“Not for a long time.”
“Pity,” Brian muttered. “I was trying to live vicariously. It’s not like there’s a lot of action in this town.”
One of the other men cleared his throat and nodded at the door. A second later, Caroline swept through.
“Okay.” She stood beside him. Her back straight as a board. “I’ve cancelled my appointment. Let’s go to my office and talk.”
The men’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. Caroline glanced pointedly at her watch. Josh smothered a chuckle. Everything about her made him want to mess with her. “Pull up a chair, baby. I’m happy here.”
He thought he saw her jaw clench. She stared at him for a moment, as though trying to figure out the best way to get him to comply. He winked at her. Her eyes went wide, then she blinked hard. Without a word, she turned a chair from the table beside them and perched on the edge of it. She folded her hands in her lap and waited. The domino boys were astonished, and Josh felt kind of smug. It was then he caught her thin smile and realised his actions would have consequences. It sent a thrill right through him.
“As I was saying before…” Josh gave Caroline his best dazzling smile. She was unimpressed. “There’s a work crew in my house and none of them are there to build a studio. Want to explain it to me?”
The men leaned in towards them.
“And explain loudly,” James said. “I don’t have my hearing aids.”
Caroline frowned at Josh. “You agreed that I could do whatever I liked with the castle. Did you not?”
“Yes, I did. But I also remember telling you I needed a sound studio.”
“You can build one in the grounds, or rent a portable one, or something.”
“Or you could put one in the room where I want it to be.”
“That wasn’t our agreement. You said I could do what I want without interference. I want to restore the castle.” She gave him a frosty look.
“I like the castle the way it is. It’s comfortable.”
“It looks like a city apartment. All the period details have been wiped out. I’m putting them back.”
“I didn’t want a restoration. I wanted a renovation. I need somewhere to work on my next album.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How about New York?”
Josh burst out laughing. She glared at him. Her perfect little nose thrust in the air and her pink lips were in a tight line.
“You can’t get rid of me that easy,” he said. “We have an agreement.”
“Yes. We agreed that I get the castle.”
“Yep, you get the castle.” Josh grinned wide and slow. “And I get you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Caroline wanted to melt into the ugly brown carpet—straight after she wiped the smug smile off of Mr. America’s face.
“Caroline.” Archie folded his arms and frowned. “What’s the Yank talking about?”
Josh folded his arms and raised an eyebrow in her direction. His eyes twinkled with amusement. The message was clear. She was on her own.
She took a slow, steadying breath. “Josh and I have agreed to get married.”
There was a stunned silence.
“To each other?” Findlay said.
Josh burst out laughing, and Caroline had the uncharacteristic urge to kick him.
She fought for patience. “Of course to each other. What else would I mean?”
“But you don’t even know each other,” Brian said.
Josh was being no help at all. Worse still, he seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Apparently this is the in thing for celebrities. You choose a woman at random and propose.”
“But you’re not the marrying kind,” James boomed. The other men shushed him. “We all thought you’d come to terms with being a spinster.”
Anger fought with humiliation as Caroline watched the men’s faces.
“It’s a bit confusing, lass.” Archie leaned forward and gently patted her hand. “We assumed you weren’t interested in all that stuff.”
“All what stuff?” Caroline hoped they would note her icy tone.
They didn’t. “You know,” Brian said. “Husband, kids, S-E-X.”
Her jaw dropped. “You do know I can spell, right?”
Brian at least had the good grace to look embarrassed.
Caroline wished she had the power to turn invisible at will. Instead she had to sit there pretending she wasn’t humiliated, while the boys informed the man she was going to marry that she was an asexual spinster. She had absolutely no doubt that Josh was rethinking his decision to wed her. She only hoped she’d get the castle restored before he found another woman to take her place.
“You’ve got this all wrong.” There was a smile in Josh’s voice.
Here it comes, the rejection. She sat up straighter and made sure her face was carefully blank. Suddenly, she felt a strong hand curl around hers. Startled, she looked down to see Josh’s fingers linked with hers.
“Caroline here has a very healthy interest in S-E-X.” Josh winked at her. “Seems like we know two different people.”
Caroline blinked hard. Was he defending her? Josh squeezed her hand. She tried to pull it away. He held tight. It was on the tip of her tongue to point out that she could look after herself. When she turned to tell him so, the soft look in his eyes made the words stick in her throat.
Archie dragged her attention back to the domino boys. “When’s the wedding?”
“Three weeks.” Josh’s fingertips caressed the palm of her hand. “I have a wedding planner flying up from London to help sort things out.”
Caroline tried to hide her disappointment. “I was going to organise it. I made a list.”
“She’s working for you, baby. You can use her any way you like.”
There was an awkward silence. Caroline tried again to pry her hand from out of Josh’s grip, but it was impossible. Worse still, he seemed amused by her efforts.
Josh turned to the domino boys. “We’d be grateful if you could keep this information to yourselves. We don’t want the town overrun with press.”
The boys shared a look that Caroline didn’t like one bit.
“It’s going to cost you,” Archie said at last.
“Archie Mcpherson!” Caroline started to lay into him, but Josh held up a hand.
“I want to hear this.” He turned back to the boys, who were looking craftier than ever. “What’s it going to cost?”
“Oh, we don’t want money,” Archie said as the other men nodded.
“No”—Brian grinned widely—“we want something much better than that.”
Caroline had an awful sense of foreboding.
James leaned across the table towards Josh. “We want in.” The boys nodded in unison.
Josh just grinned. “And by ‘in,’ you mean?”
“We want to work on the wedding,” Hamish said. “You have your namby-pamby English planner coming in, but we want to be wedding planners too. Caroline needs someone looking out for her interests, so that she doesn’t get overlooked in this whole celebrity shindig.”
“Yeah,” Josh drawled. “Because we all know that Caroline has a problem standing up for herself.”
They all laughed.
“Sitting here,” Caroline snapped at them. “Sitting right here and planning to check out the book on poisons we have in the library. Remember that the next time I make you a pot of tea. Also remember that I know where to hide the bodies.”
Josh seemed impressed. The rest of the men paled.
“Caroline Patterson,” Archie said. “Don’t go telling lies. We all know you’re far too moral to break the law. You’d no more murder us than you would steal from the post office.”
“Fine.” Caroline glared at him. “But I have no problem lacing everything you eat and drink with laxatives.”
Josh put up his hands. “There’s no need for that.” He winked at Caroline, making her even madder. “Why the hell would you guys want to plan a wedding?”
/> All four answered as one: “Boredom.”
“And if we don’t get to help, we’ll entertain ourselves with the only other option we have available,” Archie said with calculation in his eyes.
“Aye,” Brian said, “with talking to the press.”
Caroline was gritting her teeth so hard she was sure she’d pulverised a few. “I won’t be blackmailed.”
“Maybe not.” James smirked. “But I bet he will.” He pointed at Josh.
“Sorry, honey,” Josh told her. “The man has a point. We need this kept under the radar more than we need these guys to butt out.”
“One.” Caroline held up a finger. “I am not your baby, honey, sweetheart or darling. Two.” She pointed at each of the men in turn. “You will all be sorry about this. Not one of you knows anything about weddings. What makes you think you can ‘help’?”
“Between us we’ve been married seven times,” Archie said. “Not to mention we know everyone and everything in Invertary. And”—he gave her a smug look—“as you keep telling us, we’re in a library—what we don’t know, there’s bound to be a book on it somewhere.” The four men cackled like Macbeth’s witches. “Let’s face it. You need us. Without us you’d plan something so uptight that no one would have any fun.”
Caroline stood before taking a slow, measured breath. “You have one chance. If you screw up, that’s it. I don’t give a flying fig if you run to the press or not.”
“We’ll make you proud.” Hamish nodded to his friends, and they all made the sign of the boy scout’s promise.
Caroline rolled her eyes in disgust before striding out of the room and into her office.
A few minutes later, the boys were sitting at a table in the library room surrounded by bridal magazines. At least they were occupied and had stopped annoying her. Caroline shut the large windows in her office. There were two: one that faced into the library room and another into the reception area. Normally she liked being able to see everything that went on in the centre. Today it felt a little bit too much like a goldfish bowl. She turned to Josh, who was perched on the edge of her desk. He wore faded jeans, a blue T-shirt with Scooby-Doo on it and a pair of grey Converse. Everything he had on was worn, yet he looked more put together than Caroline did on her best day.
“You’re taking up too much space.” She wanted to push him out of her office into the foyer, but instead she sat behind her desk and scowled at him.
“There’s not a lot I can do about that, baby.”
“Stop calling me baby. Do I look like an infant?”
“Would you prefer ‘sweetheart’?”
“I prefer Caroline.”
Josh sauntered around to sit closer to her. Caroline tried to put some space between them, but the wall blocked her retreat.
“We need to clear up a few things.” Josh’s laid-back attitude irritated her.
“I’m not putting a studio in the castle.” A deal was a deal. She was restoring the place, not converting it into a musician’s playground.
He reached for her hair, making Caroline jerk away from him.
“I need to work.”
“Well do it somewhere else.”
“I also need to live. You’re ripping out all the comfort in the place.”
“I’m putting the character back in.”
“Character is a pain in the ass. I want to be able to relax.”
“Relax somewhere else.”
He studied her for a moment, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “You want me out of the castle, don’t you?”
Caroline thought about it. “No. I just want it to be perfect. You can stay there as long as you don’t interfere.”
With an amused smile, he shook his head. “There needs to be compromise in a marriage. Your husband needs to be able to work and relax.”
“My husband should have thought of that before he proposed to me.”
Josh threw back his head and laughed. The sound rumbled through her as a wave of vibrations, setting off sensations she wasn’t used to dealing with. Caroline stood and inched around the desk to get away from him.
She positioned herself beside the door to her office, and folded her arms. Josh took the hint and walked towards her. He stopped between her and the door, standing far too close for comfort.
“You need to stop jumping every time I come near you.” His words were a whisper against her hair.
Caroline’s head shot up to look at him. “I do not jump when you’re near.”
He quirked an eyebrow. Slowly, he reached out and ran his fingers gently down her upper arm. Caroline jerked away from him. Her whole body flushed with embarrassment. The man was right. She did jump when he touched her.
Josh took a step closer to her. “Close your eyes.” His voice was barely a whisper.
Caroline looked up at him and shook her head. What? Did he think she was crazy? She barely knew him.
“Trust me. The building is full of people. You’re safe here. Now close your eyes.”
Trembling, Caroline wrapped her arms tightly around herself and reluctantly did as she was told. She stopped breathing. Even though he wasn’t touching her, she was completely aware of him. She felt his body heat engulf her, and the musky scent she’d come to know as uniquely his toyed with her senses.
“You need to remind yourself”—his voice was a vibration against her cheek—“that I’m not a stranger.” His breath brushed her ear. She felt herself sway. “I’m the man you’re going to marry.” Gently, slowly, his fingers brushed her hair back behind her ear. “I plan to touch you.” His words were a warm breath against the curve of her neck. “And taste you.” His lips gently nipped at her skin. A tiny whimper stole through her lips. “Trust me.” He whispered in her ear, “You won’t want to run away. You’ll want to experience every single second.”
Suddenly his presence was gone, and Caroline felt cold. She heard her office door click shut. Her eyes fluttered open. She put out a hand to steady herself against the bookcase beside her. For a moment she just blinked, then she threw open the door. Josh was halfway out of the building.
“You’re still not getting a studio,” she called after him.
He flashed a knowing smile before disappearing into the sunlight.
Caroline leaned against the doorjamb and tried to breathe steadily. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that Josh wasn’t playing by her rules. Unlike everyone else around her, he didn’t seem to realise that she was in charge.
With a deep breath, she turned back to her office, only to see Beth standing in the doorway to the library, glaring at her.
“Can I help you with something?” Caroline asked her assistant.
“Ha!” was all Beth said before storming back into the library. She slammed the door behind her.
As soon as Caroline entered her office, there was a knock at the library window. Hamish was on the other side.
“What colour do you want for your wedding?” He waved a magazine at Caroline. “It says in here that you need a colour scheme. Going by what you usually wear, we’re thinking grey. Is that right?”
Caroline shut the window and went in search of some aspirin.
CHAPTER FIVE
On Wednesday morning Caroline was summoned to the castle—by Mitch. Josh was caught up in a conference call but wanted her to know that the wedding planner had arrived from London. The lord of the manor had used his minion to request her presence. Once again he was confused at his place in the hierarchy. People did not summon Caroline. Ever. Still, she was curious enough to do as she was told. This time, at least.
There was a note on the castle door for Caroline, saying that she should let herself in. As soon as she entered the foyer, her jaw dropped. The carpet that had once hidden Italian marble flooring was now gone. The rich walnut panelling had been unearthed from beneath the generic plasterboard. And snaking its way around the top of the wall was the decorative moulding that Caroline loved. It was wonderful.
“I hop
e you’re pleased with yourself.” Josh stood in the doorway of the grand room.
He leaned against the doorjamb, ankles crossed and arms folded. Today’s T-shirt had the Cookie Monster on it. Although he was trying his best to appear annoyed, the sparkle in his eyes undermined his efforts.
“I’m suffering here. The floors are cold, the hall is dark and someone’s got to dust all that crap up there.” He pointed at the cornices.
Caroline rolled her eyes at him. “I wouldn’t worry. It won’t be you.”
He smiled at her, and her stomach tried to climb up her oesophagus.
“At least let me get some rugs. Marble would be great if we lived in the Mediterranean. But this is Scotland. It’s like walking on an ice block.”
“Fine. You can have rugs.” He opened his mouth to speak, but Caroline got in first. “But I’m choosing them.”
He grimaced. “Make sure you don’t get those thin Persian things. I want something with depth.” He thought about it for a minute. “Maybe we can get rugs that are heated. Like electric blankets for your feet. If they don’t have something like that, I’m inventing it.” He grinned at her, clearly pleased with himself. “I invented something.”
“Well done. You’re a genius. Now where is this meeting?”
Josh threw an arm around her shoulder, which she promptly tried to shrug off. He held her tighter. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Or are you just tired from dreaming about me all night long?”
She wriggled to free herself. As usual, her effort was wasted.
Josh leaned in towards her ear and murmured, “Caroline, Caroline. This marriage will be no fun at all if you can’t get used to me touching you.”
“It feels strange. I hardly know you.”
“We’ll have to work on that.” He waggled his eyebrows mischievously as he pushed open the door to the kitchen.
“We were thinking a grey colour theme,” Archie was telling the wedding planner.
Great. Things just kept getting better. The domino boys had been informed of the meeting.
Archie waved at her as he kept right on talking. “We’re thinking of something like the colour of a submarine. You know, from a naval base.”
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