A Second Chance (13 page)

A
voice of reason in her head whispered insistently
that she should leave it,
only to be
suppressed
by her
desperate need to catch a glimpse of his private life.

‘
What
happened?’ she asked quietly, bracing herself for something serious. 

She wasn’t ready for the truth as he looked up
,
his eyes locked with hers
and
said very quietly, ‘
Jessica
left me
before I had the chance
to tell her I was ready to take
th
e
leap of faith
.
She ra
n o
f
f with my best friend, to be exact.
But it was my behavior that really gave her a push into h
is arms
.
’ He swallowed hard and waited for her to ask more questions, as she sat there staring at him
,
speechless.

‘Oh my God, Liam. I am so very sorry
.
I shouldn’t have asked
;
I am so sorry
.
’

‘No, it’s fine.’ His hand came to cover hers in a reassuring gesture. ‘How could you know, Jade? It was a miserable time in my life
,
and if anything
,
it made me only more certain
that
I never want to get married
.’

He
wrapped
his fingers
around her slim palm, sighed
,
and shrugged his powerful shoulders in a resigned gesture.
‘
Well
, it doesn’
t matter anymore.’ He looked around, his face a closed book once again. The carefully maintained façade was firmly in place
;
it was obvious he didn’t want to divulge any more
information
.

Jade knew this look
and complied
, still reeling from the
shocking admission
she hadn’t seen
coming. This was definitely not the time to ask him for details, though
a
thousand questions assailed her like a swarm of restless bees.
For now, she would have to curb her curiosity and concentrate on
Laura
;
the hour
-
long meeting
was
almost over. She glanced at her watch and realized that being with Liam
had
made time pass much faster than if she
had been
alone. It was always like that, she thought, finishing her drink with one gulp and collecting the cello
phane
wrap to throw away on the way out.

‘We should be going now
.
’
She was
relieved to see him smile at her again.
H
e wasn’t mad at her for bringing up the
unpleasant
past, especially now while his sister was dealing with her own crisis. ‘If you want to go see
Laura
by yourself, I understand
,
’ she added awkwardly, realizing that he might want to spend some time with his sister without her intervention.
Since
he was here, her presence wasn’t necessary anymore
.

‘
Don’t be silly
.’ He took the empty cups and wrappings, ignoring her
halfhearted
protest. ‘I’ll bet she will be very happy to see the two of us. And I don’t want to get in trouble if she finds out
that
you
stayed
back because of me. Come on
.
’

They walked together, leaving the cafeteria and
climbing
the stairs to the
second
floor. It felt almost unreal to be next to him again, Jade thought as she cast a careful sideways glance at his face. Only she wasn’t careful enough, her cheeks reddening in
embarrassment
as their eyes met. It took every scrap of control she could produce to not look away hurriedly,
revealing
the fact that he still could rock her world with just one
jet-
black
glance.

Holding her shoulders so stiffly that they
ach
ed, she smiled a small
non-committal
smile.
Never again
,
she thought as they turned the corner and reached the wide, sun
-
filled corridor of the
second
floor.

They were right on time, for the big double door that led to the meeting room
swung open,
and
people
spill
ed
out in small groups. She noticed Laura talking agitatedly to two other women, her lovely face animated and full of life.
Laura
looked up and
spotted
them, her eyes widening in surprise
when she saw
Liam standing next to Jade. A radiant smile transfixed her features
,
and she
r
a
n
to them, her springy step miles away from the tired walk Jade remembered only days ago.

‘Liam, how on earth did you find out?’ Hugging him tightly, she laughed and looked up into his grinning face. ‘I swear, I
’
m going to kill
M
om next time I see her. I asked her specifically to keep quiet until you
were
done.’

‘
Well
, she almost succeeded
.
’
W
hite
teeth flashing in his tanned face, he looked down at his sister with such tenderness
J
ade
felt her throat constricting painfully.
‘I practically forced her to confess, Laura. So don’t be t
o
o hard on her
.
S
he
’
s very worried about you,
S
hrimp
.
’

He hugged her
again, and
she giggled, stepping back and looking into his face
.
‘
What’s
up with this beard, Liam?
I
t
’
s scratchy
,
and you look like a robber
.
’

‘Some people are just too difficult to please,
S
is
.
’
H
e
laughed, touching h
is stubble
-
covered cheek
.
‘And it isn’t that scratchy, is it?’

He looked at J
ade and smiled invitingly, his eyes glittering with mischief
.
‘Tell her, Jade. Try it yourself
,
and tell her I am not that bad, will you?’

He
’
s just teasing Laura
, Jade thought, her fingers reaching up to his face and brushing it lightly, barely in contact with his skin.

‘Hey, no cheating
.
’
H
e
laughed again, his hand covering her fingers as he pressed her palm against his cheek. ‘
You
can’t review it without actually testing it properly.’

He felt warm, firm
,
and disturbingly alive. Trying very hard not to make a fool of herself with her skittish response, she grazed his cheek and nodded with mock seriousness
.
‘
Yep
, you win. Laura, your brother is officially scratch
-
free
.
I can testify
,
if needed.’

‘
See
, it wasn’t so bad
.
’
H
e
smile
d
down into her eyes, and suddenly she had the weird sensation
that she was
alone with him, the rest of the world disappearing in the distance. Just him and the warmth of his skin against her fingertips, seductive and utterly compelling. She wished nothing more than to touch him again, properly this time.
The
desire
to linger longer, tracing the firm lines of his lips and the straight,
elegant
nose was
almost overwhelming, and she balled her hands into fists, her nails digging painfully into the soft flesh of her palms.

Luckily Liam’s thoughts were miles away
,
and she was in no immediate danger
of being
exposed in her shameful weakness. He looked at his sister and
asked,
concern coloring his voice
,
‘
What do you want to do now, Laura? We can go talk to Dr. Green or leave it for another time, whatever you prefer
.
’

He
put his arm around his sister’s slim frame, effortlessly adjusting his long stride to her shorter steps.
He said,
‘
We
can go home for now
.
I have something to show you
that you’ll
like.
’
He smiled again, his eyes warm and compelling.
‘
Remember
the house I was telling you about before I left? The one we drove to
see
?
I got in touch with the agent while in Hong Kong and put a bid on it. The market isn’t the best at the moment
,
and the owner was quite motivated to sell it fast
. I got
it, Laura
.
’

‘Oh, yes, now I remember
.
’ Laura’s eyes lit up
,
and she looked at Jade with
an
excited expression.

‘J
adie, you have to see this place
.
’
S
he
looked so happy and full of life
,
Jade
didn’t have the heart
to tell her
that
she didn’t really want to get to
o
close to anything that had anything to do with her brother. ‘Liam found it just on the beach
;
the views are spectacular
.
Y
ou
’
ll love it.’ Dark eyes
sparkl
ed
behind her glasses
as
she smiled
radiantly
at
Jade
. ‘
It
is just a bit rough at the moment
, b
ut Liam resisted the idea of owning anything for long enough
.
I could smell a real fear of ownership commitment
; a
ll those years he insisted on just renting a place instead of owning one.
’

‘
Well
,
that’
s a very nice way to put it
.
’ Liam smiled at both of them and led them to the main corridor, his light attitude not fooling Jade for a minute. She knew he was very concerned about Laura and her health, only his
self-control
keeping his worries at bay as he chatted pleasantly about other things. She felt the same way
,
eager to find out more about her meeting. But it would have to wait until they left the hospital
.
Laura’s
obvious
wish to leave
behind all
that reminded her of her disease
dampened
Jade’s
eagerness to ask any questions
.
H
ow she preferred to deal with her sickness
was Laura’s choice, and if she wanted to talk about other things
,
it was fine with
Jade
. She
had known
her friend long enough to
predict
that she would come around when the time was right
,
and there was no point
in trying
to
hurry her before she was ready.

They found Laura’s little red Honda and
were soon rolling
out of the hospital’s parking lot, merging into the midday traffic
.
Jade
listened to Laura’s and Liam’s cheerful bickering, his upbeat attitude rubbing off on his sister.
Jade
didn’t say much
,
still a bit shaken
from
the unexpected encounter with the man she
had
hoped not to see for
a long time
.
She wondered what the next best move
would be
for her. Since Liam was here,
Laura did not
need her company anymore. She
had
planned on staying for another five days, but suddenly it didn’t seem like such a great idea.
Liam’s
constant presence
would
undermin
e
her carefully maintained peace of mind. She
would
tell
Laura that she
must
leave
sooner
,
but she was temporarily short on
promising excuses
that would
justify her sudden rush to depart. Well, she would come up with something,
she thought optimistically
, as she watched Liam’s back from her
seat.