she enthused, wrapping her shawl more securely in front of her chest. Adrian stared. Her blue eyes sparkled like jewels in the fire-light and all the gold lights in her hair seemed to dance and shimmer just for him. ‘Do you play?’ She directed her glance briefly across the room to the stately grand piano she had been fascinated with from the moment she’d set eyes on it.
Relaxing back into his chair, Adrian shrugged, the beginnings of a smile touching his lips. ‘A little. Do you?’
‘I do.’ There was no point in being falsely modest, Liadan thought, not when she had been playing the piano since she was five. The only reason she hadn’t gone to music school was because her parents had needed her to help them in the hotel. She could have refused, but at the end of the day she hadn’t wanted to disappoint them because her brother Callum had sworn that no way was he going to go into the hotel business. So once again she had sacrificed her own needs for somebody else’s…Liadan dismissed the uncomfortable thought with a slight frown between her brows.
‘Would you like to play me something?’ Before she could answer, Adrian moved across the room to switch off the CD that was playing.
‘You don’t mind?’ Uncertainly Liadan got to her feet, her whole body in a state of quiet excitement at the idea of playing such a beautiful instrument.
‘Be my guest.’
Settling himself back in his seat, Adrian made a steeple of his fingers and watched with interest as Liadan settled herself on the piano stool, then almost reverently lifted the lid to expose the keys. As soon as her fingers touched them she closed her eyes and began to play. The music that ensued was nothing short of wonderful. There was barely a difference from the CD recording that had been on a moment ago. The short hairs on the back of his nape standing on end, Adrian watched transfixed as Liadan continued to play, a quiet but powerful sense of excitement building slowly but inexorably inside him. Clearly at one with the music flowing from her fingertips, she kept her eyes closed mostly—as transported as he was on waves of sound so sweet, so poignant, and yet so powerful, that it almost brought tears to Adrian’s eyes.
When she had finished, the silence in the room was profound. Glancing shyly across at him, Liadan smiled, her lovely face unable to conceal her joy. Without saying a word, Adrian got up and walked over to her. Taking her utterly by surprise, he bent down to capture her mouth in a long, deep, soul-stirring kiss that effectively blotted out his past as easily as though God had finally taken pity and obliterated it for good. Today was a new day. With this woman he was made anew. There was no stain on his soul to stop him completely giving himself to the moment…His hands cupping her face, feeling the strong yet delicate bones of her small jaw, Adrian explored the sensation of skin as soft as a newborn child’s beneath his fingers and something settled irrevocably inside him. Something profound and good and natural that reconnected him back to a world where good things really happened. Where all was not lost in a tangled dark web of death, deceit and destruction.
Liadan could hardly believe he was kissing her. When she’d seen him approach she had secretly hoped, imagined…a peck on the cheek maybe? Something affectionate but polite that wouldn’t strain the bounds of their professional relationship too much. Something to show his pleasure at her playing. But, instead, the moment his lips took possession of hers she was shaken by a deep and stirring connection that unravelled her to the core. She was still shaking. The reality of his touch was so much more satisfying and passionate than anything she could have imagined. He kissed her as if he meant it. He kissed her as if he meant that kiss to lead to so much more. Liadan shivered. Need and want and carnal longing poured into her body, filling her with a profound, restless, scalding heat that begged for fulfilment.
When his mouth finally released hers, Liadan stroked her fingers gently across her throbbing lips, her heart going wild. She could still taste him, still feel the sensuous exploration of his tongue and smell the exotically sexy tang of his aftershave.
‘What was that for?’ Was that really her voice? That soft bedroom huskiness?
‘That was for reminding me that grace and beauty still matter in the world. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ What else could she say? I would gladly play for you any time, day or night, till we both grow old?
‘Where did you learn to play like that?’
‘I had lessons from the age of five. I guess I never saw piano practice as a chore, as some of my friends did.’ Shrugging, she carefully closed the lid on the keys and got to her feet.
Her scent was all around him—not just the fragrance she wore, but the sweet, unique lovely scent of the woman herself. Liadan. Even her name seemed imbued with magic. Adrian’s senses were totally confounded by her. Right now he didn’t even feel like putting up a fight against the soft but deadly power she wielded.
‘You are an exceptional woman…you know that?’
‘No, I’m not.’ Glancing down awkwardly at her hands, Liadan tried to shrug his compliment off. As lovely as it was and as much as she secretly thrilled to have him bestow it, she knew it was ultimately wrong to allow this much intimacy with a man who was, after all, her employer. Somehow she was going to have to reassume the role he was paying her for as quickly as possible. No matter how much she longed to be closer to him…In a few days’ time, when things got back to normal, hopefully Adrian would forget that he’d ever let his guard down so carelessly around her.
As for her own heartfelt reaction to his kiss—well, she would have to forget that, too. Adrian Jacobs’ world and hers did not equate, no matter how carefully you did the maths. All of a sudden, quite uninvited, she heard Steven Ferrers’ mocking voice. He might bed you…he’ll marry some posh tart whose daddy is loaded. As much as she hated to admit it, Liadan knew he was probably right.
‘With respect, if I were exceptional—what am I doing working as a housekeeper?’
‘Not all exceptional people call attention to themselves, Liadan. Most go quietly about their work, doing it with honour and integrity, happy to stay out of the limelight.’
‘That’s true, I suppose. I wouldn’t want fame if you paid me.’ Tossing back her hair, Liadan grimaced. ‘It certainly doesn’t seem to have brought people like Petra Collins much happiness, does it?’
‘You’re right.’ Adrian’s voice was sober. ‘She is a very unhappy woman and fame is definitely not all it’s cracked up to be.’
‘She might already be regretting dragging your name through the papers with that awful slander. Hurting you won’t make her feel better. How could it?’
‘Are you so quick to believe my innocence in all of this, Liadan?’
Absorbing the steady, direct perusal of his sensual dark gaze, Liadan had no hesitation in stating her feelings on the matter.
‘You have too much good in you to treat someone in such a disrespectful way,’ she said quietly.
Adrian was stunned by her assertion, and it painfully dawned on him that Liadan’s insistence on his goodness might be pointing to deeper feelings on her part than he had realised. The thought immediately made him want to set the record straight—to disabuse her before, God forbid, she should do something so useless as to fall in love with him. If he didn’t quickly destroy those hopeful illusions she had about him, he would only end up destroying her innocence more cruelly.
He reached for denial and pain—those long-time friends of his who never let him down, who reminded him exactly why he chose
