lunchtime they had moved the bulk of the files back into William’s office. And Liam still hadn’t returned. Maybe he wasn’t going to, Juliet thought as she took a working lunch in her own office. Actually, it was an apple and half a cheese sandwich which she had bought from the cafeteria in the building. Unlike Liam, she didn’t have time to go out for leisurely lunches.
As usual, her office door stood open, and she looked up as Diana came to stand there. She had come to like the other woman more and more as the morning had progressed, had found her to be cheerful and hard-working, with infinite patience for getting things right. No doubt she would need that, working for Liam!
Diana looked disappointed as she saw the remains of the cheese sandwich on Juliet’s desk. ‘I thought perhaps you might like to come to lunch with me,’ she said ruefully. ‘But I can see you’ve already eaten.’ She shrugged. ‘You could always sit and have dessert with me?’ she added hopefully.
Juliet was about to refuse, and then changed her mind. She hadn’t taken a break all morning, and even if she only had a coffee with the other woman it was better than nothing. If Diana and Liam were going to be around for any length of time, it would be helpful if she could get on with at least one of them! Besides, it couldn’t be much fun for Diana either, just being thrown in at the deep end here. No doubt the other woman was more than capable of taking care of herself, but it would still be rather rude of Juliet to refuse her invitation.
‘Dessert sounds good.’ She returned the other woman’s smile, standing up to collect her jacket from behind the door. ‘There’s a nice French restaurant around the corner that used to serve lovely pastries.’ She and William had occasionally gone there to reward themselves if they had been working particularly hard.
The restaurant was very busy, as usual, but they managed to find a table for two, and as they sat down Juliet started to wonder what they were actually going to talk about. Liam was obviously off limits, and Juliet had never been particularly forthcoming about her own background, so that really only left Diana’s family.
‘Were your family pleased to see you home last week?’ she asked the other woman conversationally; most women, she assumed, would be quite happy to talk about their children, although never having had any herself, she didn’t really know.
‘Actually they’re my stepchildren—a boy and a girl from Tom’s first marriage—so we usually only have them at weekends,’ Diana supplied easily. ‘I left it rather late in life to get married—too much of a career woman,’ she added with a grimace.
‘You and Tom don’t want any of your own?’ Juliet asked curiously.
‘Well, actually—’ Diana broke off as the waiter
came to take their order. ‘Just coffee and pastries, isn’t it, Juliet?’ she prompted, nodding confirmation to the waiter once Juliet had given her tacit approval.
‘Wouldn’t you like more than that?’ Juliet frowned once they were alone again. ‘Don’t not have anything just because I’ve already eaten.’
Diana gave a lightly dismissive laugh. ‘I’m trying not to put on too much weight. You see—’
‘Not another woman obsessed with her weight,’ an all too familiar voice cut in derisively. ‘John told me this was where I could find you both,’ Liam explained his presence beside their table as Juliet gave him a startled look.
She couldn’t quite believe he was here; she was starting to feel haunted by this man. But she always informed John where she was going when she left the office, so she supposed this was her own fault.
‘Going to join us?’ Diana invited warmly, seemingly unaware of any tension between Juliet and Liam.
‘If Juliet doesn’t mind.’ He looked down at her with those piercing blue eyes.
What did he expect her to reply to that? He obviously knew what reply she would like to make; he also knew that she wouldn’t be that rude in front of a third person. ‘Of course not,’ she answered graciously, even though it was the last thing she really wanted. She had a feeling she and Diana Gilbraith were going to get along just fine, and she felt more than a little resentful of Liam’s interruption of their conversation.
Being at a small table for two, which was now having a third place laid at it so that Liam could also eat, the three of them were sitting rather close together, and Juliet moved away sharply when her knee inadvertently made contact with Liam’s under the table as he sat down.
He gave her an amused look at her reaction. ‘Sorry,’ he murmured drily, moving his chair back slightly so that his legs weren’t so far under the table.
What was it about this man that put her so much on edge? He had had that effect on her even before she had known who he was, but the feeling had only increased since she had found out his identity. And it didn’t help that she seemed to respond to him physically in a way that she found totally disturbing! ‘I’ll have whatever the ladies are having,’ Liam told the waiter when he came for his order.
Diana looked at him with amused blue eyes once they were all alone again. ‘You may change your mind once you see what we’ve ordered!’ she told him teasingly.
He gave her an easy smile. ‘Probably,’ he accepted wryly. ‘So you thought the two of you had earned a break?’ he added mockingly. ‘Work all done, is it?’
Juliet opened her mouth to give him a cutting reply—at least some of them had been working this morning!—but Diana got in before her.
‘Slave-driver!’ she told him good-naturedly.
‘Possibly,’ he conceded dismissively. ‘I’ve been back to the house, Juliet, the file isn’t in my father’s desk. And the filing cabinet there is locked.’
Juliet just stared at him. He had been back to the house this morning? She didn’t understand. What was so special about this particular file? Pet project of his or not, it seemed rather extreme!
‘I have the key,’ she told him dazedly.
He nodded as if he had already guessed that. ‘Can I have it, please?’ He held out his hand pointedly.
She frowned. The filing cabinet in William’s office held all his private papers; he hadn’t believed in safes, because he’d thought that they just encouraged people to think that there was something worth stealing. So he had always put important papers in the filing cabinet in his study in the house.
Of course, William might have left the house to her, but things like his personal papers must surely belong to Liam. Nevertheless, she still felt reluctant to give Liam the key to the cabinet.
‘It’s back in my office,’ she answered evasively, at the same time feeling as if Liam might be able to see into her handbag, see the key in a zipped pocket there.
He met her gaze challengingly, as if he had guessed exactly that. But other than calling her an actual liar…‘I’ll have it later, then,’ he finally answered, sitting back as the waiter arrived with their coffee and pastries. ‘I see what you mean,’ he said ruefully, looking at the sweet, sickly food.
‘I did warn you,’ Diana laughed at his expression.
There was such an easy camaraderie between these two, and yet Juliet was still convinced that her second
