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Liam’s brows lifted. “This isn’t your first brandy today, is it?”
“It’s my first in this room,” Bill said, and chuckled. “Hey, you’d be edgy, too, if you were about to take a wife.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Liam said bluntly, and felt better for finally having spoken the truth.
Bill sighed, sank into his favorite leather armchair and sipped his brandy. “I wondered how long it would take you to get around to that.”
“Well, dammit, what choice do I have? You’re about to make the biggest mistake of your life—”
“See? I even got the wording right.”
“Bill, I’m serious.”
“So am I, Liam. I love Jessica and she loves me.”
“You know nothing about her.”
“I know everything about her. I told you, she’s had to make her own way in life. Her father never managed to hold on to a dime. He died when Jess was eighteen and she lost her mother only a year later. She’s never been married, she has a degree in business studies—”
“You know nothing about her,” Liam insisted. “You’ve only been dating her for, what, four months?”
“Only because she wouldn’t go out with me sooner.”
“Are you sleeping with her?” Liam said brusquely.
Bill blushed. “Direct, as always, Malone. Why do you want to know?”
A good question, Liam thought, and came up with what wasn’t quite an answer. “It’s normal for a man and woman who love each other to share a bed.”
“So?”
“So, if you haven’t slept with her, maybe you should consider why.”
“Liam, I know you’ve been with a lot of women but Jessica is—”
“Different. Yes, I figured you’d say that. Look, you have to know that there are women who use sex to snare a man.”
“Well, Jessica hasn’t. Not that it’s any of your business, but she hasn’t slept with me yet. I haven’t asked her to. She’s not that kind.”
Liam snorted.
“She isn’t, dammit!”
“There are all kinds of ways to use sex, Bill. Withholding it is only one of them.”
“Oh, for…” Bill shot to his feet. “Listen to me, Liam. Jessica is about to become my wife. Keep that in mind when you talk about her.”
“Dammit, Thornton, haven’t you grown up at all? You’re as naive as you were when you needed me to save your skinny tail from the weird babe with the purple hair. You were certain she was the love of your life, too, remember?”
“Oh, give me a break! I was eighteen, not thirty.”
“And not much smarter, from what I can see.”
Bill’s mouth thinned. “Back off, okay? I love Jessica, and she loves me.”
“What if it’s your money she loves? Your name? The step up you’ll give her by marrying her?”
“It isn’t.” Bill walked to Liam’s side, smiled and clapped a hand lightly on his back. “She loves me for myself, hard as that may be for you to believe, considering that it’s you, with your black Irish good looks, the ladies always drool over.”
