Two's Company

by Carole Mortimer

  Liam saw her quick glance in their direction. 'Do we move them back, or do you want me to work from here?' He turned back to her challengingly.

  She most certainly did not want him working in here, and he knew it, damn him! 'I've asked John to come to my office,' she answered him calmly enough. 'We'll move all the relevant information into Will—your office later this morning.' There was a slightly haunted look in her eyes at the acceptance that the office opposite this one now belonged to Liam.

  He shook his head, his expression grim. 'That isn't good enough, I'm afraid,' he bit out tersely.

  He wasn't 'afraid' at all—just very determined to have things the way he wanted them. And that included the Carlyle files! 'I—' She broke off abruptly, looking towards the doorway as John Morgan entered her office after the briefest of knocks.

  'Juliet, rumour has it—' John broke off just as abruptly, looking very uncomfortable as he saw the other man standing in the room.

  Liam looked at him speculatively, his stance relaxed, fully relaxed. Which the other two people in the room certainly weren't, Juliet freely acknowledged. John looked uncertain of himself and the situation, and Juliet didn't even try to hide the fact that she wasn't happy with it either!

  'Rumour has it…?' Liam prompted softly, his dark blue gaze fixed steadily on the younger man.

  John recovered quickly, straightening slightly, although there was still a slightly uncomfortable flush to his cheeks. 'Rumour has it that you're Edward Carlyle,' he announced.

  Juliet couldn't help but admire John's outward calm; he might be quaking inside—Liam certainly had that effect on people!—but on the surface the younger man now looked completely composed. William's choice of John over other applicants for the job of junior assistant seemed to have been well calculated.

  Liam nodded abruptly. 'I am,' he confirmed shortly. 'But my friends call me Liam,' he continued less harshly, holding out his hand in greeting. 'Which is probably why Juliet calls me anything but Liam!' he added tauntingly, glancing at her, his brows raised mockingly.

  John didn't look too sure about the latter remark, but he willingly shook the older man's hand. 'John Morgan,' he supplied. 'I was your father's—'

  'Junior assistant.' Liam nodded tersely. 'The one thing that did seem to have been left in my father's office was a file on personnel,' he said coldly, reminding Juliet that little else had been left.

  Her mouth tightened at the unspoken rebuke. 'Your father and I both had copies of that file so there was no need for the duplication in my office,' she returned defiantly.

  'Hmm.' Liam nodded slowly, steadily meeting the cool grey of her gaze with one equally cold. 'I thought it must be something like that,' he dismissed scathingly. 'Nice to meet you, John,' he said more warmly to the younger man. 'I'm sure you and my father worked well together. I hope we can do the same.'

  Juliet gave him a sharp look. What did he mean by that remark? Surely, if Liam agreed to keep the company running, he intended being a silent partner? Although, somehow, she doubted Liam had ever been silent about anything in his life!

  'To continue our conversation,' Liam interrupted her musings hardly, the warmth gone from his voice as he spoke to her, 'later this morning isn't good enough,' he repeated firmly.

  She had already guessed that from his earlier reaction. 'Look, Liam…' she deliberately used his name, if only to show that she did call him that too '… I've been out of the office for almost two weeks. I have a lot of catching up to do.' She indicated the pile of paperwork on her desk.

  'There are two of us here now, Juliet,' he bit out coldly. 'And the sooner I'm familiar with the workings and dealings of the company, the better I'll be able to help you deal with the backlog.'

  Grey eyes clashed with deep blue ones as the two of them visually duelled. Juliet was very aware of John in the room with them, and knew it put her at a disadvantage; without his presence she might have been better able to deal with this situation. Might. But somehow she doubted it! It was not her intention that Liam should help her deal with anything, let alone the workings of Carlyle Properties.

  Finally it was her gaze that dropped, and she turned to John instead. 'Do you have time to help me with this, John?' She sounded clam, but inside she was seething.

  Liam had spoken to her as if she were half-witted! Of course she knew he would have to know about the company—he couldn't make a judgement without that knowledge—but it had never been her intention that he should actually help her run it, even on a temporary basis. And he could have been more diplomatic in his approach… That was rather stupid of her, she thought; the words 'diplomatic' and 'Liam' could never be used together!

  'Of course.' John was still frowning, obviously sensing the hostility between Juliet and Liam and not feeling quite sure of his own place in the midst of it.

  She turned back to Liam. 'We'll see to your request as quickly as possible,' she informed him distantly. 'As soon as I've dealt with anything on my desk that needs my immediate attention,' she added stubbornly; she was not about to drop everything else in order to jump to this man's bidding.

  His mouth thinned with displeasure, his deep blue eyes narrowing coldly at what he knew to be her deliberate evasion. 'Very well,' he finally nodded abruptly, and strode over to the door.

  Juliet breathed a sigh of relief at his imminent departure.

  'One more thing, Juliet.' Liam paused at the open doorway, his gaze unblinking as he looked across the distance of the room at her.

  She knew from the determination of his expression that she had breathed that sigh of relief too soon. 'Yes?' she prompted warily.

  'I realise that it will take you some time to organise the bulk of the files back across the corridor,' he acknowledged. 'But there's one account I would like you to send over immediately.'

  Juliet frowned. As far as she was aware, Liam hadn't been involved with the company for at least ten years, so how could he now be asking for a specific account?

  'It's ten years old, so you may have to get it from the store-room in the basement.' He shrugged. 'I take it you still store dead accounts down there?'

  'Yes,' Juliet confirmed dazedly. She was totally thrown by his request; what possible interest could he have in a project that was ten years old?

  He nodded tersely. 'I'd like the Walters account from December of that year,' he instructed abruptly before leaving as suddenly as he had entered a few minutes ago.

  Had it been only a few minutes ago? Juliet had the feeling of having been swept along in a whirlwind for timeless minutes. She…

  'Wow.' John dazedly echoed her sentiments. 'So that's the long-lost son.' He shook his head as he sat down in the chair opposite Juliet. 'Not quite what I expected,' he said speculatively.

  He wasn't quite what Juliet had expected either, which was why she hadn't initially made any connection between Edward Carlyle and the Liam she had met in Majorca. She wished she still hadn't!

  And there was still the puzzle of why he wanted the Walters file. Of course he had still been here himself then, and might have been involved in the project, but even so it still seemed a very strange request to her.

  She was curious to see that file now herself, and fully intended looking through it thoroughly before passing it on to Liam. She had quickly learnt that Liam Carlyle didn't do anything without purpose. There had to be a reason why he wanted that specific file. And she doubted very much that he intended telling her what it was!

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The store-room downstairs had been checked, double-checked, and then checked again. By John Morgan. There was no Walters file.

  But Liam had sounded so definite. And, as Juliet was learning, he was rarely wrong. So finally, out of desperation, she had gone down to the storeroom herself. After half an hour's fruitless search she had to concede that John was right—there was no Walters file.

  But if there had been a client called Walters then there had to be a file, and if, as Liam had said
, the account was ten years old, then the file would be down in the store-room; any file over five years old was automatically put downstairs at the end of the financial year. It was what William had always done.

  But there was no Walters file downstairs!

  A search of the filing cabinets in her own office had revealed no such file either, and quite frankly Juliet was at a loss to know what to do now. The first thing Liam asked her to supply him with concerning the company and she couldn't even find it. Wonderful!

  Over an hour had passed since he had made the request, and, being Liam, he surely wouldn't wait much longer for the file to materialise in his office. Should she attack, by going to him and telling him that he must have made a mistake, or should she sit in her office and wait for him to come to her? The latter choice put her at a definite disadvantage where a man like him was concerned. And there was always the possibility that he might have made a mistake. A remote one, she inwardly acknowledged heavily, but it was a possibility.

  Two golden heads were bent over William's green leather-topped desk when Juliet entered the room after a brief knock, but not on opposite sides of the desk, as one might have expected; Diana and Liam were sitting close together behind it. Diana looked up and smiled as Juliet entered. Liam just scowled at the intrusion.

  And that was exactly how Juliet felt—like an intruder! These two were obviously very close—and not just by locality. Juliet couldn't help wondering how Liam viewed 'that sort of thing' out of the office!

  He sat back in the high-backed leather chair, looking across at Juliet with narrowed eyes. 'Yes?' He looked pointedly at her empty hands.

  She moistened her lips. 'Er—there doesn't seem to be a Walters file.' Very dynamic! So much for attack; she sounded like an apprehensive schoolgirl. She straightened her shoulders determinedly. 'Are you sure you have the right name?'

  Liam's mouth tightened. 'Positive.'

  She had thought he might be! 'We can carry on looking, of course. There's always the possibility that it might have been misfiled.' She gave a rueful shrug.

  'How convenient!' His mouth twisted bitterly.

  Juliet frowned. 'Look, it was ten years ago, Liam,' she reasoned impatiently. God, she hadn't even worked for the company then. 'You could have the wrong name—'

  'No,' he cut in harshly, 'I couldn't. Did my father keep any of the paperwork anywhere else? At the house, perhaps?'

  Her frown deepened at his persistence. After all, the account was ten years old anyway, was dead and buried. Literally so, it appeared. But things like this happened in a company as big and strong as Carlyle Properties had once been. No doubt the file would turn up some time—William had been too thorough in his records for it to be any other way— but at the moment she just couldn't find it.

  'William occasionally worked from the house, yes,' she began slowly. 'But—'

  'Then we'll look there,' he interrupted curtly.

  What was so special about the Walters file that he was so determined to find it? Before he had walked out on the family and the business Liam had worked for the company, Juliet knew that, so perhaps it had been a pet project of his and he wanted to see how it had worked out. But, even so, surely they had much more pressing matters to deal with just now than a project that was ten years old!

  'What exactly was the Walters account?' She was still frowning at him.

  'A six-storeyed office building,' he bit out grimly.

  Juliet looked at him expectantly, thinking there had to be more. But he said nothing else, just met her gaze with a steady challenge. But Juliet was puzzled. Carlyle Properties had put up lots of office blocks in the eight years she had been with the company, either under contract, or building them themselves for selling. What was so special about this one building?

  Oh, God, she had given up trying to sort out the workings of Liam's mind; she just had to find this file as quickly as possible. Maybe it was at the house, although she couldn't for the life of her understand why it should be.

  'I see,' she nodded, but, of course, didn't see at all. But it was a minor point as far as she was concerned. 'John and I are ready to move the other files back in here now,' she added.

  'I'll help you,' Diana offered warmly.

  There was no such offer forthcoming from Liam, Juliet noticed, tensing warily as he stood up to cross the width of the office to her side. She tensed even more as one of his hands was raised towards her.

  'A cobweb,' he drawled mockingly as he removed the gossamer web from her hair, lightly brushing her temple with his fingertips as he did so.

  Juliet felt colour warm her cheeks. What had she thought he was going to do, especially with Diana Gilbraith as their audience?

  'Thank you,' she said huskily, pushing her hair back from her face, wondering if there were any other signs of her search of the basement.

  His mouth twisted derisively as he looked down at her with amused eyes. 'You're welcome,' he murmured softly.

  Juliet turned away abruptly, looking across at the other woman, inwardly wondering what Diana was making of all this. Probably she was too discreet where her employer was concerned to think anything of his behaviour!

  'See to those letters for me, Diana.' Liam spoke to his assistant in a businesslike tone. 'I'll see you later. Both of you,' he added drily.

  Juliet frowned as he strode from the office. It was too early for lunch; surely he hadn't gone off for the rest of the day? Left alone with Diana, she didn't like to ask the other woman, and Diana, being the sort of discreet personal assistant Liam was likely to have chosen, didn't volunteer any information concerning her employer's movements either.

  By lunchtime they had moved the bulk of the files back into William's office. And Liam still hadn't returned. Maybe he wasn't going to, Juliet thought as she took a working lunch in her own office. Actually, it was an apple and half a cheese sandwich which she had bought from the cafeteria in the building. Unlike Liam, she didn't have time to go out for leisurely lunches.

  As usual, her office door stood open, and she looked up as Diana came to stand there. She had come to like the other woman more and more as the morning had progressed, had found her to be cheerful and hard-working, with infinite patience for getting things right. No doubt she would need that, working for Liam!

  Diana looked disappointed as she saw the remains of the cheese sandwich on Juliet's desk. 'I thought perhaps you might like to come to lunch with me,' she said ruefully. 'But I can see you've already eaten.' She shrugged. 'You could always sit and have dessert with me?' she added hopefully.

  Juliet was about to refuse, and then changed her mind. She hadn't taken a break all morning, and even if she only had a coffee with the other woman it was better than nothing. If Diana and Liam were going to be around for any length of time, it would be helpful if she could get on with at least one of them! Besides, it couldn't be much fun for Diana either, just being thrown in at the deep end here. No doubt the other woman was more than capable of taking care of herself, but it would still be rather rude of Juliet to refuse her invitation.

  'Dessert sounds good.' She returned the other woman's smile, standing up to collect her jacket from behind the door. 'There's a nice French restaurant around the corner that used to serve lovely pastries.' She and William had occasionally gone there to reward themselves if they had been working particularly hard.

  The restaurant was very busy, as usual, but they managed to find a table for two, and as they sat down Juliet started to wonder what they were actually going to talk about. Liam was obviously off limits, and Juliet had never been particularly forthcoming about her own background, so that really only left Diana's family.

  'Were your family pleased to see you home last week?' she asked the other woman conversationally; most women, she assumed, would be quite happy to talk about their children, although never having had any herself, she didn't really know.

  'Actually they're my stepchildren—a boy and a girl from Tom's first marriage—so we usually only have t
hem at weekends,' Diana supplied easily. 'I left it rather late in life to get married—too much of a career woman,' she added with a grimace.

  'You and Tom don't want any of your own?' Juliet asked curiously.

  'Well, actually—' Diana broke off as the waiter came to take their order. 'Just coffee and pastries, isn't it, Juliet?' she prompted, nodding confirmation to the waiter once Juliet had given her tacit approval.

  'Wouldn't you like more than that?' Juliet frowned once they were alone again. 'Don't not have anything just because I've already eaten.'

  Diana gave a lightly dismissive laugh. 'I'm trying not to put on too much weight. You see—'

  'Not another woman obsessed with her weight,' an all too familiar voice cut in derisively. 'John told me this was where I could find you both,' Liam explained his presence beside their table as Juliet gave him a startled look.

  She couldn't quite believe he was here; she was starting to feel haunted by this man. But she always informed John where she was going when she left the office, so she supposed this was her own fault.

  'Going to join us?' Diana invited warmly, seemingly unaware of any tension between Juliet and Liam.

  'If Juliet doesn't mind.' He looked down at her with those piercing blue eyes.

  What did he expect her to reply to that? He obviously knew what reply she would like to make; he also knew that she wouldn't be that rude in front of a third person. 'Of course not,' she answered graciously, even though it was the last thing she really wanted. She had a feeling she and Diana Gilbraith were going to get along just fine, and she felt more than a little resentful of Liam's interruption of their conversation.

  Being at a small table for two, which was now having a third place laid at it so that Liam could also eat, the three of them were sitting rather close together, and Juliet moved away sharply when her knee inadvertently made contact with Liam's under the table as he sat down.

  He gave her an amused look at her reaction. 'Sorry,' he murmured drily, moving his chair back slightly so that his legs weren't so far under the table.