Starr Fated (26 page)

Once he laid
out his plans, I soon realised that being the micro managing
control freak that was Liam Starr, he’d got every detail worked
out. Flat, job, seduction, sex, everything. I was quite sure he’d
have an answer to any objections I might raise, because it seemed
I’d become his latest challenge. Men always wanted what they
couldn’t have, didn't they? He’d got bored of his blonde bimbos for
now and felt in need of a change. I knew he couldn’t possibly be
serious about me, because he was quite clearly a commitment-phobe.
By my reckoning, Liam was about thirty two and had never yet been
in any kind of a committed relationship. So I’d be mad to let
myself be drawn in, wouldn’t I?

And yet…when
he talked about being my sexual tutor, about how great it would be
between us, how special he’d make my first time, my libido had
immediately gone into overdrive, and I think if he’d have asked me
to go with him to his hotel for my first lesson right then and
there, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I wanted to feel his powerful
body pinning me down on the bed to act out my erotic dreams with
him.

But forcing
myself to leave sex out of the equation and turning my attention to
the job he’d offered me, I couldn’t deny it interested me, and that
it was a fantastic opportunity, but surely it had to be a bad idea
for me to work for him? And a flat too – I had no doubt it would be
a great place to live, but he would still be my landlord, and I
could easily find myself jobless and out on the street when things
turned sour between us, as they eventually would.

If I went
ahead and accepted all these arrangements, it would mean that
virtually every aspect of my life would be connected to Liam,
controlled by him, and that worried me. If things didn't work out
and ended badly, I’d lose everything in one fell swoop. No,
whatever my wanton sex drive might be telling me, it was all just
far too risky. I decided that I’d turn him down when I saw him in
the morning.

I walked in to
find a reception committee waiting for me in Nana’s kitchen.
Sitting at the table were my cousin Aoife, Aunty Caitlin and Nana
of course. And they all started speaking at once.

“Ah, so here
she is. Come on then, tell us how your ‘discussions’ with Liam went
then,” Aoife smirked at me.

“Just exactly
who is this Liam character? And why has he come all the way over
from England just to see you?” Aunty Caitlin wanted to know.

“He found you,
just as I knew he would. So when are you going back to London with
him?” Gran asked.

“Hang on, hang
on, one at a time,” I pleaded, as I sat down with them.

“This Liam is
the man you were telling me about, isn’t it? The big boss man of
the company you were working for, the one you kissed, but thought
you’d misread the signs with?” Aoife asked, with a wicked grin.

“Yeah, but…” I
tried to protest.

“They kissed?
And what signs? You never told me anything about this,” Aunty
Caitlin frowned at her daughter.

“Well, it
didn't seem that important at the time. I didn't know he was going
to come chasing after her, did I?” Aoife protested.

“Well of
course he was going to come after her. You know who his family are,
don’t you?” Nana said, with a very smug look on her face for some
reason. I sat back and folded my arms while I listened in stunned
bemusement as my family discussed my private life.

“No, who?”
Aunty Caitlin asked.

“His mother
was an O’Doherty from Waterford. He’s her eldest son and she called
him Liam, which means ‘unwavering protector’, so clearly she
understood what his role was fated to be. He’s even got those
forceful deep blue eyes and all. So of course he was going to come
after our Seraphina,” Nana said, as she nodded sagely.

Knowledge of
this Irish connection of Liam’s family was all new to me, although
come to think of it I did remember Jamie mentioning something about
his mother being Irish when we had been comparing our
unpronounceable middle names one time. I think he said his was
Diarmuid.

“Really? Well
I never. That certainly explains a lot,” Aunty Caitlin exclaimed as
she beamed at me, while Aoife nodded and smiled in agreement as
well. “Your dear mother, God rest her soul, would be so happy about
this, Seraphina.”

“What on earth
are you lot talking about? Liam hasn’t come after me. He just
stopped off while he was on a business trip because he wanted to
offer me a job, that’s all,” I lied. “So I don’t see what all this
talk about his family has got to do with anything.”

“Oh, come on
Sera. He must have come miles out of his way to ‘stop off’ here in
Kinsale. If it was just about a job offer, he’d have emailed it to
you, or rung you, he wouldn’t have come here in person. And it was
obvious to everyone in the pub that there was something between
you, so stop trying to fob us off,” Aoife said. “And I’m sure Nana
will be only too willing to fill you in about our family and
his.”

“Indeed I am.
I suppose I have to remember that since you didn't grow up around
here, you don’t know so much about these things,” Nana sighed.

“What things?
I have no idea what on earth you’re talking about,” I said in
exasperation. Much as I loved my family, they could be very weird
at times.

“You see,
Liam’s family - the O’Doherty’s of Waterford - has always had a
special connection with our family - the O’Connell’s of Kinsale.
Every so often, fate decrees that one of their men is destined for
one of our women, and this time it’s you and Liam. That’s why
you’re so attracted to each other, why he felt compelled to come
and find you, and why you’ll agree to go back with him.” Nana
stated with total conviction.

“What total
and utter drivel. I’ve never heard so much rubbish in all my life.
Liam and I are totally unsuited, we have nothing whatsoever in
common, we’re complete opposites in fact,” I protested
vehemently.

“Of course you
are. That’s the whole point. Two opposing halves make one whole,”
Nana insisted.

“Nana’s right.
Yin and Yang, the Chinese call it. Seeming opposites who are
actually complementary, not opposing forces. You’ll interact
perfectly to form a whole greater than either separate part,” Aoife
stated.

“Where the
hell did you learn that to spout it at me?” I asked, as I looked at
her in surprise.

“I don’t know
why you’re so shocked by my knowledge. I research all sorts of
ancient signs and legends to come up with new ideas and designs for
the jewellery that Sean makes to sell in our shop. Yin-Yang charms
and necklaces are very popular actually,” Aoife replied rather
huffily, as if I’d insulted her intelligence in some way.

“But I thought
you specialised in Celtic designs rather than Chinese,” I pointed
out.

“We do, of
course. But we’re always trying to find new ways to turn a profit,
so it’s only sensible to diversify and offer more choice,
especially as we’ve been getting increasing numbers of Chinese
tourists.”

“Chinese
tourists?” I was more used to seeing American tourists touring
round Ireland in search of their roots.

“Yeah, it’s
all down to a new visa waiver scheme that allows Chinese who come
to Britain to also visit Ireland on the same trip without a new
visa. And as they all have money to burn in their pockets, we’d be
pretty stupid not to try and cash in on that market, now wouldn’t
we?” Aoife explained.

“Well, listen
to you. You’ll be up for Irish Business Woman of the year next. I'm
sure Liam would be very impressed with your entrepreneurial
skills,” I said somewhat sarcastically.

“Well maybe he
would, especially if he’s going to get it on with my cousin,” Aoife
smirked, as she sipped her mug of tea. Rarely did anyone sit at
Nana’s kitchen table without a mug of tea in front of them

“Oh stop with
all this about Liam and me, please. Okay, so I’ll admit there is
some kind of a physical attraction between us, but that’s not
enough, not when we have nothing in common. He’s ten years older
than me for a start and just so domineering and controlling -
someone like him would stifle all my creativity. That’s what he did
to the Creative Team in his company, and that’s why in desperation
he had to resort to asking me to step in with my designs at the
last minute,” I tried to explain.

“Seraphina,
Liam’s role is to protect and look after you, which will allow your
creativity to thrive and grow. He’ll relieve you of the burden of
surviving from day to day that you’ve carried around for so long,
and he’ll always be there as your solid rock to lean on. Your role
is to challenge him by introducing lots of colour and brightness
into his dull, monotonous life,” Nana decreed.

“No, I'm sorry
folks, but you’ve got this all wrong, because Liam is just not the
kind of man I ever envisaged being with. I know for a fact from his
own brother that he’s had countless flings with big busty blondes,
so he’s certainly not the settling down type,” I stated firmly.

“With that
great body of his and all that experience, I bet he’ll be
sensational in the sack. Imagine being lucky enough to have a man
who actually knows what he’s doing, rather than having to make do
with a quick fumble with an amateur,” Aunty Caitlin winked at me as
she laughed, while annoyingly I blushed. Trouble was, I knew she
was right.

“That’s why
it’s always the eldest son of theirs and the youngest daughter of
ours. The age gap means the man – in this case Liam - has had time
to sow all his wild oats, and learn to be a skilled lover, ready
for when the time comes and he meets his woman – in this case you,
Seraphina. You’ve both been looking for each other, waiting for The
One. Just neither of you knew about it until it happened,” Gran
explained.

“That’s why
you’re still a virgin,” Aoife stated matter of factly. “You were
waiting for The One, and now he’s here.”

“Aoife!”

Surely she
understood I wasn’t comfortable discussing the state of play
regarding my sex life in front of Nana and Aunty Caitlin? I was now
an even deeper shade of beetroot red.

“So tell us
what Liam actually said. He offered you a job, and….?” Aunty
Caitlin probed.

“Well, if you
must know, if I go back to London, Liam has offered me a job, an
apartment to myself, and he wants us to work something out between
us. So in effect he wants to have total control over my whole
life,” I finally confessed.

“So the man
wants to look after you. What’s wrong with that - isn’t that a good
thing? Would you rather have someone who didn't give a damn?” Aunty
Caitlin demanded.

“No, but…”

“And from what
you’ve said, it would be a grand opportunity for your career.
Nothing you’re going to find over here is going to compare with an
opportunity like that,” Aunty Caitlin continued.

“Yes,
but…”

“And a nice
apartment in London as well? Are you crazy, girl? What are you
waiting for? Even if you don’t believe anything Nana’s been telling
you about Liam, what have you got to lose by taking up his offer?
Of course you know you can always come back here to us if it
doesn’t work out, but you’ve studied so hard and he’s offering you
a wonderful opportunity for your career, so why not take it? Why
not live in a nice place for once? And why not give Liam a chance -
you never know, he might just surprise you,” Aunty Caitlin
declared, as she smiled and nudged me.

“And don’t
forget about him being a Sex God,” Aoife winked at me.

“That’s it.
I’ve had enough. I’m going to bed. I’m meeting Liam for breakfast
tomorrow, and I shall be turning his offer down,” I insisted as I
stood up from the table, with a lot more conviction than I actually
felt.

~*~

The following
morning I was just finishing putting my hair up before heading off
to meet Liam for breakfast, when there was a loud knock at the
front door, so I hurried down to open it to save Nana the bother,
thinking the postman never normally came that early. I opened it to
find Liam standing there.

“Why didn't
you answer my texts or take my calls last night?” he scowled at
me.

“Texts? Oh,
there’s no reception here, no signal for phones at all,” I replied.
He’d been texting me?

“Ah, that
explains it. I was worried you weren’t going to show up this
morning, because you seemed to be ignoring me by switching your
phone off. So I thought I’d come and collect you,” he explained as
he smiled down at me, clearly much happier now.

He looked so
much younger when he smiled. It was a really great smile too, and I
felt myself beginning to melt again, despite my resolve to turn him
down this morning. He was dressed more formally today in a pale
blue striped shirt and his dark blue suit that I really liked, but
no tie. He looked really good in blue, I found myself thinking, as
I gazed at him. He was gazing at me too, so no doubt we looked like
a pair of love struck fools as Nana came down the hallway behind
me.

“Morning,
Liam. Grand to see you again. Taking our Seraphina out to breakfast
are you?” She beamed up at him, as she patted his arm.

“That’s right,
Mrs O’Connell. Shall we?” Liam raised his eyebrows at me.

“Two seconds.
I’ll just grab my bag.” I disappeared upstairs to my room again. I
gave a quick glance at my appearance in the mirror. Short denim
skirt, lacy patterned tights, medium heeled brown suede boots with
long fringing, and a green flowery top. I’d hardly say Liam and I
looked like a matching couple, with him back in a more formal suit
today, but this was me, this was how I liked to dress. At least I'd
had time to put some mascara on before Liam had turned up, so now I
just added a little lip gloss, grabbed my bag and jacket and headed
back down, just in time to hear Nana asking Liam about his mother
as they stood together in the hallway.