Mother's Day Treats

CHAPTER FIVE

‘YOU have been doing your homework, haven’t you?’ she said calmly, determined not to show any signs of the inner panic she felt at his disclosures.

He had been doing his homework; but not well enough if he didn’t know about Robert Shipley Junior…

‘You still haven’t told me how you came to realise I’m now Laura Shipley,’ she prompted, dark brows raised over curious eyes.

Liam shrugged. ‘It wasn’t that difficult. The taxi you took home last night is based at the hotel. I saw the driver this morning, told him you had left something behind when you left last night, and asked him the address at which he had dropped you so that I could return it.’

Laura drew in a harsh breath. ‘As easy as that?’ she bit out sharply, wishing she’d had the forethought to have Paul drive her to and from the hotel last night. Except she had already dismissed him for the day when Liam had telephoned and asked to meet her…

‘As easy as that.’ Liam nodded his satisfaction. ‘After that it was a simple matter of making a few enquiries about the occupant of a certain house in Knightsbridge.’

It gave her an uneasy feeling to know that it really had been that easy. She had thought she was safe, protected, and now she felt more than a little vulnerable.

‘You can imagine my surprise when the occupant turned out to be one Laura Shipley, owner of Shipley Publishing,’ Liam explained hardly.

Surprise sounded the least of his emotions!

‘And here you are,’ she said brightly. ‘I believe you have an appointment with Perry in forty minutes or so—’

‘Forget Perry,’ Liam rasped. ‘It’s you I came here to see—’

‘I’m sorry, Liam, but I’m afraid I have another appointment in twenty minutes, and as I have to drive there—’

‘Cancel it,’ he grated harshly.

Her eyes widened incredulously at his arrogance. ‘I most certainly will not,’ she replied indignantly.

Laura was due to meet Bobby from school today. She usually took him to school in the mornings, and Amy collected him in the afternoons, but on Tuesdays, Amy’s day off, Laura always collected Bobby too. There was no way she would ever be late in doing that, let alone just send Paul to collect him in the car.

Although she had no intention of sharing any of that information with Liam!

Liam moved to sit down in the chair facing her desk, his long length slouched against the leather, his eyes narrowed as he studied her thoughtfully. ‘You take all of this quite seriously, don’t you?’ he finally said. ‘Shipley Publishing,’ he added as she looked at him blankly.

Laura’s thoughts had all been on her son, and it took a moment for her to realise exactly what Liam had said. ‘Of course I take it seriously,’ she snapped. ‘You obviously considered this publishing house good enough for your manuscript,’ she pointed out.

He looked over at her with scornful eyes. ‘That was before I realised you ran it.’

She bridled at his deliberate insult. ‘And what difference does that make?’ she challenged.

His mouth twisted. ‘A lot!’

She drew in a sharp breath. ‘You’ve signed nothing yet, Liam, and are under no obligation—as we aren’t—to take this any further. In view of that—’

‘In view of nothing, Laura,’ he cut in forcefully. ‘What did you think of Josie’s World?’ He watched her with narrowed eyes. ‘And don’t tell me you haven’t read it—because I won’t believe you.’

‘One thing about you hasn’t changed in eight years, Liam—you’re just as arrogant as you ever were!’ she said disgustedly.

He remained unmoved by her outburst, his face expressionless as he continued to look at her. ‘Well?’

Laura sighed. ‘I’m sure you’re aware that Josie’s World is a brilliantly written, wonderfully emotional book.’

‘Is it?’

She looked at him sharply. For the first time since they had met again yesterday she heard a note of uncertainty in Liam’s voice…

Did he really not know how good his book was?

She could see anxiety in those deep blue eyes now, tension about those sculptured lips as he waited for her answer.

Could it be, that after an absence of eight years, Liam had actually lost confidence in his ability to judge the worth of his own writing? It wasn’t an inconceivable idea. It was just totally unexpected from a man with Liam’s arrogance!

But she could see from the stiff set of his shoulders, the tension that emanated from him, that her answer to his question was very important to him.

Part of her, she inwardly admitted, wanted to play down the brilliance of the manuscript he had presented to them, if only to wipe some of the remaining arrogance off that handsome face. It might also make Perry’s job easier later if she played down how good Josie’s World was…

But another part of her, the entirely truthful part, couldn’t do that, not even if she did feel Liam needed to be taken down a peg or two. In the face of his obvious—to her!—professional uncertainty, to negate the brilliance of his manuscript would not only be cruel in the extreme, it would be dishonest.

Liam might bring out a lot of emotions in her, but dishonesty was certainly not one of them!

‘It is,’ she confirmed abruptly, shifting some papers on her desk so that she didn’t actually have to look at him and see the look of triumph she was sure would be on his face now. ‘There’s a problem with the name of the author, of course—’

‘How long did it take you to realise I had written it?’ Liam interrupted interestedly.

The first chapter. The first page. The first paragraph.

‘Not long,’ she responded carefully. ‘Perry believes the subterfuge is because of a desire on your part not to repeat what happened eight years ago…? The excess publicity, et cetera…’ She looked at him questioningly.

Liam gave a slight inclination of his head. ‘You have a very bright-senior editor there, Laura,’ he drawled dryly.

‘I like to think so,’ she agreed. ‘In view of your obvious satisfaction with his capabilities, I’m sure you will have no problem dealing together—’

‘Only the one,’ Liam cut in softly.

Laura eyed him warily now, not liking the gentleness of that tone at all. ‘Which is?’

‘I—’ He broke off as the telephone rang on her desk. ‘You had better take that,’ he advised. ‘It’s probably your watch-dog, Ruth, checking that I haven’t strangled you!’

Laura gave him a withering glance before picking up the receiver, colour entering her cheeks as she discovered that Ruth was indeed the caller. But not to check on whether Laura had been strangled by Liam!

‘I’ll be right out,’ she told her secretary abruptly before ringing off, looking across at Liam as she did so. ‘My car is waiting downstairs,’ she informed him, standing up. ‘I’m sure Ruth will be happy to provide you with a cup of coffee while you wait for your appointment with Perry at four o’clock.’

Liam also stood up, instantly dwarfing Laura. ‘And I’m sure that the only thing Ruth would be happy to provide me with is the door! Besides, I have no intention of seeing Perry at four o’clock—or any other time.’

Laura’s wariness returned. ‘You’ve decided to go to another publisher?”

From Shipley Publishing’s point of view, she would be very sorry if that were the case. But from a personal point of view…? She could only feel relief at having the possibility of seeing Liam on a regular basis effectively removed!

‘Not at all,’ he dismissed. ‘I’ve just decided I would prefer to have you as my editor rather than Perry Webster.’

Laura stared at him with one very green eye and one very blue one. ‘You—have—decided!’ she finally managed to gasp, shaking her head dazedly. ‘I hate to be the one to break this to you, Liam—’

‘I have the feeling you don’t hate it at all,’ he drawled in reply. ‘But whatever it is you hate, Laura, I suggest you save it for when we meet again in the morning; you have an appointment in—ten minutes.’ He adjusted the time after a quick glance at the watch on his right wrist.

She was going to be late in getting to the school if she didn’t leave now!

But Liam’s statement of a few minutes ago was so—so unbelievable that she felt rooted to the spot. Just who did he think he was? The obvious answer to that was Liam O’Reilly, but his name, prestigious though it might be in the literary world, did not give him the right to dictate terms to her. Least of all who his editor was going to be! If he really didn’t feel he could work with Perry, then there were plenty of other editors at Shipley he could choose from—though they did not include her!

‘I thought you were returning to Ireland this evening?’ she queried as she picked up her shoulder-bag.

‘I was,’ Liam confirmed, walking over to the door with her.

‘What happened to change your plans?’ As if she really needed to ask that!

Since his telephone call to Perry this morning Liam had found out that she was Shipley Publishing—and he was enjoying playing the cat-and-mouse game with her that he had initially accused her of playing with him. Well, that stopped right now!

‘Never mind,’ she said suddenly. ‘I really do have to go now—’

‘Could you drop me off somewhere?’ Liam suggested sardonically.

‘No, I couldn’t!’ Her face was red from anger now. ‘Liam—’

‘In that case, before I go I’ll make an appointment with Watch-dog Ruth for the two of us to meet tomorrow morning,’ he told her unconcernedly.

Laura paused with her hand on the door. ‘Liam, I have no intention of having a meeting with you tomorrow morning, or indeed any other time,’ she said frustratedly, all the while aware of the time ticking away. ‘Perry is more than capable of dealing with any queries you may have—’

‘Not the ones I want answers to,’ Liam put in softly.

Laura gave him another sharp look, not liking the way this unexpected meeting had gone at all. But she really did not have the time to deal with this just now; she had Bobby to think of.

‘Make what appointments you like, Liam,’ she advised him impatiently. ‘But I will have nothing to say to you in the morning that I haven’t already said.’

Liam gave her a considering look. ‘Is he important to you?’ he finally asked consideringly.

She gave him a startled look. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she had to leave immediately she would have made sure Liam was fully aware of exactly how this situation lay! As it was… ‘Who?’ she prompted irritably.

He folded his arms across the width of his chest. ‘The man you’re going off to meet—and don’t say it isn’t a man,’ he stated, as she would have spoken. ‘I recognise that flush in your cheeks, that glow in those incredibly beautiful eyes, only too well.’

‘You do?’ she said sceptically.

‘I most certainly do,’ Liam rasped. ‘You always glowed like this when you were excited or pleased about something.’

She didn’t want to hear how she looked when she was excited or pleased—or to remember the occasions when Liam must have seen her in that particular state.

‘Goodbye, Liam,’ she told him with blazing dismissal, wrenching open the door to hurry from the office without a backward glance, giving Ruth a brief wave before she hurried out to the lift and downstairs to the waiting car.

But she couldn’t bring herself to relax as Paul drove in the direction of Bobby’s school, aware that she was cutting things very fine for picking her son up on time. Secure and confident as Bobby was generally, he was still only seven, and he tended to become anxious if there was no one there to meet him when the school bell rang at the end of the day.

‘With a minute to spare,’ Paul told her with satisfaction as he pulled the car into the school car park.

‘Thanks, Paul,’ Laura told him with relief, before hurrying off to Bobby’s classroom.

Liam had said she looked pleased and excited, but he had obviously mistaken the reason for those emotions. She was always pleased to be with Bobby, and in his case her excitement was actually maternal pride.

She smiled with that love and pride as she watched her son through the classroom window as he packed his books away for the day. The tallest in his class, he was a very handsome little boy, dark hair curling slightly, blue eyes bright and alert, his features still showing signs of babyhood.

Liam’s son…

Laura frowned as she acknowledged the likeness between father and son. It wasn’t just that their colouring was the same; Bobby had a certain proud bearing in his stance, and was obviously going to be as tall as his natural father.

For the first time, as she watched her son unobserved, she pondered the question of whether or not one day—when Bobby was old enough for Liam not to be able to even attempt to have a share in his son’s childhood or teenage years!—she would have to tell him about his real father.

For her own sake, she answered a definite no; after the pain of the past she couldn’t contemplate sharing even Bobby’s adulthood with Liam! From Bobby’s point of view she was less sure. He had loved Robert as his own father, been devastated at his ‘daddy’s’ death two years ago. But the truth of the matter was Bobby’s real father was still very much alive… Was she right to deny him all knowledge of that?

Why did Liam have to come back into their lives in this way and present her with this dilemma?

‘Why are you frowning, Mummy?’ Bobby asked curiously at her side, having joined her without her even noticing, and with his hand now nestling comfortably in hers as he looked up at her.

She determinedly pushed away her disquieting thoughts, smiling down at her son. ‘Was I, darling?’ she parried, taking his school bag from him. ‘I was actually just wondering if you would like to go out and have a burger for tea?’

As she had expected—and hoped!—the thought of going out for tea instead of going straight home totally diverted Bobby from the fact that she had initially looked less than happy.

She pushed thoughts of Liam away into a locked compartment in her mind. She intended keeping it that way. If she knew Liam—and she was sure she did!—then he would have made that appointment to see her in the morning; she could think about him again then.

Easier said than done! She had managed to get through tea at the burger restaurant, had bathed Bobby at home, done his homework with him, read him a story after she’d put him to bed, all without allowing a single thought of Liam to interfere. She wasn’t so lucky now she was alone in her own bedroom later that evening!

Eight years ago Liam, a lecturer when he wasn’t actually writing, had come to her university to give a talk on modern literature. She remembered that the hall had been packed that day, all of the students, having read at least one Liam O’Reilly book, now curious to see and listen to the man himself.

Laura hadn’t heard a word he’d said!

As soon as Liam had stepped on to the podium she had been mesmerised—by the way he looked, the way he moved, the soft, lilting seduction of his voice.

The lecture had passed in a daze for Laura, and she had still been lost in daydreams of the handsome author when she’d gone to the refectory for her lunch, picking uninterestedly at the pasta salad she hadn’t remembered choosing, sipping lukewarm coffee she had forgotten to put any sugar in.

‘Did you know there’s a contact-lens in your tea?’

Those words! Ill-fated, if she had but known it. But at the time all she had cared about was the fact that the man she’d been daydreaming about had just spoken to her, the lilting attraction of his voice unmistakable.

Her cheeks had been fiery red as she’d looked up to see Liam O’Reilly standing beside her table with his own laden luncheon tray, and her breath had caught in her throat as she’d gazed up into the rugged handsomeness of his face.

She’d moistened suddenly dry lips. ‘I don’t drink tea,’ she returned shyly. ‘And I don’t wear contact lenses either,’ she added, well aware that he had to be referring to the differing colours of her eyes.

He grinned down at her. ‘I know. Oh, not that you don’t drink tea,’ he explained as he put his tray down next to hers on the table. ‘I meant the contact lenses; I couldn’t help but notice the incredibly unusual beauty of your eyes at the lecture earlier.’

Those eyes widened now, even as she swallowed hard. ‘You—saw me there?’

He grinned. ‘Second row, third seat in. Mind if I join you?’ He indicated the otherwise empty seats around the table at which she sat.

‘Er—no. I mean, yes. No, of course I don’t mind if you join me,’ she corrected self-consciously.

All the time at the lecture, when she had been gazing at him like some besotted idiot, he had actually noticed her too! Or maybe he had noticed her because she’d been gazing at him like a besotted idiot…?

‘I enjoyed the lecture,’ she told him nervously as he lowered his lean length into the chair beside hers.

He gave her a sideways glance, a smile still playing about those sculptured lips. ‘Did you?’ he drawled teasingly. As if he were well aware of the fact that she hadn’t heard a word he said!

‘Don’t look so stricken,’ he advised gently as the colour first came and then as quickly receded from her face, leaving her very pale, her eyes huge pools of colour in that paleness. ‘You weren’t the only one who looked ready to fall asleep,’ he assured her humourously. ‘I’m well aware that for most of you a degree is the only goal, that a lot of the work that precedes obtaining that degree can be boring in the extreme—’

‘You weren’t in the least boring!’ she burst out protestingly as she realised he thought that was the reason for her inattentiveness. ‘I—I was fascinated,’ she told him truthfully—even if that fascination hadn’t exactly been with what he was saying!

‘Prove it,’ he invited, taking a mouthful of the chicken sandwich he had chosen for his lunch.

She swallowed hard, eyeing him warily. If he intended going through a question-and-answer session on his talk that morning she might as well own up to the truth right now; until she had chance to look at a friend’s notes she wouldn’t have a clue what he had actually talked about!

‘Have dinner with me this evening?’ he asked lightly.

Dinner…? Liam O’Reilly wanted her to have dinner with him?

She stared at him, trying to tell from his expression exactly what he meant by such an invitation. He looked back at her with questioning blue eyes—eyes that told her nothing!

Laura moistened her lips again, frowning up at him, her uncertainty mirrored on her face.