Page 45 of Strictly Business

‘Celebration?’

‘As I remember we’re rather good at it.’

‘But it’s what got us into this trouble.’

‘We’re not in trouble.’

Perhaps he was right. Besides, she couldn’t resist his kiss. And he gave her little option. His mouth claimed her, calmed her. With her eyes closed she relaxed into him and it was perfect – a deliciously sensual and unhurried kiss, different from the passion and fire of their kisses in the past.

There was a tenderness, a loving lingering, as if they both felt just a little overawed by the astonishing, deeper connection of impending parenthood.

When at last they broke apart, Liam buried his face in her hair, ‘Even without a baby in the picture, whatever has happened between us is more than just sex, Alice.’

‘I know,’ she whispered.

His lips brushed her ear. ‘I think you should marry me.’

Marriage. Alice went very still in his arms.

Here it was again; another proposal. Every part of her wanted Liam. But marriage? Could she make a commitment like that? So soon?

It was so tempting, but was it just an easy way to avoid the problems of pregnancy out of wedlock?

She knew she was madly attracted to this man – almost certainly in love with him. But how could she be sure it wasn’t for all the wrong reasons? Liam Conway was powerful and rich, a sensational lover and oh, so divine looking – in other words, every woman’s dream.

But did she know the real man?

At sixteen, Todd had been the epitome of most high school girls’ dreams and she’d fallen for the whole gorgeous footballer thing. But when she got to know Todd inside the harsh day-to-day realities of married life there had been so many disappointments. Those disappointments had created little riftsat first, but over time the gaps had widened and deepened until the damage was irreparable.

One failed marriage had been a nightmare; another would be more than she could bear.

Liam was waiting for her answer. She could feel the tension in his arms as he sensed her struggle. She closed her eyes, wishing this wasn’t so hard.

‘It’s too soon, isn’t it?’ he said.

A little sigh of relief escaped her. He understood. She nodded against his shoulder, but then she lifted her head. ‘That’s not the only reason.’

‘You have a string of reasons for rejecting me?’

It was impossible to discuss this while she was curled on his lap. She hoisted herself onto her feet and stood facing him.

It was time to be sensible.

‘You know I’ve just ended one marriage, Liam. I’m not ready to dive into another.’

He nodded slowly, his eyes stern, his reactions unreadable.

‘And, as I said before, I wouldn’t want you to marry me just because you feel obliged to.’

Liam’s jaw tightened and he flicked his gaze away from her to a woven hanging of rainforest trees and palms on her far wall.

‘In many ways you’re still a stranger,’ she said, glad that he wasn’t looking her in the eye. ‘I didn’t even know you had a brother who died until a few minutes ago.’

But they both knew that what they had shared a few minutes before hadnotbeen a stranger’s kiss.

Perhaps Liam was thinking the same thing. He turned back to her. ‘We’re hardly strangers, Alice. It may be only a few weeks since we met, but we’ve shared a near death experience and we’ve created a new life. How many couples achieve that in such a short time? Every relationship has its own time line.’

‘But marriage is something else again. You don’t know anything about marriage, Liam.’ She rubbed at the carpet with the sole of a bare foot. ‘Marriage isn’t just about the big moments. It’s day in, day out living with a person. That’s when all the little things begin to matter.’

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