Liam took a key out of his wallet and placed it against the control panel on the interior wall.
“Good evening, Mr McPherson,” an automated voice said in a crisp English accent as the door closed.
“Did the elevator just speak to you?”
He nodded.
“If she could hand me my slippers and an Irn-Bru, this would be a decent holiday.”
“I don’t think you can get Irn-Bru in Dubai. Not that I have ever tried.”
“I don’t know which is more sad—the fact you have never tried to buy an Irn-Bru here, or the chance they might not have it.”
“I haven’t had an Irn-Bru in years.”
“Remember the time we went to Portobello and drank vodka and Irn-Bru on the beach until three in the morning. Sam was so sick, he could not stand up, and you carried him on your back the whole way home because we didn’t have money for a taxi.”
The muscles in his jaw tightened. “I remember.”
The elevator door opened to the penthouse. To Sarah’s relief, the decor looked nothing like the foyer; it had clean minimalist lines. The walls were painted a crisp white and the floors were a simple polished oak. At the opposite end of the room there was a glass wall incorporating patio doors that led to a massive balcony with a full-size swimming pool and a hot tub. Her entire flat could fit on the balcony. She resisted the urge to say wow again, but that word kept repeating itself over and over in her mind. She had known Liam had done well for himself, but she didn’t really understand it until now. He really had made it. For an inexplicable reason it made her happy and sad at the same time. She wished she had been able to see him achieve it. He had wanted this life for ever. She was happy he had made it, so why could she not get rid of the nagging feeling of disappointment? Maybe it was because he had changed so much to achieve it. The Liam she knew would not have blackmailed her. He would have helped Sam because it was the right thing to do.
She shook off the sudden sentimentality. She might not want to be here but she was determined to enjoy the next seven days. She had not been on holiday for far too long, and, like it or not, this was as good as it was going to get. “I wish I had brought my swimming costume.”
“Just go naked. I do,” he said. A smile played on his full mouth. He looked far too much like her Liam when he smiled.
She swallowed hard to dislodge the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. It was far too easy to picture his tanned, lean form, naked in the clear water. She knew from memory, even the sight of him shirtless was enough to leave her breathless.
She shook her head to try to dislodge the image.
“No one can see you,” he assured her.
“You could see me.”
“Nothing I haven’t seen before. If it helps, I am imagining you naked right now.”
“Stop that.” She swatted at him, missed his arm, and her hand connected with the hard wall of his stomach.
“Still feisty as ever. You can take the girl out of Scotland, but you can’t take Scotland out of the girl.”
“Too right. Now please stop thinking about me naked.” Her cheeks were growing hotter by the minute.
“Feel free to picture me naked.” When his smile deepened, the dimple on his right cheek appeared.
“No, thank you.” But she was. She was remembering the first time she had seen him naked and hard for her. She had to squeeze her eyes shut to stop the scene playing in her head. She needed to stop seeing him the way he was. He wasn’t hers any more.
“Suit yourself, then,” he said as he led her past a sitting room to a large bedroom.
“Take my room. I will have the guest room at the front.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to take your room.”
“Take it. I work odd hours. I don’t want to wake you.”
“Are you sure?” She was about to say something about him being kind enough to let her stay with him and then she remembered she wouldn’t need a place to stay if it weren’t for him. “Fine. I will take it,” she said a bit more harshly than she had intended.
She laid her bag on a chair and sat down on the king-size bed, the fluffy white duvet cover puffed up on either side of her hips. She glanced at the wood and metal frame of the headboard and wondered about all the things he had done in this bed and all the women he had done them with. Why she cared was beyond her; it wasn’t as if she had been celibate for the last ten years, yet there was a smug satisfaction in knowing she was his first.
“If you want any clothes washed, just leave them in the hamper. The maid will get them in the morning. If you’re hungry, just phone room service. I have a menu in the bedside table.”
The sound of room service made her mouth water and her overdraft hurt. She pulled out the menu and was reminded again how much she could not afford this time away. She only had a single change of clothes, and those were meant for when she landed back at Heathrow. The only clothes she had packed were a wool jumper and another pair of jeans. She would melt if she put on a jumper but she doubted she could afford to buy anything else; something told her Dubai wasn’t a cheap place to shop. She glanced at the clock radio beside the bed. She still had time to make her flight. “Look, Liam. I need to get home. I can’t afford to stay here. I don’t have any clothes and I can’t even afford a starter off this menu. And quite frankly any place without Irn-Bru is not a place I want to be.” She tried to make light of the situation. It felt awkward admitting to Liam she could not afford to even visit his new life.
He looked at her incredulously. “I think I can afford some holiday clothes and a meal or two.”
“I am sure you can. We have established that. You are obscenely rich and I am still as working class as you can get. You have a jet and I have a Fiat Punto that barely passed its MOT. If you are keeping score, that is another point to you.”
“You are the only one keeping score.” He sat down on the bed beside her. He took the menu from her. “What would you like?”
She shifted along the bed so their legs were no longer touching. She would like to not feel like the poor relation. She would like to feel as if she knew this stranger beside her. She would like to be on the flight home. There were a million things she wanted and none of them were being here with him. “No, thanks. I am not hungry.”
“I can hear your stomach growling.”
“I told you I can’t afford anything on the menu.”
“And I told you I could. I feel like we are talking in circles here. Just tell me what you would like.”
“I am not going to let you buy me dinner.”
“Why not? I am going to have dinner.”
“Because…” There was so much to say but her pride stopped her.
“Because you never want to be indebted to anyone. You always have to stand on your own two feet,” he said as if he were reading her mind.
“Maybe,” she admitted. She never depended on anyone for anything. The last person she had counted on was Liam, and that had not ended well.
“It’s just dinner and some clothes. I will give you my card and I will have my driver take you to the Mall of the Emirates. You can get whatever you need there.”
“I am not going to let you buy me clothes. I don’t need a handout.”
“Why is it you spend your life helping people, giving them handouts as you call them, but when the tables are turned you refuse to accept anything?”
“It is totally different and you know it.”
“Why? Because you are somehow above needing help? Why, Sarah, I would say that makes you a snob.”
He was baiting her and damn her if she didn’t fall for it. “I am not going to owe you anything.”
“You owed me something as soon as you started calling in favours for your mate.”
“What do you want from me? Did you want me to see how well you have done? How rich you are? Because I see it. Well done, Liam.”
He stood up and crossed to the door. “I am ordering you a steak. It will be here in
an hour. I suggest you use the time to get cleaned up. There are fresh towels in the bathroom. You can wear my dressing gown while I send down your clothes to be washed.”
She collapsed down on the bed. She could use a shower. But she did not want to let him think she was obeying him.
“Screw it,” she murmured under her breath. She was going to have a shower because she wanted a shower. To hell with what he thought of her motives.
She closed her eyes and let the hot water spray against her. In addition to the one large shower head, there were strategically placed jets, each one working its magic on her tight muscles. And if she was not mistaken there was a hint of mint and tea-tree oil in the air. No idea where it was coming from but it smelled divine. It was like being in a day spa, only better because no one was coming at her with hot wax. She could get used to this.
She unfolded a towel that was as big as a sheet and softer than crushed velvet. She wrapped herself up and sighed. Yes, she definitely could get used to this.
She put on his robe and rolled up the sleeves to her elbows. She glanced at the clock—seven-fifteen, which made it just after four in the UK. The office would still be open for the next forty-five minutes. God only knew how much a mobile call to Scotland would cost. She decided to be safe and text her project manager instead. A text came with the added bonus of not having to explain any of the awkward details.
Thirty seconds later her phone rang. It was Leslie, the mother hen of Fresh Start. Leslie was the one who always made sure people, namely Sarah, looked after themselves, and took a tea break every once in a while.
“Hello, lovey,” Sarah said.
“Gillian just got your text. We thought you would be back in the office tomorrow morning.” Sarah smiled at Leslie’s gruff manner. Leslie’s nastiest tone was saved for those she loved. The meaner she appeared, the more she cared. It was just her way.
“No, something came up. I have three intake meetings this week but Gillian or Tara can cover them. And I thought you could cover the harm-reduction seminar I have scheduled for Thursday, if you wouldn’t mind. I know it is short notice but you are the best trainer we have.” It wasn’t just flattery. Fresh Start could not function without Leslie.
“Aye, that’s fine. We will be fine. I just wanted to let you know about your granny.”
Sarah’s heart stopped; her chest constricted until it was painful to breathe. “Is she…did she…?” She could not get the words out. If something happened to her granny, she did not know what she would do. She was all Sarah had, the only person who had not left her.
“She will be fine. She just broke her hip.”
Relief washed over her. Hips mended; her heart wouldn’t if something happened to her granny and she wasn’t there. “Is she in the New Royal?”
“Aye.”
“Right, thanks. I am going to call now.” Sarah hung up the phone without saying goodbye. It was rude but Leslie would understand. Sarah’s heart was now pounding against her ribs. Luckily she knew the number for the Royal Infirmary by heart as not a week went by that didn’t involve a call to the hospital to check on service users.
Her call was transferred three times before it reached the staff nurse on Granny’s ward.
“Miss Campbell, your grandmother said you would be on the phone within twenty minutes of her getting through the doors and she was not far off.” The nurse laughed.
“Is she all right? No, that is a silly question, of course she is not all right. She has a broken hip. I mean is she going to be all right?”
“She will be fine. The consultant is in speaking with her right now. If there are no emergencies her surgery will be scheduled for tomorrow morning—”
“Surgery?”
“She is going to need a hip replacement but after that she should be right as rain.”
“OK. I will be on the next flight.”
“Your grandmother said you would say that. She told me to tell you, and I am quoting here, ‘Dinnae be daft, hen, I am fine. She said if you came to the hospital she would be livid, insisted you wait until she gets out of hospital because she did not want you to see her without her hair done. She also said to say hello to the prodigal son. I am not sure what she meant by that,” the nurse said.
Sarah knew what she meant. That was what Granny called Liam. She was always adamant that Liam would come home at some point. For some reason, Granny still had a soft spot for him, even though he had done nothing to justify it. Sarah put down the phone and sat on the bed. Her pulse refused to slow. She didn’t know what she would have done if Granny had died. “She is fine,” she repeated over and over again, but it did not change the fact she was eighty-five. Sooner or later Sarah was going to have to deal with the inevitable.
And then she would be alone.
It was hard to breathe again. The massive room seemed too small. She concentrated on slowly filling her lungs. She was being stupid. She was nearly thirty; she was fine. When her grandma died, she would be fine. But she knew she wouldn’t. Her granny was her rock, the one person in her life that never failed her, never left her. Everyone else left, but not Granny.
Leslie said Sarah had intimacy issues, she never let anyone in, but thank God for that, if it hurt this much, and she would much rather be alone than be dependent on someone else for her happiness.
Sarah didn’t hear Liam come into the room. “Dinner is here.” He crossed the room to her. “Sarah, what is wrong?” He wiped away a tear from her cheek. She hadn’t even realised she was crying.
“Nothing. I’m fine,” she said. She turned away from him so he could not see the steady stream that was running down her face. Just her luck—she couldn’t remember the last time she cried and now she couldn’t stop. Trust her to do it in front of Liam.
“That seems to be your battle cry. You will forgive me if I don’t believe you.” He gently cupped her face in his hands.
“No, really, I am fine. I am tired—must be jet lag.”
“No, it’s not. Tell me what is wrong,” he commanded.
His voice was so confident, his hands strong. It was easy to feel safe with him. Once upon a time, this was her safe place, in his arms. Nothing could touch her when he held her. He gazed at her with an intensity she could feel to the tips of her toes. His blue eyes had grown dark, almost completely engulfed by the dark pupils, leaving only a sapphire rim around the black centre. This was how he had looked right before he kissed her.
Her lips parted. Her muscles had memory she could not fight. Her body wanted to be connected to his. He seemed to feel it too or at least understand what she did not have the words to say. His head lowered to hers.
His mouth pressed against hers, hot and searching, his tongue teased her lips further apart, and she opened to him. She wanted to taste him and feel him. Her hands went to his sides and pulled him closer. She was desperate to close the space between them, and it had been too long. She heard a moan escape her. The dressing gown fell from around her shoulders and she did not try to pull it up. This felt right and utterly wrong: they were wrong together; she could never trust him, but their bodies fitted together as if they were made for each other.
Suddenly Liam pulled away. His breathing was ragged; she looked at him with a combination of shock and suspicion. Her mind registered a phone ringing from the other room. She pulled frantically at the dressing gown to cover herself.
“Shit,” she muttered to herself. Of all the stupid things she could do, kissing Liam took the cake. What was she thinking? She wanted to shout at herself. He left you when you needed him most. He was quite possibly the least emotionally available person on the planet. If she was going to work on her issues, it was best she did it with someone who would not leave as soon as things got hard.
“That is not going to happen again.” She said it for her own benefit. “Please don’t kiss me again. I am here because I want to help Sam.”
“Fine.” Something in Liam’s mind snapped at the mention of Sam’s name. Christ, why had
he kissed her? His arms dropped to his sides, suddenly leaden. He left her sitting on his bed, and he didn’t turn back. He did not breathe until the door closed into place. Shit. He wanted to punish her, make her realise the bad choices she made, but when he saw her crying something strange happened. In that moment he did not want to hurt her; he just wanted to comfort her the only way he knew how.
Luckily she was kind enough to remind him of the point of all this. He would make her regret what she had done. But first he had to sort out the mess Sam had made. Sam had managed to fuck things up on yet another continent; he was almost prodigious in that respect. And now Liam was sucked into the cesspool. Like it or not he was stuck wading through a shit storm he wasn’t even sure he could handle. He had spent years cultivating friendships and securing allies and now he was going to have to call in every favour owed to him if he was going to save Sam’s ass. And why was he doing it? God only knew. He should have told Sarah a few home truths and sent her on her way. But apparently even after all the shit that had gone down between them, she still had some pull over him. But Christ was it tempting to let Sam go down; sort him out once and for all.
Liam put his hand against the cool wood of the closed door. Sarah Campbell was in his bedroom. She was in his bed. His entire adolescence centred around making that happen. Now she was there, but never had there been less chance of actually sleeping with her. The sixteen-year-old version of himself would not have been very happy with that result. The thirty-year-old version was none too pleased either, if truth be told.
Chapter Four
Liam hesitated before he dialled his lawyer. He could not ignore the temptation to forget about Sam and let justice take its course. He tapped his fingers against the arm rest. He considered his options. There were a few ways this could play out. The easiest and most tempting was for him to do nothing. He would tell Sarah he did his best and she would be none the wiser. Or he could put himself on the line for a man he detested. The choice would be simple if it weren’t for Sarah, and the last remnants of Liam’s conscience. Sam deserved to be punished but he did not deserve to be killed.
Twice in a Lifetime (Carina) Page 3