were hardly the words or the actions of a gentleman and she knew she should have been shocked. But she was too lost inside her cloud of desire. And her throat was so choked with emotion she couldn’t have voiced a protest even if she’d tried to.
And then, in the lull between one song and the next, he said, ‘Birthday girl, I want to take you home.’
Oh, God. Alice buried her face in his shoulder, her heart beating like a wild creature. She’d known from the moment she left the Hippo Bar that there was every possibility the evening was heading in this direction, but for one hot, terrifying moment of panic her courage failed her. A casual fling was so outside her experience.
Liam gently stroked her neck. ‘Bad idea?’
Was it? Alice tried to think calmly, but she was such a swirling mass of emotion and desire she was beyond the point of rational decision-making.
But she knew there was one important question she had to ask. She tilted her face so that her husky whisper reached him. ‘Tell me one thing; are you married?’
‘No.’ He said that so definitely she knew that he spoke the truth.
Raising her eyes to meet the hot intensity of his, she said, ‘It’s not a bad idea, Liam.’
The rasp of his indrawn breath made her shiver. He was as tense, as consumed as she was. She could hardly breathe.
They left the Reef Club holding hands and yet hardly daring to look at each other as they passed beneath the glow of overhead lights.
‘I didn’t bring my car,’ Alice said. ‘Did you?’
For the briefest moment she sensed a different kind of tension in him. ‘No; I haven’t organised a vehicle yet.’
‘Well,’ she said lightly, ‘there should be plenty of taxis around tonight.’
She felt impossibly shy as they stood near the edge of the footpath, waiting for a taxi. ‘I—I guess this is where one of us says, your place or mine?’
His light blue eyes seemed to shimmer. ‘I’m sure that should be your choice.’
The taxi arrived and they slipped into the back seat. Liam glanced at Alice as the driver waited expectantly. This was it; no turning back now. And it was her choice.
She gave the driver the address of her flat in Edge Hill. Better to be on home ground. The thought gave her an illusion of control. Besides, she was rather proud of her flat; she’d bought it with her share from the sale of the house she’d shared with Todd.
It was ultra-modern and brand new and it was such a novelty to have her very own private space that she kept it looking fabulous. Her friends teased her that she was expecting Home Beautiful magazine to call, begging to feature her place in their next big spread.
Thinking about her friends’ gentle teasing helped to calm her as the taxi sped them through the dark streets. It helped too that Liam sat a little apart from her and she was relieved that he wasn’t panting all over her on the back seat.
Nevertheless she could sense his tension and her body burned with breathless, coiling anticipation. What kind of lover was this man?
What kind of lover was she? Not much of one, if Todd’s straying from her bed was any indication. But there was something about Liam’s frank and open appreciation of her that shored up the confidence Todd had undermined.
A welcome cool breeze greeted them as they stepped from the taxi. Above them a new moon spilled a romantic silver sheen over the lush fronds of the palm trees that lined Alice’s street.
‘Nice location,’ Liam said and then he fell silent as they walked along the brick path flanked by newly landscaped gardens.
It wasn’t till Alice was fishing in her bag for her door key that she was hit by a rush of sudden doubts. Was she making a terribly stupid mistake? She didn’t know anything about this man. She didn’t do this kind of thing.
If a clairvoyant had told her she would bring home a good-looking stranger from a bar, she would have laughed in her face and demanded her money back.
When it came to dating trends, Alice had been left behind in the last century. Although her unattached friends seemed to think nothing of having sex for no other reason than because they fancied a guy, until tonight Alice had never dreamed of being so rash. Not in her wildest fantasies. Well, OK, maybe in her wildest fantasies—but since when were they reliable?
Perhaps she should suggest coffee. She had a lovely new espresso machine and she could take Liam Conway into her shiny, trendy kitchen and make coffee and insist that they talk some more. She could get him to talk about himself. There were so many things she should know before they—
Too late. Liam reached for her as soon as the front door closed behind them. And thoughts of coffee and the questions that had seemed so important scampered clear out of her head as he drew her in to him. And his lips met hers.
Oh…His lips were soft and firm and warm and super-slow. Alice’s legs almost buckled beneath her.
‘You have the most gorgeous mouth,’ he murmured.
‘I’m…rather taken with yours.’ She was a little stunned to hear how sinking-out-of-control she sounded.
And then he touched his lips to the side of her throat. ‘And you have the most kissable neck.’
Ah, yes. Flattery and sensuous, lazy lips were a heart-stopping combination. So different from Todd.
No, she wasn’t going to think about Todd. Just Liam. Just this—his mesmerising lips exploring her skin, making her body warm and wanton. She knew now that she’d been starving for intimate contact.
A hot, honeyed languor seemed to fill her. In a dazzle of warmth, she pressed her thighs and hips against Liam’s and arched her neck, silently begging him for more kisses.
Liam obliged. While his hands wedged her body hard against his, his mouth traced a sensuous path down her neck, into the little valley at her collar-bone and then up again. He kissed her ear lobe.
‘Best ears in the southern hemisphere,’ he said and he teased her ear with the tip of his tongue, and she was overtaken by a desperate need to nibble-kiss the rough skin all the way along his jaw.
His response was a sexy choked groan and the next moment he scooped her up in his arms. ‘Which way?’ he murmured as her feet left the floor.
Without a beat of hesitation she pointed down the hallway to her bedroom.
Chapter Two
IT FELT a little crazy to wake next morning with Liam Conway in her bed. Crazy and wonderful. And just a bit sad. This was going to be the hard part—the morning after the night before.
She and Liam could hardly pretend to be strangers after a night of amazing, heaven-on-earth passion, but just the same, the deeper getting-to-know-you stuff that they’d skipped wasn’t going to happen now. Soon Liam would be leaving, walking out of her life, and Alice would have to put on a brave face and remember that she didn’t mind; it was what she wanted.
Besides,
