I think,’ Juliet interrupted firmly. ‘The situation, as it stood, looked very damning. You—’
‘I could have tried listening more, instead of jumping to conclusions,’ he cut in with selfcontempt.
‘I don’t think so,’ she said comfortingly. ‘I was engaged to your brother, lived with your father after Simon’s death, inherited a house and half a business on his death; I think you may have been justified in the conclusions you came up with!’ She had thought about it a lot over the last ten days; what other conclusion could Liam have come to, in the circumstances, than the one he had?
Liam grimaced. ‘Don’t let me off the hook too easily, Juliet,’ he sighed. ‘As Diana has told me, only too volubly, I deserve any verbal abuse you may want to throw at me.’
Juliet stiffened at the mention of the other woman’s name; she had briefly forgotten Liam’s involvement with her. What difference did it make if he loved her when he was committed to the other woman?
‘How is Diana?’ she asked coolly.
‘Not too well.’ Liam frowned. ‘The doctor has ordered her to stay in bed for a couple of weeks.’
Juliet moistened dry lips. ‘I see.’
‘She told you about the baby?’ he prompted.
‘Not exactly,’ Juliet answered evasively, not particularly wanting to get involved in a conversation in which she would have to admit to having inadvertently eavesdropped on something that was none of her business.
Liam shrugged. ‘Tom is damned furious about the whole thing, which isn’t helping the situation,’ He shook his head.
Juliet stared at him incredulously. ‘Doesn’t he have a right to be furious?’ she gasped. After all, Tom’s wife was pregnant with another man’s baby—this man’s baby!
Liam pulled a face. ‘Not particularly, no. After all, he was there too; she didn’t do it all on her own.’
She frowned. Was it her, or had the conversation taken a turn she just wasn’t expecting?
She shook her head. ‘You’ve lost me somewhere, Liam.’ She sat down in one of the armchairs, sure that this was going to be a long conversation, and she had no intention of standing through all of it.
Liam sat down too, across the room from her. ‘Tom and Diana decided years ago that they wouldn’t have children. But somehow three months ago Diana’s pills let her down, and now she’s pregnant after all. But if she takes it easy, looks after herself and the baby, things should go OK.
‘Tom is panicking because of what happened in the past. I’ve tried to reassure him, but he remembers what happened to Becky only too well.’ He sighed. ‘There’s no reason why it should happen again, but I don’t suppose he can help worrying.’
No, it wasn’t her; she really didn’t know what this conversation was about! ‘Who is Becky?’ she prompted impatiently.
‘Diana’s sister. My wife,’ he added as Juliet still looked blank. ‘She died in childbirth four years ago. And the baby was stillborn.’
Juliet just stared at him. And stared at him. And stared at him. She knew he had been married—he had told her so—but she hadn’t known it was to Diana’s sister, or that his wife had actually died. She had a lighting replay of that conversation she had heard between Diana and Liam, and it suddenly made a different sort of sense. Liam wasn’t having an affair with Diana at all, and the baby certainly wasn’t his; he just happened to be a member of her family, and was concerned for her and her husband. And their unborn baby.
Which wasn’t surprising when his own wife and baby had died. God, how awful for him. Her own past losses had been bad enough, but to have lost both his wife and the baby…! It must have been terrible for him. Probably still was.
‘I didn’t know…’ Juliet said weakly.
‘There’s no reason why you should.’ Liam shrugged, obviously still finding it a painful subject. ‘It was some time ago, and isn’t something I particularly want to talk about. It’s just a pity that it’s affecting Diana and Tom’s joy over their own baby.’
‘Everything will be all right, though, won’t it?’ Juliet said concernedly; she had come to like the other woman in the short time she had known her.
‘I’m sure it will, once Tom gets over the shock.’ He nodded. ‘In the meantime, I’m looking for a new personal assistant,’ he added slowly, uncertainly. ‘And as Diana pointed out to me, during one of her less verbally condemning moments, I do know someone who is more than ably qualified.’ He gave her a pointed look.
Juliet blinked, returning his gaze warily. ‘Me?’
‘Mmm,’ he acknowledged softly. ‘The benefits are that the salary is good and you would have lots of time off; I work hard, but I play hard too. But there is one major drawback,’ he added heavily.
Juliet was still stunned that he was actually offering her Diana’s job. How could she possibly work for him, feeling about him as she did? And, if she believed what he had said to her earlier he had feelings towards her too that wouldn’t be particularly conducive to a harmonious working partnership. Unless…?
‘Liam, I thought you said you believed me about my relationship with your father—’
‘I do!’ he assured her forcefully, crossing the room to take up a kneeling position next to her chair. ‘Of course I do.’ He took both her hands firmly in his. ‘That wasn’t the drawback I was talking about,’ he said impatiently. ‘Although I’m not too sure, on reflection, whether it was a particular compliment to me that you should think a relationship with me would be a drawback!’ He gave a dismissive shake of his head. ‘What the hell? I probably deserved that! No, the drawback is that my assistant has to be a married lady.’
Juliet frowned. ‘Why?’
He shrugged. ‘My wife insists on it.’
‘But you’ve just said—’
‘Well, she isn’t my wife quite yet.’ He grimaced self-consciously. ‘But I’m hoping.’ He looked up at her with dark blue eyes. ‘Juliet, will you marry me?’
She stared at him once again. She didn’t seem to be able to do much else at the moment!
‘I love you very much,’ he continued pleadingly. ‘I know I haven’t shown that too much, but if you’ll let me I would like to spend the rest of my life making up for that. For a lot of things,’ he added darkly, obviously thinking of the past. ‘Juliet?’ he prompted as she still remained silent. ‘I just want to see you smiling and happy—see the shadows leave your eyes.’
She swallowed hard. ‘You also want to fatten me up,’ she said inconsequentially.
‘Only a little,’ he conceded. ‘I just want to look after you!’
‘And who will look after you?’ she said huskily.
‘You will. If you would like to. I mean—’
‘I know what you mean, Liam,’
