THE NEXT MORNING Ava opened her eyes, saw the twist and tumble of the sheet, felt colour heat her cheeks as she saw her clothes strewn haphazardly on the floor. Closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to savour the memories of the previous hours: the heat, the passion, the laughter and the joy as their bodies intertwined, discovered each other. Explored, touched, gave and received such intense pleasure.
But where was Liam? And, more to the point, what now?
For a second Ava was tempted to lie back and hide under the duvet, but before she could do anything Liam popped his head round the door.
‘Morning, sleepy head. I’ve got breakfast on the go. A full English awaits, all local produce, all fresh and all delicious.’
‘I’ll be right down. Give me ten minutes.’
Ten minutes to figure this out. Lord knew she didn’t, couldn’t, regret the night just gone, but she also knew it shouldn’t have happened. Her mind whirred, told her that it was impossible to analyse this situation until she could gauge what Liam thought.
She had no idea how he felt—all she knew was his preference for one-night stands and no emotional involvement. Was that what last night had been? For Liam that was all it could be—the only way he could reconcile it with his feelings for Jess. Jess—would he be thinking of her now? Had he been thinking of her last night? No, she wouldn’t believe that—couldn’t believe it.
Shoving aside the whisper of doubt, she swung her legs out of bed, her mind analysing what to wear, how to project the right persona—cool, casual, the sort of modern mature woman who could separate sex from emotion. She settled for jeans and a long cream knitted jumper. Kept her hair loose and her make-up minimal.
As she entered the kitchen he smiled, but his cobalt eyes held caution even though his tone was light. ‘Perfect timing.’
‘It looks delicious. Thank you.’ Yet right now the idea of food made her tummy ache and loop as she watched Liam. She could almost see the barricade he had put up. Gone was the man who had taken her to such heights mere hours ago, the man who had held her with such tenderness and stoked her to such passion. For a moment Ava wondered if the whole night had been a series of fevered dreams. ‘We need to talk.’
‘Yes.’ Wariness played over his face, but it was more than that—she could see regret, apprehension, and that made hurt twist inside her.
‘Last night was...wonderful and I don’t regret it one bit.’ His shoulders relaxed slightly and the worry made a small retreat in his cobalt eyes and gave her the impetus to continue. ‘And I hope you don’t either.’
His gaze met hers. ‘I don’t regret it.’
But she could see shadows in his eyes, and she wondered what he was thinking. Of Jess? Did this feel like a betrayal of his wife? ‘I’m not sure that’s true,’ she said, careful to keep her voice gentle. ‘I know you prefer one-night stands with women you don’t know.’
Three strides and he had moved round the breakfast bar, was standing in front of her. ‘Look at me.’ Oh, so gently he raised a hand and placed a finger under her chin, tipping it up so she met his gaze. ‘I swear last night was magical. I don’t even know how to put it into words...and I don’t regret it. But it wasn’t planned or intended and I’m worried I took advantage of you. You were upset and you are still grieving and...’
Ava saw the sincerity in his eyes, and a thrill shot through her that Liam too had found the night magical. ‘You didn’t take advantage of me at all. I wanted last night.’
‘I sense a but...’
He was right. Because whilst she did believe Liam’s concern that he had taken advantage of her was legitimate, she could still see that he was haunted. ‘But I know you must be feeling something about Jess.’
His flinch was almost imperceptible though his gaze stayed locked on hers. ‘This isn’t about Jess, this is about you.’
Leave it at that, Ava. But she couldn’t. ‘It’s also about you and what you feel. Do you feel guilty?’
There was a fraction of a heartbeat before he answered and before he could Ava raised a hand. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.’ Wished, oh, so much that she hadn’t, but it was too late to swallow the question. ‘Of course you feel guilt. You loved her. So a magical night with someone else must feel like a betrayal.’ That knowledge hurt—too reminiscent of a lifelong awareness that, by being with his second family, her father was betraying his first family. But that wasn’t Liam’s fault. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Ava.’ His voice was hoarse. ‘I—’
‘It’s OK. Last night took us both by surprise. We’ll put it behind us and—’
He shook his head. ‘Stop. I need to tell you something. I can’t let you believe this any more.’
‘I don’t understand.’
He rubbed a hand over his face, inhaled deeply. ‘My marriage wasn’t the idyll you believe it to be.’ Ava saw his pain, but she also sensed he didn’t want comfort or interruption. He simply needed to get the words out. ‘I met Jess when I was young and grieving. She was there and I mistook liking and need for love. When she thought she was pregnant I married her, even though I knew by then I didn’t love her. It turned out she wasn’t pregnant but by then the knot was tied. I’d made my vows and I wanted to stand by them.’
As his mother had done.
‘I believed that I could make myself love her, force the emotion into being. Believed her love would somehow force me to do the right thing and love her back. It didn’t work like that. The worst of it was that Jess still loved me and I was too much of a coward to admit I didn’t. So I let her waste her life on me.’
‘No!’ The denial pulled from her as her heart turned at his words. At the pressure he’d piled onto himself, born of his own hopes and wishes that his parents would be happy together, would make their marriage work. Born of his belief that a person should never renege on a promise. After all, his father had been betrayed by a man who had done just that. So his word was his bond. Liam would have been incapable of breaking his marriage vows and as long as Jess had wanted to stay he would always have done his best. ‘You did what you thought was right. You didn’t want to hurt Jess.’
‘But if I had, if I had been more honest, then perhaps she would have found real happiness.’
‘It doesn’t work like that. You can’t second-guess something you can’t change. Jess may have been miserable without you and...’ she kept her voice gentle ‘... Jess had choices too. She chose to stay in your marriage as well. Neither of you could have known of the tragedy in store.’
‘But she is the one who paid the biggest price.’
‘Yes. But that is no fault of yours.’ But she knew to Liam it felt as if it was, knew that he blamed himself for the failure of his marriage, the might-have-beens and what-ifs. She moved closer to him. ‘All the worst-case scenarios. You don’t really know them. If you’d left Jess she may have ended up more unhappy, if your mother had left your father she and John may not have worked out. It all may have been worse.’
‘You’re right. But it all may have been better. I’ll never know. Because I can’t change the past. But I can at least control my present and my future.’
And that was why he’d never risk a relationship or love again. Even as she understood that, the knowledge sent a sudden stab of bleakness through her, one she refused to give in to. Especially when she could see the demons that rode his shoulder, saw the haunted depths of his cobalt eyes.
‘You’re right. The past can’t be changed and we don’t know the repercussions if we could. We can imagine all the what ifs but we can’t truly know. But we can make choices in the here and now.’ And she moved closer to him, looped her arms around his waist, stretched up on tiptoe and brushed her lips against his. ‘I think we should choose to enjoy our magic for a few weeks, forget the past and focus on the present.’
For a moment his body remained taut with a hard edge of tension and then slowly she felt him relax, the soft expel of breath, the release of tightness as he gathered her close.
‘Are you sure it’s what you want?’
‘I’m sure.’ And she was, knew that, whatever happened next, this was the right decision, the start of a heady few weeks that she would always remember. ‘So how about we postpone breakfast and head back to bed?’ And with a provocative look she sashayed to the door in her best model walk, stood in the doorway and in one fluid move unzipped her dress and let it pool to the ground, stepped over the material and continued to walk. She heard his sharp intake of breath, shivered in anticipation as she sensed his presence mere centimetres behind her, felt the brand of his hand on the small of her back as they walked towards the stairs.
Ava checked her to-do list yet again, told her twitching nerves that she had everything under control. She looked round the plush hotel room, tried to ground herself, smiled as Liam emerged from the shower.
‘Need some distraction?’
‘You’ll do nicely.’ It still seemed surreal to Ava that for now she had unlimited, unfettered access to Liam’s sheer gorgeousness. That she had an intimate knowledge of the swell of every muscle, the sweep of his spine, the crook of his arm where she fell asleep each night.
His gaze devoured her with equal interest. ‘Shame you’re already in the dress,’ he said.
For a moment she contemplated shimmying straight out of it but a glance at the clock told her that was not a good idea. She needed to look poised, perfect, every hair in place, make-up pristine... ‘Later, I promise I won’t be.’
‘I’ll hold you to that.’ The deep rumble of his voice sent a shiver down her spine and she marvelled at her body’s response to him. ‘You look stunning and I promise you’ve got this. It will be the event of the year. You’ve done a superb job.’
‘We’ve done a superb job.’
‘Nope. Own this. It’s yours. You’ve brought flair and style and passion to it. The vegan canapés, the way you haven’t used plastics, the fact sheets and talking points dotted around the function room—it all shows you believe in the cause you are raising money for.’
Ava smiled at him, touched by the sincerity in his voice. ‘Thank you.’
‘They’ll enjoy the champagne, the food, the music and the company and having their awareness raised in a subtle manner that encourages them to part with their money at the auction.’ He moved away and dropped the towel, pulled on boxers and a pair of tuxedo pants and for a moment she simply stared, caught anew by his unselfconscious nakedness. This could never get old.
Literally, she reminded herself. Because in a few weeks they would part ways, the fun would be over. In which case it made sense to make the most of it now, because discovering her body’s capacity for Liam was a learning curve and she was enjoying every inch of the climb. He adjusted his cufflinks and a sudden pang hit her. It was so...intimate, so domestic despite the glamour, and it made her heart do a funny little hop, skip and a jump.
Whoa. Just sex and fun, remember?
And now she needed to focus on the evening ahead.
‘Speaking of the auction.’
She sensed the hesitation in Liam’s voice. ‘Yes?’
‘There’s a last-minute addition to the donations. From Luca.’
‘Luca?’
‘I contacted him to ask. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Especially when I didn’t hear back. But then earlier today an item arrived. A painting by an Italian artist. And an email message.’
He picked up his phone and showed her.
Dear Liam
I have dispatched a donation for the auction. I wish you and Ava luck in raising money for this excellent cause.
Best wishes
Luca Petrovelli
Ava stared at it for a long moment and the smallest tendril of hope unfurled. It wasn’t gushing, it was bland, but it wasn’t unfriendly and it wasn’t vindictive. Happiness brought an extra spring to her step as she moved towards Liam and wrapped her arms around him.
‘Thank you, Liam. That was good of you.’ Kind. Thoughtful. Caring. Stop...leave it there. Stepping back, she turned to the mirror, warned herself to rein in emotion. One last glance at her reflection, a small adjustment to the folds of the dress, one final swipe of lipstick. ‘Ready to go.’
‘Ready to go.’ He smiled at her and took her hand in his. ‘So we meet and greet each guest at the door, then we mingle, then we eat, then we auction.’
‘That’s the plan.’
‘Then we thank everyone, say goodbye and come up here, where there will be champagne on ice waiting for us.’
A bubble of anticipation brought a smile to her face and she squeezed his hand as they left the room and headed downstairs to greet their guests. Ava cast a last glance of approval at the ballroom of the plush London hotel. Eco-friendly rose petals sprinkled the tables, the chairs were bedecked with bows and silver streamers looped and swirled from the ornate vaulted ceilings. Waiting staff were poised to circulate with glasses of champagne and soft drinks and plates of canapés.
‘Here we go,’ Liam murmured, and they stepped forward to greet their first guests. Twenty minutes later a compact grey-haired man barrelled in, a man with an aura of power. He had a woman on his arm, a woman who had decided to go grey naturally and was comfortable with her decision. As well she might be, Ava thought. Because she was beautiful, with classic features that endured with age.
‘Hello, Ray. I’m so glad you could make it.’ Liam turned to Ava. ‘Ava, this is Ray Beaumont.’
Ray Beaumont. The man who led Beaumont Industries, the man whose business Liam wanted to win. The contract he was in danger of losing to AJ Mason.
The man held his hand out. ‘Liam. Ava. Thanks for the invite. This is my wife of thirty years, Sophia.’
The woman gave a soft laugh. ‘Honestly, Ray, you sound like you’ve been counting.’
‘I have, my love. And every year I feel more thankful.’
There was obvious affection in the banter and Ava instantly suppressed a pang of what she really hoped wasn’t envy. Reminded herself that this was a moment in their married life that might not even be real. Perhaps they stayed together because a divorce would be too expensive.
Reminding herself of her role, she smiled but judged it best not to overdo it. Ray Beaumont was a shrewd businessman. His small grey eyes looked twinkly enough but she sensed the assessment and matched it with a friendly but non-gushy smile of her own.
Once the couple had walked off she murmured to Liam, ‘Do you want to go speak with him?’
‘Nope. This is about fundraising for a good cause and allowing our guests to network, not about trying to secure a contract. In truth, when I think about the victims we are raising money for my business concerns seem petty.’
The words hit home as she acknowledged the simple truth of them and knowing that made the arrival of Leonardo Brunetti easy to deal with. Because this event wasn’t about business—it was about fundraising. That was all that mattered here. There would be time enough for deals in the future. And so she greeted Leonardo and his wife the same way she had greeted everyone else and soon after that she and Liam joined the swirling throng of people.
Ava talked, smiled, chatted, mingled and all the while she was aware of Liam’s presence, the calm way he dealt with any problems, the quiet behind-the-scenes preparations for the auction. All done without drama or fuss.
They had agreed to auction off the items together, taking it in turns, and Ava stepped up to the podium first, faltered as she suddenly spotted her mother at a table, realised Karen Casseveti must have slipped in late. Liam followed her gaze and stepped closer to her. ‘Don’t let her spook you. This is your show. Not hers.’
Liam was right. It was time to show her mum that Ava too could put on a show, organise an event for a good cause other than the Casseveti brand. If her mother did decide to bring down the edifice then this would be Ava’s grand finale.
She brought the gavel down.
‘Guests. Liam and I would like to thank you for attending and soon we hope to be thanking you for digging deep and paying for these amazing items so generously donated to raise money for what I hope you agree is a worthy cause. I’m up first and I’ll be auctioning off a dress donated by my good friend and fellow model Anna Lise. Next up will be the camera used to photograph Hollywood icons donated by my wonderful friend and a fashion photographer herself, Emily Khatri. Unfortunately Emily can’t be here tonight but she says, “Bid high!”’
The bidding began with lots of good-natured banter and generosity and by the end of it Ava’s face wanted to crack from smiling so much, especially when she spotted Leonardo Brunetti win Luca’s donation—and a bit of her wondered if her brother had picked something that he knew Leonardo would like.
When the final bid was made guests began to circulate again and the band struck up. On automatic Ava looked round for Liam, wanted to share her happiness, maybe have a glass of champagne and toast their success. Her eyes scanned the room and then she froze as she saw Karen Casseveti heading straight for Liam. For a mad moment she wanted to throw herself between them. Forced herself to turn away to talk to a guest. It was perfectly natural for them to speak with each other.