Two's Company

by Carole Mortimer

  That still wasn't ideal. This was a business affair, not something to be discussed in these luxurious surroundings over a cup of coffee!

  'Juliet,' Liam continued firmly as he steadily met her gaze across the width of the table, 'we do this on my terms or not at all.'

  Her eyes flashed, deeply grey. He knew that he had the upper hand and was very much in control of the situation. And he was enjoying the power.

  But if she got up and walked out now would he ever give her the opportunity to talk to him again? Somehow she knew that he wouldn't. He didn't need to; he had already shown his lack of interest in Carlyle Properties. If she wanted to talk to him at all, she was going to have to sit here and suffer through dinner with him. But for what reason? If they didn't discuss business, what else were they going to talk about for the couple of hours it would take to eat the meal?

  'Tell me about yourself, Juliet,' he invited once their salmon had been delivered to the table.

  She gave him a startled look. What did he mean, tell him about herself? What was there to tell? He must already know that she was his partner in Carlyle Properties, and he had stated quite firmly that he didn't want to talk about business just yet, so…

  'Your personal life, Juliet,' he drawled mockingly, seeing her puzzled expression.

  She blinked across at him, making no effort to use the fish-knife and fork she had picked up preparatory to eating her salmon. Personal life? She didn't have one. Carlyle Properties had been her life for the last seven years.

  'You must have one,' he taunted, having no hesitation in starting his own meal.

  She shook her head. 'No, I—'

  'Where do you live? Do you have a family? A boyfriend? Lover? Or are you married? With children?'

  The questions were shot at her in such quick-fire succession that Juliet barely had time to draw her breath before Liam delivered the next one. And what he was asking was too personal when they were only business partners!

  'I could ask you the same questions,' she returned challengingly.

  His mouth twisted mockingly. 'Well, I certainly don't have a boyfriend!'

  Her cheeks warmed at his mocking tone. 'I saw your girlfriend earlier,' she snapped irritably.

  He frowned slightly, and then his brow cleared. 'You mean Diana,' he nodded. 'Diana isn't my girlfriend, Juliet; she's my personal assistant.'

  Juliet gave him a slightly sceptical look from beneath raised brows. If that was what he chose to call the other woman that was up to him, but there had seemed to be a familiarity between the two of them that implied a slightly deeper relationship than the one he had described.

  'As you were my father's personal assistant,' he added softly.

  Juliet gave him a sharp look, but the blue eyes that returned her gaze were completely enigmatic. Just how much did this man already know about her? And if he already knew the answers to the questions he had asked her why had he asked them at all?

  She gave a cool nod of acknowledgement. 'As I was your father's assistant.'

  'And now you're his joint heir,' Liam bit out hardly.

  She swallowed hard. It must seem strange to William's son that his father had worded his will in the way he had, she freely acknowledged that, and if Liam had shown the slightest interest in Carlyle Properties during the last two months she would gladly have told him that she knew he had prior claim to the company. But she knew from his behaviour that he would be quite happy to see Carlyle Properties go under, and she owed William more than to allow that.

  'You didn't answer my question, Juliet,' Liam continued in that hard voice.

  'Do I need to?' She met his gaze with a calmness she was far from feeling. 'You seem to know enough about me already. And what you don't know I'm sure you could make up!'

  He gave a shrug of indifference at her show of temper, sitting back in his chair, giving up all idea of eating his own food now. 'You live at Carlyle House—have probably done so for some time, even before my father's death?' He raised mockingly questioning brows.

  'For several years before that,' she acknowledged tautly.

  He pursed his lips. 'And what did your boyfriend make of that?'

  God, how he persisted! 'I don't have a boyfriend,' she bit out coldly, so angry that she was starting to shake with the emotion, her eyes flashing, darkly grey.

  Blond brows rose. 'At the moment?'

  'Ever!' she answered forcefully.

  He eyed her disbelievingly. 'You've never had a boyfriend?'

  Just the one. Simon. But he had died. And she hadn't allowed herself to love anyone since him.

  Liam's mouth twisted. 'You seem to be taking a long time finding an answer to that question,' he taunted.

  She drew in a deep, steadying breath, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing just how much he was disconcerting her. She had no intention of owning up to a boyfriend, because she had no intention of talking about Simon. Certainly not to this man.

  'Why is my personal life of interest to you, Liam?' She used his first name deliberately now, the familiarity putting them back on an equal footing. 'Our discussion is merely on a business level,' she reminded him firmly.

  He calmly met the challenge in her gaze. 'I like to know all there is to know about the people I do business with,' he returned softly.

  Juliet felt the warmth in her cheeks. She didn't like the idea of this man knowing all there was to know about her; she had lived her life very privately for the last seven years. The fact that she now had a larger-than-life business partner, whose name was synonymous with the exclusivity to be found at his hotels world-wide, couldn't be allowed to change that.

  'I'm sorry to disappoint you, Liam,' she bit out tautly, 'but I don't actually have a private life to speak of.'

  'A career woman, hmm?'

  The way Liam said it, it sounded like an insult! But that was exactly what she was. Oh, not in the way of hard-headed businesswomen who lived for nothing but succeeding and getting ahead, no matter who they had to step on or over to get there. But Carlyle Properties had become the main focus of her life, and in that sense she was a career woman.

  'Only as far as Carlyle Properties is concerned,' she told him stiffly, made more and more uncomfortable by this conversation. She had wanted to meet William's son only as a means of keeping the business going, wanted nothing more than a business partnership with him, had no interest in his personal life, and resented the fact that he should take any in hers.

  The blue eyes glittered coldly. 'It's interesting that a young woman of twenty-seven, with no surface connection to the Carlyle family, should live in Carlyle House and inherit half the family business…'

  It wasn't 'interesting' at all. In fact, now that she had met this man, this whole thing was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth! But she owed William so much…

  'Perhaps,' she conceded distantly. 'But as your father's personal assistant—'

  'And just how "personal" was that?' Liam watched her across the table with narrowed eyes.

  Juliet looked up at him sharply. 'Just what are you implying, Mr Carlyle?' she bit out tautly.

  He shrugged broad shoulders. 'My father was old enough to be your grandfather—'

  'Hardly, Liam,' she cut in derisively.

  'He was sixty-five when he died, Juliet,' he reminded her coldly. 'More than old enough to be your grandfather.'

  She had never thought of William in those terms, but, put like that, she supposed that in actual years William could have been her grandfather. But even so…

  'Why did you live with him, Juliet?' Liam didn't give her a chance to answer before attacking again. 'Surely that isn't normal in a business association?'

  Under attack was exactly how she felt now. This man, for all his apparent lack of emotion about this situation, was obviously not so calm beneath the surface. 'Your father and I were friends as much as anything else,' she returned defensively.

  'Close friends?'

  She didn't just feel under at
tack now, she was under attack! No doubt about it. Liam's eyes glittered dangerously, his mouth a thin, angry line.

  She gave up any pretence of trying to eat a meal with him; they were both wasting their time even attempting it under these circumstances. 'I suggest we meet at ten o'clock tomorrow morning in one of the conference-rooms here, Liam,' she told him evenly, bending down to pick up her evening bag. 'We can discuss anything you care to talk about then.'

  His eyes were narrowed to ominous blue slits. 'Anything?'

  'Within reason,' she nodded.

  He shook his head. 'I don't think you're in a position to dictate conditions, Juliet,' he scorned.

  Neither did she! But she had a feeling that if she showed this man an ounce of weakness he would use it to his advantage. And to have become as successful as he had over the last ten years he must have had to play by his own set of rules, otherwise he would never have survived in business, let alone have owned his world-wide string of hotel and leisure complexes! She was a mere beginner compared to this man.

  'Possibly not,' she conceded, standing up smoothly, her lack of composure not showing by so much as a tremble of her hands as she held on to her evening bag—possibly because she was holding on to that bag so tightly, was gripping the black leather so hard, her hands couldn't tremble! 'But nevertheless I do not conduct business discussions over dinner. And this is a business discussion, Liam,' she added firmly. 'And tomorrow when we meet I will bring the necessary paperwork with me so that we can talk knowledgeably about Carlyle Properties.'

  He gave her a look that said she could bring the paperwork but whether or not he chose to discuss its contents would be completely up to him!

  Juliet was inwardly shaken by that look, but she managed to give him a cool nod before turning and walking from the dining-room, all the time conscious of that narrowed blue gaze following her progress across the room. She'd known it would.

  She was still stunned by the realisation that he was Edward Carlyle. She could have had no inkling, no idea—God, she had had no idea! And he had been playing with her all day. No doubt he had enjoyed himself at her expense, but she just felt totally stunned by the whole encounter.

  And no wonder meeting Liam had brought back such sharp memories of Simon—the two men had been brothers…!

  Neither man had looked in the least like William, and Juliet realised that was because they had both taken after William's blonde-haired, blue-eyed wife—the wife who had died after giving birth to Simon.

  Juliet had been nineteen and working in the office of Carlyle Properties as a junior typist when she had met Simon, the twenty-five-year-old son of the owner. And the two of them had been attracted to each other from the start.

  At the time Juliet hadn't even realised that Simon had a brother; William and Edward had argued a couple of years before she had come to work for the firm, the result of which had been Edward cutting himself off from his family completely. The name Edward had never been mentioned among his family either, and any photographs of him that might once have been in the house had been long since removed when Juliet had arrived on the scene.

  Not that any of that had mattered to Juliet; it was all family history, and, she being an orphan herself, family relationships were a bit of a mystery to her anyway. At the time she had been too much in love with Simon to care about anything else. And to her amazement that love had been returned, their romance being of the whirlwind type, the two of them spending all of their free time together. With the approval of William. He had seemed pleased that his son was settling down, had welcomed Juliet into his home and his warm affection.

  It was the first taste of any real family that Juliet had ever had, and she remembered how she couldn't help wondering how 'my dear older brother', as Simon sardonically called him, could ever have distanced himself from that closeness.

  But it had only been a fleeting thought, drawn as she had been into the lives of the Carlyle men, with William making her his personal secretary as her relationship with his son deepened.

  And then had come the dreadful night that Simon had been killed. It was a night Juliet would never forget, the nightmare having remained with her for the last seven years. William, despite having now irrevocably lost his younger son, had been marvellous with her, the two of them forming a bond that night that was to last until the day William died.

  It still existed as far as Juliet was concerned! But she knew that Liam Carlyle would never understand a bond like that, that he saw it only as black and white—mostly black! She had lived with his father in the family home, so therefore she must have been his father's mistress. How far from the truth he was! Juliet would never be any man's mistress. Nor any man's wife, for that matter. There had been no man in her life after Simon. And there never would be.

  No man in that way anyway. But she seemed to be stuck with Liam in her life at the moment—a business partner for now—although she had a feeling that that might come to an end tomorrow morning.

  She had tried. No one could say that she hadn't tried. But if she failed now she would still have let William down…

  Sleep was even more impossible that night than it usually was. Juliet, finally having given up all pretence of even trying to sleep, got out of bed to go once again through the papers she had brought with her from England for Edward—Liam—Carlyle to look at.

  It was all pretty straightforward really; she needed his signature on vital papers to be able to finance and maintain the company. Surely that wasn't going to be too much to ask? It wouldn't cost him anything, just his signature and a little of his time. But it was time which he had been refusing to let her have for the last two months…

  She dressed carefully for her business meeting. Their encounters so far had been far from businesslike, and she had an idea that she was going to need all the confidence she had this morning!

  Her skirt was neat, black, and tailored, finishing only slightly above her knee, the pale green blouse tucked in neatly at the narrow waist, her make-up minimal, her hair secured at her nape with a black slide. With her business file tucked under her arm she looked even more the part.

  At least she hoped she did! The last thing she needed was to feel inadequate with Liam Carlyle.

  The receptionist smiled at her enquiringly as she approached the desk.

  Juliet returned the smile. 'I'm supposed to be meeting Mr Carlyle in one of the conference-rooms this morning.' It was more a statement than a query, but she had no idea which room Liam had chosen for their meeting.

  'Miss Berkley?' the receptionist returned lightly.

  Well, at least the young girl realised who she was, which was promising! 'That's right.' Juliet answered with some relief; she had had a terrible feeling, after the way she had left yesterday evening, that Liam might not even turn up.

  'Miss Gilbraith is waiting for you in the coffee-lounge,' the receptionist informed her as she pointed in the direction of the elegantly furnished room to their left.

  'Miss Gilbraith…?' Juliet frowned. Who on earth…?

  'Mr Carlyle's assistant,' the young girl told her with another friendly smile.

  Diana… But why was the other woman and not Liam waiting for her? Surely he hadn't decided to let his personal assistant deal with this? Did he really care so little for his father, or his father's business, that he had passed the responsibility for this on to someone else?

  Juliet was barely aware of thanking the young girl behind the desk before she walked over to the lounge. She couldn't believe Liam had done this! Oh, she realised that there was still rancour inside him towards his father, but really, this was unbelievable!

  Diana Gilbraith sat at a table near the window, looking uninterestedly out at the boats which were sailing in the bay. The other woman looked just as chic as she had yesterday, today wearing a blue sundress that showed off the depth of her tan and made her hair appear blonder as it fell loosely to her shoulders. If Juliet was dressed for business, this other woman was dressed for a day in t
he sun!

  Juliet straightened her shoulders as she approached the other woman, steeling her expression to look confident and self-assured. 'Miss Gilbraith?'

  The other woman turned with a warm smile at the query, standing up in one smooth, eye-catching movement; if this woman was only Liam's personal assistant, Juliet would be very surprised!

  'Miss Berkley,' she greeted warmly, the smile reaching the deep blue of her eyes. 'And please call me Diana.'

  Juliet, given the circumstances, had been prepared to dislike the other woman—her defences were already firmly in place—but now she found it was impossible to resist her warmth. 'Juliet,' she returned awkwardly. 'Is Mr Carlyle not with you?' Obviously he wasn't, but how else was she to broach the subject of Liam's whereabouts?

  'Let's sit down, shall we?' Diana suggested lightly, and waited until they were both seated before resuming the conversation. 'Unfortunately Liam had to leave early this morning,' she told Juliet regretfully. 'But he asked me to make his apologies.'

  She just bet he had! 'Had to leave early this morning' indeed. 'When will he be back?' she bit out tightly, doing her damnedest to hide her disappointment and knowing that she must be failing miserably; she had banked everything on this conversation with Liam, and now he wasn't even here!

  'He didn't say.' Diana Gilbraith gave a vague shrug. 'But then, Liam is like that,' she added dismissively. 'He'll ring me when he needs me.'

  Juliet could well imagine he would. Needed the other woman for what? she could have said, but somehow, despite the briefness of their acquaintance, she quite liked this woman sitting across from her, and felt, now that she had actually spoken to Diana, that she'd had no right to make the assumptions she had concerning her and her employer. Something about Diana Gilbraith said that they would be erroneous assumptions.

  Of course, that could have something to do with the wedding-ring Diana wore on her left hand, Juliet acknowledged self-derisively. She had noticed the plain gold band, accompanied by a substantial solitaire diamond engagement ring, seconds ago.