Running Scarred (Scarred Series Book 1)

by Jackie Williams

  Ellen snorted in indignation.

  “Well thanks for that vote of confidence Justin! No sense of direction indeed! I’m going to shower. I’ll see you for drinks in half an hour, if you think I’ll be able to find my way back down the stairs by myself.” She whispered sarcastically as she turned sharply towards the wide staircase and without looking back, stalked up to their suite, ignoring his shocked expression and the trail of mud and leaves that she left in her wake. Justin shook his head and followed her up to their room a few minutes later. He shoved the key card into the lock and barged into their suite. Ellen was tugging off her clothes and piling them on the bed.

  “For God’s sake Ellen! What the hell is wrong with you? First you act grumpy for half the day, then you shout at me and stalk off in front of the agent. I felt a right idiot. What is it with you this week? Is it your period or something?” He was standing at the end of the bed, glaring at her as she pulled off the last of her muddy clothes.

  She stood in her bra and pants and stared at him open mouthed for a moment.

  “That’s low Justin, even for you. And believe me I wasn’t acting grumpy. I was grumpy, furious in fact, and do you blame me?” She grabbed a towelling dressing gown from the back of a chair and wrapped it tightly around her. “I had explained exactly what I was looking for and you told me that you had arranged several viewings. I didn’t realize that you had completely ignored my wishes yet again. Am I meant to be happy when you do that? I’d rather be told that there was nothing suitable to view.” She glared right back at him.

  Justin fiddled with the heavy gold cufflinks at his slim wrists.

  “Well, I didn’t think you were serious. It’s such a stupid idea. It’ll cost a bomb to set up and you’ll never see a penny return. I just don’t see the point. I know you have your reasons, but they are irrational. Even your brother David said you must be mad. If you listened to me…” He tailed off at her livid expression.

  She turned towards the bathroom and spoke over her shoulder furiously.

  “When was the last time you spoke to David? You can barely look at him when he comes home, let alone have any kind of conversation. He thinks what I’m doing is a fabulous idea and I’m going to go ahead with it whether you like it or not. I would have thought you knew by now that this project doesn’t have to make money. It only has to cover basic costs to keep it going, and David is in full agreement. It’s my money Justin and I’ll do whatever I want with it…I’m showering and then going to bed. If you want dinner then you’ll have to eat on your own. You’ve put me off my food completely. In fact, why don’t you go and book another room. I really don’t want to sleep with you tonight.”

  Justin shoved her dirty clothes across the covers and sat down heavily on the end of the bed. He flicked the arm of her dressing gown as she swept past.

  “You don’t have to be so dramatic Ellen. Look, we’ve had a busy couple of days and we’re both tired. Shower and then come and eat with me.” His voice softened and he stood up again, as she stopped. He put a hand tentatively on her shoulder and took it as a good sign that she didn’t shake him off. “Where were you Ellen? You know how I worry. I was really scared. I thought something bad had happened to you.” He was whispering into her ear.

  She turned to face him, moving out of his reach, not able to deal with the strange emotions that were still racing through her body at this precise moment. She didn’t want him snuggling up to her. She didn’t want him at all. But she kept those feelings to herself. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time to bring up her thoughts about parting.

  “Oh Justin! You idiot. I can walk along a footpath by myself. You don’t have to worry about me all the time.” She crossed her fingers in the pockets of the dressing gown and put the feelings of panic at being lost to the back of her mind. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him that she had resigned herself to a night of camping and was only back at the hotel now because of the help of a tall, dark stranger. She shivered slightly at the thought of the man’s hand on her arm, but it wasn’t a cold shiver. It was a shiver of unexplained pleasure. She nearly groaned out loud as her heart began to beat in an uneven rhythm.

  Justin stepped forwards and giving her no choice, he pulled her into his chest, murmuring into her hair.

  “Of course I have to worry about you. That’s what fiancé’s do.” He pulled a leaf from her tangled hair. “And it’s obvious that you needed worrying over. I can’t believe I let you stomp off like that. Anything could have happened to you. People get to hear things. If they know there’s a multi-millionairess on the loose, you could be in big trouble. I should never have let you out of my sight.” He felt her stiffen again in his arms and knew at once that he’d said the wrong thing.

  She pulled away from him, angry all over again.

  “You’re the only one round here that knows about my wealth, unless you’ve gone and told anyone.” She knew immediately, by the look on his face, that he had. She could just imagine him showing off in the bar. “And anyway, you don’t own me Justin. I can do exactly as I wish. You can’t stop me.”

  He pressed his lips together into a thin, hard line, then spoke again.

  “Yes, I think you’ve made that quite plain Ellen. But as soon as we’re married, I shall have to put my foot down. I can’t have you embarrassing me like that again. The estate agent thought I was a complete idiot!” His tone was harsher now and he caught hold of her wrist as she stepped back to look up into his pale blue eyes.

  He was smiling down at her as though he’d been joking, but the smile didn’t quite reach the corners of his eyes and his grasp on her wrist was just a little too tight. She wrenched her hand away from him, but didn’t move back any further. She lifted her chin slightly, her defiance obvious.

  “Just let me take a shower Justin. Then perhaps I will feel like dinner after all. I don’t want to argue about this now.”

  He bit his lip and clenched his hand at his side, fighting the urge to slap her haughty face.

  “Who’s arguing? I’m famished and you look as though you need a drink. Come on, hurry up and get showered and then we can eat.” He sat down on the bed again as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door quietly.

  She let the hot water run over her body for a long time, its heat warming her where her skin felt icy. It was an odd coldness, deeper than on the surface, chilling her to the bone. She hadn’t felt cold inside the stranger’s thick coat. Far from it. She had been as warm as toast. It was only as she had entered the hotel after seeing Justin’s livid face that an icy blast had swept over her.

  She looked down at her wrist where he had held her. There was a faint red mark on her skin. Nothing really, only a slight abrasion, but she could still feel the grip of his cold fingers. Had he meant to grasp her that hard?

  She let her fingers wander higher up her arm to where the man in the woods had held her so gently as he had guided her. She tingled with a fiery heat and felt her heart begin to pound again as a strange quiver ran through her entire body. She took some deep breaths, trying to dismiss the ludicrous sensations. It couldn’t be possible to feel this sensitized or aroused after meeting someone she could barely see, for less than half an hour.

  She shampooed her hair twice and then conditioned it, letting the thick liquid linger while she soaped the rest of her body. The muscles in her calves were still tense from all the walking she had put herself through, and she massaged them firmly, hoping they wouldn’t be as tight in the morning. She rinsed her hair again, turned off the water and stepped out of the cubicle to dry herself.

  The steam wafted thickly about her and she knew it would be impossible to dry off in the damp atmosphere, but she still stood there, not wanting to leave the small room. She turned to brush her teeth over the sink and wiped the mirror with a clammy hand. She caught sight of the red marks on her wrist again as she dropped her hand and she stared at her reflection for a long second, before the glass misted over again. There was a faint line of concern ab
ove her eyebrows and as she saw it, she felt it deepen.

  She looked down at her arm again and suddenly she definitely didn’t want to leave the bathroom.

  Justin had hurt her. She wasn’t imagining it. He had done it deliberately!

  Her gaze dropped to the door and she was suddenly relieved that she had locked it.

  She sat on the edge of the bath wondering how she had let things go this far. She thought of the way he had organized the visits with the estate agent, dismissing her requests and submitting his own instead. She thought about the Spanish properties, how she had felt bullied into signing and how she had only noticed his name appearing on all the paperwork when it was all just a little too late. Although he hadn’t paid a penny for the properties, his name was on all the deeds.

  She had been afraid to ask why. But in her heart she had already known. To all intents and purposes, he now owned half of all the golfing duplexes, maybe more. She was unsure of exactly how Spanish law related to unmarried couples, but she suspected that Justin would know exactly how much he would get if they were ever sold. Was he trying to control her life and her money completely?

  She thought about the wedding dates he had suggested. All of them were in the horribly near future. She had felt more than relieved when each of his chosen venues had told them that they were booked until the following year. She felt uneasy that she was pleased he wanted a big wedding, a huge social occasion that took an extortionate amount of time and money to organize. She was more than relieved he didn’t want to pop down to the local registry office to get married at a fortnights notice.

  She looked at herself in the misty mirror again. The crease across her forehead looked set in stone now that she had thought of their prospective wedding.

  She didn’t want to marry him. It was a completely ridiculous idea. She couldn’t believe that she had ever thought it possible. She would have to tell him soon that it was all off. She looked back at the crease on her forehead. If it wasn’t going to become a permanent feature, she would have to tell him now.

  She wrapped her hair in another towel and dragged the bathrobe about her shoulders, tying the belt as tight as possible. She took a deep steadying breath before she turned the handle of the door and stepped out to face him.

  The bedroom was empty. Justin had obviously decided not to wait. She exhaled the great breath she had taken inside the bathroom and slumped onto the bed, shaking with relief. She had been more scared of confronting him than she had realized.

  She rushed to the door and turned the lock before hanging the dressing gown on the hook on the door, then she walked back to the bed and sat down on the edge.

  She pushed her clothes out of her way and was about to fall back onto the covers, when she noticed the strangers thick coat beneath her own jacket and jeans.

  She pulled it out from under the pile of her dirty clothes. It was big and soft, the woodsy smell wafting around her as she lifted it to her face, breathing it in deeply. There was a herby, smoky taint to the fabric. She sniffed it in, liking the unusual scent as she wondered if the woodsman kept an open fire. The soft furry lining of the coat felt warm and comfortable and she scrunched her hands into the thick fabric, dragging it over her naked body and enveloping herself entirely in its huge depths. He hadn’t asked for its return and she wondered how she could have forgotten to give it back to him. She snuggled into its warmth and hoped he wasn’t missing it too much.

  Suddenly she was rather glad that Justin hadn’t spotted it under her pile of dirty clothes. She thought he had been too agitated to notice her wearing the unfamiliar garment when she had appeared at the reception desk. She picked it up and folded it over her arm then stood up and walked to the wardrobe. There were several plastic laundry bags on a shelf. She pulled one down, slipped the coat inside, and placed it on the floor of the wardrobe. She didn’t want to hide the coat as that would only prove that she had something to hide, if it was discovered, but she hoped Justin wouldn’t see it. She didn’t want to have to explain it to him.

  She would have to take the coat with her when she viewed the château and hope that she saw the man again then. Her heart began to thump irrationally again. She gulped and made herself an excuse. She really only wanted to thank him for pointing her in the right direction, but then as she thought of Justin, cold and hard, waiting for her downstairs, she wished, in a very tiny compartment of her brain, that she had stayed out all night, sitting under the stars with the big, muscular man at her side. Safe and warm and protected.

  She stood up at last and pulled clean underwear from a drawer, then she selected a dark purple dress from the rail and slipped it over her head, letting the fabric fall down her slender body. She turned to the dressing table and combed her still damp hair. She scraped it back from her face and plaited it quickly, fastening the end with a diamond clip that her brother David had given her for her last birthday.

  It was a perfect copy of a paste hair clip he had given her on her eighteenth birthday. He had been twenty and heading off for his first tour of duty with his regiment. She was going to be on her own for the first time since their parents had died and she had wept as he’d given her the beautiful jewel. The original had been the most favourite present she had ever received and she wore it as often as possible. David had only suggested replacing it for her when he had noticed that a stone was missing and the metal was becoming tarnished. The only difference to the original was that the new copy was made of platinum and was set with clusters of flawless diamonds.

  She brushed her lips with a fine layer of gloss and gave her already thick eyelashes a quick coat of mascara. She glanced into the mirror and decided she looked quite nice. Well, nice enough to tell someone that you no longer wanted to be with him. She hoped he wouldn’t make too much of a scene. Especially not in public and certainly not before she had the chance to taste the chef’s amazing cooking. She slipped on a pair of high heels and picked up her slim evening bag before opening up the room door and heading downstairs towards the bar.

  Justin had waited in the bedroom for a little over five minutes. He was bored.

  How long could it possibly take her to shower? Forever it seemed. His patience was running thin. Since she had inherited all her millions, she was a changed woman, getting all sorts of weird ideas about who should do what in their relationship.

  And now this completely bonkers business plan, or project or whatever stupid name she wanted to call it. He could thank her repulsive brother David for that. If he hadn’t come back from Afghanistan with his legs blown off and his face completely mangled, it would never have crossed her mind. They would now be running a fabulous designer boutique and driving round in fast cars. Justin wished heartily that David hadn’t come back at all. He was almost as much of a nuisance as she was. Their pathetic joint venture was going to cost him a bomb in lost cash.

  He stood up and walked impatiently to the dressing table, picking up one of Ellen’s bits of horrible plastic jewellery. He glanced down at the hair clip in his hand. Her favourite piece, given to her by the hideous David when she was a teenager apparently. Not that he had been quite so hideous then.

  Since he had last seen her wear it, she had obviously given the clip a bit of a clean-up and had shoved another stone in the gap where one had previously fallen out, but then she wore the damn thing so often, it was no wonder it was falling apart. Why, with all her millions, she couldn’t replace it with something decent, he didn’t know.

  He regarded his handsome face in the mirror and smiled grimly at his reflection. Checking his hair and fingering his gold and diamond cufflinks. At least he looked a millionaire, even if he wasn’t one…yet. He was on his way and only needed to have Ellen sign a few more properties over to him, and he would be set for life. Then he could get rid of the stupid cow and live happily ever after.

  He gave a grim laugh. He couldn’t really believe how stupid she was. She hadn’t queried his name on the deeds of the Spanish apartments and he wanted to try t
he same thing again here in France. Property prices were incredibly cheap, there had to be room for a good profit.

  He felt slightly odd when he thought of Ellen now. At one time, long before she had received her money, he had seriously believed that he loved her. But then it all became a bit dull. He hated rummaging around second-hand markets and going on filthy treks through mud soaked countryside with her. Their relationship had been coming to an end and he had been about to break it off with her, when she and David had announced that they been left a fortune by their great aunt.

  Nobody had known the old bag had won a fortune on some European lottery. She hadn’t spent a penny of it. The money was all just sitting there in a high interest account. Piles of it. And it had piled up even more over the ten years since she had won it. More money than he had ever dreamed of. All left to her great nephew and niece, just because they took a little time and trouble to visit her on the odd occasion and sometimes wrote her letters or sent postcards from their holidays. Her teenage grandson, who hadn’t bothered contacting her for years, had been livid, but there was nothing he could do about it and Ellen and David had been very generous with their gifts to him even though the ungrateful little sod hadn’t deserved a penny.

  Justin had thought them both stupid then, each giving away half a million pounds to the little twit, and he hadn’t revised his opinion. He hid it carefully, waiting patiently until he could get his hands on the rest of Ellen’s share of the cash. He would be forever grateful that he hadn’t ditched her before she had inherited the money. At least that was one thing he was very clear about. Even if he didn’t love her, he certainly loved her money, and he wasn’t going to pass up the chance of getting his hands on it.

  He had even tried to arrange their wedding so that he would be assured of at least half of her inheritance after they married and then divorced, but sometimes even money couldn’t talk. The best venues were booked years in advance and there was no way he was going to have an invisible wedding at some run of the mill registry office. If he was going to married to a millionairess, he wanted the whole world to know it. Just being her fiancé had reaped excellent rewards already and being married to her would bring even more. He could wait a little longer to have exactly the perfect venue.