She sat up and pulled out her phone. It was from her father.
Can you come and see me? There’s something special I want you to do for me.
‘It’s my dad. I’d better go.’
Will nodded reluctantly. ‘Rose?’
She’d already started towards the door. She hated the way she spun around, desperate to hang onto his words.
‘Let’s just see. Let’s just see where this takes us.’
She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even explain to herself why she felt so hurt. She just gave a reluctant nod before she disappeared out of the door and the hot tears started to snake down her cheeks.
* * *
Her dad was waiting for her in the kitchen, sketching with deep concentration on a bit of paper.
‘Hi, Dad, what’s up?’
His eyes narrowed for a second when he lifted his head. He’d always been able to read her like a book. She could see him think about asking her what was wrong, but the paper in front of him was a definite distraction.
He hesitated, then pushed it towards her. ‘What do you think?’
It was a pencil drawing of a bangle with little scribbles next to each part. Three strands of gold in different colours pleated together with a little flower intersecting the pleat at each third of the bangle—a rose, a daisy and a violet.
‘It’s beautiful, Dad. What’s this for?’
His well-worn face sagged in relief. ‘It’s for your mother. It’s her gift for her wedding day. I wanted to give her something special. You will make it for me, won’t you? And you’ll be able to get the yellow, white and rose gold?’
Something surged inside her. Even though alarm bells were sounding all around her head about the amount of time the bangle would take to make, and the intricate details, there was just no way she could ever say no to her father.
The thing that struck her most was the absolute love she could recognise on his face. The fact that he’d spent a lot of time and effort on this design was obvious. But what was even more evident was just how much he loved her mum. After all these years he still wanted to do something to make her heart sing.
That was what she wanted. That was the kind of relationship she wanted. That was the kind of love she wanted. One that would last for ever.
She felt a tear spring to her eye again as her dad put his arm around her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, Dad, I’ve got the three kinds of gold. It will be perfect. Mum will love it.’
But now that he’d sorted out his wedding gift her father’s attentions had shifted immediately. Rick Cross was no fool. Particularly when it came to Rose.
‘So what’s wrong? What’s going on with you and that Will Carter? Violet’s moping around like a lost cause.’
‘She is?’
‘Of course she is. You’ve stolen her favourite pet.’
A tear slid down her cheek as everything just threatened to spill out. ‘But I haven’t. I was helping him—and he was helping me with the wedding arrangements. It’s just that we’ve been spending so much time together. I didn’t mean to leave Violet out. I’ll phone her—no, I’ll go and see her.’ She was babbling and she just couldn’t help it. Wasn’t it Will that normally did this?
Her father shook his head. ‘Rose? What’s wrong? I was only joking. Violet can take care of herself. I just wondered if there was something I should know. My daughters seem to be getting married in short order these days.’
Rose felt her breath catch in her throat and her father noticed immediately. She’d just had that awkward conversation with Will. A conversation nobody should be having after such a ridiculously short amount of time. It was almost as if her father could read her mind—and heaven knew what he could find in there!
But Rick Cross was cooler than your average dad. ‘I like that fella. Always knew nothing would happen between Violet and him. But you?’ He gave a little shrug of his shoulders. ‘I guess that depends how you feel.’
He left the words hanging in the air. It was awful. She wasn’t ready to have that kind of conversation with her dad. He was still her dad. Then again, she wasn’t ready to have that conversation with anyone.
She focused back on the drawing. ‘Leave this with me. This will be fine.’ Where she would find the hours from she had no idea. But if this was what her father wanted—this was what he would get.
If he noticed the abrupt subject change he didn’t say anything. She picked up her bag. ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you—the guy you wanted to write your biography, Tom Buckley from New York? He emailed today to agree the terms and conditions. He’ll have full access to the band tour backstage. I’m just arranging flights for him now.’
A huge smile broke across her dad’s face. This was something that was really important to him and he’d been quite insistent about who he wanted to do the job. Just as well Rose had worked with Tom in the past and could use her maximum persuasion skills—along with a hefty salary—to persuade him to write the biography in the timeframe her dad needed. One more ticked box and another thing off her plate. She felt a little surge of pride. Her dad was happy with her.
Her dad gave her a hug and a kiss. ‘That’s great, honey. Thanks for doing that. Now, if there’s anything you need to talk about, come and see me. Or pick up the phone and I’m there.’
Her heart gave a little squeeze. He wouldn’t pry. He wouldn’t interrogate her. Just as well, as she didn’t know what to say. But it was her dad’s way of letting her know that he’d noticed. He’d noticed something was wrong. Dads didn’t come much better than Rick Cross. When the whole press thing had blown up when Autumn had overdosed he’d been her biggest ally—her best spokesperson. And he’d done exactly the same for Violet when her sex-tape scandal had hit the press. Rick Cross didn’t take kindly to people trying to hurt his family.
He’d taken Rose in the car to see her friend’s parents. He’d spent hours talking to them and comforting them—but in no way letting them blame Rose for their daughter’s actions. And when the press had started to get nasty a few days later he’d made lightning-fast arrangements and got her out of there. She was lucky that her family were so supportive.
It gave her a little strength. A little fortitude. Maybe it was time to look at herself again. Maybe it was time to start trusting her instincts?
Her father had just told her he liked Will Carter. Will had been Violet’s best friend for the last three years. And the man she knew in person didn’t measure up to what she’d read in the press.
She reached over and gave her dad a quick hug. ‘This bangle will be perfect. I’ll make sure of it. Don’t worry, Dad. You can trust me.’
He brushed a kiss against her cheek and gave her a curious look. ‘Always, Rose.’ Before he walked across the kitchen he paused in the doorway. ‘Rose?’ She looked up again and he gave her a rueful smile. ‘When you know—you just know,’ and then he turned and walked away, leaving her with the drawing clutched in her hands.
CHAPTER EIGHT
FOUR HUNDRED AND sixty emails. That was how many he had to read. Will groaned and put his head in his hands. This was getting out of control.
He couldn’t concentrate. He couldn’t focus. Because his head was so full of Rose.
The sensation he’d felt the other day at the wedding fair with Rose had swamped him. The words Rick Cross had said at their first meeting were echoing around his brain. When you know, you just know. But it was more than that. It was the way Rick had looked at Sherry, too. The zing between them. He’d never had that before. But he had it with Rose.
Trouble was, he didn’t know what to do next. How on earth could he convince Rose that everything about this just felt different—just felt right?
He didn’t blame her. He really didn’t. How would he feel if Rose had been engaged before? He was lucky she would even stay in the same room
as him.
But he just couldn’t help how he felt about her. It was taking over every waking minute of his life. He looked at the calendar, then walked over to the window. The island was right in front of him and from this view he could see the roof of the church. Something curled inside him.
A tiny seed of an idea. A wild idea. A crazy idea.
If he told Violet she’d probably dunk him in a bath of ice. If he told Rose she would run screaming for the hills...
For the first time ever Will felt as if he could see himself grow old with someone. It should be terrifying. But instead a warm feeling spread across his chest.
And something about this idea was taking shape in his head. He only had to do one thing. One thing that he hoped no one would find out about.
And it could make all the difference to his life.
* * *
Rose put the phone down and laid her head on the desk.
‘Was it that bad?’ Violet was standing laughing at the door with her arms folded.
Rose didn’t even lift her head. ‘Worse,’ she sighed.
Violet walked over and lifted up the piece of paper on Rose’s desk. First it was a gasp of shock, then it was a snort, then it was just a peal of laughter. By the time Rose lifted her head Violet was wiping a tear from her eye.
‘I came up to tell you Will’s just pulled into the car park. I bet you can’t wait to tell him what all his dares are.’ She shook her head as she kept looking at the list. ‘I can’t wait to see his face.’
‘Really?’ She half hoped Violet wasn’t joking. ‘Then you can tell him.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘Oh, no, girl. That’s your job.’ She gave Rose a nod of her head and walked back to the door with her shoulders shaking.
Rose heard the murmur of words down the corridor as she obviously met Will. A few minutes later he appeared at the door, face pale. ‘Oh, no. What have they suggested?’
Rose gestured towards the seat opposite her. ‘You better sit down.’
For once Will did exactly as he was told.
She started carefully. ‘The good thing is that these will definitely generate media interest.’
‘And the bad news?’
She gulped as she passed over the piece of paper. ‘You might not like some of them.’ She bit her lip. ‘The thing is, the newspaper already knows about all the dares. So we can’t get anyone to change them.’
His brow wrinkled. ‘Why would they need to be changed? Are any of them going to kill me?’
She shook her head swiftly. ‘No. No. That was one of the conditions they were given—nothing fatal.’
‘Please tell me that you’re joking.’
She shook her head again and gave him a half-smile. ‘Eh, no.’
‘Dangling from Tower Bridge and getting dunked in the Thames?’
Rose tried not to smile. There was no doubt the press would have a field day with these. To say nothing of all the TV and media interviews she’d arranged for the ex-fiancées. This could end up being one of the most successful PR campaigns she’d ever been involved in.
Will had been right. Three out of four of his exes had been fine. And even Melissa had started to come round. She was gearing herself up for TV interviews and appeared to be quite happy at the prospect.
‘Dress for a day as a gladiator/warrior and parade around Piccadilly Circus? Wear a thong and work in a women’s underwear department for the day?’ His voice was getting more incredulous as he continued to read.
Rose couldn’t help but start laughing. ‘Those last two came from Angie and Marta. They were definitely going more for the laughs than the cold, hard revenge.’
Two of Will’s ex-fiancées were now married with children. They were happy to help the charity auction and had obviously had fun thinking up what he should do. Both of them had seemed very nice and very happy with their lives.
The third, Esther, had looked on it as good publicity for her new TV-presenting career. She’d been quite mercenary about it. She wasn’t that interested in the charity but she was certainly interested in raising her profile.
Will slumped further down the chair as he finished reading. ‘A full body wax on live TV?’ The paper was now crumpled in his hand. ‘Which do you think will win?’ he said resignedly.
Rose tried to be rational. ‘I think it’s a toss-up between a dunking in the Thames and the man thong.’ She held a scrap of luminous green material with her pen. ‘Look. Marta tried to be really helpful. She even sent the thong.’
Will’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he reached forward and snatched the tiny item. ‘You have got to be joking. There’s absolutely no way on this earth I’m ever putting that on. Or dressing like a blooming gladiator.’
But Rose was on her feet in an instant. ‘Oh, no, you don’t. You agreed to this. This isn’t about you. This is about the charity. Think how much money will be raised by people phoning in to vote on this stuff. I bet you’ll be able to employ some new workers. Don’t start being a wuss on me now.’
He groaned and sagged down again, staring at the thong in his hand. ‘But people won’t be talking about the charity. People will be talking about me and my utter humiliation.’
‘So what?’ She was feeling annoyed now. This had taken time, effort and persuasive skills she hadn’t even known she had. ‘It will also raise the profile of your charity—which, if you remember, was exactly the brief you gave me.’
His eyes fixed on hers. For a second it seemed he was assessing her. If he found her wanting she would find the nearest vase and whack him over the head again.
He stood up. His imposing figure in front of hers. His broad chest filling her vision. His voice had a determined edge to it. ‘It has to be about more than this. It has to be something else.’
‘What? What else do you want from me, Will?’ she shouted, all patience finally lost. ‘What else can I do?’
‘I want a night.’
‘What?’ She was losing the plot. None of this made sense to her any more. She had too much going on. Too much to think about. Sisters, fathers, mothers, weddings, band tours, bangles, promotion, interviews, Will, Will and more Will.
Any minute now she would spontaneously combust.
But Will was on a roll. ‘I want a night. I want to show people what this is really about. I want to spend a night on the streets the way my friend had to when he was homeless—when he didn’t know where to turn. I want people to understand how terrifying and dangerous it can be. I want to give them a real feel for the vulnerability—and the stories—of the people I want to help.’
Her brain started spinning. It was genius. It was perfect. It would complement the other publicity perfectly. People might have fun voting, but if they watched something like that it would really bring the message home. But when he’d said the words ‘I want a night’ it wasn’t quite what she’d hoped to hear. And now she was annoyed with herself for even imagining he might have meant something else.
Will was still mumbling. ‘And I want you to do it with me.’
The words clicked into place in her brain. ‘Me?’
‘Yes. You.’
She was baffled. ‘But why?’ Could her head really get any more confused?
‘Because you’re the perfect person to do it with. People know who you are. A famous couple’s daughter? They’ll love it. They’ll think it’s something that a girl like you, and—’ he pointed to himself ‘—a guy like me would never do. Let’s show them how hard it is. Let’s show them just how difficult it is. Let’s tell them some of the stories of the people out there.’
Boy, when he wanted it, his charm just came out in spades. And it was rational, businesslike sense. It put another edge to the publicity. She kind of wished she’d thought of it herself. But she kind of wished he wanted to do it wit
h someone else. Could she really put herself in the spotlight again?
His hands rested gently on her shoulders. She could smell him. His scent was invading her senses. It was like a magic potion winding its way around her. She could almost see its tendrils wrapping around her body and throwing all rational thoughts out of the window.
‘I need you, Rose. I need to do this. And I need to do it with you. Do you understand that?’
There it was again. That way he made her stomach twist and turn. He knew just how to speak to her. Just how to reach in and touch the little parts of her that couldn’t say no to him. Part of this terrified her.
She wasn’t in a situation where she couldn’t say no. She just didn’t want to. And even though this was completely different from years ago, a tiny little bit of her still remembered feeling so distracted by a man she’d forgotten about everything else. The guilt still consumed her. She didn’t ever want to be that way again.
It didn’t matter this was Will. It didn’t matter there was no element of danger. This wasn’t about him. This was about her. And her ability to trust. She still hadn’t completely learned to trust her instincts. And a guy with Will’s history? He didn’t really have trust stamped all over him.
Still, she couldn’t ignore what was happening between them. She couldn’t ignore the way her body reacted every time he was near. She’d never felt this way about a guy before. Was this what love felt like? Or was this just infatuation?
‘Rose, are you okay? Do you need some time to think this over? Please tell me you’ll think about it. I really want to do this with you.’
She took a deep breath. Was she prepared to do this for a charity? No matter how uncomfortable and scary it was? Of course she was. She was lucky. She’d had a privileged life. Her parents had always drummed into her and her sisters how lucky they were. They made a point of supporting their favourite charities and the work her mother did was never-ending. Of course she could spend one night on the streets.
She took a deep breath. This seemed like so much more. It seemed like a partnership. It seemed like a way of cementing things between them—to see if their paths could truly connect or not.
A Bride for the Runaway Groom Page 12