Page 47 of Strictly Business

‘I’ll come with you.’

Her eyes flashed open. ‘No, Liam. I don’t expect you, to –’

‘As I said, I’m involved. Get used to it. We’ll take your parents to dinner somewhere tasteful and discreet and we’ll tell them in a very adult and civilised manner exactly what’s happened and they’ll respond in an equally adult and civilised manner.’

Alice stared at him with her mouth open. Just like that, he’d hit on the perfect solution. It would work. She knew it. Liam would win her parents over with his effortless charm and the aunts, too, if necessary.

‘And I’d like you to meet Julia and my nephew, Jack,’ he said.

Goodness that was unexpected. Alice was gaping again. Liam had always been so secretive about his personal life.

She could sense his steely resolve. ‘I’m going to help you through this, Alice.’ He jumped to his feet. ‘But now I really must let you get some sleep.’

Alice rose, too. She wasn’t quite sure how to say goodbye; Liam had become so businesslike in the past few minutes. ‘Thank you for coming.’

He was tapping his phone. ‘I’ll just call a cab.’

‘Don’t you have a car yet?’ She couldn’t help asking this after Shana’s dark mutterings about the story in the paper.

His face turned blank. ‘No, I don’t need one.’

Given everything that had transpired this evening, it wasn’t the moment to start quizzing Liam about why he didn’t drive. But as he left her that night, dropping a light kiss on her forehead before heading outside to wait for the taxi, she realised that for all his involvement in her life, there was still a great deal she didn’t know about the man.

Over the following weekend Alice cleared her desk and on Monday morning she began transforming her spare bedroom into a home office. She already had a lap top and a beautiful English oak desk that she’d had since the days when she still lived with her parents. Now she made space on the bookshelves for files, set a row of green glass tortoises on the window sill, shopped for a cork board, a filing cabinet, a cordless phone and a new leafy pot plant to brighten the room.

Lunch was a mug of tomato soup – and an apple – for the baby.

But she was so keen to start work that she munched this at her desk. She was munching when the phone rang.

‘Well done.’

‘Is that you, Liam?’ A piece of apple slid a little too quickly down her throat. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘You’ve just secured the long term future of Kanga Tours.’

‘I’ve what?’

‘You’ve impressed the hell out of our most important potential investor – Kenny Toh from Asia Pacific Investments.’

‘Oh, Mr. Toh. Yes, I remember him. He was in the office last week with his wife and daughter, on their way home to Singapore, but I didn’t know he was from Asia Pacific.’

‘Apparently he did a little spying – came in with his family and posed as a tourist. And you provided him with exceptional customer service, attention to detail, courtesy, cultural awareness and professionalism.’

‘Is that what he said?’

‘Yes, just now, in an email.’

‘Are you sure it was me?’

‘Yes, he was very specific and he wants you to look after his family’s bookings when they come back for a holiday. You’ve no idea what this means to me, Alice. Asia Pacific are huge and I really need their backing. I spent half my time in Sydney looking after Kenny, but he was still lukewarm when he left. Wasn’t promising anything.’

‘But he’s definitely come on board now?’

‘The contract documents for an investment agreement will be in the Sydney office tomorrow.’

‘Well, that’s terrific. Congratulations.’

‘The congratulations are all yours. I owe this to you.’

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