Goody Two Shoes (Invertary Book 2)

by Janet Elizabeth Henderson

  “Get out of my bed. I didn’t ask you into it.”

  He pulled the duvet over them. “Actually, you did. You accepted my proposal.”

  “I told you I don’t want to do any touching before we get married.”

  “Yeah, you tell me lots of things. But actions speak louder than words, and your body is saying that touching is good. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s flashing a big old neon sign that’s begging for more touching.” He trailed his fingers over her silky pyjamas to the curve of her hip.

  Caroline tensed. “Your father is in the house.”

  “And I can hear everything,” his father’s voice came up to them.

  Caroline froze in place. This was humiliating.

  “We’re only going to sleep,” Josh said. “That’s it. You think you can handle that?”

  She smacked his chest. His wide, bare, warm chest. Get a grip, she ordered herself.

  “I don’t trust you,” she said. “You kiss me every time you want me to agree with you.”

  She saw Josh’s teeth flash in the dim light, and it made her shiver. “Yeah, and it works great. But we’re just going to sleep. In a bed that fits me. That’s it. We can hardly fool around when there’s no door on the room and my dad is listening.”

  “Too bloody right,” came the voice from downstairs.

  Caroline glared at Josh as the absurdity of the situation hit her. Her anger fled. She started to shake. The laughter bubbled up inside of her, beginning in her stomach and working its way out until it exploded from her mouth.

  “That’s right, enjoy it while you can,” Josh muttered.

  Caroline gasped for air. This was too much. “You shot yourself in the foot taking off the door.” She barely squeezed the words out between laughing.

  “Yeah, it cracks me up too.”

  Caroline wiped her eyes and hiccupped. She was still grinning and trying not to giggle when Josh rolled her over and tucked her back into his front. He slid an arm under her neck and wrapped it tight around her shoulders. His other hand rested on her stomach. She was locked in tight. So tight she was surprised he didn’t throw a leg over hers to keep them in place too.

  “Sleep,” he ordered.

  “How am I supposed to do that? I’m not used to sharing a bed with anyone.”

  Josh stilled behind her. “You’ve never even shared a bed with anyone? Never slept beside anyone?”

  Caroline felt her stomach clench. They were having that talk. The one she’d been trying to avoid. “No. I’ve never slept beside anyone.” She swallowed hard. “Or with anyone.”

  The muscles in his arms tightened. “Are you telling me you’re a virgin?”

  She blinked hard into the darkness. Oh how she hated that word.

  “I wanted to wait until I was married to be intimate. Obviously I’ve never been married. So I’m still waiting. I had planned on getting to know my future husband quite well before we, uh, became intimate. There was a boy in college—we were serious; I thought we’d get married. But then I came back here, to help out with my sister. And, well, since then, I haven’t dated very much. There hasn’t been time. Or the interest.” She stared into the darkness. “From men, I mean. They aren’t that interested in me. So time just went on. And here I am. Still waiting until I get married.” He was tense behind her, and Caroline felt tears well in her eyes. She shouldn’t have told him.

  Josh’s arms wrapped firmly around her. “Well, guess what. You’re getting married now.” His fingers brushed her breast.

  She smacked his hand away. “Not today, I’m not!” Caroline chewed her lip. She had expected more of a reaction. Didn’t guys think this sort of thing was a big deal? “Doesn’t this bother you?”

  “No. It doesn’t bother me. Why would it bother me? It means I get you all to myself.”

  “I don’t have any experience.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I need you to be patient with me.”

  “Or”—she felt Josh grin against her temple—“we can throw caution to the wind and I’ll teach you every dirty thing I know. That way you’ll be a sexpert by the wedding.”

  He sounded so wicked it spiked Caroline’s curiosity. She wriggled against him, knowing she shouldn’t ask. She did anyway. “What kind of experience do you have, exactly?”

  “For the love of all things holy,” Josh’s father shouted, “don’t tell her. I don’t want to listen to my son’s sexcapades.”

  Caroline wanted to die. She groaned against Josh’s arm as she felt him shake behind her. “Your father heard everything.” She was never leaving the bedroom again.

  “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, lass,” his father shouted.

  “I want to die. Right now. This minute. I’m never leaving this room, ever again. Never.”

  Josh turned her and buried her face in his chest as he kept laughing. Caroline honestly couldn’t remember ever being so humiliated. How could she look Andrew McInnes in the eye ever again? Oh no. If she married Josh she’d have years of dealing with his father. “I can’t marry you,” she told Josh.

  “Sure you can.” He was still chuckling.

  “I can’t face your father.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Sure you can,” his father shouted.

  “This house has better acoustics than some of the venues I’ve played.” Josh stroked her back. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal that he knows.”

  “It is to me.” She pressed her face to his shoulder.

  Josh held her, cooing soothing noises at her. They stayed like that for the longest time. And then they heard loud snoring coming from beneath them.

  Josh raised his head to stare at the doorway. “We really need that door back.”

  Caroline hoped she’d see the funny side of this—one day. She looked up at Josh, but could barely make him out in the dark. “You don’t think I’m a freak?”

  “No, baby. A control freak, yeah. A freaky virgin, no. I told you, I like it. I have you all to myself.”

  Now she wanted to kiss him. Instead she wriggled in place. A sense of relief flooded through her as a small smile curved her lips. Josh’s fingers traced a lazy circle on her hip.

  “Great PJs, babe,” he said into her hair.

  Caroline settled in closer and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Caroline was dreaming of Josh’s kisses. Something she’d been doing since the first time he’d kissed her. Only this one was different. This one felt real.

  “Time to wake up, baby.”

  Another kiss on her lips. Her hand slid across wide shoulders and held him in place. Her legs stretched long on her bed. Oh, this felt good.

  “Are you awake, Caroline?” His voice was an amused tease against her lips.

  “No. I’m dreaming.”

  He chuckled before running his tongue over her bottom lip. “Is it a good dream?”

  “Oh, yes.” She ran her hand down the bare rippling muscles of his back. “It’s delicious.”

  Another chuckle. “Good to know.”

  “Stop talking and kiss me. You’re ruining my dream.”

  Smiling lips found hers and did as they were told. Caroline groaned into his mouth as he held her tighter. Wonderful. Her brain wasn’t quite awake, or quite asleep. But better than that, her body was on fire. Every single inch of her skin was tingling.

  “My skin is on fire,” she told him.

  “What can I do to help?”

  She didn’t know. Her tongue touched his lips and he kissed her again. Deeper. Harder. She pressed up into his chest, trying to make the ache in her breasts go away. It didn’t help.

  “Do you want me to touch you?” he whispered.

  “You are touching me.”

  His hand slowly slid from her waist to her breast. The heat of his touch seared through her pyjamas and straight to her heart. She pressed into him.

  “Do you want me to touch you here?”

  “Yes, please.�
�

  Josh chuckled again as his hand stroked her feverish skin.

  “You like this?”

  “More,” she moaned.

  His thumb flicked over her nipple. She gasped. Josh caught the end of her gasp with his mouth. She clung on to the ridges on his back as sensations overwhelmed her. Slowly his hand slid down from her breast. She moaned her complaint and felt him smile against her lips. A second later he stole under her top. Skin on skin. Perfect. His tongue swept lazy patterns inside her mouth as his fingers found her nipple and circled it slowly.

  “Beautiful,” he told her.

  “Need more,” she breathed.

  “Your wish is my command.”

  His knee worked between her legs until his thigh was touching her. There. Without thinking about it, she ground into him. Josh pushed the edge of her pyjama top upwards. The feel of the satin sliding over her skin was almost more than she could take.

  “More?” he said.

  She moaned her agreement.

  His lips moved to her breast. Caroline would have come straight off the bed if it wasn’t for Josh holding her in place. Her breathing was fast; her head was spinning. Her fingers dug into warm muscle as his tongue did wonderful things to her nipple. She widened her legs so she could move closer to him. She wrapped her leg around his hip, arching into him. He grunted his approval against her skin. He blew cold air across her nipple, making her moan. He took her in his mouth and sucked. Hard. Her hips pushed upwards. Desperate. So desperate. Her nails dug into his back. She needed more. She needed all of him.

  “You’re killing me here,” Josh said against her skin.

  Caroline couldn’t reply. She felt his teeth brush her sensitive skin, and before she knew it, her hand was in his hair and she was pulling his mouth back to hers. Her tongue pushed in as soon as he was close enough to taste. She couldn’t get enough of him. His palm on her breast, his thigh between her legs, the taste of him, the smell of him. She was drowning in him.

  “You have no idea how much I want you,” Josh told her.

  Caroline’s head was fog. The words were lost in it. He pushed away from her, just enough so she could see the heat in his eyes.

  “Oh,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, oh,” Josh whispered back.

  There was a loud yawn from downstairs. “I’m awake and I’m coming up to use the facilities. You two better be decent,” came the roar from beneath them.

  Josh put his forehead to hers. He ran his thumb over her throbbing nipple one more time before pulling her top back down. “Sometimes, I hate my dad.”

  Caroline fought for control of her body. She didn’t want to stop. Part of her didn’t even care that there wasn’t a door on her room. Let his father see. Let everyone see. Just don’t let Josh stop.

  “You don’t think he heard, do you?” She worried her lip.

  Josh shook his head. “He was snoring until a minute ago.”

  “I’m at the bottom of the stairs,” bellowed his dad.

  Josh sighed heavily. “I’ll put the door back on today.”

  “That would make us all thankful,” his father grumbled as he thumped up the stairs.

  A giggle erupted from Caroline. She wasn’t sure if it was from the absurdity of the situation or the humiliation of it. Josh gave her one last hard, but short, kiss before rolling over to the edge of the bed. He picked up his jeans and pulled them on. Caroline watched in fascination as the muscles in his back and thighs rippled. Suddenly she wished his briefs were gone so she could watch all of him ripple. Josh turned to her as his dad passed their room and slammed into the bathroom.

  “We’re not done here,” he promised.

  With a wink, he disappeared down the stairs.

  Josh left Caroline in bed while he dealt with his father. After his trip to the bathroom, the man glued himself to the TV. He was methodically working his way through the snacks Josh had bought.

  “Are you going to sit there all day watching TV?”

  His father grunted.

  “Don’t you want to sort out your marriage?”

  Silence.

  “How about getting lost so I can spend some time with my fiancée?”

  “Not going to happen, son.”

  Josh pulled out the big guns. “I’m calling Mom.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that.” He went back to eating potato chips.

  “At least put on some pants. No one wants to see you sitting around in your underwear.”

  Josh resisted the urge to knock some sense into his father. Instead he went into the kitchen, refilled his coffee mug and called his mother. It was another pointless exercise in parental intervention.

  “He acts like we should be in an old folks’ home,” she told him. “He doesn’t want to do anything. Go anywhere. Socialise with anyone. He barely talks to me, and when I talk to him he doesn’t hear me. I can’t keep living like this. I’m sorry, Josh, but I can’t.”

  “What can he do to fix it?” Please. Let there be something.

  “I don’t know if there is anything he can do. This is who he is. He can’t change just for me. It isn’t possible.”

  “Maybe there’s something else behind his behaviour? He’s always been moody, but this is overboard. Maybe we should get him to a doctor? He isn’t behaving rationally. And he’s a pain in the backside.”

  “I thought of that. I had a quiet word with our doctor before his yearly check-up. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

  “Nothing a good psychiatrist wouldn’t sort,” Josh mumbled.

  His mother sighed. “Some people mellow as they get older. He isn’t one of them.”

  “Mom, he needs to come back to the castle. Caroline and I need privacy and Dad barely tolerates her.”

  “I’m sorry, Josh. You’ll have to find somewhere else for him to go. I can’t have him here.”

  And that was the end of that. Between his mother’s stubborn streak, Caroline’s obsession with historical restoration and the gung-ho attitude of the work crew that had taken over the place, the castle was now out of bounds for the McInnes men. With a sense of doom, Josh started calling around the accommodation in Invertary. He was prepared to beg, or bribe, to get his father a room. Whatever it took to get some time alone with his fiancée. He was on his third failed attempt at finding his dad somewhere to go when Caroline rushed into the room.

  “You let me sleep late. I’m never late.” She grabbed her briefcase from beside the kitchen table. Her hair was slightly ruffled and she still had that sleepy-eyed look. Cute.

  “I didn’t let you do anything. You were the one who rolled over and snuggled in.”

  “If you hadn’t been in my bed, I’d have been up hours ago.”

  Josh came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck and felt her shiver. “If I hadn’t been in your bed you wouldn’t have woken with a smile on your face.”

  “Enough of that.” She playfully smacked him away. “I need to run.”

  She turned to the door. Josh grabbed her arm. “Not without a goodbye kiss you don’t.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, a cute little frown on her brow. Josh clasped her cheek in his hand and touched his lips to hers. With a gentle sigh, she leaned in to him. Delicious. When he freed her, her eyes were heavy-lidded with desire. The perfect look on her.

  “I really have to go.”

  “Yes. Please. Go. You two are making me sick,” came the shout from the living room.

  “Are you dealing with that?” Caroline pointed in the direction of his father.

  Josh let out an exasperated sigh. “Trying to.”

  With a look that said he’d better deal with it, and fast, she ran for the door. Josh went in to see his dad. “This is her house you’re camped in. You could try to be nicer. Otherwise you’ll be sitting in your underpants out on the street.”

  As usual, there was no reply.

  Ten minutes later, Josh’s day got even worse—Caroline’s bedroom door had
been taken away with the trash.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  After three nights sleeping beside Josh and waking with him touching her, Caroline was pretty sure she was going to lose her mind. She was suffering. Dying from frustration. It was a delicious feeling to be eased awake by the man’s skilful fingers and tongue. That morning his fingers had drifted beneath the waistband of her pyjama trousers. He had her so wound up from his teasing touch and sinful lips that she was desperate for him to ease the ache she constantly felt. But his father woke up and that was the end of that. She shifted on her office chair and wondered if it was possible to die from sexual frustration.

  Although it was entertaining watching Josh’s great plan backfire, she really wanted the door back on her bedroom. Thankfully, Josh was at the hardware store as soon as it had opened, ordering a new one. A door was good. A door would help. Having Josh’s dad out of the house would help even more.

  Caroline frowned at her computer screen. She should never have let the local paper advertise the vacancy on their website. Now she had to wade her way through 15,427 applications for the position of her assistant.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, lass,” Archie said when he heard about the applications. “But I don’t think these people are interested in working with you so much as getting to Josh.”

  “Really? You think?” She was busy deleting emails from anyone who didn’t live within a fifty-mile radius.

  “Sarcasm, Caroline?” Archie patted her head, as though she was a dog. “I’m so proud. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “I keep forgetting he’s famous,” Caroline grumbled.

  Archie took his cap off his head and scratched his thinning hair. “I’m not sure how that’s possible, lass. Haven’t you noticed the town is fit to bursting? There are a lot of lookie-loos here to catch a glimpse of him. Not to mention there’s a road barricade at the edge of town, which now has a camp set up beside it full of media folk. Every time you turn on the TV you see something about you and Josh. Which reminds me, you really need to smile more. You look glum in every picture.”