Two's Company

Up close like this he looked to be in his late thirties, had a ruggedly handsome face, dark lashes surrounding those sharply alert blue eyes, his nose long and straight, his mouth a sculptured curve, the chin square and powerful. And he was looking down that long nose at her now, no matter how pleasant his words just now might have sounded.

Juliet shrugged, her own clothing similar to his except that the T-shirt tucked into the narrow waistband of her jeans was navy blue in colour. She looked very small and slight next to his much more forceful physique.

‘The morning is the most beautiful part of the day,’ she dismissed—although at three o’clock in the morning she hadn’t been quite so sure about that!

‘I happen to agree,’ he nodded, still looking at her with those piercing blue eyes—eyes that seemed to miss nothing.

For all that he was dressed casually he didn’t look like the usual holiday-makers Juliet had so far seen at this exclusive hotel. Most of them, including the men, were more interested in making a fashion statement with their clothing than actually relaxing and enjoying the sun and the sea, and this man gave the impression that he didn’t give a damn about fashion, that he dressed for comfort, and to hell with what anyone else thought about the way he looked. Even that slightly waving golden-coloured hair was unfashionably long. Although she could be making a complete misjudgement—she very often did—and later on, when he was joined by his fashion-conscious wife and spoilt teenage children, she would know that she had!

‘Well, if you’ll excuse me…’ She gave him a bright dismissive smile before turning away.

‘No,’ he said abruptly from behind her.

Juliet turned with a frown; what did he mean, no?

‘I ordered coffee a few minutes ago,’ he smiled, revealing even white teeth, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

It was amazing the difference that smile made to his face; he no longer looked remote and slightly daunting, and certainly not hostile. But, nevertheless, Juliet was still somewhat perplexed by his manner.

‘Why don’t you join me?’ he offered smoothly.

Her grey eyes widened. Really, she had just met the man, and he had been distinctly rude from the first, and now he had the nerve to ask her to join him for coffee. ‘Wouldn’t your wife think that rather odd?’ she returned with sweet sarcasm.

She had kept herself very much to herself since her arrival here, resisted all the attempts of the other guests to try and include her in their activities. She was very much a loner anyway, so that hadn’t been difficult for her to do; she certainly had no intention of joining this man for coffee—or anything else.

His mouth twisted. ‘I don’t have a wife,’ he told her drily. ‘And even if I did I can’t see anything wrong in my asking you to join me for a cup of coffee!’

Colour warmed Juliet’s cheeks at what she sensed was his mockery. Maybe she was being a little overcautious, but her experiences of life so far had taught her to have very little trust in other peopleespecially some lone man she had accidentally met like this.

‘I don’t—’

‘Could you put the tray on the table, please? And bring another cup.’ The golden-haired stranger talked past Juliet and over her shoulder, and as she turned she could see the waiter arriving with his tray of coffee things. In fact, it wasn’t just coffee; there were rolls and croissants there too.

And he was obviously a man used to giving orders and expecting them to be obeyed, she thought as she watched the waiter putting the tray down on the table on the patio before going off to get the second cup.

‘Come and sit down,’ he offered now, strolling back on to his patio with long, easy strides. ‘Would you like something to eat?’ He indicated the rolls and croissants. ‘There’s plenty here for two.’

Juliet gave him a perplexed frown. She hadn’t exactly got around to refusing his offer of coffee, but it must have been obvious to him that she had been about to do so when the waiter arrived. And yet he was choosing to ignore that. He had also put her in a position where it would look very churlish of her to refuse the offer now.

She joined him on the patio to his suite with some reluctance, the man waiting to resume his seat until she had made herself comfortable in one of the four chairs arranged around the table, and choosing the one directly to her left rather than the one opposite which she had been hoping he would opt for.

‘Nothing to eat for me, thank you,’ she refused stiltedly, not exactly comfortable with this situation; she felt as if she had been coerced into it, and it didn’t sit well with her normally self-sufficient nature.

He gave her a considering look. ‘You look as if a few pounds in weight wouldn’t do you any harm.’ He arched pointed brows at her almost boyish figure.

Juliet was well aware of the fact that she was probably more slender now than she had ever been in her twenty-seven years, and that it didn’t exactly suit her to be this thin, but she certainly didn’t appreciate this man telling her so. ‘Just coffee, thanks,’ she told him abruptly, intending to drink up as quickly as possible and make her escape.

But as he nodded before pouring the steaming hot brew into the waiting cup she knew that that wasn’t going to be immediately possible, not unless she wanted to make a complete idiot of herself by scalding her mouth in her haste! She added plenty of cream when he placed the cup in front of her, but even so she knew it was still going to be too hot to drink just yet.

‘I’m Liam, by the way.’ He looked at her enquiringly.

‘Juliet,’ she muttered into her cup, just as unforthcoming, before taking a hesitant sip of the steaming liquid. It was as hot as she had suspected, and she put the cup back down again, resigned to spending more time than she wanted in this man’s company.

‘Thanks.’ He smiled dismissively at the waiter as he arrived with the other cup and saucer. ‘Are you here on business or pleasure?’

Juliet looked up at him sharply as she realised that he was once again talking to her. ‘Business?’ she echoed tautly.

He shrugged broad shoulders, relaxing back in his chair. ‘There are plenty of business opportunities here. Even this hotel is up for sale.’

And she hardly looked in a position to buy one of the Carlyle hotels! ‘So I believe,’ she answered non-committally. ‘Is that why you’re here?’ she returned challengingly.

He shook his head. ‘This is purely a pleasure trip for me. I was just curious about you; you don’t look the usual type to book into an adventure playground like this one.’ He raised questioning brows at her.

Juliet bristled with indignation. What ‘type’ did she look? Oh, he was right, of course, but even so…!

And he hardly looked like the bored socialite in search of the sun—a description which seemed to fit most of the guests here. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.’ She shrugged dismissively.

Liam nodded. ‘Thinking about a holiday and actually taking one are two different things, aren’t they?’ he said drily.

‘But you’ve only just arrived here—I mean, I haven’t seen you around for the last week,’ she explained awkwardly, that colour back in her cheeks as she realised that she had given away the fact that he was the sort of man she would have noticed if she had seen him before. But she would have done; he was hardly the type of man to be overlooked in a crowd, let alone here at this hotel! Nevertheless, she felt a little embarrassed at having acknowledged the fact.

‘I arrived last night. As you said, it seemed like a good idea at the time,’ he added grimly. ‘Now I’m not so sure.’

‘You’ve hardly given yourself time,’ Juliet pointed out.

Liam looked at her over the rim of his coffeecup, having ignored the cream and sugar to drink it black. ‘How long have you been here?’ he drawled.

She shrugged. ‘Almost a week.’

‘And?’ He arched blond brows.

She suddenly realised the point he was making. ‘I didn’t come here with the intention of enjoying myself,’ she snapped irritably.

He sat back once again. ‘No? Then you are here on business?’

This man was altogether too curious, too probing, too damned direct! ‘Perhaps,’ she returned non-committally, trying the coffee once again, just wanting to drink it and be on her way back to her own suite of rooms.

‘I’m not that daunting, am I?’

She looked up sharply to find that Liam was watching her, amusement dancing in those deep blue eyes now as he looked pointedly at the halfempty cup in her hand. Juliet put the cup back in its saucer with a clatter. ‘I think I should get back to my suite now. I would like to shower and change before breakfast,’ she told him stiltedly.

He nodded. ‘Join me for lunch?’

She stiffened defensively. ‘No, I——’

‘We’re both on our own, Juliet,’ he cut in reasonably. ‘It’s ridiculous for the two of us to eat alone.’

She stood up abruptly, her hair falling loosely over her narrow shoulders, a blaze of red in the sunshine. ‘I prefer to eat alone, thank you,’ she snapped. ‘And I’m certainly not here for a pickup!’ She was breathing hard in her agitation.