Story List

1. S1 E4 - Why Didn't You Go To Her?

2. S1 E4 - Megan Talbot Returns (4 parts)

3. S1 E4 - But Here... No (2 parts)

...wip...

Why Didn't You Go To Her? – S1 E4

"Why didn't you go to her that first night? You thought she was alone. She probably had Patrick Knight sneak in for a quick yomp but you couldn't have known that. You only knew she was afraid and relying on you to help her. Plus, you were a man and you had needs. So, why didn't you go to her?"

Very quietly, "How do you know I didn't?"

She sits up with an oath, "What?! Are you saying…?"

He soothes her with caresses, "No, no, of course not. When I got the call that you were hurt, I was at your side within minutes, wasn't I?"

"Well, yes, you were but…"

"But nothing! Do you really think I had time to shower and dress and talk myself out of her room and still make it to you in that time?"

Slowly, "I've watched you shower and dress… so, no, I don't think so."

He gives her a long steady look then takes a deep breath, "But…"

Her eyes narrow down to slits, "Yessssss?" The hiss of suspicious snakes.

Manfully, "It's time to clear my conscience and confess to something I've been afraid to tell you."

"Yeeesssssssssssssssss?" The hiss of enraged scorpions.

Shame-faced, "I had my phone in my hand and I was going to call her…"

Her fists clench and her teeth are bared. She looks absolutely mad with jealousy.

He throws up a warding hand, "… but then Dwayne called me and I was out the door like a shot!"

She nods viciously, "Oh, like a shot, was it? No second thoughts? No moaning about me spoiling your evening with the love of your life?"

"I was only going to invite her for a drink down in the hotel bar, that's all! I swear! Just to calm her!" He watches Camille's hair stand on end and begins inching away… but not swiftly enough.

She grabs his shoulders and holds him captive, "Just a harmless little drink, was it?"

Guilelessly, "I swear!"

She spits out a scoff, "Harmless! Pffft! There's no such thing where YOU are concerned. She would have gotten you up to her room under some lie or other and had you flat on your back and deflowered in a twinkling!"

"Oh, Camille, I hardly think so!"

She tosses her head, "Why not? I would have."

He colours up happily, "Yes, well, that's the difference between you and her, thank god. Besides, I had nothing to offer her…"

She goggles at him, "Nothing! You call this nothing? You…"

"No, Camille. She only saw the outer me…"

"Well, that's pretty damn spectacular!"

He colours up brighter, "Honestly! Contain yourself. I'm trying to bare my soul to you, the least you can do is have the decency to pretend to listen!"

Grumpily, "OK, I'm listening. I hope this is a short story with a happy ending. For ME, not her."

He smiles, "You already know the ending."

"I thought I did. Now I'm not so sure. Do go on."

"Thank you. Let's see, where was I? Oh yes, she saw only my outer shell…"

She gives a huge decidedly unladylike snort.

"A-HEM… my outer shell, my manners, my training. She knew nothing of the inner me; not my thoughts, my wants, my needs, my fears, not the part that counts. Not the part that you saw."

She can't help nodding and giving a long low sigh. Oh, yes, she remembers what she saw!

He hastily slips a pillow onto his lap, "Er, right, so anyway, her lover was worth millions so who was she going to choose, hmm? The best I could expect was to be her 'bit on the side' and…"

Camille flames up in total outrage, "And you would have accepted that?! I don't believe it! You would have been her secret lover cheating on her OTHER secret lover! You would have lived in the shadows, sharing her bed with another shadow. Where was your dignity? Where was you good sense?"

"Camille! Aren't you listening? I only wanted to comfort her…"

A huge growl is her only answer.

"Comfort and support her…"

She roars as she swarms his ramparts and smothers his words with a fierce kiss.

He takes a couple of deep breaths then resumes under her hot eyes, "Well, so much for being her 'bit on the side' because that's when Dwayne's call came in and I never ran so fast! Down that beach and right to you. I was so frightened! That's when I knew. Knew for sure. That's when I was certain."

Camille growls, her teeth inches from his throat, "Knew what?"

Low and rapid, his pulse speeding up, "That I was doomed to be YOUR 'bit on the side' for the rest of my life, even if you never gave me a second look, even if you married another."

Stunned, "You would have stood beside me without saying anything? Forever? Never telling me? Never warning me? Never giving me a chance?"

He nods small, "I'm a total coward when it comes to you."

After a long wait, "Well, gosh, that's some story."

"I'm glad I finally told you. Do you believe it? Every word is true."

"It had BETTER be true. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise?"

"Otherwise I have an English rose to hunt down and snip off and…"

"And?"

She lowers herself for the kill, "And an English man to chastise and show him the error of his ways."

He draws in a thrilled breath, "Oh, yes! I was almost bad, so very bad. Can you ever forgive me?"

She draws a hand down his body, reveling in the smooth firmness of him, "Oh, I think so. If you're truly sorry and if you really really want to be forgiven."

He arches his neck, exposing his throat, "Oh yes, I do, I really really do."

She smiles, kisses his pulse point, runs her fingers down his chest, "Well, OK then. Bad boys can be forgiven if they become very GOOD boys, can't they?"

"Yes," he murmurs, welcoming the familiar heat building between them, "Yes, we can."

She ducks her head, nips him in a sensitive spot, "And I love nothing better than a bad boy who's very good." She whispers into his ear, "And now's your chance to show me just how good you can really be."

Which is very good indeed.

END