Page 34 of Snowy Surprises in the Highlands (Scottish Highland #5)

‘Really? Then you’re definitely gonna look hot. I mean… sorry… I mean you’ll look beautiful in her design.’

She let his comment slide. ‘I hope so.’

‘So, what are your bridesmaids wearing? What colour did you go for?’ She scrunched her brow, surprised by his questions so he pointed at himself and responded with, ‘Model, remember? I’ve done a few wedding catalogue shoots.’ He shrugged.

‘Fair point. They’re wearing a deep, rich green colour and their dresses are long with floaty sleeves. They have shawls too in Donaldson tartan.’

He nodded. ‘Makes sense with the temperatures in Scotland. I like green. Good choice.’ He fell silent for a moment but then said, ‘I bet you’re excited, huh?’

‘Very. It’s going to be the wedding I always dreamed of having. And I’m truly marrying the most incredible man.’

Carlton nodded. ‘He’s a lucky guy. It’s clear he adores you from the size of the rock.’ He nodded at her hand. ‘But why wouldn’t he?’ He gave a small smile.

He fell silent for a while so, to keep the distraction going, she asked, ‘So have you ever been in love?’

He clenched his jaw and nodded slowly. ‘I have. Well, I think I have. It was pretty one-sided and it didn’t work out, but there’s no surprise there, huh?’ There was a distinct look of sadness in his eyes.

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

He shrugged. ‘Thanks.’

‘Who was she?’ Bella asked, both from intrigue and to keep him talking.

‘She was a model too. Jet-black hair and eyes that almost matched. She was tall, had these long tan legs, nice natural lips. Francine was her name. She was beautiful… on the outside at least. We did a few shoots together for Sears and Bloomingdales, and I fell… hard . We went on a few dates, kissed… slept together. I thought she felt the same way until a famous rock star came along, who was old enough to be her dad by the way, and the chick… sorry, the lady … was off like a taffeta gown after prom, see,’ he said, mimicking a forties New York reporter, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

Bella gave a light laugh. ‘Delightful analogy.’

He closed his eyes briefly. ‘Sorry. I really need to work on myself, huh?’

She nodded. ‘Indeed, you do.’

‘She broke my heart.’ His words were almost a whisper.

The air was thick with melancholy and there was another period of silence.

‘I swore I’d never fall in love again. That I’m not the kind of guy who has proper relationships.

One-night stands are more my thing. Or that’s what I keep telling myself.

But the truth is, we all want to be loved. ’

Bella was shocked by his candidness. She checked the time on her iPad.

They had been stuck for almost two hours now.

She was hungry, thirsty and wished she’d listened to her granny about carrying snacks with her.

She wondered if Harris had tried to call, or if he’d messaged.

Would he be concerned yet about the fact she hadn’t replied, or would he just presume she was busy?

‘So, how did you get into decorating?’ Carlton asked out of the blue.

‘I’ve always loved home improvement shows and when I was younger, I loved helping my mum and dad and granny to pick out colours and fabrics for their homes. Then, when I started earning my own money, I used to have a little flat that I worked really hard on before I lost it.’

‘Why’d you lose it?’ he asked. ‘Or is that too private?’

‘Lost my job. It was silly really, but I moved in with my granny after that.’

‘Old people are great, huh?’

‘My granny is a real character,’ Bella said, smiling as she wondered if her granny might be worried too.

The light above their heads flickered and they both looked up. ‘Oh, shit, no,’ Carlton said as they were plunged into darkness. ‘Oh God, this can’t be happening.’ He started flailing and grabbing at the walls again as if trying to find a gap he could crawl out of.

‘Carlton,’ she snapped loudly, hoping to get his attention. ‘It’s fine, just keep breathing how I showed you. Close your eyes and keep talking.’

‘Can-can I sit a little closer to you?’ he asked in a small wavering voice.

If Bella hadn’t known better, she’d have been forgiven for thinking this had all been a ploy.

She slid herself closer to him and he grabbed for her hand and clung to it tightly.

‘Is this okay? I just don’t think I can handle this in the dark, Bella.

It’s like all my worst nightmares coming true. I feel like I’ve been buried alive.’

‘Well, you haven’t and you’re going to be absolutely fine. Although, I’m not so sure about my fingers. Maybe loosen your grip, eh? You’re cutting my circulation off.’

‘Oh, sure, sorry.’ He slackened his hold a little as requested. ‘Please keep talking. I need something to distract me.’ In the dark, Bella’s hearing was heightened and the fear he was feeling was evident in both his strained voice and his shallow breaths.

‘Slow your breathing down. We’re fine. It won’t be long before Harris comes. I know it.’

‘You trust him implicitly, don’t you?’ He sounded a little calmer again and Bella felt like she was on a rollercoaster ride.

‘I do. He’s my safe place. My home.’ She smiled as she pictured Harris’s handsome face and the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed.

‘I suppose it helps that he’s a cop. All masculine and heroic.’

‘It’s not that. I admire those things about him but he’s so considerate and compassionate. That’s important to me. And he respects me.’

‘Sounds exciting.’

Bella could hear the sarcasm in his tone. ‘You can joke about things like respect, but love is so much more than sex, Carlton. I’ve known men who think they can just take what they want and treat women however they like. It’s not attractive. At all. Regardless of the package it’s offered in.’

‘So, you’re one of these women who doesn’t go for looks, I take it?’

‘Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m ridiculously attracted to Harris. In my eyes he’s absolutely gorgeous. But it goes much deeper than that. Looks fade as we age but if the person you’re with makes you laugh and feel good…’

‘But what about excitement? Passion? Fun?’

‘I think you have a skewed idea of what those things are. I have all of those things in abundance with Harris. But we have a solid foundation based on friendship and respect too.’

‘I… I think you have me all wrong. I respect women.’

Bella huffed. ‘I’m sorry but if you think it’s acceptable for you to slap a woman’s bottom just because she bends over in front of you then you really don’t know much about respect at all, or what women want.’

‘I didn’t mean anything bad by it,’ he insisted. ‘It was a compliment when you think about it. And it was only done in fun.’

His comments annoyed her all over again. ‘Fun for whom? Because I can assure you if a man slapped me on my behind, I wouldn’t think it was fun. And I wouldn’t take it as a compliment either. I’d feel degraded, humiliated and angry.’

She felt him move to face her. ‘Humiliated? Really?’

Bella sighed. ‘How can you not realise that? Women aren’t objects for your entertainment, Carlton. Just because you usually get any woman you want doesn’t mean you can take any woman when she’s said no.’

‘She’d flirted with me too. She was just playing hard to get.’

Bella yanked her hand free. ‘No, Carlton. She wasn’t.

You can’t make excuses like that. Next you’ll be saying she was wearing a short or tight skirt on purpose, that she was asking for it.

Women shouldn’t have to explain themselves in detail to you.

Nor should they have to consider what to wear to stop you from behaving like that.

No doesn’t mean maybe if you slap my bottom I’ll think about it . No means no. She owed you nothing.’

Anger bubbled up from deep within her. ‘Men don’t seem to realise that women all over the world are faced with this kind of stuff on daily basis, and we’re expected to deal with it quietly.

Say nothing or else we’ll be seen as – what did you call me?

Overdramatic? – try being terrified of walking the streets at night in case some guy attacks you.

Try having to watch what you wear in case a man can’t control himself around you, because you’ll be blamed if he can’t.

We’re expected to have a sense of humour when men say things to us that make us uncomfortable.

We’re expected to accept the whole boys will be boys thing but it’s shit, Carlton.

It’s hard. It can be terrifying being female.

There are so many assumptions put on us and we’re just expected to accept our lot in life.

It’s not fair. And it’s not fun at all. Just imagine you had a daughter, and a man slapped her bottom without her consent.

Would you laugh and think oh, he was only doing it in fun ?

What if she came home and told you her boss had been walking around half naked in front of her?

In a work environment, shirtless and wearing only boxers.

Would that just be him playing around? What if she told you a man she hardly knew had pulled her into a lift and pushed her up against a wall and forced himself on her? ’

‘But it was only a kiss, I?—’

‘No, Carlton! An unwanted kiss is assault . An unwanted slap to the behind is assault . Pinning someone down without consent is assault. How was I to know you weren’t about to do something worse? We’re here alone. I was afraid.’

‘You were afraid ? Of me?’ He sounded genuinely surprised.

‘Yes. I was afraid of what you might do next. You hid my phone, so I had no way to contact anyone if I’d wanted to.

That’s not something a normal person does.

I’ve already told you I’m engaged on numerous occasions, and that I’m not interested.

You had absolutely no right to do any of what you’ve done today, or before today for that matter.

’ Her eyes welled with angry tears, and she wanted nothing more than to be at home with Harris, in the arms of a man who knew how to treat people and would never force himself on anyone.

She heard Carlton swallow, but he didn’t speak for a few moments.

Eventually he reached out and took her hand again.

‘I’m sorry, Bella. I’m a jackass. I hate that you were afraid of me.

I really like you and I hate that you see me as this monster.

’ His voice trembled as he spoke and he fell silent again for a while until he eventually said, ‘You’re right, too, if I had a daughter and she’d been in any of those situations I’d wanna go and beat the guy to a pulp. ’

‘Exactly.’

‘Do you think you can forgive me?’

‘Right now, I’m not sure. Because if I’m going to continue working on this project, I need to feel safe, so I need you to please think before you say inappropriate things to me in future. And I need you to wear clothes.’

‘I… I will. And I won’t say anything… or do anything wrong to you again.

I really am sorry. Please don’t pull out of the job.

You’re the right person for it. I know how passionate you are about this place and your ideas are amazing.

And I swear I’ll even stay out of your way if you’d rather.

Although I’m kinda hoping we can maybe get past this eventually.

I promise I’ll be better. And I really am sorry, Bella. ’

‘Thank you.’ She didn’t say she accepted his apology because at that precise moment she didn’t know whether he was being genuine or just feeling scared due to the situation they were in.

She wanted to further request that he stop belittling her and her qualifications but decided against mentioning that particular thing at that moment.

Although she wouldn’t hold back if he said anything like it again.

They sat in silence for what felt like hours and Bella was fighting sleep. But in the distance, they heard a voice.

Bella sat bolt upright. ‘Did you hear that?’

Carlton squeezed her hand and then scrambled to his feet. ‘I did. I did! Hey! We’re in the elevator! We’re stuck!’ He banged on the door, making Bella cringe at the piercing volume of the sound that felt like pins in her ears.

‘Bella?’ The voice got louder. ‘Bella?’

‘Harris!’ Bella shouted, smiling with relief. ‘Harris! Carlton and I are stuck in the lift!’

‘Bella! Are you okay?’ Harris shouted. His voice was closer now. ‘Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?’

‘No! We’re fine. Just cold and sitting in the dark.’

‘I’m going to go call the Fire Brigade. They’ll be able to get you out. Sit tight.’

‘Okay, thank you!’ And then to Carlton she said, ‘I told you he’d come.’

‘I’m so glad you were right because I couldn’t have been in here all night. I’d have gone crazy.’

‘He never lets me down,’ she replied, matter-of-factly.

After a few moments, Carlton spoke again.

‘Look, thanks for helping me earlier. You didn’t have to do that after how I’ve behaved toward you, so I want you to know I really appreciate it.

You have a very calming way about you. And that’s not me trying to flirt.

I’m just stating a fact. And I hope it’s okay to say this but…

Harris is a very lucky guy, although I’m sure he knows that. ’

Bella didn’t respond.

* * *

A short time later they heard the wailing siren of a fire engine, and following that, more voices. Before they knew it the door was being pried open, and a torch was being shone down on them.

‘Are you both okay? Any injuries?’ a man’s voice Bella didn’t recognise asked. ‘Any need of medical attention?’

‘No, thank you, we’re both fine. Just ready to get out of here.’