Having the Boss′s Babies
Having the Boss's Babies
Barbara Hannay
Like the rest of the staff at Kanga Tours, Alice Madigan is nervous about meeting her new boss–but when he walks through the door it's worse than she ever could have imagined! Alice had shared one very special night with him–but now they have to play it strictly business!How long can they pretend nothing has happened? Especially now that Alice has discovered she's going to be having her boss's babies….
From: Alice Madigan
Sent: 1 February 09:00
To: Liam Conway
Subject: Strictly business?
Liam:
I can’t believe that you are my new boss—I’m so embarrassed! Of course I promise to keep things strictly business from now on.
Alice
From: Liam Conway
Sent: 1 February 09:02
To: Alice Madigan
Subject: The boss’s proposal…
Hi Alice,
Boardroom meeting in ten—just to formally introduce myself.
How about dinner at eight?
Liam
BARBARA HANNAY
was born in Sydney, educated in Brisbane and has spent most of her adult life living in tropical north Queensland, where she and her husband have raised four children. While she has enjoyed many happy times camping and canoeing in the bush, she also delights in an urban lifestyle—chamber music, contemporary dance, movies and dining out. An English teacher, she has always loved writing, and now, by having her stories published, she is living her most cherished fantasy. Visit www.barbarahannay.com (http://www.barbarahannay.com).
Having the Boss’s Babies
Barbara Hannay
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
From city girl—to corporate wife!
They’re working side by side, nine to five…. But no matter how hard these couples try to
keep their relationships strictly professional, romance is undeniably on the agenda!
But will a date in the office diary lead to an appointment at the altar?
Find out in this exciting miniseries.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE (#u7925223c-894b-55a1-8091-a027be70c932)
CHAPTER TWO (#u51e382b3-01af-50f8-9f26-8697f542b1ea)
CHAPTER THREE (#uf50bf9a9-eb49-5df9-90b6-15d56f67f0d0)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
SHE was sitting alone at the bar with her back to him, so he wasn’t sure why she caught his attention. Perhaps it was because she seemed so different from the rest of the under-thirty-fives who packed the Hippo Bar for Friday-night cocktails. No laughter or mad flirting for her.
She was staring at her empty cocktail glass, stirring what was left of the ice cubes with a tiny black straw, oblivious to the happy commotion going on all around her.
Her clothes were different, too. No tight hipster jeans or bare midriff, no outrageous jewellery or spangly glitter.
Her shiny dark hair was caught up in a simple knot and her dress, something dark and feminine with one shoulder bare, offered a clear view of the graceful line of her neck and shoulders. Her skirt wasn’t especially short but it managed to reveal rather shapely legs.
He wanted to see her face; if it matched the rest of her it was, at the very least, elegant.
And then, miraculously, she turned and his lungs compressed as if he’d free-dived to the bottom of the Coral Sea. She was quite, quite lovely.
Her eyes were clear grey, her nose classic and her mouth lush. She’d dusted her eyelids with smoky hues and had drawn a fine black line to skim her lower lashes. The make-up gave her a dramatic, dusky allure.
A disturbing fantasy flashed into living Technicolor in his head. He saw her in a different setting, somewhere remote, far away from this city, and she was leaning towards him, her dark eyelashes spiky and wet…her cheeks flushed, her pink lips softly parted…and her eyes were begging him to make love to her.
He cursed softly at his foolishness and spun on his heel, eager to move on, to find a quieter, less crowded bar. But he made the fatal mistake of glancing back over his shoulder.
And this time, he was touched more by her air of solitude than her beauty. Her gaze was fixed on a spot in the distance, and yet she was staring at it without interest, as if she was seeing something else, some inner turmoil.
He recognised that look. He knew the loneliness hovering like a shadowing hawk behind her lovely eyes. There were many times he’d felt that.
Tonight was one of them.
Each year, this anniversary became more and more difficult and he’d chosen to fly north to Cairns a few days earlier than his business commitments required, simply to avoid spending this particular night in Sydney.
He’d planned to spend the night alone—content to be a sightseer, wandering this sultry, tropical city at whim, hoping to blank out bad memories by renewing his acquaintance with the sights and sounds and smells of the far north. A solitary stranger in town.
But now he’d seen the girl at the bar.
And his plans had to change.
Alice was trying to be brave.
It wasn’t easy to sit alone in a bar on her thirtieth birthday. Alone, for heaven’s sake! She had a right to feel down. Seriously down.
The annoying thing was that she had no one but herself to blame; she’d run away from her birthday party. Not the party her workmates had wanted to throw, but the family gathering her mother had insisted on arranging.
Very early in the night, Aunt Bettina had voiced the family’s collective thoughts.
‘Poor Alice,’ she’d said, her voice choking, while her eyes became moons of sympathy. ‘Married before twenty and divorced before thirty. It’s a crying shame.’
No one—repeat, no one—not a single member of the Madigan family had ever been divorced. Louisa, the family’s genealogy expert, had researched on the Internet, so she was certain of this.
No one had been infertile either. And if the men in Alice’s family had ever indulged in extramarital affairs, their women kept very quiet about it. It was an unspoken family law that Madigan women hung on to their husbands.
Alice had committed all three crimes—infertility, an unfaithful husband and a divorce. She was the family failure.
She’d been trying hard to feel good about herself in spite of these disasters. She’d survived a wrecked marriage with her ego intact—just. She knew that she was better alone than she’d ever been with Todd. And she’d learned the bitter lesson that a woman shouldn’t rely on others—certainly not a husband or babies—to make her happy or to give meaning to her life.
It was up to her.
She’d come a long way in the past six months. But tonight her family made her feel like an obliterated body in a single-vehicle crash. No hope. Dead on arrival.
As if turning thirty wasn’t a miserable enough milestone in any woman’s life. As celebrations went, her party had been a flop.
And as soon as the cake was cut she’d made her excuses, claiming that her workmates, who hung out at the Hippo Bar on Friday nights, were waiting for her.
The only problem was that her friends weren’t expecting her and by the time she arrived they’d moved on to a nightclub somewhere, and Alice didn’t have the heart to track them all over town on their cellphones.
So here she was. On the night of her big Three-O. Looking down the barrel of the rest of her life. Alone.
‘Another one?’
Alice blinked at the barman and he pointed to her empty glass. ‘Did you enjoy the French Kiss?’
‘Yes, it was delicious.’
‘So you want to try another cocktail?’
Should she have another? Why not? This wasn’t a night for being careful. Picking up the menu, she scanned the list of outrageous names and smiled. ‘I think I’ll be adventurous and go for a Screaming Orgasm this time.’
‘And I’ll have one, too,’ said a lazy voice beside her.
Alice spun to her left and was surprised to find a man sitting on the stool right next to her. When had he arrived?
He smiled. Slowly. It was a smile that started at his eyes—light blue, clever and good-humoured—and took its time reaching his mouth. With the same lack of haste he let his gaze linger on her and he didn’t try to hide the fact that he liked what he saw.
Something about his eyes and the very male way he was checking her out made her stomach feel ridiculously weightless—as if she’d suddenly toppled over the edge of a cliff.
‘Hi,’ the stranger said.
Alice had no experience of meeting men in bars; her ex-husband had been her first boyfriend and she’d married him before she was out of her teens. If only she could think of some smart, metro-chick response.
‘Hi, yourself,’ she replied.
At a guess, he was in his mid-thirties. He had dark brown hair with just the faintest hint of silver at the temples and a longish face. A strong face. He was lean and suntanned and dressed in chinos and an open-necked white shirt with long sleeves rolled back.
‘You seem to be drinking alone,’ he said. ‘It’s not a healthy habit.’
Alice felt compelled to defend herself. ‘It’s not actually a habit. This is a one-off experience.’
He accepted this with a slight nod. ‘Are you having fun?’
‘The best.’ She straightened her shoulders. ‘What about you?’
‘I prefer the company of others.’
‘But you’re on your own tonight.’
‘Ah, yes,’ he admitted and he sent her another slow smile. ‘But then, I have an excellent excuse.’
She drew a deep breath, aware that a kind of game had begun and the ball was in her court. ‘You just got out of jail?’
His eyes widened slightly and then he chuckled. ‘In a manner of speaking. I’ve escaped from Sydney. I only arrived in town today and I don’t know anyone.’ His blue gaze held hers for breathtaking seconds. ‘Yet.’
OK. Now was the point when she should give this guy the brush-off. But their drinks arrived. And before she could pay, her neighbour pushed several bills across the bar.
‘My shout,’ he said.
She was about to protest.
But she changed her mind. Why the heck shouldn’t she test her wings on a little light flirtation? She was thirty—and for the first time in her adult life she was out on the town as a free agent; two good reasons to let a rather nice-looking guy chat her up in a bar.
If he wanted to.
And if she decided she wanted to let him.
‘So, what’s your excuse for drinking alone?’ he asked her.
‘Aliens abducted my friends.’
One dark eyebrow lifted. ‘How unfortunate for them.’
‘Yes. I guess they’ll wake up in the morning with their memories wiped clean.’
He grinned. ‘It’s happened to a few of my mates after a night on the town.’
Picking up her drink, Alice took a slow sip. ‘What do you think of the cocktail?’ She tried to feel detached as she watched the movements of his lips while he tasted his drink.
‘Not bad.’
‘Have you had one of these before?’
‘No.’ He held his glass to the light and gave the contents a swirl before taking a longer sip. And then he flashed her a wicked smile. ‘This is my very first Orgasm.’
She almost choked, gasped for breath. A cloud of steam rose through her and she tried to ignore it. Stay cool, Alice. Lifting her glass, she offered him a shaky salute. ‘Don’t drink too fast, then.’
And just as she wondered if she was getting out of her depth, she was rescued by a voice calling from across the bar.
‘Hey, Alice—happy birthday!’
It was a guy who worked in the same building as she did. He must have seen the banner the girls had strung in the foyer this morning. She didn’t know him very well, so she gave him a quick wave and hoped he wouldn’t come over. The conversation with this stranger was bordering on crazy, but she didn’t want to be interrupted. Maybe it was the cocktails, but she was feeling a weird but wonderful sense of connection with him.
‘Happy birthday, Alice?’ the stranger asked, and he frowned sharply. ‘Is it really your birthday?’
Oh, man. He looked upset. Was it because he’d realised she was a dead-set loser, abandoned by everyone on her birthday? She’d been hoping to come across as a very together urban goddess.
‘I have a thing about birthdays,’ she said, quickly. ‘I never celebrate them. What are birthdays, after all? Here today, gone tomorrow. I mean, why make a big fuss about turning—oops!’
‘Fair enough,’ he said more equably. ‘Although I’ve always thought that turning oops was something of a milestone.’ Again his eyes held hers and they twinkled with such obvious amusement that she fancied she must have imagined that earlier frown.
‘There’s something to be said for making the most of any reason to celebrate,’ he added.
She raised her glass. ‘I’m celebrating.’ But she didn’t drink. She suspected she’d already had enough and set the glass down again. ‘This conversation is getting a little lopsided.’ She needed to change the subject before she got herself into trouble. ‘You already know my name and my date of birth and I don’t know the first thing about you.’
‘What would you like to know?’
Are you married? He wasn’t wearing a ring but that didn’t mean a darn thing. ‘Your name?’
‘Liam. And if you’re worried about an equal exchange of information, I’m thirty-six, or perhaps I should say oops plus six,’ he added with a smile. ‘And…’ He paused.
‘And?’ She tried unsuccessfully to keep the curiosity out of her voice.
‘It’s my birthday today, too.’
‘You’re joking.’
‘Not at all.’ He pulled a wallet from his back trouser pocket and flipped it open on the bar. And there was his driver’s licence. Conway, Liam Cooper. And sure enough, his date of birth was the fifth of September.
Alice frowned suddenly. Liam Cooper Conway. Where had she heard that name? Liam Conway. Mr Conway. Dr Conway. Professor Conway. Inspector Conway?
No…she was dreaming. She’d never met him before. Besides, he said he was from Sydney. He had a New South Wales driver’s licence and he’d already told her he’d just arrived in town.
‘Anything else you’d like to know?’ he asked.
She thought about this and was only a little shocked to realise this meeting might lose its gloss if she learned too much about this man. She shook her head. Right now Liam Conway was an intriguing Man of Mystery, a figure of limitless potential. He could be anything…
What seemed more important than boring details like his occupation was the fact that he shared her birthday! Her star sign. My God, they were almost soul mates. She rewarded him with her warmest smile. ‘Happy birthday, Liam Conway.’
‘Thank you.’ He returned his wallet to his pocket and lifted his glass. ‘Are you going to finish your drink?’
‘I’m not sure that I should.’ She gave her cocktail a stir with her straw. ‘I don’t know what they put in these things.’
‘Hmm…the ingredients of a Screaming Orgasm. That’s a big question.’
This time, when their gazes met, his eyes signalled a very direct, unambiguous message, a message so dark and sensual that she was both alarmed and excited. Her heart picked up pace, sweat filmed her skin and she felt a sensuous tug deep within her. Good grief. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like this.
Desperate to change the subject she asked, ‘Where were you on your sixth birthday?’
Liam blinked as if his brain had been in a completely different country and it seemed to take him ages to compute her question. ‘Um—I was on my parents’ orchard down on the Granite Belt.’
‘So, while I was being born, you were stuffing yourself with peaches and plums?’
‘Possibly. Although I would have preferred ice cream if it was on offer.’
‘No party?’
‘My parents didn’t have much time for parties—except on significant birthdays.’
For a moment he seemed lost in a cloud of darkness. He downed his drink quickly and then gave a little shake as if to rid himself of a ghostly presence. Alice had the distinct impression he was sorry he’d told her so much.
‘That’s why I like to celebrate now,’ he said but the intensity in his voice was at odds with his words.
‘I’m all for celebrating.’ But then she remembered that she’d had enough to drink, so her options for celebrating in a bar were limited. Perhaps it was time for her to leave.
She pictured herself hopping off her bar stool, thanking Liam Conway for the cocktail and bidding him farewell. In her mind’s eye she saw herself walking out of the bar and calling a taxi to take her home. Back at her Edge Hill flat, she would listen to one of her favourite Spanish-guitar CDs and drink a chaste cup of hot chocolate, and then she’d read a paperback novel until she fell asleep.
She knew exactly what she would do, what she should do. It was all very clear.
But she didn’t move.
‘It really is bad luck to have your friends abducted by aliens on your birthday,’ Liam said quietly.
‘Yeah,’ Alice agreed with a rueful smile. ‘I was hoping I’d finished my run of bad luck.’ And immediately she regretted saying that. ‘Sorry, you’re looking for fun, not hard-luck stories.’
Liam shrugged. ‘I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Until I saw you.’
His smile sent a delicious shiver right through her and she reached for her abandoned drink.
‘It was a guy who put those shadows in your eyes, wasn’t it?’ Liam said.
She was too surprised to be cautious. ‘Yes.’
‘A rat?’
‘A toad.’ She might have smiled at that, but to her dismay the scene she’d tried so hard to forget leapt into her mind and her sorry state came tumbling out. ‘I—I came home early one afternoon and found him in bed with another woman.’
Pressing a fist against her mouth, she struggled again with the horror of the memory.
Liam looked genuinely upset. ‘Toad is too polite for a man like that. Some of us have a lot to answer for.’
His unexpected empathy seemed to open the flood-gates on the feelings she’d been working so hard to hide. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised,’ she found herself saying. ‘I’d been picking up the tell-tale signs that Todd was straying. I just didn’t want to believe it.’
Tears sprang to her eyes. Annoyed, she blinked and Liam picked up a paper serviette from the counter. ‘Your mascara looks great,’ he said. ‘Don’t ruin it.’
‘Thanks.’ She dabbed at her eyes, took a deep breath and released a shaky little laugh. ‘You know, the thing that really upset me was that Todd added insult to injury by bringing this other woman into our bedroom.’
‘So you were living with this guy?’
‘He was my husband. I was married to the toad.’ She twisted a corner of the serviette. ‘He knew how much I loved that room. I’d taken such care choosing everything—the curtains, the carpet, the bed linen. The dressing table came from my grandparents’ place. They’d had it in their bedroom for their whole married life.’ Looking up, she said, ‘Sorry, I don’t expect you to understand.’
Liam shook his head. ‘But I do understand. He didn’t just deceive you, he violated your special place.’
Liam Conway wasn’t just gorgeous; he was sensitive, too. She’d almost forgotten such men existed.
‘I hope you got rid of him,’ he said.
‘Absolutely, especially when I found that this woman was one of many.’ She sighed. ‘Our divorce came through four months ago.’ And then she winced. Admitting her failed marriage always made her feel such a loser.
‘No wonder you still look a little shell-shocked.’
‘I’m fine now. Honestly. It’s in the past.’ The confession was off her chest and that was good, but she didn’t want to bore this lovely man witless. ‘I’ve got a new life ahead of me.’
‘Another thing to celebrate,’ he said. And then, ‘So…why don’t we go and find a place where we can dance?’
Heavens, she hadn’t been dancing in years. Todd had always claimed he hated it, so they’d never danced, and she was way out of practice. ‘I’m afraid I’m not much of a dancer,’ she said.
‘I don’t believe that.’ Liam stood and he was even taller than she’d expected. ‘Come on,’ he coaxed. ‘It’s our birthday. Let’s kick up our heels.’
Kick up her heels? She sent a flustered glance towards her feet. Her strappy black sandals had rather high heels and she’d painted her toenails bright berry-red to match her red and black floral dress.
From above her she heard Liam say, ‘They look like dancing feet to me.’
She took a deep breath and looked up at him again. Gulp. There was something so compelling about him, something unmistakably masculine about the contained strength in his lean body and in the strong, straight planes of his face, in the intention signalled by his eyes. She should make a quick get-away now, before she became completely entranced.
She didn’t want to get involved with another man, not yet, when the war-wounds from her divorce were still raw.
But a voice inside her was urging her to throw caution to the winds.
His eyes are as soulful as they are sexy. Why hesitate? It’s only dancing, after all. And anyway, surely you have the perfect excuse to be daring? You’ll never have another thirtieth birthday.
She picked up her bag from the bar.
Go on, Alice. He seems s-o-o-o nice.
She flashed him a bright return smile. ‘OK. Dancing sounds like fun.’
He grinned. ‘Let’s go.’
Outside on the footpath a photographer was taking a photo of a trio of laughing girls and, as Alice and Liam passed, there was a blinding flash from the camera.
The photographer called after them, ‘Sir, can I take a photo of you and your lovely lady?’
Liam scowled and waved him away.
‘Welcome to North Queensland,’ said Alice. ‘The local papers are always snapping people for their social pages.’
‘Glad we escaped, then.’ Liam took her hand.
Oh, heavens. She was super-sensitive to every millimetre of his skin, to the supple strength of his fingers interlaced with hers.
‘Where’s the best place in town for dancing?’ he asked.
‘The Reef Club is supposed to be very good.’
‘Supposed?’
‘I’ve never actually been there.’
He shot her a curious glance and she hoped it wasn’t because he could feel the wave of warmth that had swept through her when he touched her.
More than likely he was wondering about her restricted social life. If he asked, she would be prepared to explain that, although she worked for a tourist company, she specialised in regional tours and she didn’t have much personal experience of local night spots.
Liam didn’t ask. And Alice was relieved, because an explanation would have led to more details about her failed marriage. Todd had preferred to spend his weekends on game-fishing trips out to the Barrier Reef, or heavy drinking and gambling with his mates, rather than taking her out on the town.
But telling Liam about that could be an information overload. There was every chance he didn’t really want to know much about her at all.
He simply wanted her company for an hour or so. No strings attached. And that suited Alice just fine. The last thing she wanted was to leap straight from her disastrous marriage into another relationship. Besides, she’d always supposed that divorcees indulged in this kind of throwing-off-the-shackles adventure.
But she would feel a darned sight calmer about going dancing with a man she’d just met if she didn’t feel quite so attracted to him. She hadn’t expected to feel so quickly attuned, to be so instantly captivated and breathless.
It was more than a decade since she’d first fallen for the best-looking footballer in her high school. She knew she was out of practice at the whole guy-girl scenario, but surely she shouldn’t feel such an emotional connection with a stranger? Or such a heady jolt of awareness whenever Liam Conway looked at her? Whenever she looked at him.
How on earth would she cope when they started dancing? Perhaps she should start praying now. With luck, the band at the Reef Club played loud, fast music where dancers more or less jigged around without touching.
No such luck.
One step into the foyer of the Reef Club and she saw that the lighting was low, the music slow and bluesy, and the dance floor dark and crowded. One look at the dangerous smoulder in Liam Conway’s blue eyes and she knew she was in trouble.
Liam sent her a slow smile. ‘Shall we dance, birthday girl?’ And without even waiting for her reply, he took her hand and led her onto the shadowy dance floor. And suddenly it was happening. Alice was in his arms.
She was excited, terrified—electrified, her senses on full alert. Cocooned by the darkness and the sexy croon of a saxophone, they swayed together slowly and she felt everything super-keenly—the touch of Liam’s breath softly stirring her hair, the muscled strength of his shoulder beneath her hand, his taut, lean body brushing tantalisingly close to hers.
If she closed her eyes her nostrils filled with the subtle tang of his aftershave, and if she opened them again she was captivated by the lazy sweep of the strobe light, giving her glimpses of Liam’s face and the contrast between her pale skin and his tan.
From the moment she’d met this man she’d been walking a tightrope. Perhaps her emotions were tipping her off balance? She felt spellbound by him—by their coinciding birthdays, by the kind way he’d listened to her sob story, by the hungry way he looked at her. And now, in his arms, she was incredibly ablaze.
Clearly the long months of loneliness during her separation and divorce had taken their toll.
She wanted Liam to kiss her. She wanted his hands on her body, and yes, she wanted him to make love to her.
The wanting filled her head, blanking out reason.
And she suspected that Liam’s mind was on the same fast-track. Despite the ease with which he moved about the dance floor, there was no mistaking the subtle tension in his body, or the unsubtle desire in his eyes.
His lips brushed her forehead and a soft, almost desperate little sigh escaped him.
The dark, masculine sound plunged deep within Alice and the last, fragile threads of her resistance gave way. Helpless, she melted against him and desire flowered, surged and spilled inside her.
He drew her even closer, and nudged against her with sweet, unbearable precision. With his mouth against her ear, he murmured, ‘Have you any idea how bloody beautiful you are?’
They were hardly the words or the actions of a gentleman and she knew she should have been shocked. But she was too lost inside her cloud of desire. And her throat was so choked with emotion she couldn’t have voiced a protest even if she’d tried to.
And then, in the lull between one song and the next, he said, ‘Birthday girl, I want to take you home.’
Oh, God. Alice buried her face in his shoulder, her heart beating like a wild creature. She’d known from the moment she left the Hippo Bar that there was every possibility the evening was heading in this direction, but for one hot, terrifying moment of panic her courage failed her. A casual fling was so outside her experience.
Liam gently stroked her neck. ‘Bad idea?’
Was it? Alice tried to think calmly, but she was such a swirling mass of emotion and desire she was beyond the point of rational decision-making.
But she knew there was one important question she had to ask. She tilted her face so that her husky whisper reached him. ‘Tell me one thing; are you married?’
‘No.’ He said that so definitely she knew that he spoke the truth.
Raising her eyes to meet the hot intensity of his, she said, ‘It’s not a bad idea, Liam.’
The rasp of his indrawn breath made her shiver. He was as tense, as consumed as she was. She could hardly breathe.
They left the Reef Club holding hands and yet hardly daring to look at each other as they passed beneath the glow of overhead lights.
‘I didn’t bring my car,’ Alice said. ‘Did you?’
For the briefest moment she sensed a different kind of tension in him. ‘No; I haven’t organised a vehicle yet.’
‘Well,’ she said lightly, ‘there should be plenty of taxis around tonight.’
She felt impossibly shy as they stood near the edge of the footpath, waiting for a taxi. ‘I—I guess this is where one of us says, your place or mine?’
His light blue eyes seemed to shimmer. ‘I’m sure that should be your choice.’
The taxi arrived and they slipped into the back seat. Liam glanced at Alice as the driver waited expectantly. This was it; no turning back now. And it was her choice.
She gave the driver the address of her flat in Edge Hill. Better to be on home ground. The thought gave her an illusion of control. Besides, she was rather proud of her flat; she’d bought it with her share from the sale of the house she’d shared with Todd.
It was ultra-modern and brand new and it was such a novelty to have her very own private space that she kept it looking fabulous. Her friends teased her that she was expecting Home Beautiful magazine to call, begging to feature her place in their next big spread.
Thinking about her friends’ gentle teasing helped to calm her as the taxi sped them through the dark streets. It helped too that Liam sat a little apart from her and she was relieved that he wasn’t panting all over her on the back seat.
Nevertheless she could sense his tension and her body burned with breathless, coiling anticipation. What kind of lover was this man?
What kind of lover was she? Not much of one, if Todd’s straying from her bed was any indication. But there was something about Liam’s frank and open appreciation of her that shored up the confidence Todd had undermined.
A welcome cool breeze greeted them as they stepped from the taxi. Above them a new moon spilled a romantic silver sheen over the lush fronds of the palm trees that lined Alice’s street.
‘Nice location,’ Liam said and then he fell silent as they walked along the brick path flanked by newly landscaped gardens.
It wasn’t till Alice was fishing in her bag for her door key that she was hit by a rush of sudden doubts. Was she making a terribly stupid mistake? She didn’t know anything about this man. She didn’t do this kind of thing.
If a clairvoyant had told her she would bring home a good-looking stranger from a bar, she would have laughed in her face and demanded her money back.
When it came to dating trends, Alice had been left behind in the last century. Although her unattached friends seemed to think nothing of having sex for no other reason than because they fancied a guy, until tonight Alice had never dreamed of being so rash. Not in her wildest fantasies. Well, OK, maybe in her wildest fantasies—but since when were they reliable?
Perhaps she should suggest coffee. She had a lovely new espresso machine and she could take Liam Conway into her shiny, trendy kitchen and make coffee and insist that they talk some more. She could get him to talk about himself. There were so many things she should know before they—
Too late. Liam reached for her as soon as the front door closed behind them. And thoughts of coffee and the questions that had seemed so important scampered clear out of her head as he drew her in to him. And his lips met hers.
Oh…His lips were soft and firm and warm and super-slow. Alice’s legs almost buckled beneath her.
‘You have the most gorgeous mouth,’ he murmured.
‘I’m…rather taken with yours.’ She was a little stunned to hear how sinking-out-of-control she sounded.
And then he touched his lips to the side of her throat. ‘And you have the most kissable neck.’
Ah, yes. Flattery and sensuous, lazy lips were a heart-stopping combination. So different from Todd.
No, she wasn’t going to think about Todd. Just Liam. Just this—his mesmerising lips exploring her skin, making her body warm and wanton. She knew now that she’d been starving for intimate contact.
A hot, honeyed languor seemed to fill her. In a dazzle of warmth, she pressed her thighs and hips against Liam’s and arched her neck, silently begging him for more kisses.
Liam obliged. While his hands wedged her body hard against his, his mouth traced a sensuous path down her neck, into the little valley at her collar-bone and then up again. He kissed her ear lobe.
‘Best ears in the southern hemisphere,’ he said and he teased her ear with the tip of his tongue, and she was overtaken by a desperate need to nibble-kiss the rough skin all the way along his jaw.
His response was a sexy choked groan and the next moment he scooped her up in his arms. ‘Which way?’ he murmured as her feet left the floor.
Without a beat of hesitation she pointed down the hallway to her bedroom.
CHAPTER TWO
IT FELT a little crazy to wake next morning with Liam Conway in her bed. Crazy and wonderful. And just a bit sad. This was going to be the hard part—the morning after the night before.
She and Liam could hardly pretend to be strangers after a night of amazing, heaven-on-earth passion, but just the same, the deeper getting-to-know-you stuff that they’d skipped wasn’t going to happen now. Soon Liam would be leaving, walking out of her life, and Alice would have to put on a brave face and remember that she didn’t mind; it was what she wanted.
Besides, now that she knew she was infertile, casual dating was probably all men would want from her.
With her head propped on her hand, she lay on her side and watched Liam wake, his eyes blinking, showing her snippets of blue like glimpses of morning sky.
He saw that she was watching him, and he smiled at her. ‘Good morning.’
‘Morning.’
His eyes were drinking her in now and he reached to touch her hair as it tumbled about her shoulders. Did she look a mess? Or like a woman who’d enjoyed a night of blissful ravishment? There was something about broad daylight that was so, well, revealing.
Liam, of course, looked better than ever. The darkening shadow on his jaw gave him a trendy, designer-stubble sexiness, and his bulky shoulders were bronzed, almost glowing, an effect no doubt enhanced by the sunshine filtering through the filmy bedroom curtains.
Not that she should be lying here ogling him. Her job this morning was to facilitate his farewell—a friendly but matter-of-fact exit.
‘It’s going to be a nice day,’ she said and immediately winced. Not a clever start. She sounded like a tour guide setting off with a group of holidaymakers for the Great Barrier Reef. But what was she supposed to say? Thanks for the most amazing, beautiful, emotionally moving, best sex of my life?
It was the absolute truth. But would Liam believe her? She’d travelled to the stars last night, but for all she knew their lovemaking might have been everyday-average for him.
He stretched and, with his hands stacked beneath his head, he glanced where she’d been looking, at the window and the branches of palm trees against the patch of blue sky. ‘Another day in paradise, as the tourist brochures say.’ He switched his gaze back to her and smiled lazily. ‘And you and I are another day older.’
Indeed. Their birthdays were a thing of the past. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Alice sat up, holding the sheet around her. ‘I’m glad you stayed the night,’ she said shyly. ‘I would have felt a bit cheap if you’d left as soon as we’d finished—um—celebrating.’
Liam frowned. ‘It would be a crime to make you feel cheap. You’re a very special woman, Alice.’ The creases in his brow melted as his frown morphed into a smile. ‘And as I remember it, we spent most of the night celebrating.’
Alice felt herself blush. Then the rest of her began to warm up as Liam continued to look at her. And look.
Oh, heavens. The daylight made no difference. She was as susceptible to him now as she had been in the night.
She wished she was savvier about how these things worked. Where did a one-night stand end and the beginning of a relationship start?
She wasn’t looking for a relationship, couldn’t bear to leave herself vulnerable, only to be hurt again.
‘I—I’ll make some coffee,’ she said, edging away. ‘Or perhaps you’d prefer tea?’
If Liam was surprised by her withdrawal he made a quick recovery. ‘Coffee would be fantastic.’
She drew a deep breath of relief. She’d half expected him to drag her into his arms and she knew she would have been too weak to resist. But fortunately, he accepted her decision with good grace. When she wriggled towards the edge of the bed, he didn’t try to stop her.
She headed for the bathroom and, once she’d finished there, she wrapped herself inside a white towelling bath robe and went through to the kitchen to start the coffee. It wasn’t long before Liam joined her, showered, but still unshaven, and dressed in the clothes he’d worn last night.
The sight of him strolling into her kitchen was enough to make her heart do a somersault. Darn. Here she was, safely surrounded by pots and pans, and Liam Conway had the same disturbing effect on her as he did on the dance floor or in her bedroom.
‘That coffee smells sensational,’ he said.
She held up a packet she’d taken from the freezer. ‘Would you like croissants?’
‘Is that what you’re having?’
She nodded. ‘It’s my Saturday-morning treat. Croissants and coffee and the weekend papers out on the deck.’ She fingered the lapels of her bathrobe. ‘I wasn’t going to bother with the papers this morning, but if you want them it’s not far to the shop. You can grab them while I warm these croissants.’
He thought about this for a moment and then shook his head. ‘I can do without news from the outside world today. I don’t officially start work here till Monday. There’s time enough then to come to grips with what’s going on.’
‘So you’ve actually moved to Cairns to start a new job?’ She tried not to sound particularly interested and she ducked her face as she slipped the croissants into the oven.
‘I’ve bought a new business that has a branch here,’ he said in an offhand way that suggested he didn’t want to go into details. ‘This is a great place by the way.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I take it that green is your favourite colour?’
He was looking at her collection of green crockery and glassware which she kept on display on open shelving.
‘I guess it must be.’ She smiled, pleased that he’d noticed them. ‘Virgos are supposed to like white best.’
‘Are we?’
‘According to the experts. But I’ve been collecting green bits and pieces since I was about twelve. It started with a plate shaped like a water-lily pad and went on from there.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s become a minor obsession.’
Todd had hated her green collection. ‘We’re not Irish,’ he’d yelled at her and in one of his bad moods he’d smashed her favourite piece. For the past five years she’d kept the collection locked away. Now it was free again.
Liam picked up a green and white bowl fashioned like a field of clover with delicately scalloped edges, and he turned it over and examined the maker’s name on the base. ‘This is great. It has personality and it sure beats the plain white minimalist stuff you get in restaurants.’ He set it back carefully.
As she selected napkins from an overhead cupboard, she framed a question in her head about his new business, but she hesitated to ask because he could have already told her if he’d wanted to. But then she decided to dive in anyway.
‘What business have you bought?’
‘A travel company.’
No. Alice stiffened and felt cold all over. She stared at him. ‘Which travel company?’
He stared back at her, warily, without answering.
‘Please tell me you haven’t bought Kanga Tours?’
A muscle in his jaw jerked and he continued to frown at her as he very deliberately straightened his shoulders and folded his arms over his chest. ‘Would it matter if I had?’
‘No…well, yes—it would.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
She felt a slam of panic. ‘I can’t believe this.’
‘Can’t believe what?’ His eyes narrowed and, if it were possible, his expression was even more cautious. ‘Why? What’s the problem?’
She switched her gaze to the glass-fronted door of her oven. The croissants were already turning golden.
‘What do you know about Kanga Tours?’ Liam demanded. ‘I had the company checked out thoroughly. I got the best advice. I know the growth in the north hasn’t been as strong as expected, but that’s why I’m here. To turn it around. I believe in hands-on management. Overall the company seemed to be a damn good business proposition.’
‘Oh, it’s a good business,’ she said while her heart hammered. ‘If you’re a good manager, you’ll make plenty of money here.’
‘So, why are you looking like it’s really bad news?’
She bit her lip. He wasn’t going to like this.
‘For God’s sake, Alice. You look like I confessed I was a terrorist.’
‘I—I work there. At Kanga Tours.’
His jaw dropped. Fast. He stared at her and, as her words really sank in, he glanced away sharply. Cursing, he raked angry fingers through his hair.
Alice knew what he was thinking—that if word leaked out that the new boss had slept with one of the staff on his very first night in town, there could be all sorts of unpleasant ramifications. He could be branded as a sleaze, a predator, and she would be the tart, the wild divorcee, sleeping her way into the new boss’s favour.
Office affairs made ripples that very often became waves, waves that could swamp the boat. It could be just awful. For both of them.
She remembered the stir among the staff last week when Dennis Ericson first told them that a new boss was arriving from Sydney.
And then she was struck by a light-bulb moment. ‘Conway! For heaven’s sake. Now I remember why your name sounded familiar last night.’ Clasping her hands to the sides of her face, she let out a groan. ‘If only I’d thought of it earlier, but I didn’t make the connection. When I went to the Hippo Bar the last thing on my mind was my work or a new boss.’
‘Quite.’
The single, carefully clipped monosyllable seemed to cut through her. Neither she nor Liam had been thinking about work last night. They’d been totally distracted. Just thinking about how very distracted they’d been made her blush.
The oven pinged and she was grateful for a different kind of distraction. Shoving her hands into padded gloves, she pulled the croissants from the oven and avoided Liam’s gaze as she popped them onto the plates she’d already set on a tray, along with the coffee and cutlery and a pot of strawberry jam.
In one bound Liam was across the room and taking the tray from her. ‘Let me carry that.’
‘Thanks.’ At least he wasn’t so angry that he forgot his manners.
Their hands brushed as Alice handed him the tray and she made the mistake of looking up. His eyes were so close to her now. Too close. A look passed between them, a look that spoke of intimate secrets, of everything they’d shared last night—of Liam’s caresses, his whispered endearments, and her wild response to the satiny heat of him thrusting deep inside her.
It had been bad enough trying to carry on at work through the mess of the divorce. But how could she cope now, while her boss was a walking reminder of more things she needed to forget? The memories of their intimacy would stay with her. Every day.
A mask seemed to slip over Liam’s features and he turned to carry their breakfast things onto her back deck, which was cleverly designed to give privacy while offering a view of the tropical courtyard below. For the next few minutes their conversation was confined to the coffee and croissants and whether Liam would like milk or sugar or jam. But Alice was bursting with the need to talk about their predicament.
‘We were supposed to be going our separate ways this morning,’ she said.
He sent her a sharp, searching look. ‘Is that what you wanted?’
Her heart gave a startled leap. ‘Well, yes, of course. It’s what you wanted, too.’ The stern expression in his eyes prompted her to add, ‘Isn’t it?’
To her dismay he didn’t answer. Instead, he took another sip of coffee and put the cup down slowly. ‘Let’s sort this work issue out. What’s your role at Kanga Tours?’
He was changing the subject. Why? Was he upset with her? Had she read him incorrectly? Surely he hadn’t hoped for more than last night?
The thought that Liam might have wanted to continue their relationship set Alice suddenly adrift, swept away without warning by a flash flood. She struggled to remember his question.
‘I—I’m one of the specialist consultants,’ she said at last. ‘I look after the customers who want specialised tours in tune with particular interests.’
Liam nodded. ‘Do you cover everything? The reef, the rainforest and the outback?’
‘Sure.’ Pride set her chin at a tilt. ‘Everything from snorkelling or diving on the reef, to night-time spotlighting in the rainforest and outback cattle musters. They want it, I package it for them—even speciality restaurant tours.’
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. ‘I’m sure you’re very good at it.’
‘I really enjoy my job. Since my divorce it’s been my life saver.’
He didn’t respond immediately.
‘Look,’ she said. ‘I know it’s going to be awkward for you to have me at work, but I won’t let on that I—I’ve met you. I can be discreet and professional.’
‘Yes, you’re a bright girl.’
A bright girl. It was rather a comedown from a very special woman, which was what he’d called her half an hour ago.
‘I think that’s the best way to play it,’ he said as his long fingers broke off a piece of croissant. ‘From now on our relationship will be entirely professional.’
‘Yes.’
‘There’s no need to compromise either of us. We’re mature adults. We can give each other space and get on with our jobs.’
‘Yes,’ she agreed again. ‘There are at least ten employees at Kanga Tours, so we won’t be falling all over each other.’
But…there would be almost daily contact.
‘I imagine I’ll be out of the office a great deal,’ Liam added, as if he was reading her mind. ‘Especially at first. There’s a lot to do to ensure the company’s viability, so I’ll be out and about. I want to find new premises.’
‘So our old building in the backstreets isn’t good enough for…?’ Alice saw the warning spark in Liam’s eyes and broke off in mid-sentence.
‘I need a prime location,’ he said crisply. ‘Something where all the action is—on the Esplanade with mountain and ocean views perhaps, right on the tourist and backpacker thoroughfare.’
She drained her coffee-cup. ‘I’m sure you’ll want to put your own stamp on the company.’
He didn’t answer. He helped himself to the strawberry jam and then ate his croissant slowly and seemed to pay close attention to a cluster of Golden Cane palms in the courtyard beneath them.
When he finished, he said, ‘Thanks, Alice, that was excellent, but now I should leave you to get on with your weekend.’
She forced a smile and hoped it was broad enough to give the impression that she had so many exciting things lined up for this weekend she didn’t know where to start.
Liam began to gather up their breakfast things. ‘Leave them,’ she insisted. After all, she had two whole days to carry them inside and wash them.
What else was she going to do?
Weekends had always come as a bonus at the end of a busy working week, but suddenly this one loomed emptily before her. She was already focusing on Monday morning, and seeing Liam again. But she was worried too. Darn it. Why did he have to be her boss?
‘Would you like me to call a taxi?’ she offered.
‘No, thanks, I’ll walk. It’s a great morning for having a look around and getting to know my new home-town.’
Her bare feet padded on the timber floor and she knotted her bathrobe more tightly at the waist as she followed him to her front door. A lump jammed her throat as he opened the door and turned to her.
Oh, heavens, last night had been so wonderful. The most beautiful night ever. It made up for all the hurt…
She suddenly wanted to cry. Crazy! No. She mustn’t.
But what should she do now? Kiss Liam on the cheek? Wave him goodbye?
She forced another smile and held out her hand. ‘See you at the office, Mr Conway.’
‘Alice, don’t.’ Dark colour stained his face as he clasped her hand. ‘Don’t be like that.’
Like what? she wanted to ask.
But he was staring at her hand in his. And then suddenly his shoulder nudged the door closed again and, to her amazement, he pulled her roughly to him and his mouth came down hard on hers.
The passionate force of his kiss stunned her. Backing against the door, he pulled her to him, his mouth possessive, uncompromising, bruising. Her heart pounded in answer. Her body softened in instant surrender.
After just one night the smell and the taste and the feel of him were wonderfully familiar. A sweet sense of recognition overwhelmed her—the strong feeling that she belonged in these arms, with this man. She was tinder to his fire, ablaze at the first contact.
Her lips welcomed him. Her hands hungrily explored the muscly wonder of his shoulders; they twined in his hair. Her breasts strained for his touch.
And then, too soon, way too soon, he lifted his head and set her a little apart from him. His eyes glittered with an unreadable emotion.
‘Damn,’ he said, making the word sound both soft and harsh at once. ‘That wasn’t the way I’d planned to say goodbye.’ He touched his lips gently to her forehead. ‘I’m sorry, Alice. It won’t happen again. From now on I’ll be on my best behaviour.’
Too overcome and breathless to answer, she pressed her fingers to her lips to hold back a protest. Once more he opened the door and this time he stepped outside. He sent her one brief, scorching glance, and then he turned and strode swiftly away without looking back.
She watched him go with her fingers still pressed against her lips. Lips that were tender from the imprint of his kiss.
CHAPTER THREE
LIAM spent most of the weekend at the office, working his way through the company’s files and planning his business strategies. He was determined to lift the Cairns branch’s performance to match what he’d recently achieved in Sydney. As a self-made man, he’d worked impossibly hard over the past decade and he’d developed his own formula for revitalising a business.
New premises and a big investment in promotion and marketing were high on his agenda. And a staff performance appraisal. Several years ago he’d been forced to replace many of the inherited staff with a new team.
Could he do that again?
What about Alice? God help him. Could he be hard-headed and impartial enough to sack her if it was necessary?
All weekend his mind was constantly flooded by memories of her, of her heart-stopping, gut-wrenching loveliness, of the way she’d looked with her dark hair spread across the pillow, her rosy lips parted, inviting him to kiss her. She was so sweet and yet so wildly sensual. How could her husband ever have left her?
Liam had been consumed by an insane desire for her.
But office romances often led to trouble and trouble in business could reach atomic proportions. Staking a claim on Alice Madigan would place his goal, the success of his new business enterprise, in jeopardy. He couldn’t take that risk, not when dark, insistent shadows from his past still haunted him.
He had a debt to pay, which left him with no choice but to put his business goals first. Always.
At the sound of a knock on his door on Monday morning Liam looked up to find Dennis Ericson, the branch office manager, lounging a casual hip against the door frame and wearing a supercilious smile.
‘Good morning, Dennis.’ Liam rose and held out his hand. The men had met before when Liam was making his pre-purchase investigations, but not as employer and employee. Dennis was in his mid-to-late forties, a family man, going thin on top and soft around the middle.
He accepted Liam’s handshake, but the wry grimace on his face somewhat marred the sincerity of the gesture.
‘You’ve settled in quickly, then,’ he said, casting an openly curious glance around the office, checking the few small changes the new boss had made to its layout.
Liam nodded. ‘Spent the weekend in here, going through files.’
The silly grin returned. ‘And have you claimed your prize?’
‘What prize?’
For answer, Dennis shot him a sideways, narrow-eyed glance.
Liam sensed that he was being set up. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Saturday’s Cairns Post,’ Dennis said ominously. ‘Page three.’
Liam shook his head. ‘I didn’t check the weekend papers. Is it something important? Some corporate offer?’
At that Dennis laughed. From his hip pocket he extracted what looked like a newspaper cutting and he flipped it onto the desk.
Annoyed by the smugness of the fellow, Liam refused to rise to the bait. He knew from experience that there was always someone wanting to get the upper hand with the new boss on the first day. He gave the folded cutting a cursory glance, and then stood very still and perfectly silent. Watching Dennis. Waiting.
Dennis’s smile slipped. His Adam’s apple slid up and down and, when Liam refused to move, he pouted. Finally, he picked up the clipping and unfolded it. ‘Take a gander at this.’
Liam scanned it. Bloody hell.
‘Aren’t you lucky, sir? You’re this week’s Mystery Winner.’ Dennis seemed to take pleasure from his boss’s obvious surprise. His cockiness revived. ‘Dinner for two at The Beach House,’ he said. ‘All you have to do is give the local newspaper office a call.’
It was a photo of Liam leaving the Hippo Bar. With Alice. Clipped and enlarged, no doubt, from a shot the photographer had taken of three girls whose faces were rather out of focus in the foreground. He and Alice looked blissfully happy. Intimate. They were holding hands and her head was dipping towards him as if she was listening intently to something he said.
A white ring circled his head and the caption above the photo read: Who is this man? The text below explained, as Dennis had, that this mystery winner could claim his prize of a dinner for two.
‘Do these mystery prizes happen often?’ he asked.
‘Every week,’ replied Dennis smugly.
So much for keeping that night under wraps.
‘Nice work, boss.’ The edge to Dennis’s voice was sharp enough to cut chain wire. ‘I suppose we can skip the lecture on management probity and staff relations?’
Teeth gritted against a biting retort, Liam screwed the paper into a ball and tossed it across the office to the waste-paper basket. He was grateful that it curved in a perfect arc and fell neatly into the basket, dead centre. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said quietly.
‘That you started getting extra-friendly with the staff the minute you hit town?’
Liam’s response was to move past Dennis, to reach for the door and to close it with deliberate control.
‘Sit down, Dennis.’ With a curt nod he indicated the chair by the desk. ‘You and I are going to have a little chat.’
Dennis sat. And his confident smirk began to wane as Liam took the high-backed leather executive chair and leaned back, watching him, without speaking.
Liam was damned if he was going to let this fellow launch a smear campaign. He knew that if he didn’t act promptly, Alice’s reputation would be dirt by morning-tea time.
With his elbow, he gave a file clearly marked Dennis Ericson a surreptitious nudge towards the front of his desk and then he stabbed at his desk phone for front of house reception.
‘Sally,’ he said, enjoying the way Dennis’s eyes bulged when he read the name on the folder. ‘Hold all my calls, please. And don’t send anyone through to my office. It’s most important that I’m not interrupted for the next twenty minutes.’
‘Morning, Dennis.’ Alice called her greeting as they passed in the hall outside her office.
‘Morning,’ he growled rudely, without making eye contact.
What was eating him?
Gulp. Had it started already? Was this because he’d seen the photo in the paper? The phone calls from her family had begun about five minutes after Liam left her on Saturday. Alice’s mother and each of her aunts had rung, all demanding details about the strange man in the photo.
No one from work had contacted her, but she knew it was silly to hope that, by some miracle, none of them had seen the photo. She’d been dreading coming to the office this morning.
‘What’s the matter? I’m not late, am I?’ She glanced at her watch. She was late, actually, thanks to traffic lights on the blink at a busy intersection, but not enough to upset anyone, especially as it was well-known that she often worked late or through her lunch hour without extra pay.
Dennis pursed his lips. ‘I’m sure you can be as late as you like from now on.’ He continued on, calling over his shoulder, ‘You’re sitting pretty now, Alice.’
Oh, great. That more or less confirmed her fears.
There was only one way to play it this morning. Cool. Carry on as if it was business as usual.
She went through to the office she shared with two other travel consultants, Mary-Ann and Shana.
‘You know what’s eating Dennis?’ she asked. And then she realised that playing it cool was a good idea in theory…but the who’s-she-trying-to-kid? look on her workmates’ faces made her stomach pitch.
Mary-Ann clicked a button to boot up her computer. ‘It’s not so much a matter of what’s eating Dennis, but who,’ she said. ‘Actually, it’s who’s eating him and spitting him out into little pieces.’
‘And the answer is the new boss,’ added Shana. ‘First morning on the job and this Liam Conway’s kicking heads. He lined poor Dennis up for a performance appraisal.’
‘Oh.’ Alice sat down quickly, a split-second before her legs began to shake.
‘Instead of kicking heads he should pull his own head in,’ muttered Shana.
‘Don’t tell me the new boss is an ogre?’
Shana rolled her eyes. ‘As if we need to tell you anything about him. Why don’t you tell us?’
Taking in her workmates’ identical expressions, Alice released her breath with a soft sigh. ‘OK, you’ve seen the photo in the Post.’
‘Of course we’ve seen it.’
‘How could we miss it?’
‘But,’ added Mary-Ann, ‘we didn’t know who the guy was till this morning.’
Shana came around to the front of her desk and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘At least we know now why you weren’t interested in the birthday party we offered to throw for you.’
Mary-Ann added her bit. ‘I thought you were supposed to be at your mother’s on Friday night.’
‘I was,’ said Alice. ‘But it was awful and I left.’
‘Hmm.’ Mary-Ann looked momentarily sympathetic and then doubtful.
‘Honest, guys. I went to the Hippo Bar to look for you, but you weren’t there.’
‘Ever hear of these little devices?’ Shana waved her cell-phone. ‘They’re the latest means of communication. You can speed dial a friend at the touch of a button.’
‘OK, OK.’ Alice raised her hands to ward off their anger. ‘Give me a break. Look, meeting Liam Conway was totally unexpected. He came into the bar. I was on my own and, well, we kinda clicked.’ She took a quick breath. ‘But it was a one-off thing. I won’t be seeing him again.’
The girls were leaning towards her now, faces intent. It was clear they expected more.
‘Clicked as in—totally clicked?’ asked Mary-Ann.
Alice thought it best to ignore that query. ‘I had no idea he was our new boss,’ she said. ‘And he didn’t know me from Eve. It was a really weird coincidence. Bad luck.’
‘Bad luck?’ cried Shana. ‘Honey, I’m not sure that’s what you call it.’
‘When it turns out he’s my new boss, I do.’
‘May I interrupt?’
The voice at the door startled them. There was a collective gasp and a surge of near-panic hit Alice as she turned to see Liam standing there.
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Barbara Hannay
Like the rest of the staff at Kanga Tours, Alice Madigan is nervous about meeting her new boss–but when he walks through the door it's worse than she ever could have imagined! Alice had shared one very special night with him–but now they have to play it strictly business!How long can they pretend nothing has happened? Especially now that Alice has discovered she's going to be having her boss's babies….
From: Alice Madigan
Sent: 1 February 09:00
To: Liam Conway
Subject: Strictly business?
Liam:
I can’t believe that you are my new boss—I’m so embarrassed! Of course I promise to keep things strictly business from now on.
Alice
From: Liam Conway
Sent: 1 February 09:02
To: Alice Madigan
Subject: The boss’s proposal…
Hi Alice,
Boardroom meeting in ten—just to formally introduce myself.
How about dinner at eight?
Liam
BARBARA HANNAY
was born in Sydney, educated in Brisbane and has spent most of her adult life living in tropical north Queensland, where she and her husband have raised four children. While she has enjoyed many happy times camping and canoeing in the bush, she also delights in an urban lifestyle—chamber music, contemporary dance, movies and dining out. An English teacher, she has always loved writing, and now, by having her stories published, she is living her most cherished fantasy. Visit www.barbarahannay.com (http://www.barbarahannay.com).
Having the Boss’s Babies
Barbara Hannay
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
From city girl—to corporate wife!
They’re working side by side, nine to five…. But no matter how hard these couples try to
keep their relationships strictly professional, romance is undeniably on the agenda!
But will a date in the office diary lead to an appointment at the altar?
Find out in this exciting miniseries.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE (#u7925223c-894b-55a1-8091-a027be70c932)
CHAPTER TWO (#u51e382b3-01af-50f8-9f26-8697f542b1ea)
CHAPTER THREE (#uf50bf9a9-eb49-5df9-90b6-15d56f67f0d0)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
SHE was sitting alone at the bar with her back to him, so he wasn’t sure why she caught his attention. Perhaps it was because she seemed so different from the rest of the under-thirty-fives who packed the Hippo Bar for Friday-night cocktails. No laughter or mad flirting for her.
She was staring at her empty cocktail glass, stirring what was left of the ice cubes with a tiny black straw, oblivious to the happy commotion going on all around her.
Her clothes were different, too. No tight hipster jeans or bare midriff, no outrageous jewellery or spangly glitter.
Her shiny dark hair was caught up in a simple knot and her dress, something dark and feminine with one shoulder bare, offered a clear view of the graceful line of her neck and shoulders. Her skirt wasn’t especially short but it managed to reveal rather shapely legs.
He wanted to see her face; if it matched the rest of her it was, at the very least, elegant.
And then, miraculously, she turned and his lungs compressed as if he’d free-dived to the bottom of the Coral Sea. She was quite, quite lovely.
Her eyes were clear grey, her nose classic and her mouth lush. She’d dusted her eyelids with smoky hues and had drawn a fine black line to skim her lower lashes. The make-up gave her a dramatic, dusky allure.
A disturbing fantasy flashed into living Technicolor in his head. He saw her in a different setting, somewhere remote, far away from this city, and she was leaning towards him, her dark eyelashes spiky and wet…her cheeks flushed, her pink lips softly parted…and her eyes were begging him to make love to her.
He cursed softly at his foolishness and spun on his heel, eager to move on, to find a quieter, less crowded bar. But he made the fatal mistake of glancing back over his shoulder.
And this time, he was touched more by her air of solitude than her beauty. Her gaze was fixed on a spot in the distance, and yet she was staring at it without interest, as if she was seeing something else, some inner turmoil.
He recognised that look. He knew the loneliness hovering like a shadowing hawk behind her lovely eyes. There were many times he’d felt that.
Tonight was one of them.
Each year, this anniversary became more and more difficult and he’d chosen to fly north to Cairns a few days earlier than his business commitments required, simply to avoid spending this particular night in Sydney.
He’d planned to spend the night alone—content to be a sightseer, wandering this sultry, tropical city at whim, hoping to blank out bad memories by renewing his acquaintance with the sights and sounds and smells of the far north. A solitary stranger in town.
But now he’d seen the girl at the bar.
And his plans had to change.
Alice was trying to be brave.
It wasn’t easy to sit alone in a bar on her thirtieth birthday. Alone, for heaven’s sake! She had a right to feel down. Seriously down.
The annoying thing was that she had no one but herself to blame; she’d run away from her birthday party. Not the party her workmates had wanted to throw, but the family gathering her mother had insisted on arranging.
Very early in the night, Aunt Bettina had voiced the family’s collective thoughts.
‘Poor Alice,’ she’d said, her voice choking, while her eyes became moons of sympathy. ‘Married before twenty and divorced before thirty. It’s a crying shame.’
No one—repeat, no one—not a single member of the Madigan family had ever been divorced. Louisa, the family’s genealogy expert, had researched on the Internet, so she was certain of this.
No one had been infertile either. And if the men in Alice’s family had ever indulged in extramarital affairs, their women kept very quiet about it. It was an unspoken family law that Madigan women hung on to their husbands.
Alice had committed all three crimes—infertility, an unfaithful husband and a divorce. She was the family failure.
She’d been trying hard to feel good about herself in spite of these disasters. She’d survived a wrecked marriage with her ego intact—just. She knew that she was better alone than she’d ever been with Todd. And she’d learned the bitter lesson that a woman shouldn’t rely on others—certainly not a husband or babies—to make her happy or to give meaning to her life.
It was up to her.
She’d come a long way in the past six months. But tonight her family made her feel like an obliterated body in a single-vehicle crash. No hope. Dead on arrival.
As if turning thirty wasn’t a miserable enough milestone in any woman’s life. As celebrations went, her party had been a flop.
And as soon as the cake was cut she’d made her excuses, claiming that her workmates, who hung out at the Hippo Bar on Friday nights, were waiting for her.
The only problem was that her friends weren’t expecting her and by the time she arrived they’d moved on to a nightclub somewhere, and Alice didn’t have the heart to track them all over town on their cellphones.
So here she was. On the night of her big Three-O. Looking down the barrel of the rest of her life. Alone.
‘Another one?’
Alice blinked at the barman and he pointed to her empty glass. ‘Did you enjoy the French Kiss?’
‘Yes, it was delicious.’
‘So you want to try another cocktail?’
Should she have another? Why not? This wasn’t a night for being careful. Picking up the menu, she scanned the list of outrageous names and smiled. ‘I think I’ll be adventurous and go for a Screaming Orgasm this time.’
‘And I’ll have one, too,’ said a lazy voice beside her.
Alice spun to her left and was surprised to find a man sitting on the stool right next to her. When had he arrived?
He smiled. Slowly. It was a smile that started at his eyes—light blue, clever and good-humoured—and took its time reaching his mouth. With the same lack of haste he let his gaze linger on her and he didn’t try to hide the fact that he liked what he saw.
Something about his eyes and the very male way he was checking her out made her stomach feel ridiculously weightless—as if she’d suddenly toppled over the edge of a cliff.
‘Hi,’ the stranger said.
Alice had no experience of meeting men in bars; her ex-husband had been her first boyfriend and she’d married him before she was out of her teens. If only she could think of some smart, metro-chick response.
‘Hi, yourself,’ she replied.
At a guess, he was in his mid-thirties. He had dark brown hair with just the faintest hint of silver at the temples and a longish face. A strong face. He was lean and suntanned and dressed in chinos and an open-necked white shirt with long sleeves rolled back.
‘You seem to be drinking alone,’ he said. ‘It’s not a healthy habit.’
Alice felt compelled to defend herself. ‘It’s not actually a habit. This is a one-off experience.’
He accepted this with a slight nod. ‘Are you having fun?’
‘The best.’ She straightened her shoulders. ‘What about you?’
‘I prefer the company of others.’
‘But you’re on your own tonight.’
‘Ah, yes,’ he admitted and he sent her another slow smile. ‘But then, I have an excellent excuse.’
She drew a deep breath, aware that a kind of game had begun and the ball was in her court. ‘You just got out of jail?’
His eyes widened slightly and then he chuckled. ‘In a manner of speaking. I’ve escaped from Sydney. I only arrived in town today and I don’t know anyone.’ His blue gaze held hers for breathtaking seconds. ‘Yet.’
OK. Now was the point when she should give this guy the brush-off. But their drinks arrived. And before she could pay, her neighbour pushed several bills across the bar.
‘My shout,’ he said.
She was about to protest.
But she changed her mind. Why the heck shouldn’t she test her wings on a little light flirtation? She was thirty—and for the first time in her adult life she was out on the town as a free agent; two good reasons to let a rather nice-looking guy chat her up in a bar.
If he wanted to.
And if she decided she wanted to let him.
‘So, what’s your excuse for drinking alone?’ he asked her.
‘Aliens abducted my friends.’
One dark eyebrow lifted. ‘How unfortunate for them.’
‘Yes. I guess they’ll wake up in the morning with their memories wiped clean.’
He grinned. ‘It’s happened to a few of my mates after a night on the town.’
Picking up her drink, Alice took a slow sip. ‘What do you think of the cocktail?’ She tried to feel detached as she watched the movements of his lips while he tasted his drink.
‘Not bad.’
‘Have you had one of these before?’
‘No.’ He held his glass to the light and gave the contents a swirl before taking a longer sip. And then he flashed her a wicked smile. ‘This is my very first Orgasm.’
She almost choked, gasped for breath. A cloud of steam rose through her and she tried to ignore it. Stay cool, Alice. Lifting her glass, she offered him a shaky salute. ‘Don’t drink too fast, then.’
And just as she wondered if she was getting out of her depth, she was rescued by a voice calling from across the bar.
‘Hey, Alice—happy birthday!’
It was a guy who worked in the same building as she did. He must have seen the banner the girls had strung in the foyer this morning. She didn’t know him very well, so she gave him a quick wave and hoped he wouldn’t come over. The conversation with this stranger was bordering on crazy, but she didn’t want to be interrupted. Maybe it was the cocktails, but she was feeling a weird but wonderful sense of connection with him.
‘Happy birthday, Alice?’ the stranger asked, and he frowned sharply. ‘Is it really your birthday?’
Oh, man. He looked upset. Was it because he’d realised she was a dead-set loser, abandoned by everyone on her birthday? She’d been hoping to come across as a very together urban goddess.
‘I have a thing about birthdays,’ she said, quickly. ‘I never celebrate them. What are birthdays, after all? Here today, gone tomorrow. I mean, why make a big fuss about turning—oops!’
‘Fair enough,’ he said more equably. ‘Although I’ve always thought that turning oops was something of a milestone.’ Again his eyes held hers and they twinkled with such obvious amusement that she fancied she must have imagined that earlier frown.
‘There’s something to be said for making the most of any reason to celebrate,’ he added.
She raised her glass. ‘I’m celebrating.’ But she didn’t drink. She suspected she’d already had enough and set the glass down again. ‘This conversation is getting a little lopsided.’ She needed to change the subject before she got herself into trouble. ‘You already know my name and my date of birth and I don’t know the first thing about you.’
‘What would you like to know?’
Are you married? He wasn’t wearing a ring but that didn’t mean a darn thing. ‘Your name?’
‘Liam. And if you’re worried about an equal exchange of information, I’m thirty-six, or perhaps I should say oops plus six,’ he added with a smile. ‘And…’ He paused.
‘And?’ She tried unsuccessfully to keep the curiosity out of her voice.
‘It’s my birthday today, too.’
‘You’re joking.’
‘Not at all.’ He pulled a wallet from his back trouser pocket and flipped it open on the bar. And there was his driver’s licence. Conway, Liam Cooper. And sure enough, his date of birth was the fifth of September.
Alice frowned suddenly. Liam Cooper Conway. Where had she heard that name? Liam Conway. Mr Conway. Dr Conway. Professor Conway. Inspector Conway?
No…she was dreaming. She’d never met him before. Besides, he said he was from Sydney. He had a New South Wales driver’s licence and he’d already told her he’d just arrived in town.
‘Anything else you’d like to know?’ he asked.
She thought about this and was only a little shocked to realise this meeting might lose its gloss if she learned too much about this man. She shook her head. Right now Liam Conway was an intriguing Man of Mystery, a figure of limitless potential. He could be anything…
What seemed more important than boring details like his occupation was the fact that he shared her birthday! Her star sign. My God, they were almost soul mates. She rewarded him with her warmest smile. ‘Happy birthday, Liam Conway.’
‘Thank you.’ He returned his wallet to his pocket and lifted his glass. ‘Are you going to finish your drink?’
‘I’m not sure that I should.’ She gave her cocktail a stir with her straw. ‘I don’t know what they put in these things.’
‘Hmm…the ingredients of a Screaming Orgasm. That’s a big question.’
This time, when their gazes met, his eyes signalled a very direct, unambiguous message, a message so dark and sensual that she was both alarmed and excited. Her heart picked up pace, sweat filmed her skin and she felt a sensuous tug deep within her. Good grief. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like this.
Desperate to change the subject she asked, ‘Where were you on your sixth birthday?’
Liam blinked as if his brain had been in a completely different country and it seemed to take him ages to compute her question. ‘Um—I was on my parents’ orchard down on the Granite Belt.’
‘So, while I was being born, you were stuffing yourself with peaches and plums?’
‘Possibly. Although I would have preferred ice cream if it was on offer.’
‘No party?’
‘My parents didn’t have much time for parties—except on significant birthdays.’
For a moment he seemed lost in a cloud of darkness. He downed his drink quickly and then gave a little shake as if to rid himself of a ghostly presence. Alice had the distinct impression he was sorry he’d told her so much.
‘That’s why I like to celebrate now,’ he said but the intensity in his voice was at odds with his words.
‘I’m all for celebrating.’ But then she remembered that she’d had enough to drink, so her options for celebrating in a bar were limited. Perhaps it was time for her to leave.
She pictured herself hopping off her bar stool, thanking Liam Conway for the cocktail and bidding him farewell. In her mind’s eye she saw herself walking out of the bar and calling a taxi to take her home. Back at her Edge Hill flat, she would listen to one of her favourite Spanish-guitar CDs and drink a chaste cup of hot chocolate, and then she’d read a paperback novel until she fell asleep.
She knew exactly what she would do, what she should do. It was all very clear.
But she didn’t move.
‘It really is bad luck to have your friends abducted by aliens on your birthday,’ Liam said quietly.
‘Yeah,’ Alice agreed with a rueful smile. ‘I was hoping I’d finished my run of bad luck.’ And immediately she regretted saying that. ‘Sorry, you’re looking for fun, not hard-luck stories.’
Liam shrugged. ‘I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Until I saw you.’
His smile sent a delicious shiver right through her and she reached for her abandoned drink.
‘It was a guy who put those shadows in your eyes, wasn’t it?’ Liam said.
She was too surprised to be cautious. ‘Yes.’
‘A rat?’
‘A toad.’ She might have smiled at that, but to her dismay the scene she’d tried so hard to forget leapt into her mind and her sorry state came tumbling out. ‘I—I came home early one afternoon and found him in bed with another woman.’
Pressing a fist against her mouth, she struggled again with the horror of the memory.
Liam looked genuinely upset. ‘Toad is too polite for a man like that. Some of us have a lot to answer for.’
His unexpected empathy seemed to open the flood-gates on the feelings she’d been working so hard to hide. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised,’ she found herself saying. ‘I’d been picking up the tell-tale signs that Todd was straying. I just didn’t want to believe it.’
Tears sprang to her eyes. Annoyed, she blinked and Liam picked up a paper serviette from the counter. ‘Your mascara looks great,’ he said. ‘Don’t ruin it.’
‘Thanks.’ She dabbed at her eyes, took a deep breath and released a shaky little laugh. ‘You know, the thing that really upset me was that Todd added insult to injury by bringing this other woman into our bedroom.’
‘So you were living with this guy?’
‘He was my husband. I was married to the toad.’ She twisted a corner of the serviette. ‘He knew how much I loved that room. I’d taken such care choosing everything—the curtains, the carpet, the bed linen. The dressing table came from my grandparents’ place. They’d had it in their bedroom for their whole married life.’ Looking up, she said, ‘Sorry, I don’t expect you to understand.’
Liam shook his head. ‘But I do understand. He didn’t just deceive you, he violated your special place.’
Liam Conway wasn’t just gorgeous; he was sensitive, too. She’d almost forgotten such men existed.
‘I hope you got rid of him,’ he said.
‘Absolutely, especially when I found that this woman was one of many.’ She sighed. ‘Our divorce came through four months ago.’ And then she winced. Admitting her failed marriage always made her feel such a loser.
‘No wonder you still look a little shell-shocked.’
‘I’m fine now. Honestly. It’s in the past.’ The confession was off her chest and that was good, but she didn’t want to bore this lovely man witless. ‘I’ve got a new life ahead of me.’
‘Another thing to celebrate,’ he said. And then, ‘So…why don’t we go and find a place where we can dance?’
Heavens, she hadn’t been dancing in years. Todd had always claimed he hated it, so they’d never danced, and she was way out of practice. ‘I’m afraid I’m not much of a dancer,’ she said.
‘I don’t believe that.’ Liam stood and he was even taller than she’d expected. ‘Come on,’ he coaxed. ‘It’s our birthday. Let’s kick up our heels.’
Kick up her heels? She sent a flustered glance towards her feet. Her strappy black sandals had rather high heels and she’d painted her toenails bright berry-red to match her red and black floral dress.
From above her she heard Liam say, ‘They look like dancing feet to me.’
She took a deep breath and looked up at him again. Gulp. There was something so compelling about him, something unmistakably masculine about the contained strength in his lean body and in the strong, straight planes of his face, in the intention signalled by his eyes. She should make a quick get-away now, before she became completely entranced.
She didn’t want to get involved with another man, not yet, when the war-wounds from her divorce were still raw.
But a voice inside her was urging her to throw caution to the winds.
His eyes are as soulful as they are sexy. Why hesitate? It’s only dancing, after all. And anyway, surely you have the perfect excuse to be daring? You’ll never have another thirtieth birthday.
She picked up her bag from the bar.
Go on, Alice. He seems s-o-o-o nice.
She flashed him a bright return smile. ‘OK. Dancing sounds like fun.’
He grinned. ‘Let’s go.’
Outside on the footpath a photographer was taking a photo of a trio of laughing girls and, as Alice and Liam passed, there was a blinding flash from the camera.
The photographer called after them, ‘Sir, can I take a photo of you and your lovely lady?’
Liam scowled and waved him away.
‘Welcome to North Queensland,’ said Alice. ‘The local papers are always snapping people for their social pages.’
‘Glad we escaped, then.’ Liam took her hand.
Oh, heavens. She was super-sensitive to every millimetre of his skin, to the supple strength of his fingers interlaced with hers.
‘Where’s the best place in town for dancing?’ he asked.
‘The Reef Club is supposed to be very good.’
‘Supposed?’
‘I’ve never actually been there.’
He shot her a curious glance and she hoped it wasn’t because he could feel the wave of warmth that had swept through her when he touched her.
More than likely he was wondering about her restricted social life. If he asked, she would be prepared to explain that, although she worked for a tourist company, she specialised in regional tours and she didn’t have much personal experience of local night spots.
Liam didn’t ask. And Alice was relieved, because an explanation would have led to more details about her failed marriage. Todd had preferred to spend his weekends on game-fishing trips out to the Barrier Reef, or heavy drinking and gambling with his mates, rather than taking her out on the town.
But telling Liam about that could be an information overload. There was every chance he didn’t really want to know much about her at all.
He simply wanted her company for an hour or so. No strings attached. And that suited Alice just fine. The last thing she wanted was to leap straight from her disastrous marriage into another relationship. Besides, she’d always supposed that divorcees indulged in this kind of throwing-off-the-shackles adventure.
But she would feel a darned sight calmer about going dancing with a man she’d just met if she didn’t feel quite so attracted to him. She hadn’t expected to feel so quickly attuned, to be so instantly captivated and breathless.
It was more than a decade since she’d first fallen for the best-looking footballer in her high school. She knew she was out of practice at the whole guy-girl scenario, but surely she shouldn’t feel such an emotional connection with a stranger? Or such a heady jolt of awareness whenever Liam Conway looked at her? Whenever she looked at him.
How on earth would she cope when they started dancing? Perhaps she should start praying now. With luck, the band at the Reef Club played loud, fast music where dancers more or less jigged around without touching.
No such luck.
One step into the foyer of the Reef Club and she saw that the lighting was low, the music slow and bluesy, and the dance floor dark and crowded. One look at the dangerous smoulder in Liam Conway’s blue eyes and she knew she was in trouble.
Liam sent her a slow smile. ‘Shall we dance, birthday girl?’ And without even waiting for her reply, he took her hand and led her onto the shadowy dance floor. And suddenly it was happening. Alice was in his arms.
She was excited, terrified—electrified, her senses on full alert. Cocooned by the darkness and the sexy croon of a saxophone, they swayed together slowly and she felt everything super-keenly—the touch of Liam’s breath softly stirring her hair, the muscled strength of his shoulder beneath her hand, his taut, lean body brushing tantalisingly close to hers.
If she closed her eyes her nostrils filled with the subtle tang of his aftershave, and if she opened them again she was captivated by the lazy sweep of the strobe light, giving her glimpses of Liam’s face and the contrast between her pale skin and his tan.
From the moment she’d met this man she’d been walking a tightrope. Perhaps her emotions were tipping her off balance? She felt spellbound by him—by their coinciding birthdays, by the kind way he’d listened to her sob story, by the hungry way he looked at her. And now, in his arms, she was incredibly ablaze.
Clearly the long months of loneliness during her separation and divorce had taken their toll.
She wanted Liam to kiss her. She wanted his hands on her body, and yes, she wanted him to make love to her.
The wanting filled her head, blanking out reason.
And she suspected that Liam’s mind was on the same fast-track. Despite the ease with which he moved about the dance floor, there was no mistaking the subtle tension in his body, or the unsubtle desire in his eyes.
His lips brushed her forehead and a soft, almost desperate little sigh escaped him.
The dark, masculine sound plunged deep within Alice and the last, fragile threads of her resistance gave way. Helpless, she melted against him and desire flowered, surged and spilled inside her.
He drew her even closer, and nudged against her with sweet, unbearable precision. With his mouth against her ear, he murmured, ‘Have you any idea how bloody beautiful you are?’
They were hardly the words or the actions of a gentleman and she knew she should have been shocked. But she was too lost inside her cloud of desire. And her throat was so choked with emotion she couldn’t have voiced a protest even if she’d tried to.
And then, in the lull between one song and the next, he said, ‘Birthday girl, I want to take you home.’
Oh, God. Alice buried her face in his shoulder, her heart beating like a wild creature. She’d known from the moment she left the Hippo Bar that there was every possibility the evening was heading in this direction, but for one hot, terrifying moment of panic her courage failed her. A casual fling was so outside her experience.
Liam gently stroked her neck. ‘Bad idea?’
Was it? Alice tried to think calmly, but she was such a swirling mass of emotion and desire she was beyond the point of rational decision-making.
But she knew there was one important question she had to ask. She tilted her face so that her husky whisper reached him. ‘Tell me one thing; are you married?’
‘No.’ He said that so definitely she knew that he spoke the truth.
Raising her eyes to meet the hot intensity of his, she said, ‘It’s not a bad idea, Liam.’
The rasp of his indrawn breath made her shiver. He was as tense, as consumed as she was. She could hardly breathe.
They left the Reef Club holding hands and yet hardly daring to look at each other as they passed beneath the glow of overhead lights.
‘I didn’t bring my car,’ Alice said. ‘Did you?’
For the briefest moment she sensed a different kind of tension in him. ‘No; I haven’t organised a vehicle yet.’
‘Well,’ she said lightly, ‘there should be plenty of taxis around tonight.’
She felt impossibly shy as they stood near the edge of the footpath, waiting for a taxi. ‘I—I guess this is where one of us says, your place or mine?’
His light blue eyes seemed to shimmer. ‘I’m sure that should be your choice.’
The taxi arrived and they slipped into the back seat. Liam glanced at Alice as the driver waited expectantly. This was it; no turning back now. And it was her choice.
She gave the driver the address of her flat in Edge Hill. Better to be on home ground. The thought gave her an illusion of control. Besides, she was rather proud of her flat; she’d bought it with her share from the sale of the house she’d shared with Todd.
It was ultra-modern and brand new and it was such a novelty to have her very own private space that she kept it looking fabulous. Her friends teased her that she was expecting Home Beautiful magazine to call, begging to feature her place in their next big spread.
Thinking about her friends’ gentle teasing helped to calm her as the taxi sped them through the dark streets. It helped too that Liam sat a little apart from her and she was relieved that he wasn’t panting all over her on the back seat.
Nevertheless she could sense his tension and her body burned with breathless, coiling anticipation. What kind of lover was this man?
What kind of lover was she? Not much of one, if Todd’s straying from her bed was any indication. But there was something about Liam’s frank and open appreciation of her that shored up the confidence Todd had undermined.
A welcome cool breeze greeted them as they stepped from the taxi. Above them a new moon spilled a romantic silver sheen over the lush fronds of the palm trees that lined Alice’s street.
‘Nice location,’ Liam said and then he fell silent as they walked along the brick path flanked by newly landscaped gardens.
It wasn’t till Alice was fishing in her bag for her door key that she was hit by a rush of sudden doubts. Was she making a terribly stupid mistake? She didn’t know anything about this man. She didn’t do this kind of thing.
If a clairvoyant had told her she would bring home a good-looking stranger from a bar, she would have laughed in her face and demanded her money back.
When it came to dating trends, Alice had been left behind in the last century. Although her unattached friends seemed to think nothing of having sex for no other reason than because they fancied a guy, until tonight Alice had never dreamed of being so rash. Not in her wildest fantasies. Well, OK, maybe in her wildest fantasies—but since when were they reliable?
Perhaps she should suggest coffee. She had a lovely new espresso machine and she could take Liam Conway into her shiny, trendy kitchen and make coffee and insist that they talk some more. She could get him to talk about himself. There were so many things she should know before they—
Too late. Liam reached for her as soon as the front door closed behind them. And thoughts of coffee and the questions that had seemed so important scampered clear out of her head as he drew her in to him. And his lips met hers.
Oh…His lips were soft and firm and warm and super-slow. Alice’s legs almost buckled beneath her.
‘You have the most gorgeous mouth,’ he murmured.
‘I’m…rather taken with yours.’ She was a little stunned to hear how sinking-out-of-control she sounded.
And then he touched his lips to the side of her throat. ‘And you have the most kissable neck.’
Ah, yes. Flattery and sensuous, lazy lips were a heart-stopping combination. So different from Todd.
No, she wasn’t going to think about Todd. Just Liam. Just this—his mesmerising lips exploring her skin, making her body warm and wanton. She knew now that she’d been starving for intimate contact.
A hot, honeyed languor seemed to fill her. In a dazzle of warmth, she pressed her thighs and hips against Liam’s and arched her neck, silently begging him for more kisses.
Liam obliged. While his hands wedged her body hard against his, his mouth traced a sensuous path down her neck, into the little valley at her collar-bone and then up again. He kissed her ear lobe.
‘Best ears in the southern hemisphere,’ he said and he teased her ear with the tip of his tongue, and she was overtaken by a desperate need to nibble-kiss the rough skin all the way along his jaw.
His response was a sexy choked groan and the next moment he scooped her up in his arms. ‘Which way?’ he murmured as her feet left the floor.
Without a beat of hesitation she pointed down the hallway to her bedroom.
CHAPTER TWO
IT FELT a little crazy to wake next morning with Liam Conway in her bed. Crazy and wonderful. And just a bit sad. This was going to be the hard part—the morning after the night before.
She and Liam could hardly pretend to be strangers after a night of amazing, heaven-on-earth passion, but just the same, the deeper getting-to-know-you stuff that they’d skipped wasn’t going to happen now. Soon Liam would be leaving, walking out of her life, and Alice would have to put on a brave face and remember that she didn’t mind; it was what she wanted.
Besides, now that she knew she was infertile, casual dating was probably all men would want from her.
With her head propped on her hand, she lay on her side and watched Liam wake, his eyes blinking, showing her snippets of blue like glimpses of morning sky.
He saw that she was watching him, and he smiled at her. ‘Good morning.’
‘Morning.’
His eyes were drinking her in now and he reached to touch her hair as it tumbled about her shoulders. Did she look a mess? Or like a woman who’d enjoyed a night of blissful ravishment? There was something about broad daylight that was so, well, revealing.
Liam, of course, looked better than ever. The darkening shadow on his jaw gave him a trendy, designer-stubble sexiness, and his bulky shoulders were bronzed, almost glowing, an effect no doubt enhanced by the sunshine filtering through the filmy bedroom curtains.
Not that she should be lying here ogling him. Her job this morning was to facilitate his farewell—a friendly but matter-of-fact exit.
‘It’s going to be a nice day,’ she said and immediately winced. Not a clever start. She sounded like a tour guide setting off with a group of holidaymakers for the Great Barrier Reef. But what was she supposed to say? Thanks for the most amazing, beautiful, emotionally moving, best sex of my life?
It was the absolute truth. But would Liam believe her? She’d travelled to the stars last night, but for all she knew their lovemaking might have been everyday-average for him.
He stretched and, with his hands stacked beneath his head, he glanced where she’d been looking, at the window and the branches of palm trees against the patch of blue sky. ‘Another day in paradise, as the tourist brochures say.’ He switched his gaze back to her and smiled lazily. ‘And you and I are another day older.’
Indeed. Their birthdays were a thing of the past. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Alice sat up, holding the sheet around her. ‘I’m glad you stayed the night,’ she said shyly. ‘I would have felt a bit cheap if you’d left as soon as we’d finished—um—celebrating.’
Liam frowned. ‘It would be a crime to make you feel cheap. You’re a very special woman, Alice.’ The creases in his brow melted as his frown morphed into a smile. ‘And as I remember it, we spent most of the night celebrating.’
Alice felt herself blush. Then the rest of her began to warm up as Liam continued to look at her. And look.
Oh, heavens. The daylight made no difference. She was as susceptible to him now as she had been in the night.
She wished she was savvier about how these things worked. Where did a one-night stand end and the beginning of a relationship start?
She wasn’t looking for a relationship, couldn’t bear to leave herself vulnerable, only to be hurt again.
‘I—I’ll make some coffee,’ she said, edging away. ‘Or perhaps you’d prefer tea?’
If Liam was surprised by her withdrawal he made a quick recovery. ‘Coffee would be fantastic.’
She drew a deep breath of relief. She’d half expected him to drag her into his arms and she knew she would have been too weak to resist. But fortunately, he accepted her decision with good grace. When she wriggled towards the edge of the bed, he didn’t try to stop her.
She headed for the bathroom and, once she’d finished there, she wrapped herself inside a white towelling bath robe and went through to the kitchen to start the coffee. It wasn’t long before Liam joined her, showered, but still unshaven, and dressed in the clothes he’d worn last night.
The sight of him strolling into her kitchen was enough to make her heart do a somersault. Darn. Here she was, safely surrounded by pots and pans, and Liam Conway had the same disturbing effect on her as he did on the dance floor or in her bedroom.
‘That coffee smells sensational,’ he said.
She held up a packet she’d taken from the freezer. ‘Would you like croissants?’
‘Is that what you’re having?’
She nodded. ‘It’s my Saturday-morning treat. Croissants and coffee and the weekend papers out on the deck.’ She fingered the lapels of her bathrobe. ‘I wasn’t going to bother with the papers this morning, but if you want them it’s not far to the shop. You can grab them while I warm these croissants.’
He thought about this for a moment and then shook his head. ‘I can do without news from the outside world today. I don’t officially start work here till Monday. There’s time enough then to come to grips with what’s going on.’
‘So you’ve actually moved to Cairns to start a new job?’ She tried not to sound particularly interested and she ducked her face as she slipped the croissants into the oven.
‘I’ve bought a new business that has a branch here,’ he said in an offhand way that suggested he didn’t want to go into details. ‘This is a great place by the way.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I take it that green is your favourite colour?’
He was looking at her collection of green crockery and glassware which she kept on display on open shelving.
‘I guess it must be.’ She smiled, pleased that he’d noticed them. ‘Virgos are supposed to like white best.’
‘Are we?’
‘According to the experts. But I’ve been collecting green bits and pieces since I was about twelve. It started with a plate shaped like a water-lily pad and went on from there.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s become a minor obsession.’
Todd had hated her green collection. ‘We’re not Irish,’ he’d yelled at her and in one of his bad moods he’d smashed her favourite piece. For the past five years she’d kept the collection locked away. Now it was free again.
Liam picked up a green and white bowl fashioned like a field of clover with delicately scalloped edges, and he turned it over and examined the maker’s name on the base. ‘This is great. It has personality and it sure beats the plain white minimalist stuff you get in restaurants.’ He set it back carefully.
As she selected napkins from an overhead cupboard, she framed a question in her head about his new business, but she hesitated to ask because he could have already told her if he’d wanted to. But then she decided to dive in anyway.
‘What business have you bought?’
‘A travel company.’
No. Alice stiffened and felt cold all over. She stared at him. ‘Which travel company?’
He stared back at her, warily, without answering.
‘Please tell me you haven’t bought Kanga Tours?’
A muscle in his jaw jerked and he continued to frown at her as he very deliberately straightened his shoulders and folded his arms over his chest. ‘Would it matter if I had?’
‘No…well, yes—it would.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
She felt a slam of panic. ‘I can’t believe this.’
‘Can’t believe what?’ His eyes narrowed and, if it were possible, his expression was even more cautious. ‘Why? What’s the problem?’
She switched her gaze to the glass-fronted door of her oven. The croissants were already turning golden.
‘What do you know about Kanga Tours?’ Liam demanded. ‘I had the company checked out thoroughly. I got the best advice. I know the growth in the north hasn’t been as strong as expected, but that’s why I’m here. To turn it around. I believe in hands-on management. Overall the company seemed to be a damn good business proposition.’
‘Oh, it’s a good business,’ she said while her heart hammered. ‘If you’re a good manager, you’ll make plenty of money here.’
‘So, why are you looking like it’s really bad news?’
She bit her lip. He wasn’t going to like this.
‘For God’s sake, Alice. You look like I confessed I was a terrorist.’
‘I—I work there. At Kanga Tours.’
His jaw dropped. Fast. He stared at her and, as her words really sank in, he glanced away sharply. Cursing, he raked angry fingers through his hair.
Alice knew what he was thinking—that if word leaked out that the new boss had slept with one of the staff on his very first night in town, there could be all sorts of unpleasant ramifications. He could be branded as a sleaze, a predator, and she would be the tart, the wild divorcee, sleeping her way into the new boss’s favour.
Office affairs made ripples that very often became waves, waves that could swamp the boat. It could be just awful. For both of them.
She remembered the stir among the staff last week when Dennis Ericson first told them that a new boss was arriving from Sydney.
And then she was struck by a light-bulb moment. ‘Conway! For heaven’s sake. Now I remember why your name sounded familiar last night.’ Clasping her hands to the sides of her face, she let out a groan. ‘If only I’d thought of it earlier, but I didn’t make the connection. When I went to the Hippo Bar the last thing on my mind was my work or a new boss.’
‘Quite.’
The single, carefully clipped monosyllable seemed to cut through her. Neither she nor Liam had been thinking about work last night. They’d been totally distracted. Just thinking about how very distracted they’d been made her blush.
The oven pinged and she was grateful for a different kind of distraction. Shoving her hands into padded gloves, she pulled the croissants from the oven and avoided Liam’s gaze as she popped them onto the plates she’d already set on a tray, along with the coffee and cutlery and a pot of strawberry jam.
In one bound Liam was across the room and taking the tray from her. ‘Let me carry that.’
‘Thanks.’ At least he wasn’t so angry that he forgot his manners.
Their hands brushed as Alice handed him the tray and she made the mistake of looking up. His eyes were so close to her now. Too close. A look passed between them, a look that spoke of intimate secrets, of everything they’d shared last night—of Liam’s caresses, his whispered endearments, and her wild response to the satiny heat of him thrusting deep inside her.
It had been bad enough trying to carry on at work through the mess of the divorce. But how could she cope now, while her boss was a walking reminder of more things she needed to forget? The memories of their intimacy would stay with her. Every day.
A mask seemed to slip over Liam’s features and he turned to carry their breakfast things onto her back deck, which was cleverly designed to give privacy while offering a view of the tropical courtyard below. For the next few minutes their conversation was confined to the coffee and croissants and whether Liam would like milk or sugar or jam. But Alice was bursting with the need to talk about their predicament.
‘We were supposed to be going our separate ways this morning,’ she said.
He sent her a sharp, searching look. ‘Is that what you wanted?’
Her heart gave a startled leap. ‘Well, yes, of course. It’s what you wanted, too.’ The stern expression in his eyes prompted her to add, ‘Isn’t it?’
To her dismay he didn’t answer. Instead, he took another sip of coffee and put the cup down slowly. ‘Let’s sort this work issue out. What’s your role at Kanga Tours?’
He was changing the subject. Why? Was he upset with her? Had she read him incorrectly? Surely he hadn’t hoped for more than last night?
The thought that Liam might have wanted to continue their relationship set Alice suddenly adrift, swept away without warning by a flash flood. She struggled to remember his question.
‘I—I’m one of the specialist consultants,’ she said at last. ‘I look after the customers who want specialised tours in tune with particular interests.’
Liam nodded. ‘Do you cover everything? The reef, the rainforest and the outback?’
‘Sure.’ Pride set her chin at a tilt. ‘Everything from snorkelling or diving on the reef, to night-time spotlighting in the rainforest and outback cattle musters. They want it, I package it for them—even speciality restaurant tours.’
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. ‘I’m sure you’re very good at it.’
‘I really enjoy my job. Since my divorce it’s been my life saver.’
He didn’t respond immediately.
‘Look,’ she said. ‘I know it’s going to be awkward for you to have me at work, but I won’t let on that I—I’ve met you. I can be discreet and professional.’
‘Yes, you’re a bright girl.’
A bright girl. It was rather a comedown from a very special woman, which was what he’d called her half an hour ago.
‘I think that’s the best way to play it,’ he said as his long fingers broke off a piece of croissant. ‘From now on our relationship will be entirely professional.’
‘Yes.’
‘There’s no need to compromise either of us. We’re mature adults. We can give each other space and get on with our jobs.’
‘Yes,’ she agreed again. ‘There are at least ten employees at Kanga Tours, so we won’t be falling all over each other.’
But…there would be almost daily contact.
‘I imagine I’ll be out of the office a great deal,’ Liam added, as if he was reading her mind. ‘Especially at first. There’s a lot to do to ensure the company’s viability, so I’ll be out and about. I want to find new premises.’
‘So our old building in the backstreets isn’t good enough for…?’ Alice saw the warning spark in Liam’s eyes and broke off in mid-sentence.
‘I need a prime location,’ he said crisply. ‘Something where all the action is—on the Esplanade with mountain and ocean views perhaps, right on the tourist and backpacker thoroughfare.’
She drained her coffee-cup. ‘I’m sure you’ll want to put your own stamp on the company.’
He didn’t answer. He helped himself to the strawberry jam and then ate his croissant slowly and seemed to pay close attention to a cluster of Golden Cane palms in the courtyard beneath them.
When he finished, he said, ‘Thanks, Alice, that was excellent, but now I should leave you to get on with your weekend.’
She forced a smile and hoped it was broad enough to give the impression that she had so many exciting things lined up for this weekend she didn’t know where to start.
Liam began to gather up their breakfast things. ‘Leave them,’ she insisted. After all, she had two whole days to carry them inside and wash them.
What else was she going to do?
Weekends had always come as a bonus at the end of a busy working week, but suddenly this one loomed emptily before her. She was already focusing on Monday morning, and seeing Liam again. But she was worried too. Darn it. Why did he have to be her boss?
‘Would you like me to call a taxi?’ she offered.
‘No, thanks, I’ll walk. It’s a great morning for having a look around and getting to know my new home-town.’
Her bare feet padded on the timber floor and she knotted her bathrobe more tightly at the waist as she followed him to her front door. A lump jammed her throat as he opened the door and turned to her.
Oh, heavens, last night had been so wonderful. The most beautiful night ever. It made up for all the hurt…
She suddenly wanted to cry. Crazy! No. She mustn’t.
But what should she do now? Kiss Liam on the cheek? Wave him goodbye?
She forced another smile and held out her hand. ‘See you at the office, Mr Conway.’
‘Alice, don’t.’ Dark colour stained his face as he clasped her hand. ‘Don’t be like that.’
Like what? she wanted to ask.
But he was staring at her hand in his. And then suddenly his shoulder nudged the door closed again and, to her amazement, he pulled her roughly to him and his mouth came down hard on hers.
The passionate force of his kiss stunned her. Backing against the door, he pulled her to him, his mouth possessive, uncompromising, bruising. Her heart pounded in answer. Her body softened in instant surrender.
After just one night the smell and the taste and the feel of him were wonderfully familiar. A sweet sense of recognition overwhelmed her—the strong feeling that she belonged in these arms, with this man. She was tinder to his fire, ablaze at the first contact.
Her lips welcomed him. Her hands hungrily explored the muscly wonder of his shoulders; they twined in his hair. Her breasts strained for his touch.
And then, too soon, way too soon, he lifted his head and set her a little apart from him. His eyes glittered with an unreadable emotion.
‘Damn,’ he said, making the word sound both soft and harsh at once. ‘That wasn’t the way I’d planned to say goodbye.’ He touched his lips gently to her forehead. ‘I’m sorry, Alice. It won’t happen again. From now on I’ll be on my best behaviour.’
Too overcome and breathless to answer, she pressed her fingers to her lips to hold back a protest. Once more he opened the door and this time he stepped outside. He sent her one brief, scorching glance, and then he turned and strode swiftly away without looking back.
She watched him go with her fingers still pressed against her lips. Lips that were tender from the imprint of his kiss.
CHAPTER THREE
LIAM spent most of the weekend at the office, working his way through the company’s files and planning his business strategies. He was determined to lift the Cairns branch’s performance to match what he’d recently achieved in Sydney. As a self-made man, he’d worked impossibly hard over the past decade and he’d developed his own formula for revitalising a business.
New premises and a big investment in promotion and marketing were high on his agenda. And a staff performance appraisal. Several years ago he’d been forced to replace many of the inherited staff with a new team.
Could he do that again?
What about Alice? God help him. Could he be hard-headed and impartial enough to sack her if it was necessary?
All weekend his mind was constantly flooded by memories of her, of her heart-stopping, gut-wrenching loveliness, of the way she’d looked with her dark hair spread across the pillow, her rosy lips parted, inviting him to kiss her. She was so sweet and yet so wildly sensual. How could her husband ever have left her?
Liam had been consumed by an insane desire for her.
But office romances often led to trouble and trouble in business could reach atomic proportions. Staking a claim on Alice Madigan would place his goal, the success of his new business enterprise, in jeopardy. He couldn’t take that risk, not when dark, insistent shadows from his past still haunted him.
He had a debt to pay, which left him with no choice but to put his business goals first. Always.
At the sound of a knock on his door on Monday morning Liam looked up to find Dennis Ericson, the branch office manager, lounging a casual hip against the door frame and wearing a supercilious smile.
‘Good morning, Dennis.’ Liam rose and held out his hand. The men had met before when Liam was making his pre-purchase investigations, but not as employer and employee. Dennis was in his mid-to-late forties, a family man, going thin on top and soft around the middle.
He accepted Liam’s handshake, but the wry grimace on his face somewhat marred the sincerity of the gesture.
‘You’ve settled in quickly, then,’ he said, casting an openly curious glance around the office, checking the few small changes the new boss had made to its layout.
Liam nodded. ‘Spent the weekend in here, going through files.’
The silly grin returned. ‘And have you claimed your prize?’
‘What prize?’
For answer, Dennis shot him a sideways, narrow-eyed glance.
Liam sensed that he was being set up. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Saturday’s Cairns Post,’ Dennis said ominously. ‘Page three.’
Liam shook his head. ‘I didn’t check the weekend papers. Is it something important? Some corporate offer?’
At that Dennis laughed. From his hip pocket he extracted what looked like a newspaper cutting and he flipped it onto the desk.
Annoyed by the smugness of the fellow, Liam refused to rise to the bait. He knew from experience that there was always someone wanting to get the upper hand with the new boss on the first day. He gave the folded cutting a cursory glance, and then stood very still and perfectly silent. Watching Dennis. Waiting.
Dennis’s smile slipped. His Adam’s apple slid up and down and, when Liam refused to move, he pouted. Finally, he picked up the clipping and unfolded it. ‘Take a gander at this.’
Liam scanned it. Bloody hell.
‘Aren’t you lucky, sir? You’re this week’s Mystery Winner.’ Dennis seemed to take pleasure from his boss’s obvious surprise. His cockiness revived. ‘Dinner for two at The Beach House,’ he said. ‘All you have to do is give the local newspaper office a call.’
It was a photo of Liam leaving the Hippo Bar. With Alice. Clipped and enlarged, no doubt, from a shot the photographer had taken of three girls whose faces were rather out of focus in the foreground. He and Alice looked blissfully happy. Intimate. They were holding hands and her head was dipping towards him as if she was listening intently to something he said.
A white ring circled his head and the caption above the photo read: Who is this man? The text below explained, as Dennis had, that this mystery winner could claim his prize of a dinner for two.
‘Do these mystery prizes happen often?’ he asked.
‘Every week,’ replied Dennis smugly.
So much for keeping that night under wraps.
‘Nice work, boss.’ The edge to Dennis’s voice was sharp enough to cut chain wire. ‘I suppose we can skip the lecture on management probity and staff relations?’
Teeth gritted against a biting retort, Liam screwed the paper into a ball and tossed it across the office to the waste-paper basket. He was grateful that it curved in a perfect arc and fell neatly into the basket, dead centre. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said quietly.
‘That you started getting extra-friendly with the staff the minute you hit town?’
Liam’s response was to move past Dennis, to reach for the door and to close it with deliberate control.
‘Sit down, Dennis.’ With a curt nod he indicated the chair by the desk. ‘You and I are going to have a little chat.’
Dennis sat. And his confident smirk began to wane as Liam took the high-backed leather executive chair and leaned back, watching him, without speaking.
Liam was damned if he was going to let this fellow launch a smear campaign. He knew that if he didn’t act promptly, Alice’s reputation would be dirt by morning-tea time.
With his elbow, he gave a file clearly marked Dennis Ericson a surreptitious nudge towards the front of his desk and then he stabbed at his desk phone for front of house reception.
‘Sally,’ he said, enjoying the way Dennis’s eyes bulged when he read the name on the folder. ‘Hold all my calls, please. And don’t send anyone through to my office. It’s most important that I’m not interrupted for the next twenty minutes.’
‘Morning, Dennis.’ Alice called her greeting as they passed in the hall outside her office.
‘Morning,’ he growled rudely, without making eye contact.
What was eating him?
Gulp. Had it started already? Was this because he’d seen the photo in the paper? The phone calls from her family had begun about five minutes after Liam left her on Saturday. Alice’s mother and each of her aunts had rung, all demanding details about the strange man in the photo.
No one from work had contacted her, but she knew it was silly to hope that, by some miracle, none of them had seen the photo. She’d been dreading coming to the office this morning.
‘What’s the matter? I’m not late, am I?’ She glanced at her watch. She was late, actually, thanks to traffic lights on the blink at a busy intersection, but not enough to upset anyone, especially as it was well-known that she often worked late or through her lunch hour without extra pay.
Dennis pursed his lips. ‘I’m sure you can be as late as you like from now on.’ He continued on, calling over his shoulder, ‘You’re sitting pretty now, Alice.’
Oh, great. That more or less confirmed her fears.
There was only one way to play it this morning. Cool. Carry on as if it was business as usual.
She went through to the office she shared with two other travel consultants, Mary-Ann and Shana.
‘You know what’s eating Dennis?’ she asked. And then she realised that playing it cool was a good idea in theory…but the who’s-she-trying-to-kid? look on her workmates’ faces made her stomach pitch.
Mary-Ann clicked a button to boot up her computer. ‘It’s not so much a matter of what’s eating Dennis, but who,’ she said. ‘Actually, it’s who’s eating him and spitting him out into little pieces.’
‘And the answer is the new boss,’ added Shana. ‘First morning on the job and this Liam Conway’s kicking heads. He lined poor Dennis up for a performance appraisal.’
‘Oh.’ Alice sat down quickly, a split-second before her legs began to shake.
‘Instead of kicking heads he should pull his own head in,’ muttered Shana.
‘Don’t tell me the new boss is an ogre?’
Shana rolled her eyes. ‘As if we need to tell you anything about him. Why don’t you tell us?’
Taking in her workmates’ identical expressions, Alice released her breath with a soft sigh. ‘OK, you’ve seen the photo in the Post.’
‘Of course we’ve seen it.’
‘How could we miss it?’
‘But,’ added Mary-Ann, ‘we didn’t know who the guy was till this morning.’
Shana came around to the front of her desk and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘At least we know now why you weren’t interested in the birthday party we offered to throw for you.’
Mary-Ann added her bit. ‘I thought you were supposed to be at your mother’s on Friday night.’
‘I was,’ said Alice. ‘But it was awful and I left.’
‘Hmm.’ Mary-Ann looked momentarily sympathetic and then doubtful.
‘Honest, guys. I went to the Hippo Bar to look for you, but you weren’t there.’
‘Ever hear of these little devices?’ Shana waved her cell-phone. ‘They’re the latest means of communication. You can speed dial a friend at the touch of a button.’
‘OK, OK.’ Alice raised her hands to ward off their anger. ‘Give me a break. Look, meeting Liam Conway was totally unexpected. He came into the bar. I was on my own and, well, we kinda clicked.’ She took a quick breath. ‘But it was a one-off thing. I won’t be seeing him again.’
The girls were leaning towards her now, faces intent. It was clear they expected more.
‘Clicked as in—totally clicked?’ asked Mary-Ann.
Alice thought it best to ignore that query. ‘I had no idea he was our new boss,’ she said. ‘And he didn’t know me from Eve. It was a really weird coincidence. Bad luck.’
‘Bad luck?’ cried Shana. ‘Honey, I’m not sure that’s what you call it.’
‘When it turns out he’s my new boss, I do.’
‘May I interrupt?’
The voice at the door startled them. There was a collective gasp and a surge of near-panic hit Alice as she turned to see Liam standing there.
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Barbara Hannay
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: Like the rest of the staff at Kanga Tours, Alice Madigan is nervous about meeting her new boss–but when he walks through the door it′s worse than she ever could have imagined! Alice had shared one very special night with him–but now they have to play it strictly business!How long can they pretend nothing has happened? Especially now that Alice has discovered she′s going to be having her boss′s babies….