’
Sinking onto the carpeted floor with his hands behind him for support, he let his thoughts unscramble. ‘You said pregnancy was impossible.’
‘I know. I thought I was infertile. I was sure of it. Honestly.’ Her hands were clenched tightly on her knees. ‘Apparently, I was mistaken.’ She looked directly at him. ‘You have a right to be angry.’ Her eyes were the colour of rainwater and awash with tears. ‘You are angry, aren’t you?’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ALL Alice wanted was to hurl herself into Liam’s arms. Here he was, returned to her, in her house again after the long days of waiting, and she yearned to feel him holding her. But how could she now that she’d seen his wife? And how could she when the impact of her bombshell was ricocheting through him like shockwaves?
He was sinking back onto the floor, completely stunned, but then, as she watched through tear blurred eyes, he leapt to his feet and strode away from her, one hand rubbing the back of his neck as he wrestled with her news.
When he turned back to her, his eyes were burning with a fierce blue light and his throat muscles betrayed a terrible tension.
‘I know you must think I tricked you,’ she said in a shaking voice. ‘But I can assure you I honestly believed I couldn’t have a baby.’ When he didn’t reply she hurried on. ‘I don’t want this to be your concern, Liam. It’s my problem, and I will deal with it. You don’t have to worry that I’ll make unreasonable demands or anything.’
His eyes speared her. ‘What do you mean you’ll deal with it? You’re not thinking of a termination, are you?’
‘No.’ Alice couldn’t contemplate that option. Scared as she was, this baby was a miracle. ‘I just mean I’ll manage on my own. I don’t need –’
‘Me?’ His hands clenched tightly against his sides and his face flushed dark red. Corded sinews stood out on his forearms. ‘Is that what you’re saying, Alice? You don’t need me? You don’t want me involved?’
No. I need you, Liam. I need your arms about me. I need the touch of your lips on mine, on me, anywhere, everywhere.
‘I – I don’t want you to feel under any obligation,’ she said.
‘And you would reject an offer of marriage?’
Marriage? A jolt, like an electric shock, scorched through her. An offer of marriage was the very last thing she’d expected to hear from this man. It wasn’t possible.
She’d thought he might offer her money... or friendship... even a long term affair. ‘You – you can’t mean that.’
His face was so stiff and proud it might well have been cast in bronze. ‘Why not?’
‘You’re not available.’
He frowned. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
At first she thought she might not get the words out but somehow she managed. ‘Your wife.’
‘My what?’ He released a short, disbelieving huff that might have been a laugh. ‘What are you on about? I’m not married, Alice. I’ve never been married. I told you that.’
She pressed a hand against the savage beating wings in her chest. ‘Mrs. Conway, the woman who arrived with you today –’
‘Julia? She’s not my wife. She’s my sister-in-law.’
She stared at him, saw naked emotion in his eyes and knew that he was telling the truth. A sister-in-law. Why hadn’t she thought of that? ‘W-was she the family emergency?’
‘Yes. Julia’s been in hospital. Unfortunately, she has to deal with medical complications that crop up from time to time.’
Now that she was adjusting to this news, anger began to surface. ‘It might have helped if you’d telephoned.’
‘Yes.’ With his hands on his hips Liam stared at the far wall. ‘I can see now that it was a mistake to wait, but I thought it would be wiser to explain it all when I got back. For heaven’s sake, Alice, I told you I wasn’t married. Couldn’t you believe me? Why would I lie?’
‘I don’t know.’ Her hands flapped at her sides as she struggled to justify why she’d doubted him. ‘Men lie. For all sorts of reasons.’
‘That’s a wild generalisation.’
‘Todd lied to me. He told me he’d had medical tests that proved our fertility problems were my fault.’
Liam muttered an oath. ‘I’d appreciate it if you didn’t draw parallels between me and that toad.’
‘You’re nothing like him,’ Alice said softly. She drew a deep breath. ‘Mrs. Conway – your sister-in-law – I only caught a glimpse of her, but I thought she looked rather nice.’
‘She is. Julia’s wonderful.’
‘And she’s married to your brother?’
‘My brother’s dead.’ This was uttered with such jaw-clenched finality, that Alice accepted it without daring to comment.
But then Liam’s face broke into a heartbreakingly sad smile. ‘This isn’t how tonight should be happening, Alice. I feel so – so distanced from you. It feels like we’re fighting.’
‘I don’t want to fight,’ she whispered, her eyes brimming.
In two steps Liam was beside her again and the next moment he was scooping her up and a beat later, he was in her armchair and she was in his lap and his arms were about her and she was clinging to him.
Hooking a strand of hair with his finger, he tucked it behind her ear. His warm lips caressed her cheek. ‘We’ve made a baby together, Alice. It’s a night for celebration.’
‘Celebration?’
‘As I remember we’re rather good at it.’
