‘Have you a problem with that?’
‘Me?’ His blue eyes opened innocently wide. ‘Do you want a rent book?’
‘I’m trying to be serious.’
‘Then turn your mind seriously to this: we’ll need to look for somewhere more suitable before the baby comes. Whereabouts would you like to live?’
Neat, but not very subtle. Jo felt snared by his guileless blue gaze. ‘You’re very generous with the we all of a sudden,’ she responded spikily.
‘Do I detect a certain ambivalence towards this trial marriage?’ Despite the lightness in his tone she could sense the irritation beyond the irony.
‘I don’t know how you talked me into this,’ she muttered
mutinously. I must be totally crazy, she decided, wondering why on earth she’d fallen in with his scheme. Live with him—what a recipe for disaster!
‘I didn’t talk you into it, I kissed you into it’
Jo’s slight frame swelled with indignation as she glared wrathfully at him. ‘My God, but you’re so conceited, Liam!’ It was humiliating to know how painfully correct his words were. It was also scary that he recognised her weakness.
‘I’m only trying to be accurate.’
She snorted derisively at the innocent expression in his blue eyes and the corner of his mouth lifted into a disturbingly attractive grin.
‘You became infinitely more pliable.’ To her dismay he didn’t let the awkward subject drop. ‘In fact the change was astounding,’ he continued, his voice soft and silkily suggestive.
Jo averted her face to hide the pink glow that stained her cheeks. She pushed aside a pile of papers and sat down in the deeply upholstered leather swivel chair. ‘The kissing wasn’t personal.’
Liam, elbows on the work counter that separated the kitchen from the living area, rested his chin in his palm and raised an enquiring brow. ‘Do tell, I’m fascinated.’
‘Fascinated!’ she spat in disgust. ‘Your trouble is too many women have told you you’re fascinating and you believe them!’ she observed with a sniff. ‘The explanation is perfectly simple. I’m being engulfed by hormones and. . . and. . . ’ Pragmatic without being revealing wasn’t that easy a balance to achieve. Her aching throat closed over completely.
‘You’re a raging torrent of primeval want and need—’
She prayed he didn’t know just how shockingly perceptive his flippant words were.
‘It’s easy for you to joke,’ she began hotly. Liam had to be the most callous, insensitive male in creation This was a painfully embarrassing subject and he was playing it for laughs Probably she ought to act as if the subject were some huge joke too, but she didn’t think she could have raised even a feeble grin.
‘Who said I was joking?’
Moments before she’d wanted him to show a bit of respect for the gravity of the situation, but now she couldn’t detect even the faintest glimmer of a smile in his eyes she wasn’t so sure.
‘Perhaps joke wasn’t quite the right word,’ she corrected a little breathlessly. What girl wouldn’t be breathless under the impact of Liam’s steady, unflinching gaze?
‘What is the right word, Jo?’
Jo shook her head to break the mesmeric effect of his blue eyes. ‘I only agreed to this to convince Aunt Maggie nothing’s fishy.’
‘I thought, hormones aside, you didn’t know why you agreed.’
‘That was a figure of speech.’ Trust Liam to be pedantic.
‘Mum has had no trouble accepting the fact we’re getting married.’
‘I don’t have a problem with the idea, because we’re not getting married.’
He dismissed her protest with an indulgent smile that made her teeth grind. ‘In her world,’ he continued, ‘it’s what two people do when they’ve made a baby.’
In Liam’s world too, it seemed. ‘Before they’ve made the baby is the more conventional process.’
‘Is that what Justin had in mind?’ As always the thought of Jo’s ex-lover soured his mood. He mentally included the ex with some
‘Me?’ His blue eyes opened innocently wide. ‘Do you want a rent book?’
‘I’m trying to be serious.’
‘Then turn your mind seriously to this: we’ll need to look for somewhere more suitable before the baby comes. Whereabouts would you like to live?’
Neat, but not very subtle. Jo felt snared by his guileless blue gaze. ‘You’re very generous with the we all of a sudden,’ she responded spikily.
‘Do I detect a certain ambivalence towards this trial marriage?’ Despite the lightness in his tone she could sense the irritation beyond the irony.
‘I don’t know how you talked me into this,’ she muttered
mutinously. I must be totally crazy, she decided, wondering why on earth she’d fallen in with his scheme. Live with him—what a recipe for disaster!
‘I didn’t talk you into it, I kissed you into it’
Jo’s slight frame swelled with indignation as she glared wrathfully at him. ‘My God, but you’re so conceited, Liam!’ It was humiliating to know how painfully correct his words were. It was also scary that he recognised her weakness.
‘I’m only trying to be accurate.’
She snorted derisively at the innocent expression in his blue eyes and the corner of his mouth lifted into a disturbingly attractive grin.
‘You became infinitely more pliable.’ To her dismay he didn’t let the awkward subject drop. ‘In fact the change was astounding,’ he continued, his voice soft and silkily suggestive.
Jo averted her face to hide the pink glow that stained her cheeks. She pushed aside a pile of papers and sat down in the deeply upholstered leather swivel chair. ‘The kissing wasn’t personal.’
Liam, elbows on the work counter that separated the kitchen from the living area, rested his chin in his palm and raised an enquiring brow. ‘Do tell, I’m fascinated.’
‘Fascinated!’ she spat in disgust. ‘Your trouble is too many women have told you you’re fascinating and you believe them!’ she observed with a sniff. ‘The explanation is perfectly simple. I’m being engulfed by hormones and. . . and. . . ’ Pragmatic without being revealing wasn’t that easy a balance to achieve. Her aching throat closed over completely.
‘You’re a raging torrent of primeval want and need—’
She prayed he didn’t know just how shockingly perceptive his flippant words were.
‘It’s easy for you to joke,’ she began hotly. Liam had to be the most callous, insensitive male in creation This was a painfully embarrassing subject and he was playing it for laughs Probably she ought to act as if the subject were some huge joke too, but she didn’t think she could have raised even a feeble grin.
‘Who said I was joking?’
Moments before she’d wanted him to show a bit of respect for the gravity of the situation, but now she couldn’t detect even the faintest glimmer of a smile in his eyes she wasn’t so sure.
‘Perhaps joke wasn’t quite the right word,’ she corrected a little breathlessly. What girl wouldn’t be breathless under the impact of Liam’s steady, unflinching gaze?
‘What is the right word, Jo?’
Jo shook her head to break the mesmeric effect of his blue eyes. ‘I only agreed to this to convince Aunt Maggie nothing’s fishy.’
‘I thought, hormones aside, you didn’t know why you agreed.’
‘That was a figure of speech.’ Trust Liam to be pedantic.
‘Mum has had no trouble accepting the fact we’re getting married.’
‘I don’t have a problem with the idea, because we’re not getting married.’
He dismissed her protest with an indulgent smile that made her teeth grind. ‘In her world,’ he continued, ‘it’s what two people do when they’ve made a baby.’
In Liam’s world too, it seemed. ‘Before they’ve made the baby is the more conventional process.’
‘Is that what Justin had in mind?’ As always the thought of Jo’s ex-lover soured his mood. He mentally included the ex with some
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