Tall, Dark... Collection. Carole Mortimer

wasn’t. She needed time and space—away from Liam!—to consider what she should do next. For everyone’s sake, not just her own.

      ‘Laura!’ His hold on her wrist relaxed slightly, his thumb moving caressingly against the base of her own thumb now.

      Laura snatched her hand out of his grasp, angry when she still felt that slight caress against her skin. ‘I’ll let you know, Liam,’ she said tonelessly.

      ‘When?’

      ‘When I’m good and ready!’ she returned hotly. ‘You may have set this scene, Liam, but you don’t have the power to dictate everyone else’s moves now that you’ve done so! I need to think about all of this.’ Definitely away from him—far away! ‘When I’ve reached a decision I’ll call you.’

      He studied her flushed and angry face for several long seconds before slowly nodding his head. ‘Just don’t leave it too long, hmm?’ he finally murmured.

      Her eyes flashed in warning. ‘As long as it takes! You’ve engineered a situation here, Liam—for your own reasons,’ she added as he appeared about to protest. ‘But none of us—including you!—know what the repercussions might be once this story appears in the newspaper tomorrow.’ She shook her head resignedly.

      Laura didn’t know what those repercussions might be, but she could certainly take an educated guess.

      She only hoped Liam was ready for it!

      She hoped she was too!

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      PREDICTABLY, the telephone at Laura’s home began ringing before eight o’clock the next morning. And continued to ring.

      Laura had answered the first call, found herself talking to a reporter on a different daily newspaper from the National Daily, and quickly ended the conversation—only to have the phone ring again seconds later. To go unanswered. As the following dozen or so calls went unanswered, too. Until Laura decided to actually take the receiver off the hook. It meant she couldn’t receive any genuine personal calls either, but in the circumstances it was a small price to pay.

      How members of the press had got hold of her private home number she had no idea; she never ceased to be amazed by the amazing network that fed them.

      To say she was annoyed by this intrusion was an understatement! Thank goodness Bobby was still fast asleep, no doubt exhausted by events; Laura wasn’t sure how she would have answered his questions about the fact that the telephone receiver was being left permanently off the hook!

      When the doorbell rang shortly after nine o’clock Laura opened the door to find one of the more determined reporters standing on her doorstep, vaguely waving his press card in her face before launching into a series of quick-fire questions. Questions Laura had no intention of answering. After telling him the inevitable ‘no comment’, she quietly and firmly closed the door in the young man’s face.

      But she could see several other reporters, some with cameras, hovering at the end of the pathway as she did so, and her irritation turned to anger as she realised she would probably have to run the gauntlet of them if she wanted to leave the house at all today.

      Her only consolation was that Liam was probably faring just as badly!

      Not that she had expected her own privacy to be invaded in this way. It was Shipley Publishing the press should be talking to, not Laura Shipley herself.

      Liam!

      This was all his fault. If he hadn’t been so determined to have his own way none of this would be happening.

      The doorbell rang again.

      And again, when Laura didn’t move to answer it.

      And yet again as she continued to stand in the hallway, glaring at the closed front door.

      The incessant noise would wake Bobby in a minute, and then she was going to be really angry!

      She wrenched open the door. ‘I thought I told you—Liam!’ she recognised, startled, as she found he was the one now standing on her doorstep, and groaned her dismay as several cameras flashed in her face. ‘Come inside,’ she instructed furiously, grabbing his arm to drag him into the hallway and close the door against those intruding cameras. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ she demanded accusingly, knowing his presence here at her home was only going to add fuel to the fire.

      Liam didn’t look any happier than she did, scowling down at her darkly. ‘Your telephone has been constantly engaged for the last hour,’ he rasped. ‘What else was I supposed to do, if I wanted to talk to you, but come over here?’

      ‘My telephone hasn’t been engaged all morning—I’ve taken it off the hook! A case of self-preservation,’ she snapped in explanation. ‘The first reporter rang here at eight o’clock this morning.’ She glared her displeasure.

      Liam relaxed slightly. ‘They started ringing me at seven-thirty!’

      Laura’s eyes flashed blue-green. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’

      He grimaced. ‘If it was, it obviously hasn’t succeeded.’ He ran a distracted hand through the darkness of his hair. ‘Are you going to ask Amy to bring us both a cup of coffee into the sitting room, or do you intend to keep me standing out here in the hallway all day?’

      What she wanted to do was tell him to leave!

      But he was right about the inappropriateness of them standing here in the hallway—though not for the reason he said. Even though this was a large house, their voices were no doubt carrying up the stairs to the bedrooms. And the last thing she wanted was for them to wake Bobby and for him to appear!

      ‘Go through to the sitting room; you know the way,’ she said ungraciously. ‘I’ll go and ask Amy for the coffee.’ And check on Bobby while she was about it!

      Liam was standing in front of the unlit fireplace when Laura joined him in the sitting room a few minutes later, his expression grim, although he seemed to shake that off as he turned to smile at her.

      ‘You look much more like the old Laura in those denims,’ he murmured huskily.

      She felt the colour enter her cheeks. She didn’t want to be reminded of the old Laura! But, as Liam had just pointed out, she was dressed casually today, in denims and a soft green jumper. Unless there was an emergency she had no intention of going in to the office today, was going to spend the time with Bobby instead.

      Thoughts of her son still asleep upstairs gave a sharpness to her answer. ‘Appearances can be deceptive!’

      Liam raised dark brows, smiling slightly. ‘Ever on the defensive, Laura.’

      She gave an acknowledging inclination of her head before asking, ‘Why are you here, Liam?’

      His expression became grim once again, his eyes narrowed. ‘Have you seen the National Daily today?’

      She gave a disgusted snort. ‘Do I need to?’ She waved her hand towards the front of the house. At least half a dozen reporters and cameramen were gathered out there now.

      Liam winced. ‘I think so.’ He pulled a folded newspaper from the pocket of his dark blue jacket, the usual denims and a tee shirt worn beneath. ‘Here.’ He held the newspaper out to her.

      Laura sensed a certain wariness about him now, as if he already knew she was not going to like what she read in the newspaper he offered her. Her own unease deepened considerably.

      ‘Page four,’ Liam indicated as she took the newspaper.

      She gasped as she turned the double-page spread to find a photograph of Liam and herself. The photograph had obviously been taken the previous afternoon at the hotel—without either of them realising it! The two of them were seated in the hotel lounge, smiling across at each other in what looked like a very friendly manner.

      Laura couldn’t