Against Her Rules (5 page)

  I
t
took every ounce of strength Cam possessed not to chase Elsie up that damn hill
and carry her back to the cabin. The woman was like a powder keg. All tame and
sultry one moment, and then dangerous and hot. He knew it was a cliché to say
that an angry woman was a passionate woman, but he couldn’t lie to himself. He
wanted her more right now than any other time in the past couple of days.

  Of
course, first he had to find a way to get her to talk to him again. And then he
had to convince her that he wasn’t always such an insensitive idiot. He didn’t
know why he’d said what he did, other than he was relieved to find out that she
didn’t find him repellant. Dismissing her concerns wasn’t his intention.

  It
wasn’t until he was sitting by the fire mulling over everything she had said
that a very unsettling thought occurred to him: there was another man. Or at
least there had been. He wasn’t the first man to stay here that had turned her
head. And some other jackass had gotten to her first and clearly left a foul
taste in her mouth.

  What
was it she’d said? Something about loving her and leaving her. That had to be
the real reason for her reluctance. She was afraid of getting hurt. Of being
used and left behind.

  And
that was a real problem. If you were to poll the women of his past, a good
ninety per cent of them would claim he was the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. Was
that really the case? Had the one-nighters he’d had been mutual? He had thought
they were on the same page. To the best of his memory he didn’t think he had
ever led someone on. He needed perspective.

  Sadly
there was no cell service. And there was no phone in the cottage. He didn’t
dare go up to the house just yet, and this didn’t seem like the place where
you’d find a pay phone. He wasn’t desperate enough to talk to his sister that
he’d roam around in the rain looking for service, was he? Maybe not on foot,
but by car he sure was.

  A
short while later he got a signal on a particularly high part of the highway.
The quality of the call was lousy but it was better than nothing. He pulled
over, narrowly avoiding a grey Audi going well over the eighty kilometres an
hour speed limit. He had to pay better attention.

  His
sister answered on the fourth ring.

  “Daph,
am I a womanizer?

  “Cam?
Are you drunk?”

  “Of
course not. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. I just need to know. Do you
think I take advantage of women?”

  “Sweet
honourable. Aren’t you in the wilds of Canada? Have you been taking stock of
your life?”

  “Look,
this call is costing me—no, make that your publishing house—a lot of money.
Just tell me.”

  “Campbell
Scott, what’s gotten into you? Since when have you wanted my opinion of the
women you’ve been associated with?”

  “That
wasn’t the question. But it’s an interesting train of thought. What about the
women I’ve been with?”

  “Well,
they’re all easy. None of them have wanted a relationship. It’s all about sex,
right? That’s your thing. Never settle down, thereby never get tangled up with
a decent woman who might want more than a romp and roll.”

  He
was stunned. “Is that what you think?”

  “No,
that’s what you think.”

  “It’s
not. I’ve never said I didn’t want a relationship. What about Maureen?”

  “Exactly.
That’s the last relationship you’ve had. For the past decade or so it’s been
you going with the first woman who seems willing to toss her knickers at you,
no strings attached. Unless it’s a g-string. But I don’t want to know.”

  “So
you think I’ve just come to expect that every woman wants to have sex with me?”
When had he turned into that guy? When had he stopped being a nice guy?

  “Well,
according to my female friends, most of whom would give their left tit to have
sex with you, yes. Cam, look. You’re my big brother. I love you. But you exude
a vibe that says, ‘I’m here for a good time, not a long time’, as the song
goes.”

  “I
see.”

  “So
what’s prompted this?”

  After
giving her the story in a nutshell, with several interjections of “You idiot,”
and “You never!”, as well as one “If I were there right now I’d slap you
senseless,” he waited to see what she had to say next.

  “Now
you’re calling me because you want to know how to fix it?”

  “No.
I can fix it. I just wanted to know if...” He appreciated his sister’s candour,
but sometimes he wished she’d stop and let others talk. When Daphne got going,
it was hard to get a word in edge-wise.

  “You
want me to help you fix it. Because she’s a normal woman, and the only women
you understand are the ones who are the female version of you. But I’m only
going to help you if you know the answer to this question.”

  “Daph,
this is no time for games.”

  “Oh,
I’m not playing. This is the first time you’ve ever really asked for my opinion
in this category. And while I don’t know this woman, I’m not going to help you
hurt her. So my question is this: Are you just attracted to her because she’s a
sexual challenge, or is there more to it?”

  He
thought about it.

  “Well?”

  “I’m
thinking, damn it,” he growled.

  “Well,
you think about it. And if the answer surprises you, then you’ll know to call
me back. Love you! Now stop wasting our money. Next time, email me.”

  The
line went dead.

––––––––

  E
lsie
had locked herself in her room and did something she hadn’t done in a very long
time. She buried her head in her fluffiest feather pillow and screamed in
frustration. Coming up for a quick breath of air she did it again. And once
more, just because it felt good. If there was one thing to be happy about, it
was that she hadn’t given in and kissed him. But that was also something worth
screaming about. Leave it to her to find herself attracted to an insensitive,
boorish sexpot. This was why she was single. Her taste in men was atrocious. At
least this time she had the good sense to stop herself before doing anything
she’d seriously regret.

  Up
until now, her biggest regret was wasting so much time even thinking about him.
The past day she’d let things slide. She hadn’t checked any of her emails, or
inspected the rooms for a couple of new guests arriving later today. The only
real bit of work she’d done around the inn since seeing Campbell Scott at the
door was wasted on him. All the effort to do up Will’s cottage. Going out of
her way to make a pot of soup that would stick to the ribs of a cold, hungry
man who’d spent the morning outside. Creating posters and making plans for a
talk that probably no one would care about. Really, birds? Who gave a shit
about birds?

  She
grabbed her iPad and started sorting through her mail. And groaned. As if the
day couldn’t get any worse.

––––––––

T
o:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

hi
luv,

thinking
i need a holiday. could use a cuddle. see you thurs.

ash

––––––––

  W
hat
now? She googled Asher Corbin. Sure enough, he was in the news again. She tried
not to keep up on celebrity gossip so the headlines came as a bit of a shock.

ASHER
CORBIN WEDDING WOES

CORBIN
LEFT AT ALTAR BY TOP MODEL

“LOVE
GONE WRONG”: NINA LEAVES ASHER MOMENTS BEFORE WEDDING

The
last article was the shortest so she decided that was the best one to read.

“LOVE
GONE WRONG”: NINA LEAVES ASHER MOMENTS BEFORE WEDDING

Just
two weeks after their first public appearance as a couple, it seems rocker
Asher Corbin is now living the lyrics of his first hit, “Love gone wrong.”
Sources say he and recent Top Model winner Nina Reade were in Mexico where they
were to be secretly wed when she discovered Corbin has been having a three year
affair. Who the lady in question is remains unknown.

––––––––

  E
lsie
paled, and it had nothing to do with Asher’s near-marriage. Three year affair!
She knew how the media worked. They’d keep digging until they sniffed her out.
She read a few more headlines.

ASHER’S
MYSTERY WOMAN: SOURCES SAY SHE’S ASHER’S TRUE LOVE

HUNT
ON FOR SECRET LOVER

  She
tapped back to his email. See you Thursday. Today was Thursday. This couldn’t
be happening. First Cam, and now Asher. She didn’t want to deal with either of
them, and she definitely didn’t want them both here. Was it too late to go on
vacation?

  The
phone interrupted her panic.

  “Hello?”

  “Elsie,”
Ida bellowed into the receiver. “Someone here for a room. No reservation. What
do you want me to do?”

  She
dashed to the window. Sure enough, there was an Audi parked outside. Asher
always rented Audis.

  “I
know, Ida. Give him the keys to the Governor’s Suite. I’ll take care of it.”

  Taking
a deep breath, she left her room.
Time to face the musician
.

––––––––

  “A
sher!
Put your clothes on.” She hadn’t expected to find him sprawled out on the bed,
naked. The man worked fast. “Aren’t you supposed to be heart broken or
something?”

  He
looked at her with sad blue eyes. “I am, Elsie. I’m crushed.”

  “Then
why are you naked?” She tried to keep her voice down but she was feeling
hysterical.

  Asher
looked at her as if she were the odd one. “I told you I was coming for a
cuddle.”

  “Well,
newsflash, Ash. You can cuddle with your clothing on. Really. It’s true. I know
it’s hard to believe, but thousands...millions of people do it every day.”

  She
tossed a white terry robe at him. “I refuse to talk to you until you cover up.”

  “So
no cuddle?”

  “Not
until I get the whole story, no,” she said from across the room, well out of
arm’s reach. She knew from experience that Asher had no shame, and wouldn’t
think twice of chasing her around the room.

  “Well,
I was caught up in the romance, you know. And so I thought we should get
married. So off we went, me and Nina, to this nice little spot near Cozumel.”
He looked around the room. “Not as classy as this place, but well, I didn’t
think you’d appreciate me getting married here.”

  Am
I an idiot magnet? Is that what my problem is?

  “Thanks for that,” she said,
rolling her eyes.

  “So
here I was, trying to be open with her. No point going into a marriage full of
lies, is there? And when she asked if she was the only woman I’d ever taken to
Mexico, I couldn’t lie.”

  “You
could have,” Elsie said. “Really, you could have.”

  “No.
I had to tell her about Anna.”

  “Anna?”
A cold chill crept down Elsie’s back.
Not me? Anna?
She gulped. “Who’s
Anna?”
Do I want to know?

  “Have
I never told you about Anna?” He looked genuinely surprised. “I met her not
long after Julia dumped me. Remember that? She left me right here in this
room.”

  “Hard
for me to forget, since she left you because she found us in that bed.” Not one
of her better moments. In fact, every moment with Asher was not one of her
better moments. What had she been thinking these past three years? Elsie’s
brain was trying to process this new information.

  He
laughed. “Yea, that was a bit of foul luck, wasn’t it? But I might not have met
Anna if Julia had come back to London with me.”

  “So
you’ve been seeing her—Anna—since then?”

  “As
often as I could. She’s married, you know. And it would have been a bad scene
if her husband found out. Can you keep a secret?”

  She
stared at him incredulously. “What do you think?”

  “I
know. That’s what so great about you. You’re like a rock, Els. I can tell you
anything and you don’t get upset. There aren’t many women around like you,
luv.” He was lying on the bed on his stomach, his hands propping up his face.
For all the world, he looked like a boy. A sweet, misguided, stupid, horny,
dimwitted boy. “You take me as I am, flaws and all. Kiss me, mend me and get me
back on my feet. Oh. Hold on. That’s a great lyric. Let me write it down.” He
leapt up, rummaged through his pants pocket, fished out a marker and scribbled
on his arm.

  “Ash.
Anna?”

  “Right,
well, she was just a common girl from up Manchester way, and somehow hooked on
to the Earl of Southcott. Old family. Royal connections. She’s got it made. He’s
an old bloke. If anyone found out about us, he’d have her out in a second.”

  Oddly,
Elsie wasn’t surprised. Of course he’d been with plenty of women besides her.
It was one of the reasons she’d stopped reading celebrity magazines. She didn’t
need to know. But there was something discouraging about knowing there were
others just like her. She felt a little sick. But not shocked. It was like
having your worst fear confirmed. She really was nothing more than one of many
groupies.

  “Why
are you here, Ash?”

  He
looked at her quizzically. “What do you mean? I always come to you when I need
cheering. You’re my Heart’s Ease girl.”

 
I’m
really going to throw up,
she thought.

  “I
was keeping it a surprise, but there’s a song about you on my new album.
Heart’s
Ease.
Let me get my guitar.”

  “No!”
She almost screamed. She had to get out of this room. “I mean, not now.”

  “I
know. You’ve got work to do, and appearances to keep up. Don’t worry. I have no
plans of coming out of this room today. Not that I think any paparazzi followed
me here, but you never know, do you? You just come back when you get a chance.
I’ll be here.”