Fairytale Beginnings (4 page)

M
illy stared
out over the cliffs, at the water crashing theatrically onto the rocks below. The wind tugged at her hair and her clothes and intermittently she could feel the salt spray from the sea. The sun was beating down on top of her head and creating slashes of gold on the crests of the waves.

Cameron was an ass and he certainly didn’t deserve her help. She should just march straight back to the castle now and tell him that Castle Heritage wouldn’t help him. But there was a vulnerability about him, he had been hurt before and he was clearly trying to protect himself from it happening again. She couldn’t hate him for that. She’d been hurt before too.

There was something about this place too that seemed to have some sort of hold on her. There was so much more that she needed to find out.

She turned back to look at the castle. It annoyed her that Castle Heritage probably wouldn’t take it on. They had so many rules about which properties would qualify for their help and they had turned down so many beautiful places over the years.

She started walking back up the slope towards the castle. From the outside, she could see that it was indeed a lot bigger than it had seemed from the inside. Even allowing for the fact that the turrets created the impression of extra size.

The castle was roughly rectangular, which could mean that it was possibly some kind of lookout house, with an added extension part with extra rooms on the ground floor which was now the converted servants’ quarters.

All the windows in the banqueting hall were stained glass but there were four on this side of the building that weren’t. Were there rooms that Cameron hadn’t shown her? And if so, what were they and why was she not privy to them?

She squinted her eyes against the sudden sunlight that burst out from behind one of the towers as she walked up the hill. She stepped forward, shielding her eyes and suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath her feet. She reached out blindly to stop herself from falling, grabbing at nothing as she tumbled through the air and landed face down in the dirt in a dark hole.

With a groan, she rolled onto her back to look around and could see the opening some eight feet above her head. There didn’t appear to be any way out.

W
here was Milly
? It had been hours since she’d walked out the kitchen and the pie he had made to apologise for being such an arse had long since gone cold on the table. It had got dark outside and had started to rain.

Maybe she was avoiding him.

It was possible that she had gone back to the village and sought refuge from him in the local pub, though they wouldn’t make her any more welcome than he had.

In fact, the thought of the villagers getting their weird hands on her suddenly filled him with dread. He grabbed his torch and his jacket and headed out.

Wind roared over the cliff tops as he strode down the drive towards the village. The warmth of the day had well and truly disappeared now, leaving behind an icy chill.

He walked into the village. The cute little houses were seemingly sleeping in the darkness, though the lights of the pub were ablaze.

He pushed open the door and every face inside turned to look at him, as the pub fell deadly silent.

‘Is Milly here?’ He looked around. She wasn’t there, her beautiful blonde hair would light the room like a beacon.

‘Maybe the Oogie has taken her,’ shrugged Igor, one of his eyes roving over Cameron as if he had no control over its movements.

‘There is no Oogie,’ Cameron snapped. Bloody stupid myth.

‘Oogie, Oogie, Oogie,’ Igor chanted as slowly the others all joined in too. ‘Oogie, Oogie, Oogie, Oogie.’

Cameron quickly left and as soon as he closed the door behind him, he heard the pub erupt into laughter. Bunch of weirdos.

He looked around the village, every other house was in darkness. Where the hell was she?

He strode back towards the castle. What if she had slipped over the cliff tops and fallen to her death? His stomach rolled with a sudden fear.

He ran through the gates and started calling her name, his torch beam zipping over everything it touched. There was no answer.

He ran towards the cliffs, still yelling for her, but the wind snatched the words from his mouth as soon as they left. If she was out here she wouldn’t be able to hear him.

He stood on the cliff top and shone his beam on the rocks below. If she had fallen, she was no longer there now.

The wind suddenly changed direction and he heard his name faintly from behind him.

He turned round and walked forward towards the castle. He heard it again, this time it was louder.

‘Milly!’ he yelled.

‘Cameron! Down here!’

He shone his torch along the ground and saw a hole straight in front of him. Jesus, had she fallen down a rabbit hole, just like Alice?

He hurried to the edge and peered over and there was Milly standing at the bottom of the hole, covered with mud and soaking wet. She smiled, bravely, though he could see she was freezing cold. God knows how long she had been down there and yet she was still smiling. He felt relief rush over him that she was ok.

‘I fell down here like a complete idiot.’

Cameron felt his mouth go dry as his torch scanned over her. Her white dress had gone completely see-through in the rain and it was very evident that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Two dark nipples stood proudly to attention under her strapless dress and she had no idea how exposed she was. He quickly looked away. Shit. He would have to try to rescue her without looking at her. Surely he could do that.

He lay down on the edge of the hole and thrust his arm inside, reaching down to her. She jumped up and down trying to grab his hand, but it was futile. She was a good few inches away from the ends of his fingers and her breasts were bouncing up and down with her exertions. Bloody woman and her breasts.

‘Hang on, I need to get something for you to hold on to.’ He stood up.

‘It’s ok, I’m not going anywhere.’

He smiled briefly and ran back towards the castle. She hadn’t seen the hole because the grass was overgrown and the grass was overgrown because he’d fired the groundsman the month before. If she had hurt herself, it would be all his fault.

He ran round the back towards the garage, he was pretty sure there was a rope in there amongst a load of other junk. He burst into the garage and searched though the shelves until he found one lurking at the back. He grabbed it and ran back, untangling it as he ran. The torch he’d abandoned at the edge of the hole showed the way.

‘Stand back,’ he called, before tossing one end of the rope down the hole. ‘Tie it round your waist.’

He felt the rope tug for a few moments.

‘Ok,’ Milly called.

He braced his legs and started pulling the rope through his hands. He felt the rope take the strain but she weighed next to nothing, he had bench pressed heavier than she was. After a few more swift yanks, she appeared out the hole and he felt bad as he dragged her across the grass.

She stood up, smiling weakly, even though she looked exhausted. The light from the torch illuminated her whole body. Cameron could quite clearly see a large, black dragon tattoo on her right side, whose tail dipped below the waist of her knickers and ended up Lord knows where.

Cameron quickly tossed the rope to one side and ripped his jacket off, wrapping it around her, partly so he wouldn’t have to see her incredible figure anymore. If he didn’t know better, he would think she was doing this deliberately.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘No, well my ankle is very sore but it’s my pride more than anything, I should have been looking where I was going.’

Her hair was matted against her head, any make-up she had been wearing was long gone and yet he had never seen anything quite so adorable in his life as Milly, bedraggled and staring up at him with those wide, sea blue eyes.

She shivered against him and he suddenly found himself scooping her up in his arms and carrying her back to the castle.

She giggled against him. ‘Cameron, I’m perfectly capable of walking.’

‘And falling down another hole? I don’t trust you.’

She sighed and linked her arms round his neck to stop herself from bouncing around as he walked. The warmth of her breath on his skin did nothing to stop the inappropriate thoughts from running through his head.

He burst through the back door and sat her down on the table.

‘Are you sure you’re not hurt?’ He scanned her, thankful that the only part of her body he could now see was her lower legs.

‘I’m fine, freezing but fine. Please stop worrying. I promise I’m not going to sue you or anything.’

That hadn’t even crossed his mind.

‘I’ll run you a bath and then I’ll make you some dinner.’

‘Cameron …’

He strode off towards the bathroom before she could protest and started filling the oversized tub with hot water.

He came back out and gestured for her to go in, hopefully giving her a look that was not to be argued with.

She sighed and slid off the table, causing his jacket and her dress to ride up her thighs. What was she trying to do to him?

She kicked her shoes off and shuffled past him into the bathroom and closed the door. He leaned his forehead against it and closed his eyes.

Having her here was going to be trouble.

‘Cameron Heartstone, I can still see your feet under the door. If you’re spying on me, there’s going to be trouble.’

She was playing with him but he stepped away from the door regardless, little did she know that he had already seen her nearly naked body in its full, spectacular glory.

He tried to occupy himself so he wouldn’t think about her lying in his bath mere metres away from where he stood. He tidied her shoes to one side of the room, since she had left them in the middle of the floor. He put the pie back in the oven with a tray of chips and made a fire in his lounge. He went to retrieve the rope and torch and as he was trying to distract himself with reading the paper, he heard the bathroom door open and a few moments later she appeared in his lounge, wearing just his robe, her hair wrapped up in a towel.

She was naked underneath his robe. He swallowed, trying to take his eyes off her. She smelt like him, having evidently used his shower gel and his shampoo. The fact that she had inadvertently marked herself with his scent somehow appealed to his inner caveman. How could something so simple turn him on so much?

He stood up. ‘Sit down, I’ll just finish off the dinner.’

She did as she was told and he walked out into the kitchen just to be away from her. He dished up the pie and chips and carried them back through to his lounge. She was curled up in one corner, drying her hair.

‘It smells delicious, you didn’t have to do this,’ she said, taking the plate and tucking into the pie, before he had even sat down.

He sat down next to her and started eating his own, deliberately not looking at her in his robe.

He wanted to say something to clear the air after he had been so grumpy with her earlier, but apologies never seemed to come easily to him and he’d already used up his quota today.

She finished eating and put the empty plate on the coffee table, leaning back into the sofa.

He stared down at his food, which seemed to be sticking in his throat along with the apology.

He finished his dinner slowly and then, when there was nothing else to distract him, he took a deep breath to deliver the apology. ‘I wanted to say sorry for my attitude earlier, when you asked me about my books.’

He turned to look at her to gauge her reaction and saw that she was fast asleep. He put his plate down on the coffee table, scooped her up and carried her through to his bedroom. He put her in his bed and covered her up, going back into the lounge.

There were lots of beds along the ground floor he could have put her in which would have saved him the trek up to the tower, but his bed was closest.

He rolled his eyes as he lay back on the sofa and flicked the TV on quietly. That was a pathetic reason and he knew it, but that was his excuse and he was sticking to it.

M
illy woke
the next morning and looked around her in confusion. She was in a bed but certainly not the bedroom in the tower. She’d obviously fallen asleep on Cameron’s sofa after dinner and he’d brought her to one of the rooms in the servants’ quarters.

She was still wrapped in his robe and it smelt divine; wonderfully clean and woody. She buried her nose in it and inhaled deeply. It was an intoxicating scent and it made her gut clench with need. What was wrong with her? She had never, ever had feelings about a client before and had always declined those who asked her out, for professional reasons.

But there was something about Cameron that she couldn’t seem to shake.

She got out of bed, determined to find the toilet but when she opened the bedroom door she had two shocks. The first was that she was standing in Cameron’s lounge, having clearly spent the night in his bed. The second shock, which had her welded to the floor, was Cameron, soaking wet and stark naked standing in the corner of the lounge, rooting around in his towel cupboard.

She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe. Holy crap, this guy was huge. Hulking muscular arms, massive thighs, even a broad, muscular back. His bum was toned and tanned just like the rest of him and she had a sudden urge to sink her teeth into it.

Suddenly he turned around with a towel in his hand and she gave a little yelp at being caught staring at him so openly. She quickly ran back in to the safety of his bedroom and closed the door. But not before she’d seen that his huge size was prevalent ALL over his body. Holy frigging crap indeed.

‘Milly, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare or embarrass you.’ Cameron called through the door. ‘I took a shower and forgot that you had my robe and my towel.’

‘I can’t believe I saw you naked.’ Although it wasn’t the fact that she had seen him that was causing the burning blush over her cheeks, it was that he had caught her staring with wide, hungry eyes and an open mouth. What on earth must he think of her? Her professional façade was slowly crumbling.

‘If it helps, I saw you naked yesterday,’ Cameron called.

Her eyes snapped open and she yanked open the door. Thankfully Cameron had had the foresight to wrap a towel round his hips by this point, though it did nothing to detract from the magnificent wet chest right in front of her eyes. ‘You saw me naked?’

Cameron blushed. ‘That probably doesn’t really help things, does it? And not properly naked, just …’ he trailed off.

She put her hands on her hips. ‘Just what?’

He looked down, staring at his massive feet. ‘Your dress was wet and very see-through yesterday, when I pulled you out of the hole. I could see that you weren’t wearing a bra,’ he mumbled.

She felt her mouth fall open. ‘I was absolutely wearing a bra. Do you think I turn up for business meetings not wearing a bra? What made you think I wasn’t wearing one?’

‘I could see your nipples.’

‘My nipples,’ Milly squeaked. They hadn’t known each other for twenty-four hours and she had seen his willy and here they were talking about her nipples.

He nodded ‘And your dragon tattoo.’

‘And you never thought to tell me?’

‘I didn’t want to embarrass you.’

‘Like you are now.’

‘Well, I wasn’t planning on ever telling you.’

‘Just keep it to yourself, you dirty pervert.’

His head snapped up, flashing her a smouldering look. ‘I wasn’t the one that was standing ogling for a good five minutes, at least I had the good grace to cover you up when you were exposing yourself to me. You could have looked away.’

Holy shit, the atmosphere was so electric between them. The way he was staring at her so angrily yet so hungrily was such a turn on. She wanted to grab him, kiss him hard and drag him back into the bedroom. She had never had such unprofessional thoughts before. In fact, she had never wanted any man as much as she wanted him.

A bubble of laughter suddenly burst from her throat at the ridiculousness of the situation.

The look of hunger completely vanished from his eyes and was quickly replaced with the cautious look of someone dealing with an insane person. It made her laugh even more. Any professionalism she was desperately clinging onto was slipping through her fingers like sand.

‘For God’s sake, put some bloody clothes on and I’ll make us some breakfast,’ she said, stepping out of his way.

He stared at her in complete confusion then shuffled into the bedroom and closed the door.

Gregory was waiting for her in the kitchen wagging his tail, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as if he found the whole thing hilarious too. He was a big, tatty, muddy beast who clearly hadn’t had a bath for weeks or even months.

She gave him a little curtsey. ‘Will Sir Gregory be wanting his breakfast too?’

Gregory licked his lips as if in answer and she laughed. She moved to the fridge and pulled out some bacon and eggs, determined to move things on to more friendly grounds with Cameron when he came out.

C
ameron walked
into the kitchen and sighed with annoyance. She was still in his robe and he didn’t think anything could be sexier than Milly wearing it, with her tangle of blonde and pink hair tumbling down her back. She was barefoot as she padded round the kitchen, singing to herself and it was almost impossible not to remember that underneath she was completely naked. He didn’t want to be attracted to her. After the last three women he dated had sold their stories to the papers, he had sworn off having any kind of relationship ever again. Yet the feelings he had for her were beyond inappropriate and he was a little bit angry with her for making him feel that way.

She turned round and caught him looking at her. Whatever she saw in his face made the smile fall from hers.

‘What is it now?’ she said.

‘I would have thought you’d have put some clothes on by now. Walking round my home, half naked, it’s not the professionalism I expected from Castle Heritage.’

‘I was making breakfast.’

‘I don’t need you to make breakfast for me. You are a business associate, not my girlfriend. I’m quite capable of making my own breakfast.’

‘You said we might as well eat together.’

‘I didn’t mean for you to cook for me.’

She stared at him for a moment in shock and he regretted saying it immediately. It wasn’t her fault he was attracted to her and didn’t want to take it any further.

She turned back to the stove, grabbed a plate filled with all manner of breakfast delights and slammed it down on the table next to him so hard that the sausage rolled off the plate onto the floor, where Gregory immediately gobbled it up.

‘If you don’t want it, give it to Gregory, I’m sure he’d be much more appreciative.’

She took her plate and sat down opposite him. With no words in his head, he sat down too.

He speared a mushroom on his fork and tried to swallow it, eventually forcing it down his throat. ‘I’m sorry.’

She nodded, curtly.

‘This is lovely, thank you,’ he said, quietly.

She continued eating her breakfast in silence, refusing to look at him. He tore his eyes away and stared at his food.

Milly finished her meal first and looked across the table towards him. ‘Oh I forgot to tell you,’ she said, lightly, as if the conversation minutes before hadn’t even happened. ‘The hole I fell down yesterday. It wasn’t a hole.’

He took a big slurp of tea. If she wanted to play it like this then he could pretend to be civil too. ‘It wasn’t? What was it?’

‘A passageway, from the castle.’

His eyes widened in surprise, his forced pretence completely forgotten. ‘A secret tunnel?’

‘Yes. It had collapsed, so there was no way for me to get back, but it might be worth at least seeing where the secret passageway started. I wonder if it was originally a priests’ bolt hole.’

‘Well that’s interesting.’

‘Very,’ Milly agreed. ‘Why don’t I get dressed and we can do a bit of investigating?’

He nodded and watched her go.

M
illy joined
Cameron back in the kitchen and he stood up, his eyes scanning over her for a brief moment. She doubted it was an appreciative gesture. She was wearing long denim shorts, a red and white polka dot shirt and purple sequined Converse trainers. It was a defiant gesture, sticking two fingers up at the professionalism he so desperately wanted. Besides, she doubted whether anything she wore would gain his approval. He really didn’t seem to like her much. The chemistry she had felt between them was very clearly one sided.

He was right though, making breakfast for him was a bit too domesticated. Despite his hostile attitude to her staying with him, somehow she felt at home here, she felt completely at ease pottering about his kitchen making tea and food and it made no sense to feel like that. But he didn’t like the cosy arrangement and she could understand why, so maybe it would be best to eat separately from now on.

‘I think we should go back out to the hole first, get an idea of which direction the tunnel was going in. The parts of the passage that I could see through the rubble seemed straight, so once we have an idea of which area of the castle the tunnel was pointing towards, that will tell us where to start looking.’

‘Good idea.’ Cameron nodded.

Well, he was clearly going to try to be pleasant and polite even if he didn’t want her here. At least for now.

He opened the door for her like the perfect gentleman.

‘By the way, for your information, I am wearing a bra.’

His face split into a huge genuine smile. ‘That’s good to know.’

She strode ahead of him. Despite the earliness of the morning the heat hit her almost as soon as she stepped out. There was no shelter from it here on the cliff tops and she liked the way the castle seemed to bask in the sunlight. With its blue roofs and pale sandstone walls, it had a slightly Mediterranean feel.

Cameron caught her arm and nudged her in a slightly different direction.

‘Here, watch your step, the hole is right in front of you,’ he said. ‘We don’t want a repeat of last night. I’m surprised you didn’t hurt yourself – that was quite a big fall.’

She stopped and knelt next to the hole, poking her head in to try to see which direction the tunnel went, but she couldn’t see it at all. The area under the hole was too big and she couldn’t see any of the walls.

She sat back on her heels to look at Cameron and he was watching her with a smile of amusement on his face.

‘I need you to hold my legs and lower me into the hole.’

The smile slipped from his face. ‘You want me to lower you, upside down, into the hole?’

‘I don’t think we’ll be able to see the tunnel from this angle.’

He sighed. She got on to all fours and he knelt behind her, grabbing her heels, then she shuffled head first into the hole.

‘When we spoke on the phone and you said you would do a thorough investigation, I never thought for one minute I would be holding you by your heels and dangling you into a hole.’

‘I didn’t think when I came here that you would immediately grab my breasts, so I guess that makes us even.’

Cameron didn’t say anything in reply but somehow she knew he was smiling. Holding her ankles tightly, he lowered her slowly and carefully into the hole.

‘Ok, got it, pull me back out.’

She was yanked out quite quickly. Cameron held her ankles above his head and she laughed as she dangled helplessly in front of him. ‘It’s that way.’ She pointed towards one of the windows in the corner of the castle.

He laid her down carefully on the grass in front of him and then offered her his giant hand to help her back up.

‘That’s the original castle kitchen and the larder.’

‘You never showed me that yesterday.’

‘There’s not a lot to see. It’s a tiny empty room where they used to keep various foods to keep them cool.’

‘I need to see all the rooms, to give me an idea of when this castle was originally built. It might not seem important to you but something as small as the slabs they use in the kitchen could be a huge clue for me in dating the castle.’