Goody Two Shoes (Invertary Book 2)

by Janet Elizabeth Henderson

  He leaned towards her. His left hand stroking her knee. “I like how you look a lot.” She held her breath, mesmerised by the desire in his eye. “I like how you taste even better.” He growled softly before his lips touched hers.

  Caroline didn’t have time to panic about kissing in public. In fact, she didn’t have time to think at all. One touch of Josh’s lips and she sank towards him. His hands held her tight; otherwise she’d have fallen off the stool and flat on her face before him.

  “Better than steak,” he murmured against her lips.

  She couldn’t think. His tongue teased its way inside her mouth, and all she could do was sigh. He tightened his grip as flashes went off in her head.

  Suddenly Josh was gone. The flashes hadn’t been in her head. There was a photographer brandishing his camera at Josh. Caroline gripped the counter to steady herself.

  “Get lost, McInnes. I got what I needed. I’m out of here. Get your hands off me or I’m gonna sue then watch this on E! News.”

  Caroline sucked in a breath as her hand went to her mouth. Josh had his fists twisted into the T-shirt of a lecherous-looking man. He was short and acne scarred, and reeked of smoke. Josh’s face was thunderous. Caroline felt everything still within her. Suddenly the fact he didn’t have a bodyguard made perfect sense. Josh could obviously take care of himself.

  He shook the photographer. “You know the rules, Pyro. No paparazzi in Harrods.”

  The smaller guy sneered, making his face twist into something ugly. “I got the shot I wanted. I’ll make ten times more than whatever fine I have to pay here. Kicking me out won’t make any difference.” Pyro poked Josh in the chest. “Thanks for the payday, bud.”

  Josh snarled. “Don’t think I won’t hurt you.”

  “You do and you’ll be front-page news. I’m not the one assaulting someone. Everything you do is money to me. So go ahead,” the photographer spat out. “Hit me. I’ll live off that payday for a year.”

  Caroline sprang from her stool and put her hand on Josh’s arm. He didn’t look at her. She wasn’t sure he even felt her.

  “Maybe,” Josh said to the worm, “that seems like a good deal to me.”

  At the far end of the room, Caroline could make out security uniforms running towards them.

  “Josh.” She held his arm tightly. “He’s not worth it.”

  “Better listen to the little lady,” the photographer sneered. “Seems like she’s got the brains in this setup. You were always a grinning idiot. I mean, look at you. You could have had anyone you want, and you pick her.”

  Caroline went still. Josh’s biceps flexed. His eyes were dark. Something in Caroline snapped. She let go of Josh, snatched the camera from the photographer’s side and clicked it loose from its strap. She held it in her hands.

  “Get your hands off my property, bitch!”

  Josh took another step towards the photographer. Looming over the man. Itching to strike out. “Don’t talk to my woman like that.” His voice was thunder. “Don’t look at her. Don’t take pictures of her. She doesn’t exist for you.”

  “Or what?” the idiot demanded.

  Caroline had heard enough. “Is this one of those cameras that can email photos?”

  The guy’s glance flicked to her. She saw worry in his eyes. “What do you care?”

  “I’m guessing by the look on your face that you didn’t have a chance to send the photo yet.”

  He wet his bottom lip. Nervous.

  “Good,” Caroline said. “I’ve had enough of this discussion.”

  She took the memory card from the camera, dropped it on the floor and crushed it with her heel. A stream of cursing cut through the gasps. The photographer fought to get at her. “I’m going to kill you for that. Bitch!”

  “Done here,” Josh said.

  He pulled back his right hand, made a fist and aimed.

  There was a sickening crunch. Pyro bent double and held his nose. Blood dripped onto the floor.

  “Well done, asshole,” he spat. “That’s money in my pocket.”

  Josh folded his arms and scanned the rapt crowd. “Anybody get a picture of what happened?” There was silence. “Anybody witness what happened?”

  “Guy fell over,” someone shouted. “Broke his camera. Banged his nose.”

  “Saw the whole thing,” someone else called. “This store needs to maintain its floors better.”

  Josh glared at the paparazzo. “Looks like you need to find another payday.”

  “You’ll pay for this,” Pyro said. “You don’t mess with the paparazzi. We have the power, man.”

  “This is Harrods.” Josh calmly wrapped his arm around Caroline’s shoulders. “They don’t like the paps in here. You know that, Pyro. You lot killed the owner’s son. Remember Diana, asshole? There’s a reason this is a paparazzi-free zone, and you just blew it.”

  Two burly security guards followed by a man in a perfectly cut suit screeched to a halt beside Josh.

  “Trespassing,” the man in the suit said. His face was grim. He motioned to the guards.

  The security team grabbed the photographer and yanked him towards the back of the shop.

  “You’ll regret this. You and that ugly bitch you’re marrying,” the guy shouted.

  Caroline jerked straight. His words were a slap.

  “I’m sorry about that, Mr. McInnes,” the man in the suit said.

  Josh tightened his hold on Caroline. “So am I.”

  As Caroline tried her best to become invisible, the man turned to the crowd.

  “Please forgive this unseemly disturbance. If you would all like to make your way to the bakery, you’ll find complimentary snacks and drinks for everyone.”

  The crowd moved with excitement, abuzz with chatter. Caroline felt herself being turned in Josh’s arms. She was wedged against his side and, without thinking she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “We’ve lost our appetite,” Josh told the guy in the suit.

  “Of course,” he said. “I’ll deal with this mess. You and your fiancée enjoy the rest of your day.”

  Caroline watched him go as a few people lingered to stare at them.

  “What do you want to do, honey?” Josh stroked her hair.

  “I want to go home.”

  He kissed her head, grabbed her hand and marched them towards the exit.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEEN

  Caroline got back from London to find her old-style answer machine was at capacity. It was the type where the light blinked to show a message had been recorded. The more messages, the faster the blink. It was going so fast Caroline couldn’t keep track. Usually she dealt with her calls as soon as she came through the door. This time she didn’t. She headed for the kitchen, flicked on the kettle and sank into a chair at the table.

  The ride home from London had been tense. They’d been in the limo on their way to the airport when Josh’s cell phone rang. He looked at the screen and frowned before answering.

  “Who are you and how did you get this number?”

  There was silence before Josh cocked an eyebrow in Caroline’s direction. He handed the phone over to her. She hesitantly took it. He folded his arms and shook his head at her, as though she’d done something wrong.

  “Why am I hearing about your wedding on the TV?” her sister screamed in her ear.

  “Elaine,” Caroline said on a sigh.

  “Yes, Elaine. Your sister. Your only family. The one person you should have called with the news. Instead I find out the whole town knows before me. Not only that but BBC entertainment news, E! News and CNN.” She let out an angry growl. “I’m feeling the love here. If I wasn’t the size of a beached whale I’d get on a plane and sort you out in person.”

  Caroline took a deep breath. “I was waiting for the right time to tell you…”

  “That would have been straight after you said yes to Josh freaking McInnes!”

  “Calm down,” Caroline told her. “Think of the baby. I didn’t want to stres
s you and throw you into early labour.”

  “So you thought hearing about my only sister marrying a famous singer from the news was going to be less stressful than telling me yourself?”

  Caroline pinched the bridge of her nose. She so didn’t need this right now.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Things have been insane since we agreed to get married. I should have made time. It’s no excuse.”

  She listened as her sister let out a deep breath. “So, what’s the deal? How long have you been dating this guy? Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

  Caroline felt her stomach plummet. The answers to those questions weren’t going to help at all. “Elaine, this isn’t the best time to talk about all of that. I’m in a car on the way to London City Airport. We’ve been shopping for wedding dresses. I’ll call you when I’m back home.”

  She heard a sniff. “I’m going to miss your wedding.” Elaine sobbed. Caroline scrunched her eyes shut as her chest ached. “Can’t you wait? I want to be there when my sister gets married.”

  Caroline shot a glance at Josh. “It’s part of our deal to get married fast. Something to do with being a celebrity.”

  “I don’t want to miss your wedding. You’ve always been there for me. I want to be there for you.”

  “You will be, honey. We’ll come visit as soon as it’s over. You need to concentrate on taking care of my new wee niece. That’s more important than a wedding any day.”

  She listened as Elaine struggled to gain control of herself. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, honey.” Caroline’s eyes misted.

  She heard her sister’s sobs grow fainter.

  “Hi, Aunty Caroline.” It was her ten-year-old niece, Emma. “I can’t believe you’re marrying Josh McInnes. I’ve told all my friends. Can I come stay with you next school holidays? I want to meet him. Does he know One Direction? What about Katy Perry? Does he know any movie stars? Can I come to Hollywood with you?”

  Caroline laughed. “I’ll talk to Josh, sweetie, see what we can do.”

  “Cool.” And then she was gone.

  Caroline stared at the phone for a minute before handing it back to Josh. He took it silently before signalling to the driver to pull over. He climbed out of the limo and strode into a British Telecom shop. A few minutes later, he handed her the latest iPhone.

  “We’ll set it up on the plane.”

  Caroline eyed the box with suspicion. “I don’t want a phone. I don’t need a phone.”

  “Your sister had to call Lake to get my number so that she could talk to you. You need a phone. How are people supposed to talk to you if you don’t have one?”

  “They call my house and leave a message. Or call work to talk to me. Or they walk to my door. Everyone I know is in Invertary. I don’t need a phone.”

  He turned towards her. “Elaine isn’t in Invertary. Your sister needed to talk to you. And I might like to talk to you without leaving a message for you to get back to me.”

  Caroline plonked the phone on the seat beside her and folded her arms. “So this is about you.”

  “No, this is about people being able to get hold of you. It’s about you being safe. What if you’re out alone and get hounded by the press? What if some crazed fan decides they want to get too close to you? You need to be able to call for help.”

  Caroline glared at him. “You’re blowing this out of proportion. Lots of people don’t have cell phones.”

  Even as the words came out of her mouth, she realised they were arguing about something ridiculous.

  “You’re keeping the phone.” He clenched his jaw.

  “I don’t need it.”

  “Caroline, I just decked a photographer,” he said, like that explained everything.

  “You didn’t have to.”

  “Yes. I did.” He turned to her, and his demeanour was intense. “I’ve been living with this crap for years. It comes with the territory. I’m not an idiot. I court the press. I have to, otherwise I won’t sell records and I want to sell records. But the paparazzi are something else. They don’t play by the rules. They don’t care what damage they cause. They don’t care that something is off limits. They’ll do whatever it takes to make their money. And that includes hounding the people I care about.”

  Caroline bit her bottom lip. Her stomach had squeezed into a tight ball.

  Josh gave her a look, which she assumed meant he was the boss. “You’re taking the cell phone and you’re going to keep it on you at all times. On top of that, I’m going to talk to Lake about a bodyguard for you.”

  Caroline blustered, “You will not! I don’t want some random guy following me around. I can take care of myself.”

  “Yeah, right.” He tapped the screen on his phone before putting it to his ear. “Lake? Yeah, got a problem here. I punched a paparazzo in Harrods. I’m worried about Caroline. Can you sort out someone to watch over her?” There was silence for a moment as Caroline fumed. “Great. We’re on the same page, then. See you when we get there.” He hung up and gave her a smug smile.

  “I can’t believe you did that.” Caroline wanted to punch the man. “You are so going to regret it.”

  The mood changed in the car. Suddenly the tension and anger was gone. Josh’s eyes sparkled at her. He was amused. Again. Well, too bloody bad. Caroline was furious.

  “What you going to do, honey? Call off the wedding?” He grinned widely. “You never back down on your word. Remember? Plus, if you run off now I’ll get my studio and the castle restoration will stop dead. Is that what you want?”

  “I might be marrying you, Josh McInnes. But I don’t have to make it pleasant and I don’t have to be nice to you.”

  The infuriating man leaned forward and touched his nose to hers. “Bring it on, honey. Give me everything you’ve got.”

  Caroline made a growling sound in the back of her throat, wrenched herself out of his grip and slid as far away from him on the seat as she could get. While she glared out at the passing streets, Josh’s deep chuckle filled the car.

  That was the last time she’d spoken to him. Even when he’d walked her home. She’d just opened the door, walked inside and slammed it in his face. She’d heard him laughing on the other side before she’d stalked to the kitchen. And now her answer machine was blinking with messages. Messages she planned to ignore for the first time in her life.

  Caroline took her tea into the living room and threw herself into the threadbare sofa. She covered her face with her hands. Her life was unravelling. Her sister was upset. Josh was interfering with everything and bossing her around—when no one bossed her around. Ever. Celebrities were coming to town and she had no idea how to behave around them, let alone what to wear when she met them. Beth had quit her job, leaving Caroline in the lurch. The paparazzi were circling like buzzards. The town was on lockdown. The domino boys were playing soldier. And there were stolen sex books on her desk.

  She grabbed a cushion from beside her and screamed loudly into it.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  At two o’clock in the morning, Caroline woke to loud music. For a minute she wasn’t sure where the noise was coming from. She didn’t have the sort of neighbours who threw wild parties. She had neighbours who misplaced their hearing aids and called the fire brigade to help find them.

  As the fog from her brain cleared, she realised that the music was coming from outside. Close outside. Her front yard, to be exact. Caroline threw back the curtains and peered out. What the heck? Josh was standing in the middle of her tiny lawn with a stereo at his feet. He waved happily when he saw her, and then threw his arms wide. Before she could blink, he was belting out “Sweet Caroline.”

  Caroline stepped back from the window in shock. She rubbed her eyes. If this was a dream, it was a blooming noisy one. She pulled the curtain back again. Nope. No dream. Josh was still there. Singing. Loudly. She pushed up the old sash window and leaned out. He was mid-song now, and lights were coming on along the street. Morag McKay
stood on her doorstep in pink terry robe and hairnet. You didn’t need Superman’s eyesight to know she had a scowl on her face.

  Caroline pointed at Josh. “Stop that right now.”

  He grinned. Caroline froze. That wasn’t a Josh grin. She stared at him in horror. It was Josh, but it wasn’t Josh. Her poor sleep-deprived brain couldn’t quite understand what she was seeing. He was wearing a suit, a black one with pristine white shirt and black shoelace tie. Caroline had only known him a week, but in that time she’d never seen him in anything but cartoon T-shirts. He kept singing.

  “Be quiet. If this is your idea of apologising, it isn’t working. I’m still mad at you.”

  He rocked back on his heels, did a little twirl and carried on singing.

  Caroline slammed the window shut. Stormed through her bedroom and barrelled down the stairs, without stopping for a robe or shoes. She threw open her front door wearing only her pyjamas.

  “Josh.” She stopped dead.

  That wasn’t Josh. He looked a lot like him. He had the moves. He even sounded like him. But he wasn’t Josh. This guy was shorter, less muscled, and his features weren’t right. Close enough to mistake in the dark, but anyone who knew Josh would know this man wasn’t him. Whoever it was grinned widely at her, then winked. Caroline stepped back into the house, closed the door, locked it tight and called the police.

  “This is a new one even for me,” Officer Donaldson told her. “Thought I saw everything during my time in London, but I never came across a woman with her own personal tribute band.”

  Caroline pursed her lips. “He isn’t my tribute band. He isn’t pretending to be Caroline. He’s out there pretending he’s Josh. In the middle of the night. Waking up the street.”

  Officer Donaldson’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “I know that, Caroline. I’m taking him back to the station. Do you want me to charge him with trespassing and disturbing the peace?”