Fairytale Beginnings

by Holly Martin

  She closed the lid on the laptop and looked at him. There was no way she could ever let anything happen between them. She would reassert her professionalism. He was her client and that's as far as it would go.

  The room was icy. As the sea wind howled against the castle walls, the tapestry moved slightly. Either the stone walls were not built properly and there were gaps, or one of the stones had come loose and there was now a hole in the wall.

  She lifted the tapestry and let out a bark of a laugh that had Cameron groaning as he woke up.

  He opened one eye and looked at her. He sat bolt up in bed and looked around in confusion and mild panic, clearly realising where he had inadvertently spent the night.

  She would shrug it off, pretend that it meant nothing to her and then he could relax about it.

  ‘You might be interested to know I’ve found another secret passageway.’

  He sat up, his eyes wide with shock. ‘In your room?’

  She lifted the tapestry to reveal an open staircase spiralling down the very edge of the castle. ‘No wonder it’s so cold in here.’

  He shot out of bed and came to stand with her. Muted daylight filled the stairs from tiny little holes that punctuated the walls periodically.

  Cameron started to descend the staircase. She grabbed her shoes and made to follow him.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘So each of the four towers appears to have its own fire escape,’ Milly said, as Cameron leaned down into the chamber at the foot of the fourth tower they had explored in the last hour and pulled her up onto the driveway.

  She smiled at the big biker boots he had pulled on after they had explored the stairwell in the first tower. Paired with the silly dragon print pyjama bottoms, the two didn’t seem to go together.

  ‘It makes sense, I suppose. If someone was coming to kill you and you were sleeping in the tower, you’d want an escape route.’

  ‘These passageways from the tower bedrooms were all built around the time that your uncle Boris was here, about a hundred and thirty, hundred and fifty years ago. Your uncle really did have a case of paranoia.’ Milly shielded her eyes from the bright sun that was beating down on the castle. The warm sea wind blowing over the cliff tops swirled around her, blowing her hair around her face.

  ‘I can’t believe I never noticed these doors in the ground before.’

  ‘Well they were behind these plant troughs, you wouldn’t see them unless you were looking for them.’

  ‘It’s cool though, isn’t it,’ Cameron said, excitedly.

  ‘Very.’

  ‘And it all helps in making a case to Castle Heritage for taking this place on, doesn’t it? I presume they will be very interested in this kind of thing.’

  Milly’s face fell, and she stared down at the drive as they walked back towards the kitchen. She really had no idea at this stage if Castle Heritage would accept the project. The tests she had taken the day before needed to be sent to the lab and that would determine the exact date of some of the oldest rooms in the house. If it was clear which rooms were there first and the original structure was of a significant size, Castle Heritage might restore it to how it formerly looked, but in its current condition of fairy tale princess castle, they wouldn’t touch it, she knew that. And she had to tell him, sooner rather than later. He would be crushed though and she knew she could help him despite the lack of interest from Castle Heritage.

  ‘What is it you want, just to sell it to Castle Heritage and wash your hands of it?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, I can’t do that. It’s been in the family, as far as I can tell, since it was built. I can’t just get rid of it. And I’ve been warming to it in the last few days, I could maybe see myself living here but I can’t afford to keep it on my own. I was hoping Castle Heritage would give me some kind of grant to do the renovations. The debts I can handle, especially if, as you suggested, I sell my other house, but the general upkeep of the place will need some ongoing money.’

  ‘You need to make it work for you, open it up as a hotel. Even without the ghosts, people will love to stay in a place like this. It’s beautiful and charming. You could hold parties and balls in the banquet hall, just like your family used to, but charge people to come. Get it catered so you don’t need to worry about food, you can even hire a team of waiting staff for the night. You have eight bedrooms in the towers and as long as you put a door over the secret passageways, you’re ready to open to the public now. Plus we have the bedrooms in the servant quarters we could hire out for a much cheaper price. And we could do tours of the secret passageways and dungeons for a price too.’

  ‘There’s that “we” again.’

  He was smiling and she knew he was teasing her.

  ‘Sorry, I just get carried away. This place has so much potential and it just makes me so excited about what it could become. You wouldn’t have to do a lot to it to get it ready.’

  ‘Your ideas sound wonderful but I haven’t the first clue about running a hotel and I really don’t want to. It would take up all my time and I love writing too much to want to focus on anything else.’

  ‘You don’t have to do it though, you could hire a manager to run all that side of things for you.’

  He turned to face her and she stopped to look at him. He smiled. ‘You are very sweet and I find your enthusiasm so endearing. I have never met anyone like you. Ever. You are so smart, but you live in a rose-tinted world. I can’t just open this place up as a hotel and have paying guests staying over at the weekend. We would have to offer them breakfast and probably dinner and that means having a proper kitchen that would need to meet health and safety standards and a proper qualified chef with a food hygiene certificate. I’d have to have staff that would clean and service the rooms, they would need paying, that makes me an employer and with that comes a whole host of legal responsibilities including wages, pensions, tax and national insurance. There’s liability insurance as well which as a customer serving company I would have to have. I would need to do a lot to ensure the dungeons and tunnels and passageways were completely safe, I couldn’t have stairways or tunnels collapsing whilst guests were using them. I would be sued for millions.’

  ‘No, I know all that. I know there’s a lot more to opening a hotel than just having the rooms. My brother owns a hotel chain that looks after places like this, although I’m sure he has nothing like Clover Castle on his books. All his hotels are unique, historical houses and he is keen to maintain that history and not turn them into something they aren’t, but he knows that people love staying in places like this, it’s something different from the usual hotels. He runs hotels or holiday rentals out of old churches, windmills, manor houses and castles. If you were to work with him, it would still be yours, but he would run the hotel side of things. He’s very successful at what he does, so he must know his stuff. And he’s a very honest man, he will tell you if working with him is not in your best interests. You should at least talk to him because even if you didn’t want to work with him he would still be able to give you some great advice.’

  Cameron stared down at her in that intense way, as if he was still trying to figure her out. ‘You have a lot of respect for your brother.’

  ‘He is my most favourite person in the world.’

  ‘Then I’d like to meet him. I think I need all the help I can get at the moment.’

  Her heart soared a little at the fact that Cameron was prepared to meet Jamie based solely on her recommendation.

  He turned towards the castle and she walked by his side.

  ‘Isn’t recommending me to your brother in direct competition with Castle Heritage?’

  Oh crap.

  ‘I still need to do some more tests to determine the age of the property, I just think you need to have all the options. While I’m doing these tests and waiting for the results you can speak to Jamie and then you can make up your own mind. I don’t think Castle Heritage will keep the castle in its current state. As you’ve already pointe
d out, it’s not very historical.’

  ‘You said you loved it?’ There was an accusatory tone to his voice.

  ‘I do.’

  ‘And do you not speak for Castle Heritage?’

  She thought carefully about how to answer. ‘When I said it was beautiful, I spoke from the heart, not as an ambassador for Castle Heritage.’

  He turned to face her again but there were no smiles on his face now. ‘So all this excitement over ghosts and secret passageways during the last few days …’

  Oh God, she felt awful, she had fooled him into thinking that she was excited on behalf of Castle Heritage. ‘That excitement was just mine.’

  Disappointment registered on his face and it hurt that she felt like she had let him down.

  ‘It wasn’t my intention to mislead you. I get so excited about old buildings and passionate about history, coupled with my love of fairy tales and magical stories, this place is like a dream come true for me. I feel terrible. I built your hopes up and now I’ve disappointed you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t professional enough that I didn’t separate my emotions from Castle Heritage’s position. Nothing about my visit has been professional and I don’t know what you must think of me or Castle Heritage. It’s this place, it brings out the worst in me.’

  Cameron turned away and continued walking towards the kitchen. ‘Or the best.’

  She didn’t know what to say to that but she knew she had to draw a line under this now. She wasn’t going to let anything happen between them so she would ensure everything about her stay here would be strictly professional from now on.

  Milly arrived back in the kitchen a short while later wearing her smartest clothes. A navy blue spotted dress underneath a long navy jacket. She had her hair clipped back into a tight French roll and she was wearing her smartest, most sensible, most boring black flat shoes, instead of her ridiculous sparkly Converse trainers. She always packed something smart in case there were any formal meetings during her trips. It had never happened, but she liked to be prepared. She had never felt the need to wear them to impress a client before. But she had to do something to reassert her professionalism, if she had ever showed Cameron any to start with. Reputation was everything to Castle Heritage and she had to leave Cameron with a good impression of them even if they couldn’t work with him. Cuddling in bed with a client was stupid and reckless and a million miles away from the professionalism she normally maintained on a site visit.

  Cameron stared at the transformation in shock.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘I’m trying to be professional. I haven’t succeeded so far but …’ She gestured helplessly as she realised it was going to take a lot more than a suit to walk away from this with any degree of respect from Cameron.

  He smiled at her and she hated that he was laughing at her. God, he infuriated her, she just couldn’t win.

  He stood up and walked towards her, appraising her with heated eyes. He stopped in front of her, too close yet again. This guy clearly had no idea about appropriate personal space. Though she had done nothing to move away from him. She couldn’t; his scent, his heat, it was intoxicating. His eyes were almost black as he stared down at her.

  He bent to whisper in her ear. ‘If this look is supposed to turn me off, it’s not working.’

  He moved back slightly and she felt her mouth fall open at his blatant flirting.

  He continued speaking as if that comment had never happened.

  ‘I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last few days, I’ve smiled and laughed and it’s been a long time since I’ve done either of those things.’

  He reached up and unclipped her hair, untangling the knots with his fingers. His touch was electric and she’d forgotten how to breathe.

  He moved his hands to the buttons of her jacket and slowly undid each one. Her heart slammed against her ribs.

  ‘I’ve enjoyed fascinating, intellectual conversations, not only about the castle but about lots of other things too.’

  He slid the jacket off her shoulders, his hands skimming over her bare arms. He folded it neatly over the chair without taking his eyes off hers.

  ‘I have loved the energy about the place, and the enthusiasm and love you have for the castle. And I’ve really enjoyed flirting with a woman who seems to like me for myself, not for my fame and fortune.’ He stepped back to look at her. ‘Well, apart from the shoes, this is the woman that I’ve enjoyed all of that with. I will be disappointed if Castle Heritage don’t take Clover Castle on, but I don’t think I could ever be disappointed with you.’

  Silence stretched between them. Neither of them moved.

  ‘You like me?’ Milly’s voice was choked when she eventually spoke.

  ‘Immensely.’

  She had sort of guessed that but to hear it confirmed was both wonderful and terrifying.

  She swallowed. ‘We can’t do anything, you’re my client.’

  ‘That’s fine.’

  ‘You’ve paid for my services, sex isn’t one of the services on offer.’

  ‘I never thought it was.’

  ‘I need to go to the post office and post my test tubes to the lab.’ She had to get away from him as she was about five seconds away from throwing professionalism straight out the window.

  ‘Ok.’

  Locked in his hypnotic gaze, she still couldn’t move.

  ‘I just need my handbag.’

  She reached to grab her bag, he didn’t move and she had to lean round him. She picked it up and moved back, looking up into his eyes.

  She wasn’t sure who kissed whom, but suddenly her bag clattered to the floor and she was leaning up as Cameron’s mouth came down on hers, hard.

  Without taking his mouth off hers, he lifted her. She automatically wrapped her legs round his waist and he powered her back to the wall.

  The taste of him was everything, the feel of his hard body against hers, his intoxicating spicy, woody scent. It was complete sensory overload.

  But where her kisses were desperate, urgent, needful, his were calm, slow, methodical, as if he had known that this moment was coming all along. He slowed her down, took his time. It was sexy as hell.

  Suddenly his phone burst to life on the table. He didn’t break the kiss for a second, as if he hadn’t even heard it. But it was enough to snap her out of her moment of madness.

  She pulled back and he stopped, searching her eyes. He sighed and gently lowered her to the floor. She was trembling all over. How could a kiss affect her so much?

  He grabbed his phone and answered it, his voice low and throaty. It had affected him too.

  She bent to grab her bag and the box of test tubes she had packaged up the day before and with his eyes firmly on her, she walked out on unsteady legs.

  Milly stumbled down the drive, wondering if he was still watching her. She could barely catch her breath.

  She had kissed a client. She was likely to be sacked for that. What on earth had she been thinking? She had never launched herself at a man before. There was something about him that drew her in. Yes, he was attractive and sweet but there was something more than that. A connection so strong it was almost as if they had been linked her whole life.

  But that was no excuse for kissing a client. She loved her job at Castle Heritage. Well, part of it, she loved what her job entailed but she didn’t love the company so much. They were too fussy about which properties they would take on and they had turned down many beautiful historic places over the years and she hated that. But it looked likely that she was going to be accepted onto the board of directors soon which would give her much more opportunity to have her say about how the company was run. She didn’t want to jeopardise that.

  It would be better for everyone if she left now before anything else happened. She’d go back to the castle, do a few more tests and then leave. If the results came back with something that would interest Castle Heritage, then she could communicate with Cameron through emails and telephone calls. She would give him he
r brother’s number in case he wanted to pursue that line instead and she would go home. But she had agreed to be in this silly play with him on Friday, although she still needed to persuade him to do that. When was that – another two or three days away? She’d completely lost track of time already, it felt like she had been there for months or years, not just a few days. No, it was silly to stay for the sake of the play. She’d explain to Gladys that she couldn’t stop, she’d call a taxi and she could be tucked up in her own bed in her house by tonight.

  Alone.

  She swallowed back the sadness of leaving Cameron. It was ridiculous to feel this way. He wasn’t good for her. If she was stupid enough to let it go any further, he would break her heart when it came to an end.

  This wasn’t going to work with him, it couldn’t.

  She sighed as she reached the tranquillity of Clover’s Rest. It was so idyllic, like something fresh from a fairy tale. If this really was a fairy tale she would have a fairy godmother to turn to for advice or a little bit of pizazz and sparkle. As fairy tales didn’t exist, she would go and talk to the village witch instead.

  He’d kissed her. Well, he was pretty sure she had made the first move but the end result was the same. And there was nothing gentlemanly about the way it had happened, he had grabbed her and pinned her to the wall. No wonder she’d looked so scared when they had broken apart. He had practically manhandled her.

  Cameron could hear Olivia, his PA, chatting down the phone as he sat with his head in his hands, with no idea what she was saying.

  The kiss had been incredible though, so much more than he had imagined it would be although it had not led where he had hoped.

  There was a note of vulnerability in Milly and he didn’t want to hurt her in any way. He wasn’t going to pursue this unless she did. God, he hoped she wanted to because it had taken all his strength to let her walk out of his kitchen and not take her back to his bedroom.

  The queue at the post office had been very short, just one other person stood in front of Milly, but she had already waited over an hour to be served, because the frail old postmistress – who looked to be over two hundred years old – had chatted to an elderly man wearing a bowler hat about everything, including the lack of fish in the sea, the weather, the ducks on the pond and mostly about the excitement of the Summer Solstice play.