Goody Two Shoes (Invertary Book 2) (21 page)

“You have got to be kidding me,” he shouted.

Through the walls, he heard the muffled sound of Caroline’s laughter.

Josh folded his arms and looked up at a poster of a horse someone had pinned to the ceiling. Caroline had backed him into a corner. He could do as she expected, which was pretty much obey her every wish. Or…

Josh grinned up at the horse. Yeah, he liked that second option a whole lot better.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The first thing Josh did after he discovered that Caroline had snuck out the house before dawn was go shopping. He hit the Invertary high street like it was Rodeo Drive. He sorted out a new TV and satellite, paying extra to have it installed that afternoon. Then he bought a tool set from the guy at the hardware store, who made some sort of dig about singers knowing more about hair gel than hammers. The grocery store was next, where, for a price, he convinced them to deliver everything he needed later in the day. By the time lunch rolled around he was hungry, but satisfied. He’d managed to tick off all his chores and hadn’t gotten accosted by a fan even once. In fact, to his delight, he discovered that no one in Invertary cared who he was. It was actually kind of cool.

As he pushed open the door to The Scottie Dog, he spotted Mitch sitting on a high stool at the long, dark wooden bar.

“Cold beer, not that warm stuff that comes from the tap. Proper ice-cold beer,” he told Dougal as he slapped Mitch on the back.

“Only sissy foreigners drink their beer cold.” Dougal handed over an ice-cold bottle of beer.

“Grab a table, we’ve got stuff to go over.” Mitch folded his laptop.

“How are the wedding plans coming along?” Dougal boomed.

Josh wondered if the guy had any volume control whatsoever.

“I think it’s going fine. I’m leaving it to Caroline and the wedding planner. As far as I’m concerned, my job is to turn up, not get drunk and say I do when asked.”

Dougal nodded wisely. “Women’s stuff.”

Josh headed over to the booth Mitch had nabbed by the window. “What’s up?” Josh put his beer on the table opposite Mitch.

Mitch looked tired; there were circles under his eyes. “I’m moving out of the castle. I got a room here. I can’t stand the noise anymore.”

“Join the club. I moved in with Caroline.”

“Are you sure that’s any more peaceful than the castle?”

“I’m working on it. What do you want to talk about?”

“The usual—the record company want a date for the next album. I want to know what studio to book. There’s a bunch of memorabilia you need to sign off on. Some group in Norway wants to cover one of your singles. Some socialite wants to know if you’ll play her birthday party—she has money to throw around and keeps upping it every time I tell her you don’t do that sort of thing. We’ve had about a million requests for interviews. We’re still one of the hot topics on E! News—they love the barricade, especially now it’s being manned by a group of middle-aged women who knit and gossip. Oh, and a life-sized cutout of Lake Benson in his underpants. What else? Your accountant needs to talk to you. Stevie has a new song he wants you to hear, an
d People
magazine want the rights to your wedding photos.”

Josh took a slow swallow. “So not much, then?”

Mitch let out a frustrated chuckle. “The sooner we get out of Scotland and back to normal, the better.”

“Caroline wants to live here permanently.” Josh watched his friend’s eyes bug wide. “She wants to keep working at the community centre.”

Mitch looked at the ceiling. “You told her things are going to change, right? That being in the public eye can screw things up?”

“Yeah.” He paused. “She said I’m not Prince William.”

Mitch started to laugh. Josh turned to Dougal, who came over armed with menus. “Forgot to ask if you’re hungry.”

“Starving. What’s good?”

Dougal stuck his nose in the air as if offended. “Everything.”

Josh handed back the menu. “Surprise me, then. Just make sure it’s a man-sized portion.”

“Make that two,” Mitch told him.

Dougal smiled as he bustled away. Josh turned to the window. They were sitting on the side of the pub that faced the loch. The rich blue water was perfectly still, while the hills on the other side of the loch seemed hazy through the warm afternoon sun. He took another drink. It wasn’t LA, that was for sure, but Josh was beginning to think that was a good thing.

“I only intended to use the castle as a holiday home. But it’s not so bad around here.”

“No,” Mitch agreed as he watched the loch. “It’s not so bad.”

As they stared quietly out into the distance, Josh caught sight of a familiar face and stilled. “Are you seeing what I see?”

“Yeah,” Mitch said.

The two men pushed out of the booth.

“Back in a minute,” Mitch called to Dougal. “Put the food on the table.”

He nodded, clearly curious as to where they were going. Josh and Mitch jogged across the road towards the loch and the man in the suit.

“Josh!” The guy spread his arms wide and grinned. “I love it here, man. I’m going to add a kilt to my act.” He paused. “To
our
act. You got to add a kilt, man.”

Josh folded his arms tight. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mitch scowl. “What are you doing here, Danny? You know you’re not allowed within two hundred feet of me.”

“I looked into it.” Danny was clearly delighted at his brilliance. “Restraining orders are only valid locally. So don’t worry, I’m not breaking the law. I’m okay.”

Josh let out a sigh. Great. As long as his stalker was okay. “I’m not worried about you, Danny. We had a talk, remember? I told you to back off, to concentrate on your own life, but you didn’t. That’s why we have the restraining order. It’s supposed to make you restrain yourself. You need to go home.”

“I need to be here,” Danny told him. “We’re doing Scotland, man. We’re getting married.”

“No.
We’re
not getting married.
I’m
getting married.”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean. But I need to soak up the new married Josh. Got to get the vibe right for my act.”

“Danny.” Josh could hear the tightness in Mitch’s voice. “You don’t need to get the vibe right. All you need to do is turn up wearing your suit and sing Josh’s songs. That’s all people expect from you.”

Danny shook his head again. Josh briefly wondered if he was overheating in a black wool suit in the middle of summer.

“You’re wrong, Mr. Mitch,” Danny said. “I have a reputation. I’m as close to the real thing as folk are gonna get. When I turn up they get the full Josh experience.” He swung his head back to Josh. “Except for the goofy T-shirts. The general fanbase doesn’t need to know about those.” He seemed to think about it. “Although maybe I should get some too?”

Josh looked skyward as he searched deep for patience. “How did you get into town, anyway?”

Danny grinned widely. “I told the women at the checkpoint I was you. I sang ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ for them. Got a standing ovation.”

Josh ground his teeth. “Were the press there?”

“Only a couple. Don’t worry, man, I didn’t sign any autographs this time. I did tell them that I was happy to be marrying Caroline. Said she was the best thing that had happened to me.”

Josh clenched his fists. Tight. “Danny. We’ve been over this. You don’t stand in for me with the press. You don’t pretend to be me when you’re not doing a gig. You don’t follow me around—especially not halfway around the world.”

The guy looked so crestfallen that Josh almost regretted being firm. Almost.

“I’m trying hard, man.”

“You seeing that counsellor I set up for you?”

“I’m in Scotland, man, how am I supposed to do that?”

Josh counted to ten. “Before you came to Scotland?”

“Yeah.” Danny grinned Josh’s grin back at him. The one he’d once told Josh he’d spent four months in front of a mirror perfecting. “She says I’m fine. She liked it when I sang ‘My Way’ for her. Did it every session. Cool lady.”

Josh gave Mitch a look and saw him nod slightly. As Josh turned back to his stalker, Mitch pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

“So, we adding a kilt to the act?” Danny said.

“No. There is no we. You need to leave Invertary.”

“I can’t leave. We’re marrying Caroline. I like Caroline. She’s pretty and smart. Got great legs. She looks like a fifties movie star. One of the girl-next-door ones, not the vamps.”

Josh stilled. He felt, rather than saw, Mitch, who came back to stand close to his side.

“You’ve seen Caroline?” Josh’s tone was a threat. Danny didn’t hear it.

“Serenaded her the other night. She was sweet. Sang ‘Sweet Caroline’ until she called the cops.” He leaned in towards Josh. “You picked good, man. We’re going to like her.”

Josh felt the muscle in his jaw twitch as Mitch’s hand rested on his shoulder.

“Two minutes,” Mitch said. “Cops on the way.”

“So,” Danny said, “what are we wearing to the wedding?”

Josh took a deep breath, counted to twenty this time and told himself not to punch his stalker. Well, not while the cops could catch him doing it.

Caroline was exhausted by the time she left work. Without Beth, she had to do twice the workload at the centre. The domino boys had helped out, getting the rooms cleared and ready for the people who booked them, putting away library books and even answering the phones, but it was still a lot of work to pack into a day. Not to mention the press had gotten wind of Caroline’s place of work, and every second phone call was someone poking into her business. The last woman hadn’t even said hello, she’d just launched right into asking Caroline what lingerie she was taking on her honeymoon. In the end Caroline had put James on the phones. He’d forgotten his hearing aids again and spent ten minutes with each caller shouting, “Can you repeat that?” It cut down the messages by half.

Now it was almost four o’clock, and she’d ducked out of the centre an hour earlier than normal so she could get to the church for their weekly meeting with the vicar. Caroline charged into the church foyer and straight into Josh. He was leaning against the wall. His arms were folded and his ankles were crossed. He seemed perfectly relaxed, but there was nothing casual about the look in his eye. Without even thinking about it, Caroline took two steps back.

“Heard you met Danny Costanzo.” He was intense. Josh didn’t do intense. Did he?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“He was the guy singing for you in the middle of the night.”

Caroline swallowed hard and took another step back. Maybe they should meet with the vicar another day? She eyed the door. Maybe she should run?

“When were you going to tell me? I had to hear it from the cop when he came to escort Danny out of town.”

Caroline stopped retreating. “That was very wrong of him. He promised he wouldn’t tell you.”

Josh paused, and a muscle in his jaw pulsed. “He promised not to tell me?”

Caroline lifted her chin. “I handled the situation. There was no need for you to be informed.”

Josh leaned away from the wall and prowled towards her, his usual lazy saunter gone. Caroline retreated and felt her back hit the wall behind her. He placed his hands on the wall either side of her head. She felt the heat from him throughout her body.

“Caroline.” His voice was a husky whisper. “Any guy gets in your face in any way, you tell me. Am I clear?” Josh trailed a gentle finger across her jaw to her cheekbone. “Are you listening, baby?” He was so close she could feel the air from his words hit her mouth. Her very dry mouth. “You can call the cops, but you call me too. You
always
call me. We talked about this in London. There are some scary people out there that will try to get to me through you. I need to know you’re safe.”

Caroline blinked hard. She fought to clear her mind as her body registered the hard length of him. “It wasn’t a big deal. I wasn’t afraid or anything. I think you’re overreacting.”

He pressed in against her. She felt his breath against her ear. “You
always
call me.”

“But…” She wasn’t even sure what else she was going to say.

“Always, Caroline. Am I clear?”

She didn’t trust herself to speak. Instead, she nodded. It was a mistake. Her cheek brushed against his, and she stilled. Josh’s right hand worked its way into her hair at the base of her head. His touch was gentle, but firm. Caroline stood frozen. She hadn’t seen Josh like this before. Sure, she’d gotten a glimpse when they were in Harrods. She knew he must be formidable to make it so far in his profession, but usually she only saw the laid-back side of him that laughed at the world. This Josh was something else entirely. She wasn’t sure what to make of him. Or the intensity that came off him in waves.

His other hand slowly curved around her waist. Sensations rushed through her body like the wildest storm, leaving devastation in its wake.

“Now, to other things. I’m done with the silent treatment. You need to get used to the fact that you can’t command me. We’re a team. Sometimes you’ll tell me what to do and I’ll be okay with that.” His voice was a low, murmured hum at her ear. She felt her eyes close against her will. “And sometimes I’ll tell you what to do and you’ll be okay with that too.” His lips brushed the sensitive skin below her ear. “Are you listening to me?”