Carole Mortimer Romance Collection

His mouth twisted derisively. ‘Can you do that to order too, or is it just something you’re developing?’ he mocked harshly.

She shook her head slightly so that she could try to think clearly. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she finally said weakly.

‘Don’t you?’ he scoffed, his eyes glacial. ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t join me for dinner after all, Juliet. I have a feeling that if you did I might be tempted to strangle you before the end of the meal!’ he added, with self-disgust. ‘You certainly evoke those sorts of emotions in me.’ He shook his head. ‘I would advise you to get some sleep.’

He walked over to the door. ‘We’re going into the office tomorrow,’ he paused to tell her grimly. ‘And God knows what I’m going to find out there!’ He slammed out of the room.

Juliet hadn’t moved—couldn’t move; she could only sit on the bed and stare across the room at the door which Liam had just slammed so forcefully behind him.

Just what did he think he was going to find out at Carlyle Properties…?

CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_1265e89f-44aa-568a-bece-c8f93296cf70)

‘WHY so pensive, Juliet?’ Liam asked with some amusement as they approached the Carlyle offices.

They had driven into town in separate cars, Juliet having decided that she did not want to be dependent on Liam for her transportation home. But Liam had been waiting for her in the car park once she arrived, a much faster driver than she.

‘I’m not pensive.’ She met his gaze steadily, determined not to sound as if she was on the defensive.

The two of them had met for breakfast earlier— the first time they had seen each other since Liam’s cutting remarks the night before. It had been an extremely quiet meal, with the minimum of conversation, both of them leaving for the office at eight-thirty by tacit agreement.

And Juliet wasn’t pensive. She was stressed, however, and knew that a lot depended on what Liam decided today.

He raised blond brows at her as he held the door open for her to enter the building. ‘Sure?’ he mocked.

No, she wasn’t sure; she would have liked to smack that self-assured smile right off his face! And for a person who abhorred violence…!

‘Very. Thank you,’ she bit out tautly, nodding to the girl who sat on Reception, not in the least surprised when Linda looked at Liam with frank appreciation—he seemed to have that effect on most of the female population! Including her, she acknowledged with an inward groan. But after last night she was sure that that would never happen again!

Liam looked about him critically as they moved through the building, and Juliet tried to see it through his eyes. Carlyle Properties had the bottom floor of the office building, the ten staff comprising mainly the computer department and Accounts. The offices were plushly decorated and carpeted, but that was because William had believed that it gave a better impression to clients and prospective clients, rather than because of any excess of money in the company.

She smiled at John Morgan, her assistant since William died, as he hurried down the corridor towards her, and hoped that he was going to help her today to convince Liam that the company was still viable. ‘John—’

‘Thank God you’re here, Juliet,’ he cut in, a worried look on his youthful face; at twenty-five, he had been groomed by William to help Juliet when the older man had semi-retired. ‘I tried calling you at home, but Janet said you had already left, and—’

‘Calm down, John,’ she cut in soothingly, very conscious of Liam standing behind her, the last thing she wanted was to be met by a crisis as soon as they walked through the door!

‘But you don’t understand.’ John was still frowning deeply. ‘A Miss Gilbraith arrived about half an hour ago, and—’

‘Liam?’ Juliet had turned sharply towards him at the mention of his assistant’s name. What was Diana Gilbraith doing here already?

‘We’ll talk about this in your office, Juliet,’ he returned evenly, his gaze meeting hers challengingly.

For long, almost timeless moments she met that gaze, trying to read his expression. But she was wasting her time; Liam was one of the most enigmatic men she had ever met in her life!

‘It’s all right, John,’ she turned back to assure the younger man, forcing a strained smile. ‘I know who Miss Gilbraith is.’ But not what she was doing here! The last she had heard of the other woman, she was having a holiday with her family…!

‘You do?’ John looked relieved by the information. ‘Well, I wasn’t sure what to do with her, so I put her in your office…’ He gave a selfconscious grimace. He was tall and dark-haired, his attractive face youthfully earnest.

‘Thank you, John.’ Juliet gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’

‘That was extremely rude of you,’ Liam remarked softly once they were alone again in the corridor.

Rude of her? This man’s assistant was already in the building, in her office, and he had the nerve to accuse her of being rude? He—

‘You should have introduced—John?—and me,’ he continued arrogantly.

She drew in an angry breath. ‘I believe you should have told me Diana Gilbraith was already here!’ she returned.

He shrugged unconcernedly. ‘Of course Diana is here; she’s my assistant.’

‘And it would have been polite of you to tell me she was already here,’ Juliet told him heatedly.

He gave another dismissive shrug. ‘I can’t see that it’s important. Would you like to take me to my father’s office,’ he added coldly, ‘and send Diana along to me there?’

Juliet’s eyes widened. ‘But—’

‘I believe it’s my office now?’ Liam raised dark blond brows.

No one had used that office since William’s death two months ago, but it was the obvious choice for Liam during his time here. Juliet just hoped that that time was going to be short!

‘Unless you’re using it now?’ Liam looked down at her challengingly.

‘Of course I’m not.’ Juliet drew in a deep, controlling breath. This man meant to annoy her, and he could see that he was succeeding; there was a mocking glint in the dark blue of his eyes. ‘That office is empty,’ she told him stiffly.

His mouth tightened. ‘Not any longer!’

He really was the most objectionable…! The truth of it was that she couldn’t bear the thought of anyone using that office. The room represented William to her, and she could never enter it without thinking of him. It was where she had first met him, where they had spent a lot of their time together during the last seven years; the thought of Liam now using it as his office was unacceptable to her.

‘Do you have a problem with that?’ He continued to look at her coldly.

Yes, she had a severe problem with it! ‘Not at all,’ she assured him coolly. ‘It’s this way.’ She led the way down the corridor to the last door on the right-hand side, one hand on the door-handle as she turned briefly to look at him. ‘This is my office.’ She indicated the door on the opposite side of the corridor.

His mouth twisted mockingly. ‘How cosy!’ he drawled.

She literally had to bite her bottom lip to stop the sharp comment that instantly sprang to her lips, and turned abruptly away from him to push open the door to his father’s—his!—office.

As with the house, this room was decorated and furnished in the style that William liked; the desk and accompanying chairs were antique, the walls papered a muted green, the carpet the same shade of green. The green leather desktop was bare now, but during William’s day it had been littered with paperwork—paperwork that was now in Juliet’s office, where Diana Gilbraith had been waiting for the last half an hour.

‘I’ll send Miss Gilbraith—’ Juliet turned to leave the room so sharply that she walked straight into Liam as he stood behind her. She stared up at him wordlessly, their bodies almost touching.

‘I don’t know how you’ve behaved in the past, Juliet, but I don’t approve of that sort of thing in the office!’ he rasped harshly, clasping the tops of her arms to put her firmly out of his way as he walked further into the room. ‘And when you get into your office would you ask Diana to come in here?’ he added by way of dismissal, moving to sit in the high-backed chair behind the desk.

Juliet was glad to escape from the room; she couldn’t bear the sight of him sitting in the chair which William used to occupy. She wished, not for the first time, that she had never gone to Majorca, had never found Edward William Carlyle at all!

Except, as she very well knew, she hadn’t exactly found Liam at all; he had found her. And he had been playing games with her ever since!

She took a deep, steadying breath before opening the door to her office and standing in the doorway to look across the room to where Diana Gilbraith sat, not, as Juliet had assumed, behind her desk but on the opposite side of it.