The Actress and the Aristocrat by Katie Ashley
Chapter Sixteen: Randall
As I made my way through the enclosure making small talk, I couldn’t remember a more perfect Royal Ascot. Everyone appeared thrilled to see me. Each wanted to compliment me on my beautiful new girlfriend. Of course, I knew deep down many were desperate to ask the questions that mattered most to them: Was Eliza’s family in Debrett’s Peerage? What schools had she attended? What did her father do for a living? All those questions that were so vital to whether she was fully acknowledged by them. I’m ashamed to admit I was one of them, or at least, I’d once been one of them. Being with Charlie had opened my eyes to so much.
Of course, there had been a slight blip when we ran into Lydia and Michael. I hated what seeing her did to me. Although I had a beautiful, intelligent, and funny woman at my side, I couldn’t mask my true feelings. As much as I hated admitting it to myself, there was a part of me that still loved Lydia. It was a loathsome feeling that completely emasculated me. I should have been able to sever the ties she had on me.
It wasn’t until we headed back into the Royal Box that a hell I couldn’t possibly have foreseen unfolded before me. As usual, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family had quietly slipped out. While they might’ve arrived to fanfare, it was quite different when they left for the day.
It was while I was catching up with a distant cousin, I noticed Charlie behaving erratically. After a trip to the bathroom, she stumbled wildly on the way back to her seat. Fearing she might be unwell, I tuned out from my cousin’s story to focus fully on her. With her eyes closed, she swayed in the seat. When someone asked her a question, she blared a response at them, causing others to peer a her in shock. A maniacal laugh then erupted from her lips. What the actual fuck?
“Excuse me, Alastair,” I apologized before heading quickly over to Charlie. The closer I got to her the plainer it became. She wasn’t ill—she was drunk.
Dipping my head, I hissed into to her ear, “It’s time to go.”
She stared up at me with a loopy grin. “But I’m having fun.”
“Yes. Entirely too much fun,” I growled.
“You know what you are? You’re a party pooper!” She then dissolved into giggles.
As a few more heads turned our way, I grabbed her arm and lifted her out of her seat. “Don’t manhandle me!” she shrieked.
“Lower your voice.”
With her arms and legs practically limp, I’d dragged her along to the exit. Before we got through the door, I could hear the whispers starting. They sliced through me like a knife. Closing my eyes in defeat, I pushed us forward. I didn’t understand what was going on. She’d been doing stunningly. There had been times I’d wanted to lean down and kiss her when I’d seen the utter joy cross her features. I wasn’t one for public displays of affection, but I had listened when Rob had said there needed to be visible chemistry between us. And I’d felt it. The way she’d looked up at me at times had left me speechless. For a few moments, I’d believed we were a couple. That maybe there could be more.
But this? This was so different. This was abominable.
Once we exited the Royal Box, I started pushing us through the crowd. “But I’m not ready to go home. I want to have more fun,” Charlie whined.
“How could you do this to me?” I demanded.
“What’s wrong with having fun?”
“I mean getting drunk.”
“I’m not drunk,” she replied.
“Your behavior would argue otherwise.”
“You told me not to drink, remember?” she slurred.
“It would seem your stubborn-as-hell side ignored me.”
Charlie shook her head slowly back and forth. “But I read the rules. It said no dunkeness.” Her brows furrowed before she giggled. “Not dunkeness. I mean, drunkenness.”
“Just stop talking,” I hissed.
After we exited the Royal Enclosure, I paused for a moment to pull my phone out of my suit pocket. As I was texting Bertie to have the car ready, Charlie broke free of me. Without my aid, she lumbered about. Then to my utter horror, she careened to the side before falling into a ditch. Both gasps of horror and laughter filled the air.
I mucked up my shoes to go into the ditch after her. My anger grew as Charlie fought me as I tried helping her up. Once I’d righted her, I tried smacking away the leaves and grass in her hair.
“Don’t you dare hit me!” she screeched.
“I’m trying to clean you up,” I countered.
“Rand?”
I couldn’t have been more grateful to see Rob in that moment. With the way she was acting, I was going to need help wrangling Charlie the rest of the way to the car. “How did you know?”
“A friend in the box texted me that the two of you left in a hurry, and perhaps Eliza wasn’t feeling well.” Glancing between us, he demanded, “What happened?”
“I took a little tumble,” Charlie said.
“Are you all right?”
“She’s fine. Drunk people are usually resilient,” I grumbled.
Rob’s brows furrowed as he stared at Charlie. “She’s drunk?”
“Completely pissed,” I replied.
With a snort, Charlie said, “I’m not mad.”
Ignoring her, I said to Rob, “Help me get her to the car.”
Nodding, Rob went over to Charlie’s left side and slid an arm around her waist. It was a good thing he was helping keep her up because she suddenly went limp in our arms. “Bloody hell, she’s passed out,” I remarked. Shaking my head, I demanded, “What the hell was she thinking to drink so much?”
“She probably was just nervous,” Rob replied.
“How can you possibly cover for her after this debacle?”
With a scowl, Rob replied, “Because she’s Charlie and I know she wouldn’t willingly get drunk for anything in the world.”
“Well, little brother, I’d have to say you aren’t a very good judge of character.”
Rob shook his head. “Something is just not right about this. Why would she suddenly get plastered today of all days?”
“I really don’t care. All I know is she has ruined everything we worked so hard for this summer.”
“That’s all you can think of at the moment?”
“Are you insinuating I’m being selfish by only focusing on me and my reputation?”
“I’m not insinuating—that’s exactly what I mean.”
Snorting, I replied, “Of course, you think that. You’ve never given a toss about preserving our family’s name. Instead, you’ve done everything within your power to taint it with your womanizing and drunken parties.”
Rob abruptly stopped walking, which forced me to keep Charlie up by myself. “You know, you’re a real bastard to bring up my past at a time like this. If you don’t get your head out of your arse and think of something besides being an arrogant prick to preserve the bloody family name, you’re going to end up an old man without anyone!”
With those words, he jerked his arm away from Charlie and then stalked away. “Typical Rob who I can never count on!” I called after him.
“Fuck you!” he shouted without turning around.
Thankfully, Bertie had spotted us and came running up to help. “Is Ms. Monroe unwell?”
Defeated, I merely nodded. “I’m not sure what came over her.”
After we deposited Charlie on the back seat of the car, I slid in beside her. I hated her for what she had done, but I hated myself most of all. I’d foolishly allowed myself to trust another woman. Why had I thought an American actress could pull off being my girlfriend? How had I actually thought for a moment she could assist in the reclamation of my standing? My esteem.
How had I thought she could affect my . . . heart? Utter foolishness. I couldn’t call it betrayal, but I could still be angry. It was time to accept the truth: no woman would ever have access to that organ again. Fuck.