She looked up at him sharply, relieved that it wasn’t actually his bed but at the same time totally disconcerted by the way he was looking at her. His gaze softened, a smile playing about his lips.
There was a sudden tension in the room. Their gazes locked, grey clashing with dark blue. Juliet was suddenly very aware of Liam’s closeness to her on the side of the bed, the warm heat emanating from his body, the slightly discernible smell of his aftershave. And of her own barely clothed body…
The bedclothes were still pulled up to her chin, but her shoulders and arms were bare, her hair a mass of tumbled red curls against her heated flesh. And this man had undressed her last night, had seen her wearing only the cream bra and panties.
She had never really thought about her body, about whether or not she was attractive to men, having no interest in them herself, but now, surprisingly, she wondered what Liam had thought of her long, silken limbs, of the slight swell of her breasts, the smooth curve of her hips and thighs…
God, not only was she suddenly completely aware of her own body but she was aware of the muscled strength of Liam’s too. His shirt was partially unbuttoned to reveal the golden hair that grew against the tanned skin there. She had never felt so physically aware of a man before. And it wasn’t something she wanted to feel now, either—not at all, but especially not for this man.
‘If you’ll go I’ll just shower and dress and then leave,’ she said stiltedly, her gaze remaining unblinkingly on the harsh attraction of his face.
His mouth curved into a smile, revealing even white teeth, deep grooves beside that mouth testifying to the fact that he smiled often. Normally. When not in the company of a woman he thought had been his father’s mistress!
‘There’s no hurry,’ he said huskily, reaching out to pick up a curling strand of her hair, his fingers lightly brushing the bareness of her shoulder as he did so. ‘Is there?’ he added softly.
Juliet swallowed hard, unable to stop the involuntary shiver that ran down her spine even at that light touch from the slender but powerful-looking hand. ‘I think we’ve agreed that we have nothing else to talk about,’ she said breathlessly.
‘Have we?’ Liam was suddenly much closer, his face only inches away from hers now, and Juliet was able to see the darker flecks of colour in the blue of his eyes, the golden length of his lashes. ‘Perhaps we could find something else,’ he murmured throatily.
She couldn’t imagine what. And she wished he would stop playing with her hair like that. Several curls wound about the length of his fingers now— fingers that kept lightly brushing against her bare shoulder.
‘I don’t think so.’ She was pressed right back into the pillow now as she shook her head, keeping herself as far away from Liam as possible given the fact that she was lying in the bed while he sat beside and over her. ‘It was a mistake coming here.’
‘I’ve never brought a woman here before,’ he mused softly, that darkened gaze roaming slowly over her now flushed features.
She thought that was the whole point; he hadn’t brought her here now, and he resented the fact that she had intruded on his life in this way, considering her connection to his father—a connection that brought back memories he would rather forget.
But at the same time she found it difficult to believe that he had never brought a girlfriend or mistress to this remote villa; it was the perfect place to come for privacy and relaxation.
‘You didn’t bring one here this time, either,’ she said. ‘I came here to talk about your father,’ she deliberately reminded him, knowing she had to put an end to this intimacy as soon as possible. It was far, far too dangerous.
The mention of his father acted like a slap in the face to Liam, who sat back sharply, untangling his hand from her hair before rising abruptly to his feet. ‘So you did,’ he acknowledged harshly. ‘I’ll go and get some coffee on. Come through when you’re ready.’ He strode purposefully from the room, closing the door forcefully behind him.
Juliet felt herself start to breathe again, deep, controlling breaths, and it took her several minutes to calm down her jangled nerves. Even so, she was still shaking slightly. And she didn’t think that it had anything to do with the wine consumption of yesterday!
What had Liam been doing? She hadn’t been mistaken about the desire she had seen in his eyes; she was sure she hadn’t. And, from a man who had shown her nothing but contempt since acknowledging that he knew exactly who she was, she found that more than a little disturbing. Had he been intent on seducing her himself, just to prove that everything he had accused her of was true? It seemed the most logical explanation, and it was one that Juliet viewed with horror. There had been no possibility of her responding to that seduction, but even so it wasn’t pleasant to realise just what contempt Liam held her in.
She threw back the bedclothes, swinging her legs to the floor to stand up and walk through to what she could see was an adjoining bathroom. At least, she would have walked through to that room if her legs hadn’t given way the moment she stood up. Juliet felt herself falling and, unable to stop herself, knocked against the bedside table as she did so. The empty glass that had contained the juice fell too, smashing beside her on the cool marble floor.
She sat dazed on the ground for several seconds, unable to take in properly what had happened. Surely this couldn’t still be the effect of the wine?
‘What the hell…!’ Liam burst back into the room, frowning darkly as he reached her side.
‘Mind the glass!’ she warned, too late, as he began to swear after stepping on a piece of the glass with his bare feet.
‘Never mind that,’ he dismissed, brushing the glass, which hadn’t penetrated the skin, off his foot. ‘What happened?’ He came down on his haunches beside her.
She swallowed hard, pushing back the heavy swath of her hair. ‘I’m not sure. One minute I was standing up, the next I had—well, I fell over,’ she finished lamely, wishing once again that she had more clothes on than her brief underwear; she had never worn so little in a man’s company before. And Liam Carlyle of all people!
His eyes narrowed to steely slits as his gaze ran over the slender length of her body. ‘Are you sure you aren’t pregnant?’ he finally bit out.
Juliet drew in a sharp breath, her cheeks flushed, her mouth a thin, angry line. ‘I told you, no!’ she snapped forcefully, meeting his gaze challengingly.
Liam met that gaze for several seconds, then he shook his head. ‘Then what the hell is wrong with you?’ he rasped. ‘Because this isn’t a normal reaction to an excess of alcohol.’
‘I didn’t drink that much——’
‘I don’t really think that’s relevant any more, Juliet,’ he calmly interrupted her angry protest.
‘Then why do you keep mentioning it?’ Her eyes flashed, deeply grey.
‘I think you should see a doctor,’ he said thoughtfully, ignoring her outburst.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Juliet scorned, holding on to the bed as she got slowly to her feet. The world wasn’t spinning quite so much now. If she just took things slowly…
‘Get back into
