Page 57 of Strictly Business

For long seconds they stood facing each other. In the tense silence her eyes lingered on his face. She saw him swallow and heard the kitchen clock ticking, the coffee machine bubbling and her heartbeats picking up pace.

Then everything seemed to happen in an instant. Liam quickly crossed the room and switched off the coffee, and then stepped towards her, scooped her in... and kissed her.

Hard. Wonderfully hard.

It was a kiss so sudden and passionate that it left her senses reeling. She clung to him, drowning in pleasure, dimly aware that time and distance had only served to make their need for each other stronger and fiercer than ever.

She’d dreamed of this in the past lonely weeks – his hungry kiss, with his mouth crushing hers, his tongue pushing her lips apart and his hands hauling her closer and closer.

She revelled in the ferocity of it, the raw, desperate need. His hands travelled over her, her hands travelled over him, kneading his shoulders, glorying in their solid masculinity, exploring the muscles in his back, then riffling her fingers through his short, springy hair before settling at last with her arms about his neck as she pressed her soft curves into his hard maleness, straining to be as close as possible.

When Liam released her he stood very still, the colour high in his face. ‘I suppose I should apologise,’ he said.

Shaking her head, she offered him an uncertain smile. ‘In case you didn’t notice, I rather liked it.’

‘But as you very rightly pointed out once before, it was sex that got us into trouble.’

‘I’m not in trouble.’ She looked down and gave her tummy a light pat. ‘The only troubling thing about my –situationis that I’ve had to live without you. I’m finding that very difficult. Impossible actually.’

She lifted her gaze and saw the way Liam was looking at her, and she forgot to breathe.

She let out an embarrassed little huff and looked away. ‘I’ve missed you terribly.’

‘Yeah, well that’s mutual.’ With his hands he cradled her face and turned her to look at him. His thumbs traced the lines of her cheekbones.

‘I can’t believe we got our wires crossed so badly,’ she said, thrilled by the gentle caress. Lifting her hand she covered his, holding it against her skin. ‘How could you think I’d be happy without this? I can’t survive with just phone calls.’

His shrug was accompanied by a rueful smile. ‘I was letting you call the tune, but don’t worry, I wasn’t going to wait much longer.’

‘Well,’ said Alice, deciding suddenly that if she was going to call the tune, she would make her message clear as a bell. ‘I think that what I’m actually telling you when I say that I missed you – what I actually mean is I – I love you.’

‘Alice!’ Liam enfolded her in his arms again, but more gently this time.

‘I understand that you may not love me back,’ she told his shoulder.

He leaned away, so that he could look at her. ‘What gave you that idea? I’ve known since I was in Sydney that I was desperately in love with you.’

‘Since Sydney?’

‘I should have put it on the card.’

‘The card you sent with the beautiful green bowl?’

He picked up a strand of her hair, curling it around his forefinger. ‘I wanted to tell you then how I felt, but apart from the fact that I was so damn busy, I decided it would be better to tell you in person, just as soon as I got back.’

‘But you didn’t.’ Alice gave his chest a little push. ‘When you came to my flat, when you asked me to marry you, you didn’t say a single thing about love. You just talked a lot of high-minded stuff about wanting to protect me.’

Liam grimaced. ‘Yeah. You see... there were some...thingsI needed to tell you first, but you had your own problems to sort through and I didn’t want to burden you with mine.’

‘I know about the accident, Liam.’

He seemed to freeze.

‘Julia told me,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She could see visible tension working in his jaw, in his neck and in his clenching fist. ‘I hope you don’t mind that I know.’

‘No.’ He drew a deep breath. ‘I was planning to tell you, but Julia has always had a better sense of timing than I do.’ The tension in his face gave way to a smile. ‘You know I had an engagement ring in my pocket on that night I came to you?’

She was so shocked she stepped backwards out of his arms. ‘An engagement ring? You mean you were planning to propose even before – even, oh, heck,beforeyou knew I was pregnant?’

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