To annoy his mother, Ash arrived late. When she pointed out that he still needed to change, he just grinned at her. Mark hustled into the room, ignoring the tension in the air, and pulled Ash aside. Lucy followed, not wanting to be alone with Farrah.
"Tsk, tsk, why do you leave things to the last minute, Martin?" Mark accused, while Lucy let out a snort from behind them. “Don't let me start on your choice of dress, young lady." Mark gave her a stern look.
"I'm the last person that you need to worry about here, Mark." Lucy chortled to herself.
She followed them through so many halls and corridors that she could only wonder about their final destination. The huge mansion hadn't really surprised her; she had almost expected it.
When Mark opened a set of French doors, and marched out into the huge back gardens, she could barely catch her breath. They walked around the hugest pool that she had ever seen, complete with a waterfall and a spa.
Her eyes bulged when they reached their final destination. There was a cottage hidden in amongst the trees, and away from all the bustle of the main house. Nobody would have known it existed; it sat tucked away so well. Lucy sent Ash a raised eyebrow, and he grinned at her.
"This is my place." He told her, while gesturing to the building.
"I kind of gathered that already." Lucy answered him with a grin, as he held out a hand to let her enter first.
The similarities between the interior of this place and his other homes struck her. Compared to the mansion they had just walked through, it was like night and day.
Everything there had seemed stuffy and pretentious. The mansion had looked decorated for the off chance that someone would photograph it for a magazine. Nothing was out of place, and perfection seemed to be the key. Here there was an edgy casualness, an underlying glimmer of who Ash was.
"Are you thinking of going into the interior design business," Lucy asked, turning to him. He sent her a puzzled look, and shook his head.
"Why would you think that, Belle?"
"I've now seen three of your places, and they are decorated different... but they are all you." She tried to explain, and Ash raised a brow.
"I choose all the furnishings and stuff, pick the colours but I hire people to do the rest," he said with a shrug.
"Enough chattering you two, we have work to do," Mark swished a hand between the two of them impatiently.
"Don't let me stop you," Lucy chortled. "Steer me to the shower, and I'll be out of your way." Ash pointed down the hallway.
"Second door on the left."
She picked up her backpack and headed in the direction he had pointed. She let out a sigh at the huge bathtub in the corner. How she would've loved to have the time to use it, but instead she went to the glass enclosed shower.
She pulled out her toiletries bag, and lined them up on one of the shelves on the marble counter top. That was when she noticed the packet of condoms sitting on a small ledge above her.
She blushed to herself for a minute, and then jealousy sliced through her. What had he been doing the last time that he was in this house? The worst question that went through her mind was, and with whom?
Through her whole shower, she couldn't push the thoughts from her mind while her doubts kept increasing. It brought back all the old insecurities that she wasn't good enough for him, after all, he was a superstar, and she was a country bumpkin.
She dried herself off, but couldn't take her eyes from the offending box. She threw on her jeans and a blouse, no longer feeling like dressing up. Her insides clenched tight, while her mind swarmed with questions.
Ash couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Lucy when she came back into the room. She seemed upset, doubtful, and when Sally walked in, she marched silently over to the window to look out at the gardens. He swished off Sally's annoying advances, and went straight over to Lucy.
"What's wrong, Belle?" He reached out to touch her arm, and she pulled away from him.
"Why are you with me?" She whispered, which made him frown.
"Are you kidding me?" He enquired in shock. "What happened? What brought this on?"
"You could have anyone in the world why me?" She whispered again, while he racked his brain to try to figure out where this was coming from.
"Martin, your parents are waiting, you really need to get organised," Sally interrupted condescendingly, as though Lucy was worth none of his time.
"Get out Sally," he demanded in a low voice.
"Don't be silly, Martin." She chuckled to herself, until he pointed firmly to the front door.
"Get out. I will wear what I want to my own birthday party so I no longer require your assistance," he told her firmly. He watched as her face fell before she meekly followed his instructions. "Talk to me, Belle." He said into the silence, as he clasped his hands around her shoulders.
"It's just this place... condoms in the bathroom... someone... they must have come here before me." She stuttered through her explanation, while blushing profusely.
"Condoms? What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, his tone completely bewildered, which only seemed to set flame to her anger.
"What am I talking about?" She clenched her teeth together, and stormed down to the bathroom. Once Ash joined her, she pointed fiercely to the packet sitting innocently on the shelf.
"Dammit, I'm going to kill Nick," Ash said angrily "Now I have to change the sheets. God only knows what he was doing."
"Wait, so these aren't yours?" Lucy asked hopefully.
"No, Belle, I've never invited a girl back here, except you. Even Yolanda only ever saw the big house."
"What about Sally?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I didn't invite her, my mum sent her here." He said on a groan.
He had told his family when he had this built that this was his place. He had insisted they don't send people back here, or be in here without him, and it showed how long that had lasted.
He let out a sigh, and focused on Lucy who seemed uncomfortable. He went to shove a hand through his hair, but she stopped him, instead, she took his hand, and looked at it intently.
"Sorry," she whispered, as she clasped his hand against her cheek.
"No problem, Belle. I probably would've hit the roof too if I found those in amongst your stuff,” he assured her.
"Ugh, now I feel like such an idiot." She muttered, as she leaned her head against his chest.
"Not so. I've had a lot of rumours against my name over the years, so I can understand why you would freak out about something like this." He said solemnly.
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." She said with a cheeky grin.
"Really? Well I'm all ears." He sent her an indecipherable look, as she lifted herself to sit on the large bathroom counter.
"Okay, first attempt was a guy named Jake Radcliffe. We went out for a few weeks, shared a few kisses, but nothing too dramatic. He was driving me home one night, and just stopped the car in the middle of nowhere.
"It was all a bit sudden for me. I guess I wasn't really that prepared, but when he got to dropping his pants, I knew that I had to say something. I didn't really mean what I said, it just kind of came out." She stopped talking, as laughter clutched at her.
"Do I want to know?" He asked dubiously.
"Yep, you want to know, because you are going to laugh yourself stupid," she spluttered, so he rolled a hand at her to continue, and she took a deep breath to stop the giggles. "I told him 'is that it? I'm pretty sure my brother's is bigger.'" She collapsed into laughter. Ash looked shocked, before he succumbed to laughter.
"Remind me not to drop my pants around you,” he finally said with a shake of his head “You know there’s no rush with us?” He waved an arm between the two of them, and she bit her lip.
“I know, but it makes me wonder why. Every other guy I’ve known has been a bull at a gate.” She looked away from him for a moment.
“Belle, we are special together, and I sure as hell don’t want to wreck what we have by rushing into anything.” He told her seriously, as her turned her chin back to face him.
“Do you even want to?” She whispered, as she swung her legs back and forth nervously.
“Why are you asking me such dopey questions today?” He muttered.
He gave her no chance to escape, as he pulled her up tightly against him. She saw the want in his eyes and could feel his need for her. When he kissed her lips softly, she felt surprise that he held himself back so much. She let out a tiny moan, as he moved away slowly. He kissed her nose, and sent her a warm, melting smile.
“Of course I want to, but I’m willing to…” His phone began ringing, and he frowned.
With a grumble, he marched out of the room and Lucy let out a sigh. Sometimes he astounded her with things he said and did. This was most definitely one of them. She could hear his voice from down the hallway sounding increasingly frustrated, so she went to find him.
With his black hair flying around his face, and his bright green eyes filled with anger, she watched him. She tilted her head a little to take in the many sides of Ashton Martin James. Honestly, she still preferred the way Ash looked, but Martin was certainly growing on her.
At least now, she could look at him without flinching when he was in disguise. She could touch him without feeling as if he was a stranger to her. He gestured into the air angrily, so she walked over to try to calm him down.
“You know what, Mum, I have to go now, and I’ll turn up when I damn well feel like it.” Ash shouted into the phone harshly, he hung up, and took a deep breath.
His hand was twitching, and Lucy knew it was from him wanting to run a hand through his hair. With a small smile, she grasped his hand, and placed it against her own hair.
“There is always mine, you know,” she teased lightly, hoping to ease his anger. He threaded his fingers into her hair gently, before ducking down to kiss her lips lightly.
“Your hair is way too beautiful for any harsh treatment like I give mine,” he told her, feeling himself calming down, as he let the strands sift through his fingers.
“Really, it’s normally a crazy frizzy mess.” She said with a snort that got a smile out of him.
“Alright I had better get dressed, and get this night over with.” He tugged on her hand, and she followed him without thinking.
“Hey, I thought you were now terrified of dropping your pants in front of me.” She teased, as he led her into his bedroom.
He turned to her with a broad smirk, as he pulled his shirt off over his head, and threw it behind him. She couldn’t help her stare, as she sucked back the sigh that wanted to come forth. When he undid the button on his jeans, she felt herself tense and heat up.
“Are you really doing a Radcliffe?” She squeaked.
“Nope, but it was fun to mess with you.” He said smugly, as he raced towards the bathroom door with a laugh.
Lucy stood completely still, which gave Ash his chance to escape. The slam of the door startled her, and she was livid when she noticed that he was gone. She ran over, and hammered on the door, demanding he get out there to face her, while all she could hear where peals of laughter.
“You are so dead when you walk back out of that door, Ash.” She threatened, but heard nothing from beyond the door.
She plonked herself down on his very cosy bed, feeling a little disgruntled without knowing why. She closed her eyes, only to open them when the bed dipped next to her. The only thing he had changed was his shirt, from a t-shirt to a collared button down shirt. Lucy felt overwhelmed with how good he looked, and forgot all about his earlier mischievousness.
“You sure you want to hurt little ole me,” he asked with his best pouty face, and Lucy found it hard not to smile.
“Perhaps not, because I still haven’t heard any of yours,” she said pointedly about their previous conversation in the bathroom.
“There’s only two anyway, believe it or not. I know all of the rumour mills reckon I’ve had dozens of girlfriends, but the truth is it was only ever two. I had the same thoughts about that, as I had about drugs.” He told her, as he rolled her against his body, so he could hold her closer.
“What a coincidence.” She muttered with a frown.
“What is?” He asked distractedly, as he ran his thumb over her lips and chin, to trail down her neck delicately, making her shiver.
“We both had two.”
“No, technically you had one, unless that Radcliffe guy could ever get over the humiliation of your words.” He chuckled, so she slapped him on the shoulder.
“He pretty much drove me home, and never spoke to me again,” She let out a snort of laughter, as she threaded their fingers together. Ash’s phone began to ring again, and he let out a groan “I guess if the phone rings, we must answer the call.”
“It will just be Mum again telling me to get over there, and talk to the guests that she invited. Dad had the best plan; he flew out of the country this afternoon. There’s probably going to be about five people that I actually want to talk to at this thing.” He grumbled, and Lucy smiled softly, as he pouted again.
“The sooner we get over there, the sooner it can be finished.” Lucy told him encouragingly.
“Yeah, I guess, let’s go.”
They got to their feet, and Ash reluctantly led Lucy back to the mansion that he hated. Lights blazed brightly from every window, while music seemed loud enough to set the windows at a shudder. Lucy sent Ash a look laced with humour at the raucous noise coming from the pool.
He rolled his eyes at her, his fingers tightening in hers, as they walked back through the elaborate doors that led to the inside. People were everywhere, seeming to crowd every inch of space. Nobody noticed their entrance, except for Farrah. She rushed over to them, shoving Lucy out of the way, as she grabbed Ash’s arm possessively.
“What took you so long? What is with this outfit? You look like a hick,” Farrah exclaimed, and Lucy let out a snort of laughter at her overly dramatic words.
“I’m not changing,” he told her, reaching for Lucy’s hand, but Farrah stood between them.
“Yes, you are. Sally dear…” Farrah turned away to wave at the stylist, who had been watching them closely.
“Stop it, Mum, I’m eighteen, and you know what? I can dress myself.” Ash hissed under his breath to his mother who just ignored him.
He quickly grabbed Lucy’s hand, and pulled her out of the room, while Farrah wandered over to talk to Sally. He marched them out by the pool area, and stood fuming beneath one of the canopies. His face cleared suddenly, and Lucy noticed that he was staring at a group of people crowded around the spa. He let out a sigh, a smile appearing on his face, as he walked towards them while towing Lucy with him.
“Familiar faces at last,” he muttered to himself. “Hey, you guys!” He called out to the group of five, who turned to him with broad grins and greetings of their own.
Lucy recognised them straight away; they were quite a popular band. She strained her mind to try to think of their names, and failed miserably. Ash traded high fives with all of them, including the girl of the group, as they watched Lucy with keen interest.
“And this is?” One of them gestured to Lucy.
“This is my girlfriend, Lucy,” Ash turned to her with a smile, which she tried to return.
“So singer, dancer, or actor?” The same guy asked Lucy with a friendly grin.
“Hate to disappoint you, but none of the above. Horse rider extraordinaire better suits me,” she sent a smirk to Ash, who just let out a groan.
“You are never going to let me live that down are you?” Ash rolled his eyes at her.
“Hell, no, I should’ve recorded it.” She said with an evil little chuckle. She noticed the stares intensified at her words, and she couldn’t figure it out.
“So care to introduce me?” Lucy asked pointedly to Ash.
“Now I get it, you’re the girl he wrote that latest number one hit about.” One of them piped up, and Lucy nodded, there was no use denying an obvious truth.
“Okay, enough leave her alone,” Ash said gruffly before pointing to the first guy that had spoken. “That’s Daniel.” He was what Lucy would call a pretty boy, all smooth skin and freshly tousled hair.
“Pleased to meet the elusive, Lucy.” Daniel sent her a cheeky wink.
“Quinn.” Ash pointed to the tough looking guy with dark hair and eyes, which came complete with a scowl.
“Hey.” Quinn muttered.
“Mike,” this guy smiled at her and waved enthusiastically, as he shouted out a greeting “Lee.” He quirked an eyebrow at her, but offered his hand to shake, which she gratefully accepted.
“Nice to finally meet that girl that inspired that song.” Lee said with a hint of humour in his eyes.
“And lastly Miranda.” The girl was tall and stunning with wavy dark hair and big brown eyes. She looked at Lucy only briefly, before turning her eyes straight to Ash.
“I’ve missed you, Martin. I sent you those concert tickets and you never turned up,” Miranda sent Ash a sexy pout, while he shifted uncomfortably.
“I have a girlfriend now, Miranda. I can’t just drop things and come running to you.” Ash told the other girl firmly.
Miranda tapped her long, brightly painted fingernails against the spa edge, and sent Ash an incredibly intimate look. It looked like Lucy knew who the other ex-girlfriend was besides Yolanda now.
“So, Miss Lucy, I want to hear all about you.” Lee asked, as he propped his hand under his chin, and smiled at her with avid interest.
She talked and grew to know Ash’s friends more. All the guys had been immensely friendly and funny, but Miranda had stormed off a lot earlier. Lucy learnt that Ash used to have singing lessons with the four guys a couple of years ago, and they had been rather close friends since.
She watched a much more relaxed Ash engage with his friends. She realised that he had the kind of relationship with them that she had with Ren and Col. The only thing she found odd, was that they only knew him as Martin not Ash at all, from what she could see.
It wasn’t until a commotion by the large doors distracted them, when Lucy realised they had been sitting out there talking for ages. Everyone looked over at the fuming brunette, who sent a death glare straight to Lucy. Mindy Taylor stood, in all her sequined glory, keeping everyone silent, as they watched expectantly to see what would happen.
“Boyfriend stealer!” The girl’s icy blue eyes glared at Lucy, who could only smirk in response.
“How could it be stealing if he was never your boyfriend?” Lucy said with a chuckle, which only seemed to infuriate the other girl.
“He was!” Mindy stated furiously.
“No. you just made up some stories to make it seem like he was. It doesn’t mean that they were true,” Lucy said simply, as the girl stalked closer to her.
“Mindy, you are being ridiculous. Stop embarrassing yourself when you know we have only ever been friends,” Ash told her sharply.
“She stole you from me! You took me to the charity gala, and then she stole you,” Mindy insisted, which made Lucy laugh aloud.
“Actually, I already had him long before that.” Lucy replied smugly.
Lucy knew it was coming; she had been waiting for the other girl to make the first move. When the hand went to slap her, Lucy quickly deflected it away. She grabbed the girls arm, and twisted it up behind her back. Mindy squealed crazily, as she struggled, but Lucy kept a tight grip.
The only noises in the room, over Mindy's squeals were two female voices. Lucy turned her head in the direction of the sound and gasped. Her mother stood there dressed immaculately, with a superior expression on her face. The evil glint in her eye sent a shaft of dread along Lucy’s spine. When Farrah walked up to her mother, and greeted her with a hug, Lucy knew that she was in big trouble.