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of his whereabouts, which had made it possible for her to know that he would be on the island of Majorca at this time to meet a prospective buyer for his hotel. This hotel.
Instead of showering and changing as she had said she was going to she lay on the bed staring up at the pristine white ceiling. Time was running out, and she just didn’t know what to do to stop everything collapsing around her ears. Edward Carlyle was the key, she knew that, but she also knew he had every intention of letting things collapse.
She had never met the man, but she knew of him from his father, William, knew that the two men had argued years before, with Edward leaving the family and the family business with a vow never to return to either. And now that family business was in danger of falling. Without Edward Carlyle’s intervention, that was exactly what it was going to do. And so far he had proved impervious to her request that the two of them should meet to discuss the matter.
She had been stunned when on William’s death two months ago, his will had revealed that he had left Carlyle Properties jointly between Juliet and his remaining son Edward, his younger son having died several years earlier. As William’s personal assistant Juliet obviously knew how to run the company, but with a completely joint ownership between herself and Edward Carlyle, an exact fiftyfifty split, it was impossible for her to make any major decisions without the approval of the other partner. And Edward Carlyle refused even to acknowledge her letters, let alone come to England and talk over the running of the business.
It was deliberate, Juliet was sure of that. She knew that even though his father was now dead Edward Carlyle must still harbour feelings of anger towards William, that the family rift was still there despite the death of one of the participants. Edward Carlyle was going to let his father’s property business fail simply by being indifferent to its existence!
Obviously, with the success of his own chain of exclusive hotels all over the world, Edward Carlyle didn’t need Carlyle Properties, but Juliet felt a sense of loyalty to William to keep the company going. He had done so much for her, she didn’t want to let him down now…
She had tried what had amounted almost to camping out in Edward Carlyle’s head office in England, the luxurious suite of offices from where he supposedly ran the hotel chain. But it had transpired that he spent little time there, preferring to be actually in the hotels themselves to ensure their efficient running.
And no wonder, if this hotel complex was anything to go by; in the six days Juliet had been here she had quickly realised how easy it would be to become used to the attentive luxury of a place like this! There was everything one could possibly need here to ensure every comfort. Except Edward Carlyle himself!
Unfortunately the property business was still a difficult thing to be in, and William had only just managed to salvage the company three years before when the market had collapsed around a lot of people’s ears. Things were starting to pick up again now for anyone who had actually survived that collapse, but, even so, decisions still had to be made very carefully. And without Edward Carlyle’s agreement Juliet couldn’t make any at all
She turned over on the bed with a pained groan. She had to find Edward Carlyle. She just had to. Two more days and she would go back to England and start her search for him all over again. While there was still time she wasn’t about to give up. She couldn’t! She owed it to William not to…
She hadn’t even been aware of dozing off, but she knew that she must have been asleep for some time when she rolled over on the bed to see the bright sunshine blazing through the doors that led out to the balcony of this first-floor suite. A quick glance at her watch revealed that it was after eleven o’clock. Almost lunchtime, and she hadn’t even had breakfast yet!
As usual, there was a buffet lunch being set out in one of the gardens when Juliet ventured downstairs almost an hour later, having showered and changed into a cotton sundress of a bright red colour that somehow managed not to clash with the blaze of her now confined hair, a tortoiseshell slide loosely securing its curling length at her nape. It had been strange, a week ago in England, packing all her summer things to bring away with her; in early November in England it was already cold and wintry.
The man, Liam, was the last person she wanted to see as she approached one of the tables placed about the garden near the buffet. He was seated at another table a short distance away, watching her with narrowed blue eyes, still wearing the faded denims but having put on a short-sleeved shirt of the same sky-blue colour as his eyes. His hair looked even more golden in the bright midday sun, his skin tanned a dark bronze.
No doubt, like a lot of the other guests here, he spent a great deal of time sitting around in the sun doing nothing but improving his tan, Juliet thought disgruntledly as she put her laden plate down on the table and sat down abruptly, carefully avoiding looking across at Liam as she did so.
She no longer felt hungry as she looked down at the salad and fruit on her plate. What was she doing here? This wasn’t her sort of place at all; these weren’t her sort of people either. God, it was all such a waste of time, and——
‘I should eat that if I were you,’ murmured a familiar voice from above her. ‘You look as if a puff of wind might blow you away!’ Liam added grimly.
Juliet had looked up at him at the first sound of his voice, and her face became flushed with irritation now as she heard his last comment. ‘I would hardly have selected the food if I didn’t intend eating it,’ she bit out tautly, deliberately picking up her fork at his taunt to stab at a piece of melon and put it pointedly in her mouth, meeting his gaze challengingly once she had done so.
‘Fruit and salad…’ He was shaking his head as he lowered his lean length into the seat next to her. ‘It’s hardly going to pile on the pounds, is it?’
She swallowed the piece of melon, almost choking on it as she realised she had forgotten to chew it. ‘I don’t want to “pile on the pounds", thank you!’ she finally managed to snap.
Liam sat forward, his elbows resting on the table beside her, the hair on his tanned arms a golden blond too. ‘It may be fashionable to be thin, Juliet,’ he said softly, ‘but most men prefer a woman they can actually hold on to.’
She gasped at his familiarity; didn’t this man know how to take a hint? It must be perfectly obvious to him by now that she didn’t appreciate his intrusive company. God, she had told him bluntly enough that she wasn’t in the market to be picked up. But maybe that fact alone was a challenge to him, she wearily acknowledged; he looked like the sort of man who would relish any sort of challenge offered to him!
Well, she had said it, and she meant it; she had much more important things to do here than become the plaything of a man like Liam. ‘I really don’t care what “most men prefer",’ she told him with sweet venom. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to eat my lunch in peace.’ She looked at him pointedly.
‘Don’t mind me.’ He relaxed back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest to watch her with narrowed blue eyes.
That was hardly what she had meant and he knew it! What was she supposed to do now? Because she had no intention of eating her lunch with this man sitting there watching her every move.
‘You——’ She broke off, looking past him to the table where he had been sitting minutes earlier.
A woman was now sitting at the table, looking across at the two of them enquiringly—a beautiful woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, her blonde hair short but perfectly styled, make-up expertly applied. And she was obviously waiting for Liam…He hadn’t wasted much time since his arrival here; breakfast with Juliet, lunch with this other woman! And the other woman, with her slightly voluptuous figure, looked exactly the sort of woman a man could hold on to!
Juliet turned back to Liam. ‘I believe your luncheon guest has just arrived,’ she informed him directly.
He turned to glance casually over at his table, lifting his hand to the woman in an acknowledging salute, before turning back to Juliet. ‘Perhaps I’ll see you later,’ he said huskily as he stood up to leave.
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