Laura was unable to resist looking across at the other couple from beneath lowered dark lashes, analysing their own body language. Friendly, she would guess, but not intimate. Not yet, anyway!
The beautiful blonde was glancing across at Laura too now, as she continued to talk to Liam. Laura instantly turned away. But that didn’t stop her wondering exactly what explanation Liam was giving the other woman for finding him here with her. Knowing Liam, it would sound plausible, whatever it was!
Laura turned back just in time to see the blonde woman reach up to kiss one of Liam’s cheeks, then raising a hand in parting to Laura as she turned and hurried towards the hotel exit.
‘Sorry about that,’ Liam said as he rejoined Laura in the lounge. ‘An old friend just wanting to say hello,’ he added as he dropped back into the chair beside hers.
A ‘hello’ he definitely hadn’t wanted Laura to witness too closely!
‘Really?’ Laura murmured dryly.
‘Really,’ he echoed. ‘I was at university with her brother.’
How nice for him that his university friends had such beautiful sisters!
Bitch, bitchy, Laura instantly rebuked herself. Liam had always liked beautiful women. Besides, it was none of her business.
‘You were saying…?’ Liam prompted, obviously also of the opinion that the sister of his old university friend was not Laura’s business.
And compared with what Laura had to tell him now—albeit reluctantly—he was right!
‘I may just as well come straight out with it,’ she said flatly. ‘You’re going to be furious no matter how nicely I try to break the news to you!’
Dark brows rose over mocking blue eyes. ‘I am?’
‘Undoubtedly,’ Laura sighed. ‘Although I do reiterate, none of my employees is responsible for what I’m about to tell you.’ She looked at him challengingly.
‘I believe you,’ Liam replied, holding up defensive hands. ‘If I’m ever in a fight, Laura, I hope I have you on my side; at the moment you look like a lioness defending her cubs!’
Probably because she felt like one! She was also using the tactic, she acknowledged ruefully, that attack was better than defence!
‘Very well.’ She nodded. ‘I received a telephone call from a reporter earlier today. She wanted confirmation that Shipley Publishing is to print the next Liam O’Reilly novel, with me as your editor!’ There, she had said it!
Light the blue touch-paper and stand well back. She inwardly grimaced.
Except nothing happened!
The blue touch-paper had definitely been lit, was probably still smouldering inside, but outwardly there was no sign of it…!
Liam continued to look at her with narrowed eyes, a nerve pulsing in his cheek, his mouth grim, his eyes unfathomable.
As with a smouldering but unexploded firework, Laura was left with a question: did she go and check that it was alight, or did she continue to stand well back in case the explosion was only delayed?
She didn’t know!
Her nervousness only increased as the seconds ticked by with no reaction from Liam. Why didn’t he say something? Anything!
Finally she could stand the suspense no longer. ‘Liam—’
‘And what—’ Liam’s voice was icily controlled ‘—did you reply to such an enquiry?’
She gritted her teeth. ‘No comment.’
That silence again. She couldn’t bear it. Why didn’t he just scream and shout, demand an explanation? Which she didn’t have!
‘Well, that’s…unoriginal, if nothing else,’ he finally drawled sarcastically.
‘What would you have had me say?’ Laura countered, stung into being defensive after all. ‘You have to agree this situation is unusual—to say the least. Subterfuge just isn’t my style!’
‘Implying that it’s mine?’ Liam prompted mildly.
Angry colour darkened her cheeks. ‘You’re the one insisting on secrecy!’
‘Then it appears I’ve been wasting my time, doesn’t it?’ he replied. ‘What are you going to do about it?’
‘Me?’ she responded. ‘What can I do about it?’
‘Well, for one thing, you could stop being so stubborn about agreeing to publish my book!’
It wasn’t just a book, and they both knew it. It was an assured bestseller. ‘And the second thing?’
‘Well, as we seem to have been presented with a fait accompli, why don’t you stop being so difficult about acting as my editor, too?’
There was something very wrong with this conversation, something that didn’t add up. What? Ah, she had it. Why wasn’t Liam screaming and shouting, demanding an explanation…? After being absolutely adamant concerning the need for secrecy concerning his novel, he would be perfectly within his rights to be blazingly angry. And yet he wasn’t…
Three people knew about Liam’s book: herself, Perry, and Liam himself. She had already eliminated the first two—which only left Liam…!
No, Liam couldn’t have given that information to a reporter himself! It didn’t make sense—
Why didn’t it? A fait accompli, he had just said. And she was the one, not Liam, who had been presented with it…
But why?
It just didn’t make any sense. She had to be wrong. Liam—
‘What are you thinking?’ He watched her with narrowed eyes.
Nonsense. Utter nonsense. There was absolutely no reason why Liam should have leaked the information to the press about his book himself. It went against everything he had previously told her he wanted concerning the publication of Josie’s World.
‘It isn’t important.’ She shook her head dismissively. ‘So, you’re saying you would still like Shipley to publish your novel?’
Liam shrugged. ‘I never had a problem with it. Only with your choice of editor,’ he added pointedly.
‘And the publicity this reporter’s article may incur?’
He shrugged again. ‘I’m sure you’re more than capable of dealing with it.’
‘I may be,’ she conceded. ‘But what about you? It’s the one thing you’ve maintained you definitely don’t want.’
‘I still don’t,’ he agreed. ‘But if it’s handled properly—’ he gave her a sharp look ‘—the whole thing will just become a nine-day wonder. It may resurface once the book is published—’
‘There’s no may about it,’ Laura warned him determinedly.
‘Hopefully by that time I shall be safely back in Ireland, my whereabouts unknown by anyone except my lawyer,’ he confirmed pointedly.
Because their only address for him was that post office box in London…
Laura gave him a narrow-eyed look, still not convinced. ‘I must say,’ she said slowly, ‘you’re taking all of this much more calmly than I expected.’
Liam grinned. ‘I am, aren’t I?’ he agreed.
Laura’s earlier suspicions weren’t in any way lessened by this reply. If Liam had decided that publicity wouldn’t hurt him after all, despite what he had earlier maintained to the contrary, then there was absolutely no reason why he couldn’t have been the one to leak the information to the press. And neatly present her with that fait accompli.
It did seem a little extreme just as a means of achieving his own way. But, in a warped sort of way, it also made sense. Much more sense than the information having been leaked from anyone at Shipley Publishing.
And what more extremely reliable source could there be than the author himself…?
Laura sat back in her chair, looking across at Liam with narrowed eyes. Would he really have gone to that extreme just to ensure he got his own way—having her as his editor?
It seemed unbelievable, and yet…
‘What is it?’ he demanded, watching her closely.
Laura had been aware of that scrutiny, but her thoughts remained her own. ‘I’m not sure,’ she answered softly. ‘Tell me, Liam, the young lady who was just here—’
‘I told you, she’s the sister of an old university frien
d,’ he cut in harshly.
Laura nodded. ‘And her name would be…?’
Liam was scowling now, sitting tensely forward on his own chair. ‘What does her name have to do with anything?’ he rasped.
She wasn’t sure. Yet. But Liam had made no attempt to introduce the two women earlier; in fact he had seemed anxious to keep them apart. Which had been extremely rude of him. Although perhaps understandable if the other woman were a current romantic involvement in his life. But it might have another explanation…
Also, though she could be imagining it, now that Laura thought about it, the leggy blonde’s voice had sounded vaguely familiar…
Laura drew in a sharp breath. ‘Her name wouldn’t happen to be Wilson, would it? Janey Wilson? As in Janey Wilson, reporter for the National Daily?’
She watched Liam closely for his reaction to her suggestion noting the way the pupils of his eyes widened and then contracted, the slight increase in grimness about his mouth, the nerve pulsing in his throat.
Her mouth quirked disgustedly. ‘I can see that it is,’ she bit out, shaking her head. ‘Why, Liam?’ She frowned.
But she already knew the answer to that. Liam was determined to have his own way concerning his publisher and editor, and had decided, after meeting her again, that she was to be both those things. He was even willing to sacrifice his own privacy to achieve that objective—had hoped to use Janey Wilson’s newspaper article as a means of pressurising Laura into accepting those conditions.
‘Don’t bother to answer that,’ she said, before he could even attempt to do so, turning to pick up her shoulder bag before standing up. ‘I have to go now; I’ve already wasted enough of my day on this—’ She broke off abruptly as Liam reached out and grasped her wrist to prevent her leaving. ‘Let go of me, Liam,’ she told him with cold determination.
His hand tightened about the slenderness of her wrist as he too stood up, at once dwarfing her. ‘I did warn you yesterday not to believe you had got rid of me so easily.’
Her brows rose. ‘And today has proved that you carry out your threats.’
His face darkened. ‘It wasn’t a threat—’
‘Then you must have just managed to make it sound that way,’ Laura scorned.
‘And your decision?’ His eyes were narrowed.
‘Concerning your neatly engineered fait accompli?’ she clarified derisively. ‘I’m not sure,’ she admitted heavily.
And she wasn’t. She needed time and space—away from Liam!—to consider what she should do next. For everyone’s sake, not just her own.
‘Laura!’ His hold on her wrist relaxed slightly, his thumb moving caressingly against the base of her own thumb now.
Laura snatched her hand out of his grasp, angry when she still felt that slight caress against her skin. ‘I’ll let you know, Liam,’ she said tonelessly.
‘When?’
‘When I’m good and ready!’ she returned hotly. ‘You may have set this scene, Liam, but you don’t have the power to dictate everyone else’s moves now that you’ve done so! I need to think about all of this.’ Definitely away from him—far away! ‘When I’ve reached a decision I’ll call you.’
He studied her flushed and angry face for several long seconds before slowly nodding his head. ‘Just don’t leave it too long, hmm?’ he finally murmured.
Her eyes flashed in warning. ‘As long as it takes! You’ve engineered a situation here, Liam—for your own reasons,’ she added as he appeared about to protest. ‘But none of us—including you!—know what the repercussions might be once this story appears in the newspaper tomorrow.’ She shook her head resignedly.
Laura didn’t know what those repercussions might be, but she could certainly take an educated guess.
She only hoped Liam was ready for it!
She hoped she was too!
CHAPTER EIGHT
PREDICTABLY, the telephone at Laura’s home began ringing before eight o’clock the next morning. And continued to ring.
Laura had answered the first call, found herself talking to a reporter on a different daily newspaper from the National Daily, and quickly ended the conversation—only to have the phone ring again seconds later. To go unanswered. As the following dozen or so calls went unanswered, too. Until Laura decided to actually take the receiver off the hook. It meant she couldn’t receive any genuine personal calls either, but in the circumstances it was a small price to pay.
How members of the press had got hold of her private home number she had no idea; she never ceased to be amazed by the amazing network that fed them.
To say she was annoyed by this intrusion was an understatement! Thank goodness Bobby was still fast asleep, no doubt exhausted by events; Laura wasn’t sure how she would have answered his questions about the fact that the telephone receiver was being left permanently off the hook!
When the doorbell rang shortly after nine o’clock Laura opened the door to find one of the more determined reporters standing on her doorstep, vaguely waving his press card in her face before launching into a series of quick-fire questions. Questions Laura had no intention of answering. After telling him the inevitable ‘no comment’, she quietly and firmly closed the door in the young man’s face.
But she could see several other reporters, some with cameras, hovering at the end of the pathway as she did so, and her irritation turned to anger as she realised she would probably have to run the gauntlet of them if she wanted to leave the house at all today.
Her only consolation was that Liam was probably faring just as badly!
Not that she had expected her own privacy to be invaded in this way. It was Shipley Publishing the press should be talking to, not Laura Shipley herself.
Liam!
This was all his fault. If he hadn’t been so determined to have his own way none of this would be happening.
The doorbell rang again.
And again, when Laura didn’t move to answer it.
And yet again as she continued to stand in the hallway, glaring at the closed front door.
The incessant noise would wake Bobby in a minute, and then she was going to be really angry!
She wrenched open the door. ‘I thought I told you—Liam!’ she recognised, startled, as she found he was the one now standing on her doorstep, and groaned her dismay as several cameras flashed in her face. ‘Come inside,’ she instructed furiously, grabbing his arm to drag him into the hallway and close the door against those intruding cameras. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ she demanded accusingly, knowing his presence here at her home was only going to add fuel to the fire.
Liam didn’t look any happier than she did, scowling down at her darkly. ‘Your telephone has been constantly engaged for the last hour,’ he rasped. ‘What else was I supposed to do, if I wanted to talk to you, but come over here?’
‘My telephone hasn’t been engaged all morning—I’ve taken it off the hook! A case of self-preservation,’ she snapped in explanation. ‘The first reporter rang here at eight o’clock this morning.’ She glared her displeasure.
Liam relaxed slightly. ‘They started ringing me at seven-thirty!’
Laura’s eyes flashed blue-green. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’
He grimaced. ‘If it was, it obviously hasn’t succeeded.’ He ran a distracted hand through the darkness of his hair. ‘Are you going to ask Amy to bring us both a cup of coffee into the sitting room, or do you intend to keep me standing out here in the hallway all day?’
What she wanted to do was tell him to leave!
But he was right about the inappropriateness of them standing here in the hallway—though not for the reason he said. Even though this was a large house, their voices were no doubt carrying up the stairs to the bedrooms. And the last thing she wanted was for them to wake Bobby and for him to appear!
‘Go through to the sitting room; you know the way,’ she said ungraciously. ‘I’ll go and ask Amy for the coffee.’ And check on Bobby while she was about it
!
Liam was standing in front of the unlit fireplace when Laura joined him in the sitting room a few minutes later, his expression grim, although he seemed to shake that off as he turned to smile at her.
‘You look much more like the old Laura in those denims,’ he murmured huskily.
She felt the colour enter her cheeks. She didn’t want to be reminded of the old Laura! But, as Liam had just pointed out, she was dressed casually today, in denims and a soft green jumper. Unless there was an emergency she had no intention of going in to the office today, was going to spend the time with Bobby instead.
Thoughts of her son still asleep upstairs gave a sharpness to her answer. ‘Appearances can be deceptive!’
Liam raised dark brows, smiling slightly. ‘Ever on the defensive, Laura.’
She gave an acknowledging inclination of her head before asking, ‘Why are you here, Liam?’
His expression became grim once again, his eyes narrowed. ‘Have you seen the National Daily today?’
She gave a disgusted snort. ‘Do I need to?’ She waved her hand towards the front of the house. At least half a dozen reporters and cameramen were gathered out there now.
Liam winced. ‘I think so.’ He pulled a folded newspaper from the pocket of his dark blue jacket, the usual denims and a tee shirt worn beneath. ‘Here.’ He held the newspaper out to her.
Laura sensed a certain wariness about him now, as if he already knew she was not going to like what she read in the newspaper he offered her. Her own unease deepened considerably.
‘Page four,’ Liam indicated as she took the newspaper.
She gasped as she turned the double-page spread to find a photograph of Liam and herself. The photograph had obviously been taken the previous afternoon at the hotel—without either of them realising it! The two of them were seated in the hotel lounge, smiling across at each other in what looked like a very friendly manner.
Laura couldn’t imagine at what part of their meeting that had been, but nevertheless the evidence was there in front of her eyes.
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