But…there would be almost daily contact.
‘I imagine I’ll be out of the office a great deal,’ Liam added, as if he was reading her mind. ‘Especially at first. There’s a lot to do to ensure the company’s viability, so I’ll be out and about. I want to find new premises.’
‘So our old building in the backstreets isn’t good enough for…?’ Alice saw the warning spark in Liam’s eyes and broke off in mid-sentence.
‘I need a prime location,’ he said crisply. ‘Something where all the action is—on the Esplanade with mountain and ocean views perhaps, right on the tourist and backpacker thoroughfare.’
She drained her coffee-cup. ‘I’m sure you’ll want to put your own stamp on the company.’
He didn’t answer. He helped himself to the strawberry jam and then ate his croissant slowly and seemed to pay close attention to a cluster of Golden Cane palms in the courtyard beneath them.
When he finished, he said, ‘Thanks, Alice, that was excellent, but now I should leave you to get on with your weekend.’
She forced a smile and hoped it was broad enough to give the impression that she had so many exciting things lined up for this weekend she didn’t know where to start.
Liam began to gather up their breakfast things. ‘Leave them,’ she insisted. After all, she had two whole days to carry them inside and wash them.
What else was she going to do?
Weekends had always come as a bonus at the end of a busy working week, but suddenly this one loomed emptily before her. She was already focusing on Monday morning, and seeing Liam again. But she was worried too. Darn it. Why did he have to be her boss?
‘Would you like me to call a taxi?’ she offered.
‘No, thanks, I’ll walk. It’s a great morning for having a look around and getting to know my new hometown.’
Her bare feet padded on the timber floor and she knotted her bathrobe more tightly at the waist as she followed him to her front door. A lump jammed her throat as he opened the door and turned to her.
Oh, heavens, last night had been so wonderful. The most beautiful night ever. It made up for all the hurt…
She suddenly wanted to cry. Crazy! No. She mustn’t.
But what should she do now? Kiss Liam on the cheek? Wave him goodbye?
She forced another smile and held out her hand. ‘See you at the office, Mr Conway.’
‘Alice, don’t.’ Dark colour stained his face as he clasped her hand. ‘Don’t be like that.’
Like what? she wanted to ask.
But he was staring at her hand in his. And then suddenly his shoulder nudged the door closed again and, to her amazement, he pulled her roughly to him and his mouth came down hard on hers.
The passionate force of his kiss stunned her. Backing against the door, he pulled her to him, his mouth possessive, uncompromising, bruising. Her heart pounded in answer. Her body softened in instant surrender.
After just one night the smell and the taste and the feel of him were wonderfully familiar. A sweet sense of recognition overwhelmed her—the strong feeling that she belonged in these arms, with this man. She was tinder to his fire, ablaze at the first contact.
Her lips welcomed him. Her hands hungrily explored the muscly wonder of his shoulders; they twined in his hair. Her breasts strained for his touch.
And then, too soon, way too soon, he lifted his head and set her a little apart from him. His eyes glittered with an unreadable emotion.
‘Damn,’ he said, making the word sound both soft and harsh at once. ‘That wasn’t the way I’d planned to say goodbye.’ He touched his lips gently to her forehead. ‘I’m sorry, Alice. It won’t happen again. From now on I’ll be on my best behaviour.’
Too overcome and breathless to answer, she pressed her fingers to her lips to hold back a protest. Once more he opened the door and this time he stepped outside. He sent her one brief, scorching glance, and then he turned and strode swiftly away without looking back.
She watched him go with her fingers still pressed against her lips. Lips that were tender from the imprint of his kiss.
Chapter Three
LIAM spent most of the weekend at the office, working his way through the company’s files and planning his business strategies. He was determined to lift the Cairns branch’s performance to match what he’d recently achieved in Sydney. As a self-made man, he’d worked impossibly hard over the past decade and he’d developed his own formula for revitalising a business.
New premises and a big investment in promotion and marketing were high on his agenda. And a staff performance appraisal. Several years ago he’d been forced to replace many of the inherited staff with a new team.
Could he do that again?
What about Alice? God help him. Could he be hard-headed and impartial enough to sack her if it was necessary?
All weekend his mind was constantly flooded by memories of her, of her heart-stopping, gut-wrenching loveliness, of the way she’d looked with her dark hair spread across the pillow, her rosy lips parted, inviting him to kiss her. She was so sweet and yet so wildly sensual. How could her husband ever have left her?
Liam had been consumed by an insane desire for her.
But office romances often led to trouble and trouble in business could reach atomic proportions. Staking a claim on Alice Madigan would place his goal, the success of his new business enterprise, in jeopardy. He couldn’t take that risk, not when dark, insistent shadows from his past still haunted him.
He had a debt to pay, which left him with no choice but to put his business goals first. Always.
At the sound of a knock on his door on Monday morning Liam looked up to find Dennis Ericson, the branch office manager, lounging a casual hip against the door frame and wearing a supercilious smile.
‘Good morning, Dennis.’ Liam rose and held out his hand. The men had met before when Liam was making his pre-purchase investigations, but not as employer and employee. Dennis was in his mid-to-late forties, a family man, going thin on top and soft around the middle.
He accepted Liam’s handshake, but the wry grimace on his face somewhat marred the sincerity of the gesture.
‘You’ve settled in quickly, then,’ he said, casting an openly curious glance around the office, checking the few small changes the new boss had made to its layout.
Liam nodded. ‘Spent the weekend in here, going through files.’
The silly grin returned. ‘And have you claimed your prize?’
‘What prize?’
For answer, Dennis shot him a sideways, narroweyed glance.
Liam sensed that he was being set up. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Saturday’s Cairns Post,’ Dennis said ominously. ‘Page three.’
Liam shook his head. ‘I didn’t check the weekend papers. Is it something important? Some corporate offer?’
At that Dennis laughed. From his hip pocket he extracted what looked like a newspaper cutting and he flipped it onto the desk.
Annoyed by the smugness of the fellow, Liam refused to rise to the bait. He knew from experience that there was always someone wanting to get the upper hand with the new boss on the first day. He gave the folded cutting a cursory glance, and then stood very still and perfectly silent. Watching Dennis. Waiting.
Dennis’s smile slipped. His Adam’s apple