To Bedevil A Beauty (Southern Sanctuary - Book 5) (6 page)

“You
beckoned.”  Ramsey leaned across the bench. 

Berry
eyed him with what she hoped was appropriate gravity, noting the laughter
lurking in those stormy eyes of his and the way the edge of his mouth kept
twitching.  She flicked a quick glance over at her squabbling Aunts. 
“Knowing how efficient my court clerk is, I’m betting when you arrived this
morning Marion requested that you submit any official documentation and forego
acting as a witness.  I don’t suppose you’d care to share with me why
you’ve let this little charade play itself out this morning?”

Ramsey
shrugged, doing his best to look wide eyed and completely blameless.  He’d
been all set to hand over the documents when he’d first arrived this morning
and exit, poste-haste, determined to keep his distance from Beryl Malone. 
He couldn’t see any outcome other than she would end up hating him once she
knew the truth about who he was and his role in getting her ex-husband
incarcerated. A connection she was bound to make eventually, if they kept
spending time together.  Then something happened, a scent, her perfume… he
didn’t know where it came from but those distinct notes of jasmine, tangerine
and honey that belonged to Beryl Malone had sucker punched him.

Suddenly
he found himself clutching the folder he’d been about to hand over to the clerk
tightly to his chest and shaking his head.  He wanted to see Beryl Malone
again, he had too. He’d tell her who he was… and the cards would fall where
they may.  Every instinct he had, was demanding he pursue Beryl Malone… if
he didn’t at least try, he’d regret it for the rest of his life, and he always
trusted his instincts.

“For
one thing.”  Ramsey gave up trying to look innocent, pretty sure Berry
Malone could read him like a book.  “I didn’t want to upset the
ladies.  They each went to so much trouble to have me issue a ticket… it would
have been impolite not to let them have their day in court.”

“Impolite? 
Right.  No really, why did you play along?”  Berry frowned his way.

“Well
for one thing, I wanted to know what their end game was.  I couldn’t
really figure it out until they started asking me all those personal
questions.”

Berry
rolled her eyes.  “I think they’re just addicted to drama.”

“Nah.” 
Ramsey suddenly grinned.  “They’re match making.”

“They’re
what?”  All the blood drained from Berry’s face.

“Wow,
you’ve gone really pale.  Is the idea of dating me that horrific?  Or
is it because I’m a much younger man?”

Berry’s
eyes sparked fire his way.  “Being a year younger than me, does not make
you
much younger
!  I…”

“You
look like you’re about to throw up.”  Ramsey noted, studying her pale face
and suddenly bloodless lips.

“It’s
not you.” 

“And
yet right at this moment it feels very personal.”  He supposed a woman
throwing up at the idea of dating him made a change from running for the hills,
not a nice change but a change.

“No
it’s men.  All men.  I’ve sworn off them.  I’m done, for life,
done.”

“That
sounds kind of an extreme reaction.”

Berry
scoffed.  “This from the man who ran out of my house Friday night as if
I’d just doused him with gasoline and produced a match.”

Ramsey
shifted from foot to foot. He supposed there was no time like the
present.  Rip the band-aide off, so to speak.  “Yeah, about
that.  There’s probably something you should know…”

He
was interrupted by a high pitched shriek.
 
Adelaide it seems had just slapped Margot across the face.  Margot
who was taller than both sisters, and sturdier of frame was being held back
from responding with a closed fist by Daphne.

“There’s
nothing to talk about Chief.  No more batting your overly long eyelashes
my way.  No more heated looks, no more intimate sexy smiles or looming
with intent.  I told you, I’m done with men. You and me?  Never going
to happen.  Now you need to leave before this gets ugly and the hair
pulling starts… oh, too late.”

Chapter
Five

With
the end of the working day approaching, Ramsey stood in the shadows at the base
of the grand marble staircase in the High Council building.
 
Perfectly still, perfectly content… waiting
for Berry Malone to appear.  It was very interesting the things you could
learn if you were willing to be patient and watchful. 

For
instance, he was witness to Berry’s three Great-Aunts being escorted out of the
ground floor High Council offices by Alma Richart herself.  All four women
were smiling and looking distinctly… what was the word he wanted? 
Smug.  Yes, they all looked smug. 

He
was sensing a conspiracy here, but to what aim as yet… he reluctantly discarded
his earlier idea of match making.  For Alma to be involved in the three
Great-Aunts plotting would just be taking the match making scenario he’d been
developing several steps beyond believable.  To go to such lengths?
 
Inconceivable.
 
He’d have to be a first-class conspiracy
crackerjack to continue clinging to the match making theory.
 
The idea of
Alma seeking him out…
him
, of all people.
 
Going to
all that effort of tracking him down in Melbourne.
 
Offering him a job.
 
Just to arrange for his presence here at the
Southern Sanctuary for the sole purpose of match making, that idea… that level
of conspiracy, it bordered on the absurd.  

Yet
something decidedly… peculiar, was going on here. 

And
damn his hide, he’d always enjoyed a good puzzle.  He watched as the four
women suddenly froze in place. Like startled meerkats, their heads bobbed up,
eyes wide as they searched for what had spooked them.  Not a single one of
them noted his presence across the foyer, Ramsey was so used to being ignored
he didn’t even acknowledge that fact as strange.  Hurriedly the foursome
broke up, each scurrying off in different directions, as if afraid they might
be caught… by whom?  Doing what?  Questions he wanted answers for.

The
next thing of interest he observed whilst he waited, was the short chubby
blonde, lurking by the large ornate front doors.
 
She was trying desperately to act covertly
and failing spectacularly.  It wasn’t just her jerky erratic movements
that caught Ramsey’s eye, but the way she kept ducking her head, as if by
looking at the floor she presumed no one would be able to see
her.  The woman was good for comic value alone.  But if she was
trying to pass unnoticed, she should not have been wearing that outfit.
 
The extremely low cut blouse she had on was
barely able to maintain coverage of what was an exceedingly large set of
breasts.  Strange, the lowness of the top was at distinct odds with the -
long blonde plaited hair, no make-up and flowing to the floor skirt - hippy
vibe she had going on.

Hmm,
he idly wondered what her story was, as she leapt to the left suddenly for no
apparent reason. Bumping into a passing couple.  Apologising profusely,
she once more aimed her face to the ground, he could all but hear her
thoughts. 
Please don’t see
me.  Please don’t see me
.

“Gaia.” 
Thom, the security guard, raised a hand in recognition and greeting. 

Ramsey
had no doubt, that like him, Thom had been watching the blonde’s weird antics
for the past ten minutes, though for some mysterious reason he was acting as if
she’d just walked in the building.  The blonde, Gaia, winced visibly when
Thom called her name.
 
Ramsey bit back a
smile, he bet she couldn’t lie worth a damn.

“Hey
Thom.”  She gave the guard a feeble wave and a fleeting smile.

“You’re
not looking for Berry, are you?”  Thom enquired.

Gaia’s
head nodded like she was a bobble doll.

“Oh,
she ducked out a few minutes early to grab some things at the supermarket… if
you run, you might be able to…”

Gaia’s
plait flew over her shoulder as she scurried out the door, leaving Thom shaking
his head and smiling as he unclipped his walkie talkie and raised it to his
mouth.  “Coast is all clear.  I repeat, the coast is all clear.”

Ramsey
shook his head slightly in bafflement. This had to be the weirdest town.
 
He’d no sooner finished that thought when
Berry raced down the stairs, clutching her bag to her chest, smiling Thom’s
way.  “Thanks Thom.”  She ducked back behind the staircase, moving
fast down a dimly lit passage.

What
the… Ramsey took off in pursuit.  So intent upon his objective he didn’t
witness Thom jerk in genuine surprise, followed by his muttered.  “Now
where the hell did he come from?”

*                        
*                     
*

Berry
broke from the cover of the shrubs shielding the rear building exit and
crouched low, scurrying forward to hide between the two nearest cars.  She
stopped for a moment, took a deep calming breath and raised her head, checking
if the coast was clear.  Just in case Gaia had double-backed.  The
employee car park appeared to be empty as did the dense eucalyptus tree Nature
Reserve that butted up against the rear of the gothic Council building. 
Remaining low, Berry awkwardly shuffled forward.
 
Honestly, her family were going to drive her
nuts.

“What’s
going on?”

Berry
bit down hard on her tongue, swallowing a scream as a gravelly familiar male
voice whispered the question directly into her ear. Goddess, how had Ramsey
Hughes managed to sneak up behind her?  She turned to find him crouched
next to her, only inches separating them, a distinctly playful smile tugging at
the corners of his mouth.

“Is
everything okay?”  Ramsey asked.

Instinctively
Berry grabbed his arm to keep him from standing up.  “Stay down.” 
She hissed.

Suddenly
Ramsey was frowning, his grey eyes darkening to the colour of a category five
storm.  “Who’s after you?  Tell me what’s going on?”  His hand
instinctively coming down to rest on the butt of his gun.

Berry
shook her head.
 
Merciful Lady, this was
embarrassing.  “Calm down.   It’s not what you think.  It’s
my cousin, Gaia…”

“The
chubby blonde?”  Ramsey frowned, moving his hand away from his gun.

“You’ve
seen her?”

“Yeah,
she was hanging around the foyer just now. Thom sent her off on a wild goose
chase across town.”

“Oh
thank Goddess.”  Tension left Berry as she relaxed somewhat, resting her
back against the bumper of the nearest car.

“Is
she dangerous?”

“Gaia?” 
Berry laughed.  “Only to my sanity.”  How could she possibly explain
that Gaia was acting like she was because she was desperate to ask Berry a
question?  Ramsey Hughes would think she was crazy.

“Why
is she stalking you?”

“Um…
well, you see Gaia is a little single-minded, some might even call her
obsessive compulsive and when she gets like this, well, she can be a little
scary.  She thinks I have some… information that she needs.” 

Gaia
had been married over seven months to her one eye-browed - barely able to speak
English - meld mate, Sergei, and as yet the couple hadn’t fallen
pregnant.  Gaia, was beyond obsessed.  Her cousin had tried yoga,
special diets, harassed all the family members who claimed to have fertility
spells.  Gaia even spent several hours at Berry’s Great-Grandparents place
rubbing all the fertility statues Tally had collected over the years. 
Nell, another friend and cousin, a physician, had banned Gaia from her clinic, advising
Gaia there was nothing wrong, she just needed to relax and give it more time.

And
perhaps Gaia might have been able to take Nell’s advice, only problem was,
since her wedding, three more meld marriages had taken place in the
Sanctuary.  Including their cousin Locke, who though notoriously
anti-baby, had melded with Serena, an Earth witch, and everyone knew how
strongly they were linked to the Earth and fertility.  If anyone could
change Locke’s mind regarding having children then Serena could.

In
Gaia’s mind, the race was officially on.  It had been well over a decade
since anyone in their large extended family had given birth, and Gaia was
desperate for that honour. For all her mother-earth vibe, Gaia could be scarily
competitive.

Berry
might have been able to stay out of the insane mess except for the whole
startling turn of events involving their mutual cousin, Riya. 
Single.
 
Not a man in sight or in her
bed, Riya had turned up at Hadleigh and Vaughn’s official meld party heavily
pregnant.  A singular event, since Riya hadn’t been pregnant the day
before the party and wasn’t, to all intents and purposes, pregnant, the day
after the party. A genuine medical magical mystery Nell had stated. 

For
Gaia, the incident was the equivalent of waving a red rag at a bull.  All
bets were off now in her quest to get pregnant.  How Sergei put up with
her antics was beyond Berry, but the man was so busy staring down Gaia’s low
cut tops most of the time she doubted he was even aware there was a problem.

That’s
where Berry came in to the picture.  Gaia wanted to look her right in the
eye and ask her what she and Sergei needed to do to get pregnant.  All
well and good for Gaia to ask, but she wouldn’t be the one assailed with the
hundreds of different options open to them, way too many Berry was guessing
that would involve Gaia and Sergei naked and bumping uglies.  She was
pretty sure once those images were burned into her brain she’d never be able to
scrub her frontal lobe clean.  Hence the subterfuge and hiding from Gaia.

“You’re
doing all this,” Ramsey gestured at the two of them huddled close to the
ground.  “…to avoid giving her information?  What does she want, the
launch codes to a nuclear device?”

Berry
frowned, why was she even having this conversation with Hotshot Hughes? 
Hadn’t she told him to leave her alone?  To take his flirty flirt ways
elsewhere? Scowling at him, she pushed away from the car she’d been resting
against and started forward, keeping low, very conscious that Ramsey was
following her.  Perhaps a little too closely, given she was bent over, her
ass quite literally in his face.  That had her stopping abruptly to look
back at him.

“Why
are you following me?  Go away.”  Berry hissed, waving her
hand.  “Shoo.”

Ramsey
chuffed a soft laugh.  “Did you just shoo me?”  He didn’t think he’d
ever been shooed in his life.  Most people who wanted him to go away
usually felt impelled to point a gun in his direction as an added incentive.

“Yes
I did.  Look, I think I’ve made it pretty clear already that I’m not
interested in you… in that way.”

“What
way is that exactly?”  Ramsey couldn’t help but ask, and for his effort
those dark sinful brown eyes of hers shot him a dirty look.  Damn, he
loved riling this woman.

“Romantically…
I’m not interested in you romantically.”

“Oh,
yes that’s right. You accused me of having overly long eyelashes, batting my
eyes your way with promised heat, smiling at you in a sexy manner and what was
the last bit?  Oh yes, looming with intent.”

Berry
scowled, knowing her cheeks were stained with high colour.  “Do you have a
photographic memory?”

Ramsey
couldn’t help but grin.  “No, I just asked the court reporter for a copy
of her transcript.”

“Oh
Goddess, our conversation is part of public record?  And stop smiling like
that, it’s not funny.”

“It’s
a little bit funny.”  Ramsey assured her in a gravelly tone.  He
didn’t think anyone had ever made him smile… laugh, as much as Berry
Malone.  For all her snarls and flaring eyes, he was pretty sure, hoping,
that she secretly enjoyed their little chats as much as he did. 

Berry
rolled her eyes.  “You have a very strange sense of humour.”  She
didn’t care if her butt was in his face, Berry swivelled abruptly and continued
moving forward between the cars, keeping low.  If she couldn’t shake Chief
Hughes then she would just drive away.

“Um
Berry, there’s something I need to tell you.  Could you just stop a
moment?”  As much as he was enjoying being eye to well… butt with her, he didn’t
think what he had to say should be imparted to her backside.
 
No matter how cute and perfect it was.

“Nope,
I can’t stop.  I have a cousin to avoid and a mother-in-law to pick up
from the Shit Stirrers Club.”

“Shit
Stirrers Club?”  Ramsey just missed being clocked in the head by a side
view mirror as his head shot up in surprise.

Berry
released a heavy sigh.
 
“Officially, they
call themselves the Sunshine Seniors Club.  All three of my Great-Aunts
are members, so you can just imagine the mayhem and mischief.  I’m pretty
sure the cats are catching a ride on the mini bus each morning when it comes to
pick up Joanne.”

“Er…
the cats?”  He ducked another side view mirror as Berry slipped between
two cars and dashed off down a row leading to the back of the lot.