Chapter 9 #2
“Thank you.” Isobel smiles politely, though it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Yours is lovely as well. I seem to recall the Duchess of Wales wearing something similar a few years ago, yes?”
I glare at her, and she gives me a defiant smirk, as if she knows she’s already won.
“Oh, I wouldn’t know,” Merc answers with a casual shrug. “I don’t really make it my business to stalk celebrities online. Especially royalty.”
Everyone turns to stare at Isobel as she turns a bright shade of red. “I don’t stalk her online,” she sputters. “Everyone knows she wore that dress to the—”
Her mother gives a gentle pat to the top of her hand, and her words come to a screeching halt.
There’s a moment when everyone seems to realize they’re staring at the poor girl and tries to look away. I glance across the table to see that my mother’s attention is instead laser-focused on Mercury.
But, for once, it’s not malice or annoyance in her expression.
It’s curiosity.
“Mercury,” she finally says, leaning forward to take a sip of her wine. “Tell us about yourself. I want to know everything about the girl who’s stolen my son’s heart.”
Well, that’s…new.
“Asher.”
Warm hands glide across my torso, and I groan. I reach out, needing them closer.
Needing her closer.
“Oomph!”
My eyes snap open, and I find myself face-to-face with a surprised-looking Mercury hovering above me in the dark.
“Why are you lying on top of me?” I ask, unable to hide the grin tugging at my lips.
“You pulled me on top of you!” She flails, pushing off me as I laugh. “Your phone is ringing, and I was trying to wake you up!”
“And so you thought jumping on top of me would work?”
We’ve been sharing this bed semi-successfully for days. Every night, we fall asleep on opposite sides of the bed, and every morning, I wake up with a raging hard-on and a woman clinging to me like a barnacle who swears she has no idea how she got there.
The only reason I can call it semi-successful is that we can still laugh about it, and I’ve told her I’m a big fan of morning showers. I’m not actually, but it gives me the excuse to go…take care of things.
I should probably feel guilty about that part, but a man needs his sanity.
“Ugh!” She lets out a frustrated growl and hands me my now silent phone. “I was trying to reach for your phone on the nightstand. You’re the one who decided to get handsy.”
I shrug. “Can’t help it. Usually, when a beautiful woman wakes me in the middle of the night, it’s for one reason.”
“The security code so she can leave?”
I laugh. “No.”
She taps a finger to her lips. “Your bodyguard’s phone number?”
“You’re funny.”
“I know.” She beams, now sitting up with her legs crossed. She’s wearing plaid shorts and that old Creeds hoodie once again. Nothing fancy or remotely sexy, but she’s just as beautiful like this—makeup-free and a little sleepy as she was last night. “Are you going to call him back?”
“Who?” And then I check my missed calls. “Fuck.”
“He called twice before I woke up. Must be pretty important.”
I sit up and scrub a hand down my face, trying to mentally prepare for this. “Yeah,” I reply. “I’m sure he thinks it is.”
“Do you want me to go…” Then she looks around the tiny cottage, trying to figure out how she’s going to finish that sentence.
“No,” I answer. “Go back to sleep. I’ll put on a coat and go for a walk.”
“It’s freezing outside!”
I smile. “I’m Scottish, love. And it’s hardly freezing. It’s just a little balmy.”
She watches me as I tug on a hoodie, jacket, and shoes. “Don’t let him bully you,” she says just as I grab a flashlight by the door.
Something tugs at my chest. Something foreign and new. Smiling, I answer, “Never.”
The second I step outside, I let out a curse. “Fucking Christ,” I mutter. Scottish or not, it’s cold as balls out here. I zip up my jacket, then pull up Hen’s missed calls before I hit send.
He answers on the second ring. “About time.”
“You are aware of the eight-hour time difference between us, right?”
“I don’t give a shit what time it is there, Ash. I need to talk to you.”
I head toward the road, not bothering with the flashlight. I only took it to calm Mercury’s anxiety. I went outside the other night to grab some firewood, and she freaked out, worried I would stumble or be eaten by a bear.
I told her there actually aren’t any bears in Scotland, but that didn’t ease her mind. What did? A flashlight. Still, the full moon provides plenty of light to guide my way.
“All right,” I reply. I expected this conversation to happen eventually. I knew Hen would have doubts and maybe even a few choice words about his sister’s arrangement, more than his father, who took it quite well.
So I’d expected a phone call.
I hadn’t expected it to happen in the middle of the fucking night, but here we are. “Let’s talk.”
“There are pictures of the two of you,” he says accusingly. “All over the internet.”
I didn’t know the photos from the gala had been released yet, nor had I seen them.
But it doesn’t surprise me. The journalists present last night would have been dying to get those photos online as quickly as possible.
“Okay,” I answer. “I’m not sure why that’s a problem, Hen.
I’m sure Lance explained that we’d be photographed together and—”
“Yes, but he didn’t say that it’d look so—”
“So what?”
“So convincing.”
Oh. Oh, shit.
“Listen, mate,” I start to say. Nerves crawl up my throat. “What you saw was—”
“Are you into my sister, Ash?” Fuck. “’Cause I love you, man, but I gotta be honest with you. She’s not the girl for you.”
“What?” I blurt out.
“She’s young and shy.”
“I know how old she is, Hen, and it’s not like I’m a dirty old man over here. Christ, I’m younger than you are.” Not by much, but still.
“I’m just saying, she’s still so—” He seems to struggle to get out what he’s trying to say. “She’s good. Really good.”
And I’m…not.
“I know she is. She’s amazing.”
“Look.” He blows out a breath. “I just don’t think she’s ready for all that. I don’t want her to get in over her head with you.”
Why do I feel like we’re having two different conversations?
“I’m not going to let anything happen to her, Hen. If you’re worried about the press or my family, don’t be. I’ll keep her safe.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to say.” He lets out a frustrated groan before he blurts out. “Ash, I think she might be a virgin.”
I come to a complete stop right in the middle of the road. My breath puffs out in front of me as the moonlight illuminates my path. “What?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” he says in a rush. “It’s just a hunch.”
“You have a hunch…about your sister’s virginity?”
“I know how it sounds,” he groans. “It’s just…she hasn’t had a boyfriend since she was fourteen, and she barely held that dude’s hand. Since then, I don’t think I’ve even heard her mention a guy…except during that crazy phase when she had a crush on you.”
“And now you’re worried I’m going to what? Take advantage of that? Use this situation and that old crush to deflower her?” I scoff. “Come on, Hen. Give me more credit than that. And give your sister a little credit too. She’s a grown woman.”
For some reason, I choose that moment to look back toward the cottage, where his sister happens to be sleeping in the bed we’re currently sharing.
Platonically, I remind myself.
Nothing more.
“Yeah, but she’s different. Like I said, she’s shy. She’s never wanted to be in the spotlight. She doesn’t even like crowds.”
“Neither does Presley, but I’ve never gotten this kind of speech when it comes to her.”
“She’s never had a crush on you either.”
I swallow. “Mercury is merely doing me a favor,” I tell him. “That’s all that’s going on here. If we look convincing as a couple in those photos, it just means we’re doing our jobs.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“I’m sure,” I answer, staring up at the sky. “It’s me, Hen. I don’t do relationships, remember? Never have. Never will.”
“True.” He chuckles. “You just had me worried there for a second.”
“Nothing to worry about. We’re fine.”
I see a shadow move inside the cottage, and my heart stutters. See? One hundred percent fine?
Fucking hell.
“Great,” he says cheerfully. “Now let’s move on to the next subject—the band. What is this I hear about you not coming back?”
I let out a loud groan.
So much for getting any fucking sleep.