‘A little—!’ She was so angry now she couldn’t even complete her sentence. ‘If you think that’s true, Liam, then you must have a very low opinion of me,’ she said furiously. ‘And an even more inflated opinion of the role you once played in my life!’
They glared at each other wordlessly across the width of the desk for several long minutes. Laura was determined not to be the first to look away, but Liam was equally determined, apparently.
And then the atmosphere between them shifted slightly, changed, no longer charged with anger but with something else entirely.
‘Do I?’ he finally said.
Laura’s gaze was locked with his, her breathing low and shallow. ‘Do you what?’ she repeated softly.
‘Have an over-inflated opinion of what we once meant to each other?’ he encouraged huskily.
What they once meant to each other—!
His implication was enough to break the spell. For Laura, at least. She shook her head, her expression derisive. ‘I think we covered that quite well last night, Liam—I was an infatuated young student; you were an older, more worldly-wise man, flattered by—’
‘I’m well aware of the fact that I am some years older than you, Laura,’ he interjected, straightening away from the desk. ‘I certainly don’t need to keep being reminded of it!’
She was relieved he had moved his overwhelming presence away from her desk, but at the same time she was determined to put their past relationship in perspective. The way that she’d had to do for herself eight years ago, when she had thought her world was falling apart!
‘You—’
‘But talking of older men,’ he continued hardly, blue eyes narrowed again, ‘I believe Robert Shipley—’
‘I told you last night. I will not discuss Robert with you. Under any circumstances,’ she added tautly as Liam would have spoken, her eyes flashing a warning.
‘Robert Shipley was fifty-three when you married him,’ Liam continued, undaunted.
Laura half rose from her chair. ‘I—’
‘And fifty-eight when he died two years ago and left you as his widow and sole heir,’ Liam finished softly.
Laura dropped back into the leather chair, the colour draining from her cheeks.
Every thing that Liam said was true but one.
Robert had been fifty-three when they’d married seven and a half years ago. And he had only been fifty-eight when he’d died five years later. Leaving her his widow.
But Liam was wrong about her being Robert’s sole heir; the houses and half his fortune were hers, yes. But the other half of the money, and Shipley Publishing, she only held in trust. Robert Shipley Junior—Bobby, Liam’s own son—was actually heir to all of that…
CHAPTER FIVE
‘YOU have been doing your homework, haven’t you?’ she said calmly, determined not to show any signs of the inner panic she felt at his disclosures.
He had been doing his homework; but not well enough if he didn’t know about Robert Shipley Junior…
‘You still haven’t told me how you came to realise I’m now Laura Shipley,’ she prompted, dark brows raised over curious eyes.
Liam shrugged. ‘It wasn’t that difficult. The taxi you took home last night is based at the hotel. I saw the driver this morning, told him you had left something behind when you left last night, and asked him the address at which he had dropped you so that I could return it.’
Laura drew in a harsh breath. ‘As easy as that?’ she bit out sharply, wishing she’d had the forethought to have Paul drive her to and from the hotel last night. Except she had already dismissed him for the day when Liam had telephoned and asked to meet her…
‘As easy as that.’ Liam nodded his satisfaction. ‘After that it was a simple matter of making a few enquiries about the occupant of a certain house in Knightsbridge.’
It gave her an uneasy feeling to know that it really had been that easy. She had thought she was safe, protected, and now she felt more than a little vulnerable.
‘You can imagine my surprise when the occupant turned out to be one Laura Shipley, owner of Shipley Publishing,’ Liam explained hardly.
Surprise sounded the least of his emotions!
‘And here you are,’ she said brightly. ‘I believe you have an appointment with Perry in forty minutes or so—’
‘Forget Perry,’ Liam rasped. ‘It’s you I came here to see—’
‘I’m sorry, Liam, but I’m afraid I have another appointment in twenty minutes, and as I have to drive there—’
‘Cancel it,’ he grated harshly.
Her eyes widened incredulously at his arrogance. ‘I most certainly will not,’ she replied indignantly.
Laura was due to meet Bobby from school today. She usually took him to school in the mornings, and Amy collected him in the afternoons, but on Tuesdays, Amy’s day off, Laura always collected Bobby too. There was no way she would ever be late in doing that, let alone just send Paul to collect him in the car.
Although she had no intention of sharing any of that information with Liam!
Liam moved to sit down in the chair facing her desk, his long length slouched against the leather, his eyes narrowed as he studied her thoughtfully. ‘You take all of this quite seriously, don’t you?’ he finally said. ‘Shipley Publishing,’ he added as she looked at him blankly.
Laura’s thoughts had all been on her son, and it took a moment for her to realise exactly what Liam had said. ‘Of course I take it seriously,’ she snapped. ‘You obviously considered this publishing house good enough for your manuscript,’ she pointed out.
He looked over at her with scornful eyes. ‘That was before I realised you ran it.’
She bridled at his deliberate insult. ‘And what difference does that make?’ she challenged.
His mouth twisted. ‘A lot!’
She drew in a sharp breath. ‘You’ve signed nothing yet, Liam, and are under no obligation—as we aren’t—to take this any further. In view of that—’
‘In view of nothing, Laura,’ he cut in forcefully. ‘What did you think of Josie’s World?’ He watched her with narrowed eyes. ‘And don’t tell me you haven’t read it—because I won’t believe you.’
‘One thing about you hasn’t changed in eight years, Liam—you’re just as arrogant as you ever were!’ she said disgustedly.
He remained unmoved by her outburst, his face expressionless as he continued to look at her. ‘Well?’
Laura sighed. ‘I’m sure you’re aware that Josie’s World is a brilliantly written, wonderfully emotional book.’
‘Is it?’
She looked at him sharply. For the first time since they had met again yesterday she heard a note of uncertainty in Liam’s voice…
Did he really not know how good his book was?
She could see anxiety in those deep blue eyes now, tension about those sculptured lips as he waited for her answer.
Could it be, that after an absence of eight years, Liam had actually lost confidence in his ability to judge the worth of his own writing? It wasn’t an inconceivable idea. It was just totally unexpected from a man with Liam’s