Carole Mortimer Romance Collection. Carole Mortimer
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been. But maybe not, she thought with a grimace as she saw the way the beautiful blonde woman looked up and smiled at him as he joined her at the table; he looked as if he might have his time filled quite adequately by her. Thank God!
Men, especially of the type she guessed Liam to be, were not something she wanted in her life. She didn’t want any man in her life!
Except Edward Carlyle. She desperately needed to have him in her life, in the life of Carlyle Properties—otherwise there wasn’t going to be a company at all.
That thought put her totally off eating any more of her lunch, and she put the fork down, the food untouched—except for that piece of melon she had so defiantly eaten when Liam had been sitting with her.
She wanted to leave, having totally lost her appetite, but she was very conscious of the fact that if she did so Liam would no doubt watch her going.
What difference did it make if Liam watched her leave? she irritably admonished herself, standing up determinedly; it was none of his business whether or not she ate her lunch!
She walked past the table where he sat with the attractive blonde woman, her head held high. Deep in conversation with his luncheon companion, he didn’t even glance her way.
And Juliet was even more annoyed with herself for even thinking that he would have noticed her departure!
There was something so very beautiful about Majorca in the evening. The sunset brought into focus all the beauty of the orange-pink stonework of the buildings that were prevalent on this lovely island, of the hotel itself as Juliet walked along the sea-shore towards it on her way to dinner, bathed in the pink glow of sunset.
If only she could be like the other carefree holiday-makers here just wanting to enjoy themselves. But it seemed like years since she had been carefree. If she ever had been!
There had been years of being in foster care and then several more years of being out in the world on her own. Before meeting Simon…
At the thought of him she brought her thoughts to an abrupt halt. She hadn’t thought of him for years; refused to think of him. It was all too painful…
Then why was she thinking of him now? She frowned. She knew why. That man, Liam, in some way reminded her of Simon. Oh, not in his manner; Liam was much more self-assured and powerful than Simon had ever been. Simon had been so weak. But their colouring was the same; Simon had been blond as Liam, with the same deep blue eyes. He had been almost as tall as the other man too.
Maybe that was one of the reasons why Liam had evoked such a strong response within her; she could usually handle any advances made to her without feeling as if she was running away! But Liam had made her feel defensive from the first. And now she knew the reason why. He reminded her of Simon, the man she had once loved so deeply…
And, having realised that, Juliet found it was not conducive to her peace of mind that Liam was the first person she saw when she entered the hotel dining-room half an hour later. He was seated alone at a table near a window that overlooked the tranquil bay of this beautiful resort in the north of the island, his luncheon companion noticeably absent. And he looked devastatingly attractive in a white dinner-jacket and snowy white shirt with a white bow-tie, his blond hair brushed back from his face, his eyes deeply blue against his tan.
Juliet looked quickly away from him because he seemed to sense her gaze on him and turned in the direction of the doorway she had just walked through. Probably he had been expecting the beautiful blonde from lunch; he was obviously waiting for someone, as his table was set for two people. And the other woman would probably want to make a grand entrance when she did arrive— unlike Juliet, who just wanted to reach her table as quickly as possible, away from that piercing blue gaze which she could feel was watching her every move now.
The black dress she wore was plain but stylish, fitting neatly to the smooth contours of her body, showing the extent of her shapely legs beneath its knee-length hem. Her hair, the long red curls wilder than usual from the slight breeze that had blown up this afternoon, was loosely confined at her nape with a black slide this time, her make-up light, her lip-gloss a light peach colour.
She had checked her appearance before she’d left her suite, and knew she looked elegantly attractive rather than showily sexy—the way she had always liked to look when she had acted as William’s hostess during business dinners. It was a style of dress that made her feel comfortable. But not so with Liam watching her so intently!
She kept her gaze on the back of the maitre d’ as he took her to her table, looking to neither left nor right of the elegant candlelit dining-room as she did so, not wanting even inadvertently to meet the gaze of the man Liam.
‘Good evening, Juliet.’
She looked up at the sound of his voice, her eyes widening as she realised that the maitre d’ had left after showing her to the table Liam occupied. Liam was standing now as he looked down at her with amused blue eyes.
She shook her head, colour darkening her cheeks. ‘There seems to have been some sort of mistake…’ She looked about her self-consciously.
‘No mistake, Juliet,’ he assured her smoothly, coming around the table to pull back the chair that was placed opposite his.
She frowned up at him, making no move to sit in the chair. ‘But I don’t want to have dinner with you,’ she blurted out bluntly.
‘Oh, I think you do, Juliet,’ he murmured derisively, that amusement still in his dark blue eyes.
She looked up at him indignantly. ‘I most certainly do not!’ she snapped. ‘What happened to your companion from lunch? Didn’t it work out?’ she scorned with obvious sarcasm. Really, this man was extremely arrogant to have assumed that she would be willing to have dinner with him, even going so far as to tell the maitre d’—obviously, because the other man had shown her to this table without hesitation!—that she would be joining him. Well, she had no intention of doing so!
The amusement gone from his eyes now, his gaze narrowed. ‘Sit down, Juliet,’ he told her softly, but nevertheless in a voice that brooked no further argument.
No doubt he was uncomfortable with the attention—albeit discreetly—that was being directed their way from the other diners in the room because of her obvious reluctance to join him at his table. Probably this had never happened to him before, Juliet realised disgustedly.
Her gaze was steady as she looked up at him, grey eyes cool and calm. ‘I told you, I don’t want to have dinner with you,’ she said evenly, her voice lowered.
Liam straightened, his expression grim now. ‘And if you remember I said that you do,’ he returned challengingly.
Her eyes widened now. He really was the most…! ‘Maybe this arrogant approach works with some women,’ she snapped indignantly, ‘but it certainly isn’t going to work with me! Now, if you’ll excuse me…?’ She looked at him pointedly as he stood firmly in the way of her walking away from the table.
‘Certainly.’ He stepped back. ‘But I was under the impression,’ he added softly as she turned away, ‘that you wanted to talk to me.’
Juliet turned back dazedly. ‘I can’t imagine how you ever gained that impression,’ she said incredulously. ‘Other than bluntly telling you I don’t care whether I ever set eyes on you again, I’ve done everything I could to show you that I’m not interested in whatever you have in mind. You really do have the most monumental arrogance, Mr…Liam!’ Her eyes flashed her anger as she glared up at him.
‘The name is Carlyle, Juliet,’ he told her softly. ‘Edward William Carlyle,’ he added pointedly. ‘Are you still of the opinion that you don’t care whether you ever set eyes on me again?’ He coolly returned her gaze, his brows raised mockingly.
JULIET didn’t