Page 25 of Strictly Business

‘Oh.’ She wriggled her hands out of his grasp and pressed them to her bright pink cheeks.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

‘Actually, it doesn’t matter.’

‘Don’t be silly. Of course it does.’

Alice smiled at him. ‘Don’t look so worried, Liam. I’m safe as houses. We don’t need protection. I’m not going to get pregnant,’ she said and she forced a careless little laugh.

The brittle, offhand way she said this made her look and sound tough, but Liam could sense vulnerability lying just below the surface. He stepped towards her and reached for her hand.

Watching the way their fingers linked, she said softly, ‘I know pregnancy isn’t the only reason couples use protection.’

‘I’ve – I’ve never taken risks. I would never put you at risk, Alice.’

‘Well, you’re the only man I’ve slept with apart from my husband.’

Was she telling him as clearly as she could that she wanted to take up where they’d left off? The thought robbed him of breath. ‘So you think –’

‘Yes,’ she said, looking up at him with a sweet, shy smile. ‘I think. I very definitely think.’

This time when they kissed it was different. Not just because the kiss was slow and long and lush and warm, but because now they were no longer swept away by dangerously high emotions. They’d taken a step back; they’d had a chance for second thoughts, to think of the consequences. They’d given each other the space to say no.

And they’d both chosen yes.

This time as Liam’s fingertips roamed the silky smooth skin at Alice’s waist, his desire was buoyed by a surge of relief. To hell with office politics. He was mad about this woman. He wanted her, and he didn’t care who knew it.

CHAPTER EIGHT

IT WAS late afternoon. The sun was a red ball, hanging hot and low in the west, reaching beneath the branches of the paperbark outside Liam’s cabin and spreading a warm pool of light over the bed where they’d fallen asleep.

Alice woke first. For a while she lay still, thinking about how precious life was, how amazing and unpredictable. And the man whose limbs were entwined with hers was precious, amazing and unpredictable, too.

She suspected that she was in love.

She knew that most people would tell her it was impossible to really love someone on such a short acquaintance. Surely after her experience with Todd she should be more cautious? But she’d never felt like this about Todd. Even before he’d started cheating on her, he’d never really fired her admiration, or her passion.Liam had, however. And if what she felt for him wasn’t love, it was so close to the real thing she couldn’t tell the difference.

Carefully she lifted his arm and slipped out of bed, pulled on her top and panties and switched on the electric kettle. The sound of the water bubbling to the boil woke Liam and he rolled onto his side and squinted against the shaft of sunlight as he watched her.

‘There are tea bags or a coffee machine,’ she said. ‘Which would you like?’

‘I’ll go for coffee, thanks.’

Yawning, he stood, stretched and rummaged in his pack for boxer shorts. When Alice brought their mugs back to the bed, she set them on a side table, then piled the pillows into a comfortable mound, and settled herself just so.

Liam sat on the edge of the bed with one leg bent, resting on the mattress. She handed him his mug, and for a minute or two they sipped their drinks in silence.

‘Why the worried frown?’ Liam asked her suddenly.

‘Was I frowning?’ Alice deliberately relaxed her face. ‘I was thinking about us,’ she admitted.

‘And that makes you frown?’

‘Not really. I was just wondering –’

‘If we should have sex again now or after our coffee?’ Liam supplied with a grin.

Smiling, Alice shook her head. ‘Actually, I was wondering if we’re better at physical intimacy than we are at every day conversation.’

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