Page 17 of Strictly Business

He cracked a small smile. ‘Just remember I’m the boss and I get to make the decisions.’

His brashness fired two pink spots in her cheeks. ‘I thought your first priority was to hunt down new premises. Somewhere flash on the Esplanade.’

‘I’ve simply changed my priorities. As I see it now, my biggest problem is the outback and I’m going to tackle the most pressing problem first.’

Her hands twisted nervously. ‘You know you shouldn’t be asking me to do this, Liam. Take Shana. She’s a Mt. Isa girl and she has good contacts out west.’

‘Shana’s also a single parent with a rather emotionally fragile pre-school child.’

Her head shot up. ‘You know about Toby?’

‘Yes. You see, Alice, I have looked into alternatives.’

Her eyes widened and he thought he caught a flash of emotion. Annoyance? Pique? Was the cool lady miffed that he’d exhausted other possibilities before approaching her? The thought stirred him in ways that it shouldn’t.

‘Shana doesn’t want to spend so much time away from her son,’ he said. ‘And Mary-Ann has specialised almost exclusively in the Reef tours and attractions.’

‘And Dennis?’

‘I have other plans for him.’ Liam pressed his point home. ‘Alice, you used to look after the client base in the outback and it was doing well. It makes perfect sense that you should accompany me.’

There was a long awkward silence and at the end of it she let out a sigh. Of defeat? Liam held his breath.

‘I’m sorry, but I’d rather not,’ she said quietly.

‘I’m afraid you don’t have any option. Alice, I’m telling you that this is not negotiable. It’s a directive.’

‘A directive?’ Her eyes flashed with a mutinous glitter, but he glimpsed a flash of pain behind her defiance.

He felt a stab of guilt. Her husband had treated her shabbily and no doubt she found it hard to trust any man now, especially a man who’d deliberately sought her out, and then seduced her.

‘How long would we be gone for?’ she asked.

He forced a casual shrug. ‘For as long as it takes.’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ Her sudden anger launched her to her feet. ‘What kind of answer is that?’ Her eyes turned smoky, angry as thunder clouds. ‘You might be my boss, Liam, but don’t let the power go to your head.Surely you haven’t forgottenourground rules? You know perfectly well why we should make this trip as brief as possible.’

‘Don’t you trust me?’ He tried to lighten the question with a chuckle, but even to his ears it sounded hollow – rather destroying the effect.

Her chin tilted to a haughty angle. ‘No. Under the circumstances, I think I’d be foolish to trust you.’

Liam knew he deserved that. For a long moment, he stared at the surface of his desk while he breathed in and out slowly. Then he kept his gaze determined as he looked at her. ‘I don’t appreciate being lumped with that toad, your husband.’

She winced and Liam hastened to press his advantage. ‘Three days, Alice. That’s all I’m asking.’ God knew how he was going to survive three days in the outback without touching her, but he was determined to stand by his word.

‘There’ll be separate accommodation?’

‘Of course. You have my word this will be strictly business.’

Her response was another venomous glare. ‘You’d better believe it, Mr. Conway.’

‘What’s this? A new dress code for the office?’

Alice squirmed beneath Dennis’s scrutiny of her bone coloured stretch Capri trousers and plain white scoop neck T shirt.

‘I’m heading bush today,’ she said, nodding to the small backpack on the floor beside her desk. ‘Just for a quick tour of the Gulf Country to try to recoup some of the market share.’

‘On your own?’

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