Goddess save her from overbearing family. Vowing then and there to follow her dream of being independent and traveling the world, Fi had eagerly accepted the next client project that allowed her to travel. Off she’d gone, and Liam had faded into the past.
Just a memory… or so she’d thought.
Chapter 2
It must have been six or so years before she’d happened upon Liam once again. It was completely by chance, as things often are, and Fi almost hadn’t recognized him when he’d pulled up a chair at the little table where she was sitting outside a small restaurant on a back street in Pula, Croatia. Glancing up, she’d composed her face into a coolly distant look, ready to dismiss whoever had dared to interrupt her rare moment of alone time.
“Fi?”
“Ah… yes? Oh my – Liam, right?” Fi had asked, a delighted grin stealing across her face.
“Correct. I thought that might be you, but I had to do a double take. You’ve cut your hair,” Liam said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“And you’ve grown yours.” Fi smiled once more, leaning back into her chair and studying him. He’d grown, she realized, in more ways than one. He was more masculine now, with a scruff of beard and hair a few months past a haircut, and his sea-blue eyes seemed to promise tales of faraway lands.
“Aye, life at sea will do that to a lad, I suppose,” Liam said, running a hand through his chestnut hair. With enough time in the sun, Fi imagined, his hair would go to red, but just now it was a deep brown with hints of amber and gold woven through.
“Have you been on the water then? Less time in business meetings, more at sea?”
Liam paused when the waiter stopped at their table, and raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask whether it was all right for him to order. He waited until she gave a small nod, and then ordered enough food to feed ten men, along with two types of wine.
“Will there be more joining us?”
“I’ve been at sea for the last two weeks, my lady, and the food on board is not quite up to this level. I plan to indulge myself. And since you’re here, I’m assuming you’re hungry as well, so I took the liberty of ordering for us both.”
“How do you know I didn’t already order?”
“No bother then, I’ll eat your share as well.” Liam had smiled and Fi found herself charmed by him.
“I haven’t yet ordered my food, so I’ll take you up on your non-invitation to dinner.”
“See? And since I didn’t invite you to dinner, then Sean can’t run me off again,” Liam said, nodding his thanks to the waiter who deposited red wine and two glasses on their table, along with a basket of bread. “May I?”
“You may,” Fi said, tilting her head to look at Liam’s face. “So it was Sean who made you change your mind that time you asked me for a drink.”
“That it was. I can’t be blaming him, either. I think every man in the room would have given it a go if Sean hadn’t laid down the law.”
“Given it a go?” Fi raised a delicate eyebrow at the phrase.
“Sure. Taken a chance on asking you out. I was the only one ballsy enough to try. I like taking risks though.” Liam held up his glass and Fi automatically did the same with hers, clinking it gently against his.
“Slainté.”
“And yet, you still canceled on me,” Fi said, sipping the wine and letting the flavors roll over her tongue. Her cheeks felt flushed – not from the wine, but rather the frank appreciation in Liam’s gaze upon her.
“Aye, ’tis true, I did. I didn’t realize the family connection until later. As Sean was a colleague, I had to respect his wishes. It’s not a bad thing, either. I’ve learned over the years to never mix business and pleasure. It inevitably muddies the waters, and it’s never worth it.”
“Is that so? I’m inclined to agree, but I’m a curious sort, Liam,” Fi said, leaning over to pick a piece of rosemary bread from the basket. “Care to tell me how you learned that lesson?”
“I’d be lying if I said I learned it right away. It took me a round or two to hammer it home – the most recent one being the worst of them. I think that’s me done with working with my romantic partners, and that’s the truth of it.”
Fi paused, reading real pain in his eyes. Keeping her mental shields up, as she didn’t want to pry into his thoughts, she waited. Her mother had taught her at a young age that their gift of reading others’ thoughts was not something to be used in a harmful or disrespectful manner. She’d borne the brunt of a few disgruntled outbursts when she’d spoken other people’s thoughts in the shops as a child.
“Silence? I see you’ve learned a few things at the negotiating table.” Liam sighed and leaned back in his chair, running one hand over the scruff on his chin. “Her name was Vera and she was working the financials on a recent shipping contract I was project-managing. Despite myself, I was drawn to her and crossed the boundary. We dated for over a year – quite seriously, I thought.”
“Where is Vera from?”
“She’s Russian.”
“Were you working in Russia?”
“No, here in Croatia. We’ve been contracted here for almost a year. I… I thought there was more to the relationship than there was.”
Despite her best efforts, Fi got a mental flash of a ring box and Liam standing outside a doorway.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to tell me what happened?” Fi asked. She nodded when he held up the bottle to top off her wine glass.
“I was taken for a ride,” Liam said, and then paused, draining his glass and filling it once more. He grimaced and looked out across the street, pain slicing across his face before he shook it off. “It hurts to admit that more than anything, I think. I’m usually such a good judge of character.”
“Love can blind us,” Fi said, reaching out to pat his arm.
“Aye. That it did.”
“She cheated?”
“No. Well, at least not that I know of.” Liam shrugged. “But I overheard her having a conversation on the phone. They were very clearly discussing how much money I make.”
“Okay,” Fi said, sipping her drink and tapping a finger on her glass as she thought about it, “but that’s not entirely unusual. Even though there’s been a shift in the mentality that the man has to take care of the woman, and I am all for women supporting themselves, I can see where her friends might want to be sure she was provided for.”
“It wasn’t quite like that. They were discussing bank accounts. And numbers. And what accounts to drain and wire money to.”
“Oh,” Fi said, stricken. Reaching across the table, she squeezed his hand, “Oh, that’s a tough one. I’m sorry. Did they get anything from you?”
“No, I backed away from the door quietly and changed all my info before breaking up with her.”
“Smart man. I’m sorry, that I am, Liam. Should we find her and do something decidedly nasty to her?”
Liam chuckled. “You’ve a bloodlust in you, Fi.”
“That I do. I think it’s the warrior in me. It’s in the blood.”