To Bedevil A Beauty (Southern Sanctuary - Book 5)

by Jane Cousins

  “What happened?”

  “One weekend I fell ill. He was very concerned, said I should see a Doctor but a couple of hours passed and I felt fine, so I just thought it was a one-time thing… something I ate. Until the next morning, when I felt horrible again. Robert was insistent this time, he had a friend who could see me immediately. The Doctor rang me with the results the day after our visit, I was pregnant.”

  Ramsey was stunned.

  “You look surprised. Trust me, I was even more shocked. We’d been going out four months and only slept together a handful of times. Robert was over the moon, insisting we get married there and then. Gave me this heart wrenching speech about always wanting children, how he’d dreamed of having a family with me. Still I hesitated… On paper, Robert was… perfect for me. We had compatible careers, mutual friends, we liked all the same things but still, it didn’t seem right to tie myself to a man who I didn’t love. In the end I gave in. For the sake of the baby… for Robert, because when I gave in to temptation and used my magic on him, asked him point blank, if he’d really be happy married to me? Well, every pathway open to him was bright, shiny and full of promise.”

  “I’m sensing this doesn’t end well.” Ramsey leaned over, grabbing the bottle of wine and topping up Berry’s glass.

  “It ended in a court room. It ended knowing my entire marriage was built on lies. That Robert had stolen all my money and that of many of his clients and hidden it away overseas. That everything we had… in what he incessantly referred to as our perfect life – which basically boiled down to having a lot of stuff with designer labels on it - actually belonged to the banks and several money lenders. That he had gambling debts that were in the six figures, even though his luck at the race track had dramatically changed in the last three years. I can only guess he took all his winnings and squirrelled those away too. It ended when I recognised one of the men standing next to Robert in the court room that morning as the doctor I’d visited who’d told me I was pregnant. Only to call me a week after I was married and tell me there’d been a mix up in the records and I wasn’t pregnant after all. He was a friend of Robert’s from his university days, caught up in the whole money laundering, drug running scheme along with Robert.” Berry took a large sip of wine. “It seems I talk in my sleep, that I pick winning race horses. That’s why Robert wanted to marry me so badly. That’s why he was always talking about the races. That’s why he and his good friend cooked up the whole pregnancy lie.”

  Ramsey had to put the bottle of beer down less he break it. He didn’t want to say the next words but Berry deserved to hear the truth. “I remember him, the doctor. Weedy guy, always sniffing, drug habit. He was in to both Granger and the Midnight Raiders for a hundred thousand a piece. They owned his ass.”

  “You remember him?” Berry echoed the words in whispered shock.

  “I’ve been trying to tell you for a while now Berry, about me and Robert.”

  “You and Robert?” Berry’s voice barely cracked a whisper.

  “I’m the undercover cop who gathered all the evidence against the Midnight Raiders and all their associates. Associates like…”

  “Robert.” Berry finished the sentence for him.

  “You probably don’t remember but…”

  “You were there… that day, in court.” Berry stared at him, super imposing the features of the criminal ruffian she remembered having an instant attraction to across the court room over Ramsey’s features. Oh Goddess.

  “Berry…”

  “Just give me a second here.” She put her glass of wine down, afraid she might spill the contents. A dozen different thoughts zoomed through her mind. “When…?”

  “When did I try to tell you? That day in the parking lot and again the night we first slept together.”

  “No.” Berry shook her head. “When did you know I was me? I mean, that I was Robert Granger’s ex-wife?”

  “I recognised you. That night at your place when you got stuck in the window, not at first… but after you got dressed, your hair… you’d pulled it back into that tight bun and I remembered where I’d seen you last, the court room. Then all the pieces fell into place, you were Robert Granger’s wife.”

  “And you ran.” She stated, puzzled.

  “Not my finest moment. But all I could think, here’s my dream woman and I’m the stupid bastard responsible for incarcerating her husband… ex-husband, for nine years. I wasn’t sure if you’d get mad, take a frying pan to my head or just walk up and kick me in the balls. I was beyond shook up, so a fast strategic exit seemed my best option.” Ramsey tried to gauge Berry’s reaction. She looked stunned, a little pale, her eyes weren’t flashing sparks, so he didn’t think she was angry but she definitely seemed a little… befuddled? Dazed?

  “What do you mean dream woman?”

  Ramsey couldn’t believe he’d let that bit of information slip. Damn, blame it on his mind blowing day and how nervous he felt at finally telling Berry the truth about his past. Huh? Him nervous, he couldn’t remember a time he’d been nervous when a gun or cricket bat wasn’t involved. But this was Berry he was talking about here… the woman he… oh for fuck sake, man up. You love her. You lusted after her from the moment you first saw her but getting to know her cinched the deal; laughing, talking, bickering. He loved her, the thought of almost losing her today had bordered on the unbearable. Pah, magic… he could take it or leave it but Berry… damn it, he’d give it all up for Berry; the job, the magic, the as yet unclaimed relatives.

  Berry rubbed a finger along the fading bruise on her cheek as she thought about the words dream woman. Ugh, they made her feel sick inside. Sounding too much like a variation of Robert’s definition of ‘perfect’ for her to feel comfortable with. She was no one’s dream woman anymore. She’d never stick her head in the sand again, toe the line, nod and agree when inside she was miserable. It might have taken her three years of a loveless marriage but she knew who she was now. She wasn’t afraid to stick up for herself, make a scene or get angry. She was no one’s fantasy. Unless Ramsey’s idea of a dream woman equated to a broke, feisty, independent divorcee who’d sworn off men… for life!

  Well except for the sex part of the equation… and maybe the morning showers together… and the laughing and chatting between sexual bouts was kind of nice and sharing breakfast. But other than that - all of which she was pretty sure she could find with countless, passing, faceless men - though of course, the only face she could picture right at this minute was Ramsey’s… but she’d get over him. Once they broke things off. Once he went back to Melbourne.

  Ramsey could tell this was going badly, damn it, he wasn’t a wordsmith. Stringing more than two sentences together was positively bordering on chatty for him. Yet, with Berry, he thought he’d broken through that barrier. Now here he was once more, frozen into mono syllabic gruffness. Fuck, he couldn’t seem to get the right words out because they were too damn important. And of course Berry was no doubt still reeling from the news of his involvement in Granger’s arrest and imprisonment.

  “Um… well, when I say dream woman… I don’t mean dream woman.”

  Berry’s eyes narrowed, zeroing in on him. “Well that clears that up.” Eyes flashing.

  “You’re upset, I get that.” Who wouldn’t be, she had every right to be angry about his role in the operation that bought down her ex-husband.

  “Take it back.”

  “Um.” Ramsey was confused, how could he take back his involvement in Granger’s arrest?

  “Things were going along so well. Then you have to ruin everything by spouting absurd dribble like that.” Berry shook her head in wonder. Men, bah. What was wrong with just having mindless, no-strings attached sex? Why did they insist upon trying to romanticize everything? “What did I tell you about compliments?” Berry didn’t wait for him to answer. “I told you not to waste them on me. I’m not anyone’s ideal. Whatever pedestal you’ve built under me is of your own making… trust me, I’m not perfec
t, far from it, you need to open your eyes and deal with the reality that is me.”

  Ramsey finally got a clue. Berry wasn’t angry or even dazed by the news that he was responsible for arresting Granger, she was pissed off because he’d used the words dream woman to describe her. He couldn’t help himself, he began to laugh and then he couldn’t seem to stop.

  Berry sent him a death glare. “What are you chuckling about Hotshot? Nothing is funny about this.”

  Ramsey just laughed harder, oh God, he wiped away a tear of merriment. “You… You’d have to be the craziest, most stubborn, brave, single-minded and beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

  Wait… what? Brave and beautiful she could live with, but the other stuff was hardly complimentary, was it?

  Ramsey grinned broadly. “That first time I saw you across that court room, I thought you were a beautiful ice princess. Cool and remote, untouchable by someone like me. You took my breath away. Then when I actually met you, I found you to be a hot-tempered, in my face minx, with a head full of glossy gorgeous curls who stomped around glaring at me, accusing me of being a flirt… trust me, until you Berry, I didn’t even know I could flirt. You have no compunction in trying to boss me around. You argue with me… sometimes I think just because you like to argue, and god damn it if arguing with you doesn’t turn me on. I love that you don’t tiptoe around me or worse jump every time I move. I like that you can see me Berry, that you can always see me.”

  Oh Goddess, Berry felt like she was dangling off a precipice, holding on by her fingernails. Thank the Goddess he hadn’t actually said that he loved her, she might say or do something she would spend a life time regretting. Sworn off men remember, no matter how gorgeous, sweet, annoying and frustrating they could be. No matter how many of her quirks and not so nice attributes Ramsey listed and said he admired… liked… loved.

  Grrr, Ramsey Hughes was an extremely sneaky man. The bastard had somehow managed to get under her skin. It was all that mindless hot sex, the laughter and his constant distracting presence in her life, her bed, her shower. She could feel herself weakening. It was on the tip of her tongue to confess that she… l… liked him too. Then his next sentence impacted on her like he’d pulled the pin on a grenade.

  “When Mrs Richart offered me this job, I thought I’d go stark raving mad out here in the sticks… instead, I find long lost relatives, that I’m magic and you.”

  All the oxygen abruptly left Berry’s body. Alma… Great-Aunt Alma was involved. Alma, the family match maker, interfering busybody, devious mastermind or more affectionately known by the family as ‘the Sherman tank’ because she was about as subtle as one. Oh Goddess, if Alma had lured Ramsey here then that meant. “Oh No!” Berry stood up suddenly, bright colour staining her cheeks. Her eyes glittering with shock and horror. “No.” She cut Ramsey off when it looked like he was about to say something. “Absolutely not.” Warily, slowly, as if she were afraid he might try to stop her, she stepped over the throw rug she’d dropped to the floor and cautiously began to make her exit. Walking backwards so she could keep a sharp eye on him. “No… No!” She said the word again and then one more time louder when she saw Ramsey tense as if he were going to rise to his feet and follow her.

  Ramsey had no idea what was going on. One minute they’d been talking, sharing. Things actually seemed to be going kind of well. Then Berry had reacted as if he’d dropped some nuclear verbal bomb and gone crazy. Backing out of the room, her hands raised, palms up, as if he were the family dog and she was teaching him to stay. What the hell was going on here?

  “Berry?”

  “Hell no.” She gave him one last heated glare and abruptly disappeared from sight, her bedroom door slamming shut the only indicator of her destination.

  Ramsey released the breath he’d been holding. “Well, that went well.”

  Chapter Twenty

  By Tuesday, Ramsey had run through a gamut of emotions; stunned surprise, confusion, frustration, irritation, more confusion, before finally settling on the fact that he was actually kind of pissed off at Berry.

  Since her little scene Friday night, she’d taken to avoiding him like it was an Olympic sport. He’d barely managed to catch a glimpse of her over the last four days, despite the fact they still lived in the same apartment. She’d holed up in her room the entire weekend. When he’d knocked on her door to ask if she needed anything, if they could talk? She’d texted him that she was snowed under with paperwork.

  Texted him! He was standing right outside the fricking door.

  Yesterday, she’d waited for him to leave before allowing Cam McKenzie escort her to work. And she’d scurried home early last night only to go straight to her room and stay there.

  This morning he’d tried to be tricky, pretending to leave for work only to return five minutes later having forgotten his mobile. Berry had been in the kitchen, sharing a cup of coffee with Zeke. The moment she saw him she’d frozen, forced a smile, glanced at her watch and claimed she hadn’t finished getting ready for work and scampered off to her room. Leaving Ramsey and Zeke alone, uncomfortable silence descending between them after Zeke pointed out Ramsey’s mobile was actually in his hand.

  Damn it, how could he resolve whatever the problem was between him and Berry if she wouldn’t even make eye contact with him? Let alone talk, bicker or even glare in his direction. A hundred times he’d run through their conversation. The hot button news of his involvement in her ex-husband’s arrest had gone over seemingly as inconsequential to Berry. The dream woman bomb had gotten a reaction, first bad but then he was relatively sure he’d begun to talk her around… so just what had set her off? Ugh, now he was back to frustrated.

  Which seem to be a constant state for him at the moment. Alone in his bed. Virtually alone in his apartment, and getting nowhere fast on the location of just where Robert Granger might be hiding out. All of this frustration was only compounded by Berry’s well-meaning family.

  This morning, just before lunch, Berry’s Great-Aunt Adelaide visited him. Bearing gifts in the form of a steaming cup of sinful smelling coffee. To thank him, she said, for his saving Berry during the hostage situation. Dressed in her signature white, Adelaide had swept into his office all compliments and singing his praises, but the minute she’d sat her rear in his visitor’s chair the inquisition had begun. How was Berry? How was she coping? Word around town was she seemed upset… would he know anything about that? Had he and Berry had a fight? On and on she peppered him with questions.

  Ramsey took it all in his stride. Though, turnabout was fair play, so for every question he dodged, he asked one of his own. Learning in short order that Adelaide was in fact Berry’s Great-Great-Aunt, which boggled his mind and made the naked picture depicted on Adelaide’s license both more admirable and scary. Between breaths he also got Adelaide to admit that she was a potion maker. No wonder Berry had warned him and his instincts had gone into overdrive every time the woman had offered him a beverage.

  He then contemplated for a moment the as yet untouched cup of coffee on his desk before speculatively eyeing Adelaide. For all her grand gestures, highly personal interrogation of him in the witness box and surprising invasion of his personal space with her hugs and kisses, Adelaide Dunst had been nothing but nice to him and kind of helpful, when it came to his pursuit of Berry. He was still unsure about this whole magic thing, but he’d always gone with his gut before so with that in mind, he picked up the coffee and drank it. Admittedly, it was one damn fine cup of coffee. Placing the cup down he stared across the desk at Adelaide who was for the first time in his presence silent as she returned his gaze with a wide-eyed expectant look of her own.

  Ten seconds passed, thirty seconds, a minute… then two. He wasn’t sure what he thought would happen but whatever it was it was a letdown, for Adelaide too. Whose mouth had dropped open in stunned surprise for a moment before she’d hastily gathered her things and departed.

  Half an hour later he wasn’t surprised to watch Daphne
sweep into his office. Her jewelled coloured outfit so bright he had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust. He accepted her hugs, kisses, flattery and compliments as part of the price of getting through the next ten minutes. She seemed unsurprised when he refused to give out any information on the case or speculate on how Berry was coping. Getting to her feet she leaned over his desk and placed a small box in front of him, claiming it was just a small thankyou gift. Ramsey eyed the cufflinks contained in the box; square, slate grey stones set in silver. He bit back a smile as Daphne actively held her breath as he put them on.

  Ten second, thirty seconds, a minute, then two… nothing happened. Before he could give in to temptation and ask what was supposed to occur, Daphne made a hasty exit from his office, clear disappointment written across her face.

  Margot showing up twenty minutes later was no great shocker. But this time Ramsey was ready. He rounded his desk to accept her proffered hug and kiss but before she could even open her mouth to thank him for resolving the hostage situation he grabbed a chocolate chip cookie off the plate she was carrying and shoved it in his mouth, whole. Chewing furiously. Margot’s stunned surprise quickly changed to eager anticipation. Swallowing was hard with an audience but Ramsey managed to force it down, waiting the standard two minutes before giving Margot a small nod of appreciation and a mumbled ‘good cookie’.

  Margot’s hand covered her mouth in stunned shock. Damn, he’d like to know what was going on with Berry’s relatives and their attempts to manipulate him with their so-called magic. Either he was immune, or the Aunts’ magic was on the fritz. Before he could open his mouth to question her, Margot swung around and fled. This town… Berry… were really going to drive him insane. He’d be back in el Hefe shrink’s office in Melbourne before he knew it, drooling and babbling worse than Gerry.