‘It’s possible to be naïve and inexperienced at any age, Liam,’ she came back. ‘But to answer your question…’ She drew in a sharp breath. ‘I suppose it would have to be yes,’ she bit out with distaste. ‘And what a pretty mess that would have made of both our lives!’
Liam looked down at her searchingly. ‘Do you really believe that?’ he finally asked.
She gave him a pitying look. ‘Don’t you?’ she derided. ‘Liam, I meant so much to you then that you were married to someone else within weeks of leaving England—’
‘A mistake I definitely wouldn’t have made if I had already been married to you!’ He reached out to grasp the tops of her arms. ‘You might just have been what I needed to keep my feet on the ground!’
Laura shook her head ruefully. ‘And I might just have got myself trampled to death in your stampede to get out of any marriage between the two of us!’
Liam gave a perplexed frown, shaking his head. ‘You don’t regret a thing, do you…?’ he realised slowly, his hands dropping away from her arms.
In a word—no. If she had never been involved with Liam then she could never have given Robert, a man she had already owed so much, the family he had so desired. Her marriage to Robert was something she would never regret. If she regretted anything at all, then it was meeting Liam again—
Was it?
Did she really wish that had never happened?
She looked up at him searchingly, at the changes in him, the obvious signs of physical maturity. But hadn’t he changed in other ways too? Hadn’t he shown concern for her yesterday morning over that newspaper article? An article he was completely responsible for, though, she acknowledged hardly. But he could have had no idea of how far Janey Wilson would play up the possibility of a personal relationship between the two of them.
More to the point, much as she might like to try to deny it, even to herself, hadn’t she responded to Liam yesterday morning? Hadn’t she forgotten everything but the two of them, totally lost in the aching need, the long forgotten emotions Liam had roused in her? What would have been the conclusion of that meeting if Bobby hadn’t interrupted them?
She swallowed hard, her eyes meeting Liam’s unwaveringly. ‘There’s no point in regrets, Liam,’ she told him flatly. ‘The past is gone, never to return. The future is unknown, for all of us. Which only leaves the present. I’m quite happy with my present exactly the way that it is.’ She looked across at Bobby, her eyes shining with pride.
‘Then you must be one of the lucky ones,’ Liam rasped. ‘Because I don’t like any of my life!’
Laura turned back to him slowly. ‘Then do something about it.’
His face darkened angrily. ‘I’m trying to! I—’
‘Uncle Liam, the string’s got caught in the tree!’ Bobby’s distressed wail interrupted them.
“‘Uncle” Liam…?’ Laura repeated with soft fury, her hand tightly on his arm, holding him back as he would have gone to her son’s aid.
Liam turned back to her impatiently. ‘He didn’t know what else to call me.’
‘Uncle Liam…?’ she bit out furiously, annoyed beyond reason by the intimacy of the title.
‘Come on, Laura.’ Liam shook off her hold on his arm. ‘He’s a polite child. He didn’t feel comfortable calling an adult by their first name. I couldn’t see any harm in the title of uncle.’
‘I’m sure you couldn’t,’ she replied. ‘I happen to feel differently—’
‘Why?’ Liam turned fully back to face her. ‘I seem to remember you have an honorary uncle of your own…?’
Laura became very still, the anger draining out of her as quickly as it had risen. She didn’t want to talk about her own ‘uncle’—!
‘Where is he, by the way?’ Liam continued scornfully. ‘I’ve been here several times now, and he hasn’t been in evidence once. Which is surprising, considering eight years ago you never stopped talking about the man! Don’t tell me Mrs Shipley has become too high and mighty to bother with her beloved uncle any more?’
Laura was very pale now, her throat moving convulsively. ‘Stop this, Liam,’ she choked. ‘Stop it now!’
‘Why?’ he challenged. ‘What is it, Laura? Don’t you like being reminded of your more humble beginnings?’
She swallowed hard. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I know that you hurt me just now by your obvious aversion to having your son call me uncle—’
‘And that gives you the right to hurt me in return?’ She looked up at him with tear-wet eyes. ‘You have no rights here, Liam, no rights at all, and—’
‘Uncle Liam!’ Bobby was becoming increasingly distressed at the sight of his kite entangled in the branches of the tree.
Laura glanced across at her son. ‘You had better go and help him,’ she said flatly. ‘And then I would like you to leave.’
‘And what you want you always get?’ Liam countered.
‘Almost never.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘Go and help Bobby,’ she said dully, turning on her heel to walk back into the house.
Too close. Liam was getting far, far too close.
To everything…
But especially to the truth!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘SO NICE of you to join us.’ The sarcasm in Liam’s tone was unmistakable as he looked across the restaurant table at Laura.
The meeting this morning between Liam and Perry had gone very well, and the two men had decided to go out to lunch to celebrate the settling of the deal and the signing of the contract. For reasons of her own, Laura had decided to join them.
The true fact of the matter was that after yesterday morning she didn’t dare leave Liam alone socially with anyone who knew her! He was arrogant enough to question Perry about her personal life. Not too openly, of course, but she knew Liam well enough to realise he would find out what he wanted to know without Perry even realising he had given him the information.
Liam had done as she’d asked yesterday morning, and left as soon as he had finished flying the kite with Bobby. But, as Laura now knew only too well, his acquiescence counted for nothing; Liam would do exactly as he wanted when he wanted!
She shrugged dismissively. ‘It’s always nice to personally welcome a new author into the company.’
Liam smiled without humour. ‘Even this one?’
‘We’re all really excited at welcoming you on board.’ Perry was the one to answer him enthusiastically. ‘You have a sure-fire number one bestseller in Josie’s World, Liam.’
Liam raised dark brows. ‘Now he tells me,’ he drawled mockingly. ‘Is that your considered opinion too, Laura?’ he prompted, his guarded gaze giving away none of his inner feelings.
Considered opinion…? She wasn’t sure she had those any more! ‘It’s going to do very well for you,’ she told him non-committally.
‘And Shipley Publishing,’ he pointed out.
She shrugged again. ‘It would be madness to allow a bestseller to slip through our fingers; so many publishing companies are in financial difficulties nowadays.’
‘But not Shipley,’ Liam said with certainty. ‘I checked before sending in the manuscript.’
‘And decided to hitch your star to a winner?’ Laura returned sharply.
His mouth twisted scornfully. ‘It seems we have more in common than we realised.’
Colour brightened Laura’s cheeks. So Liam was back to implying that she had married Robert for his position and money! Well, even that was probably preferable to him learning the truth…!
Perry, Laura saw with some dismay, was listening to the exchange with a slightly puzzled look on his face.
And no wonder; the antagonism between Liam and herself was tangible, seemed to fill the very air about their luncheon table!
She sat forward with deliberation, lifting the glass of champagne that had been poured for her minutes earlier, encouraging the two men to do the same. ‘Success,’ she toasted.
‘I’ll certainl
y drink to that!’ Perry touched his glass lightly to hers before turning to do the same with Liam’s.
‘And a peaceful life,’ Liam added as he touched his glass against the side of Laura’s.
‘Do the two go together?’ she came back sceptically. Another photograph of Liam and herself, as Liam had arrived at her house on Sunday morning, had appeared in the newspapers today. Laura had taken one glance at the photograph before throwing the newspaper in the bin. As she had warned Liam at the time, the situation was out of his control now.
He nodded grimly. ‘If you want it badly enough, yes.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ Laura returned dryly.
There had been more reporters camped out outside her home this morning. Disappointed reporters as they’d seen she was alone in the back of the car with Bobby, on her way to dropping him off at school before continuing on to her office. Her son, at least, seemed to have suffered no ill-effects from the last few days!
‘I’m returning to Ireland tomorrow,’ Liam put in. ‘Can I come and see Bobby before I leave?’
Laura gave him a sharp look, aware of Perry’s quiet interest in the conversation. No doubt he had seen those photographs in the newspapers too!
Her own relief at Liam’s first statement had definitely been ruined by his second!
‘I don’t want Bobby to think I’ve just disappeared out of his life,’ Liam continued.
Why not? He had just disappeared out of her own life eight years ago!
‘You have changed,’ she replied.
Liam’s gaze was glacial as it met her challenging one across the width of the table.
‘Shall we order?’ Perry prompted lightly as a waiter appeared beside their table.
Laura felt as if food would choke her! But she had to stay here and eat her lunch without making a scene. Besides, her reason for being here in the first place still existed…
‘You didn’t answer my question?’ Liam persisted once their order had been taken.
She took another sip of her champagne. She didn’t want Liam anywhere near Bobby. Didn’t want him anywhere near either of them, come to think of it!
‘On condition you don’t stay too long,’ she finally answered. ‘It’s a school day, and Bobby has homework to do before bedtime,’ she added in explanation—resentful at having to make one at all! She owed this man no explanations. About anything!
Liam gave an abrupt inclination of his head. ‘I’ll try not to interfere with that.’
He might try. But, as Laura knew only too well, he was unlikely to succeed; Bobby had taken an extreme liking to the man he called ‘Uncle Liam’, had talked of little else after Liam had left yesterday. Much to Laura’s dismay. Bobby would be very reluctant to let Liam leave again once at the house.
Lunch was a stilted affair, despite Perry’s many attempts to lighten the atmosphere, and Laura, for one, was more than glad when it was finally over. She had eaten little anyway, drunk several glasses of champagne instead, and her head felt more than a little light.
‘Steady.’ Liam grasped her elbow as they went outside, the fresh air seeming to have a dizzying effect on her. ‘You really should eat more, Laura,’ he admonished, keeping a firm hold of her as he guided her over the road to where Paul had parked the car, holding the door open as he waited for her.
‘When I want your opinion I’ll ask for it,’ Laura snapped back, her irritability audible only to Liam as she settled into the back of the car. Perry had gone round to the other door and was now seated beside her. ‘Can we drop you anywhere?’ Preferably on his head, she thought childishly!
She had drunk too much! Which was most unlike her; she had never been a big drinker, and since Bobby was born, when she had needed to be mentally alert twenty-four hours a day, she had only ever drunk the occasional glass of white wine with a meal. Three glasses of champagne at lunchtime was definitely out of character. It would be a relief—to her, at least!—when Liam returned to Ireland! Liam’s expression changed, almost as if he were able to read her thoughts and was amused by them. ‘No, thanks, the walk will do me good. Is five-thirty okay for calling in to see Bobby?’
Perfect; as they always dined at six in the week, she would have a good excuse for asking him to leave. Unless Bobby, in his youthful enthusiasm, decided to invite his new friend to stay to dinner with them…?
‘That’s absolutely fine,’ she agreed firmly. ‘That way I’ll be able to sit down and do Bobby’s homework with him before we have dinner at six.’ She couldn’t say any clearer than that that Liam wasn’t invited to join them for the meal without being extremely rude—and only Perry’s presence stopped her being exactly that!
Blue eyes glittered with hard amusement before Liam turned to smile at Perry. ‘I’ll call you when I intend coming back to London.’
Laura kept her face averted as the car door was finally closed. Paul manoeuvred the car out into the early-afternoon traffic, her sigh of relief as he did so audible only to herself. She hoped.
‘Well, that went off better than expected, don’t you think?’ she said lightly to Perry.
‘I’m not sure what I expected,’ Perry answered slowly. ‘You and Liam are obviously old friends, but—’
‘I was referring to the business aspect of the meeting,’ Laura put in quickly.
‘Oh, that.’ Perry nodded his satisfaction. ‘Yes, that went very well.’
Laura turned to him, her brows raised. ‘But…?’
Her senior editor hesitated. ‘Maybe there isn’t a but.’ He grimaced. ‘I just have the feeling that—well, that—’
‘Yes?’
‘I think it’s a good idea that you persuaded Liam to accept me as his editor—’
‘I persuaded him?’
‘Well, didn’t you?’ Perry said.
She had completely lost track of who had persuaded who to do what! She did know that she still felt she had been manoeuvred into this situation by Liam. And she probably had!
‘Not that I recall, Perry,’ she said dully. ‘Although I do approve of the arrangement.’
He nodded. ‘It isn’t a good idea to mix business with pleasure.’
Pleasure? With Liam? The man had been nothing but a thorn in her side from the moment she’d met him again!
‘I think you’ve misunderstood the situation between Liam and myself, Perry,’ she answered evenly.
‘Hey, I wasn’t criticising,’ he instantly assured her. ‘I have no right to do that, anyway. However, if you don’t mind my saying so, it’s good to see you have someone in your life again. You’ve been on your own too long, Laura.’
She did mind him saying so! But with those wretched photographs in the newspapers, and Liam’s request to call at the house later this evening, she was only going to make the situation worse if she protested too much.
Perry’s remarks did not put her in a particularly good humour for welcoming Liam into her home later that evening. She scowled at him as Amy showed him into the sitting room, where Laura stood alone beside the unlit fireplace. Bobby was upstairs changing in anticipation of Liam’s arrival.
‘Champagne worn off?’ Liam queried once they were alone, as he took in her glowering expression.
The fact that that could be half the reason she felt so irritable did not elevate her mood one little bit! ‘How like you to pass the blame on to something other than yourself,’ she snapped scathingly. She was still wearing the black suit and cream blouse she had worn to work today, very conscious of Perry’s comments concerning business and pleasure; she wanted to make it clear that for her part this association with Liam was solely business!
Liam’s own expression darkened. ‘You really should try to put your bitterness behind you, Laura,’ he advised. ‘After all, you did all right for yourself in my absence.’ He looked about them pointedly at the obviously luxurious comfort of her home.
Angry colour darkened her cheeks at his obvious accusation. ‘Making snide remarks about me isn’t going to change the fact that yo
u deserted me eight years ago—’
‘Deserted you?’ Liam repeated in a steely voice. ‘Isn’t that rather an odd way of putting it…?’
It was the way she had thought of Liam’s departure for so long. But that didn’t change the fact that it must sound odd to someone who didn’t know all the circumstances…
‘Perhaps,’ she conceded non-committally. ‘It isn’t important, anyway—’
‘I happen to think it is,’ Liam interrupted. ‘You—’
‘Uncle Liam!’ An ecstatic Bobby burst into the room, launching himself at Liam.
Liam picked him up under his arms and swung him round. ‘Hello, spalpeen.’ He grinned up at Bobby as he held him high.
‘Spalpeen?’ Bobby repeated with a puzzled frown.
‘Rascal,’ Liam translated lightly, putting Bobby back on the ground. ‘Had a good day at school?’ He ruffled the darkness of Bobby’s hair.
‘It was okay,’ the little boy replied. ‘Can we go outside and fly my kite again?’
‘I’m not sure… I can’t stay long, Bobby,’ Liam added gently, after a brief glance at Laura. ‘I have an early-morning flight back to Ireland tomorrow,’ he explained softly.
Laura hadn’t told Bobby the reason for Liam’s visit this evening, had felt it would be best coming from Liam himself. From the look of tearful disappointment on her son’s face maybe she should have spoken to her son first.
‘Bobby—’
‘When will you be back?’ Bobby completely ignored Laura’s soothing tone, staring intently up at Liam.
Liam’s expression softened as he went down on his haunches beside the little boy. ‘A few weeks, possibly,’ he answered, reaching out to touch Bobby’s arm.
Laura watched in dismay as her son wrenched away from Liam, his face dark with rebellion.
‘You won’t! I know you won’t!’ Bobby was rigid with resentment, blue eyes sparkling angrily.
Laura could only stare at her son; she had never seen him behave in this way before. She knew he had grown fond of Liam the last few days, but this was completely unexpected.
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