The Actress and the Aristocrat by Katie Ashley
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Randall
As we drove along the countryside back to London, I couldn’t help having the completely emasculating thought that I was somehow Cinderella. Last night had been the magical ball, or in my case making love to Charlie, and this morning everything had turned back into a pumpkin by Lydia outing us to the press.
Fucking Lydia. God help me, or more precisely her, if she was ever in my presence again. I would gleefully rearrange the face she had spent so much money on.
Taking my eyes from the road, I eyed Charlie curiously. I don’t think I could ever remember a time when she was so quiet. “Are you okay?” I finally questioned.
After a quick bob of her head, she replied, “I’m fine.”
“I don’t believe you.”
She snapped her gaze to mine. When I gave her a sad smile, she sighed. “You’re right. I’m not fine—I’m a fucking mess.”
“Talk to me. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
“I don’t want you to think less of me.”
“That isn’t possible.”
“Your entire world is imploding, and I’m being a selfish, self-interested bitch.”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Would you just tell me what’s bothering you?”
After pushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, she turned in the seat toward me. “I’m worried about how this could effect Remains of the Season, not to mention the rest of my career. I’ve got a call into my agent, but I haven’t heard back from her. I’m hoping with the time difference it’s still too early on the coast for her to respond.”
“Christ, I hadn’t even thought about this affecting your career.”
“That’s because you’re not an asshole like me.”
“I think we both know that statement is a falsehood,” I teased.
Charlie’s lips quirked in a small smile. “Let’s say in this particular situation you aren’t being an arsehole.”
“You’re not a selfish bitch for being worried about your career.”
“I’m not?” she questioned incredulously.
“You had a life before me, Charlie. While I want to build one with you, it’s only natural you would be concerned about what would happen to that former life.”
“But it’s not my life I’m concerned with—it’s my career.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine having the premiere of Remains overshadowed by my behavior.”
“Seriously? It’s not like you committed a crime like robbing a bank or killing someone. You merely pretended to be an Earl’s girlfriend.”
“Pretended has a different connotation to deceived and deluded.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“How will anyone take me seriously again after knowing I deliberately deceived them?”
“Wouldn’t any director applaud you for the lengths you undertook to be believable as a character?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I guess.”
I reached out and took her hand in mine. “I’ll do anything within my power to ensure you don’t suffer professionally from what happens.”
She squeezed my hand. “Thank you. Regardless of what happens, I do want to see where this relationship goes.”
“I know you do.”
We drove along in silence for a few minutes before Charlie said, “So, if Hollywood cancels me, you’ll be okay being seen with a washed up-has been?”
I threw my head back with a laugh. “If British society blacklists me, will you be all right being seen with a disgraced Earl?”
Charlie squeezed my hand. “I would love nothing more.” Flashing me a wicked grin, she replied, “Especially if it means not having to go to so many stuffy, boring events.”
“You’re right about that. Maybe it won’t be so bad if I’m ousted.” I glanced over at her with a grin. “Maybe I’ll start a bull semen production farm on the grounds of Sutherlin House. Charge extra for those on the tour to wank a bull off.”
Charlie’s eyes bulged before she burst out in laughter. “Talk about a disgraced Earl.” Jerking her chin up, she said pretentiously, “Would the shades of Sutherlin House be so polluted?”
“Aye, Lady Catherine, they would,” I replied to her allusion to Pride and Prejudice.
“I love when you speak P&P to me,” she teased.
“I’m happy to oblige.”
“You know, as soon as we get home, I want to shut the drapes and shut the world out, crawl up in your bed, and binge the entire miniseries.”
“I would much prefer to crawl into bed with you, but say sod off to Colin Firth.”
She giggled. “I think that can be arranged.”
Just as she leaned over to kiss me, Charlie’s phone beeped with a text. “It’s Rob. He’s in front of the house waiting to lead us inside.”
With a grunt, I replied, “I don’t even want to think how bloody fast he drove to beat us to the neighborhood.”
At the sight of the mass of paparazzi in front of the house, Charlie gave a defeated sigh. “Apparently, he wasn’t that great at being a decoy driver.”
I shook my head. “These are a different crop than the ones at Alfie’s. They’ve probably been camped out since before we even knew the story was out.”
“Vultures,” Charlie muttered.
“Exactly.”
Once I neared the house, I had to start easing my way through the reporters. It didn’t take too long for them to peer into the car and discover us. That’s when the flashbulbs started going off, and they began shouting questions at us.
Charlie shielded her eyes from the relentless flashing. It took forever to get to my usual parking space. After turning the car off, I said, “Ready?”
It took Charlie a few seconds to reply. “Ready.”
The passenger side door opened, and Charlie jumped. “It’s okay. It’s just me,” Rob said. After taking Charlie by the hand, he eased her up off the seat. I hurried around the side of the car to meet them.
Whatever craziness I’d experienced with the press after Lydia was magnified a thousand times with Charlie. I tucked my chin to my chest before wrapping Charlie to my side. Rob walked in front of us pushing and shoving the cameras out of our path.
After hurrying up the steps, the front door appeared like a beacon in the storm. Just as I could duck inside the safety of the house, I abruptly froze. This was very familiar. Utterly familiar. Why should Lydia win . . . again? Why should she get her kicks and continue to destroy others with her bitterness and selfishness? Enough. She had done enough. But I . . . had not.
I knew in that moment I didn’t want to run anymore. I didn’t want the papers to spin their own sordid tales about what was between Charlie and myself. Most of all, I wanted to save Charlie’s reputation and career before it could be potentially ruined. I would no longer allow Lydia to dictate the narrative. It was time for me to speak and pave my own way forward. My way forward with Charlie.
When Rob started to close the door, he realized I was still outside on the stoop. “Rand, what the fuck are you doing?” he hissed.
I glanced past him to Charlie. “I’ve got to face the music.”
“Rand, don’t!” Charlie cried.
Ignoring her, I whirled around to face the crowd. “You want me to answer your questions? Fine. I’ll answer them.”
The raucous crowd silenced almost immediately. With all eyes and cameras officially trained on me, I knew there was no going back. “For those who know me, you’re aware I’m a man of few words, and of those words, I have very little to say about my private life. A year ago, I let my life be torn apart in the press over a very private matter between me and my wife. In spite of the falsehoods written about me, I never addressed them personally.” I glanced out over the crowd. “But I’m not going to do that today. I’m here to set the record straight.”
This was it. “Everything Debrett’s Deb wrote about me and Ms. Monroe is true.”
Gasps echoed around me from the reporters while the whirr of camera shutters went off at a maddening pace. “I did hire her to accompany me to the social season, and she is an American actress. But there are some facts missing from the article that I’d like to elaborate on. While our relationship began as a business proposition, it evolved into far more. Ms. Monroe played the character of Eliza Littleton, but it was her real-life persona I fell in love with.”
At the mention of love, all hell broke loose. Reporters started shouting questions and elbowing each other to stick microphones in my face. I held up my hands to silence them. “I’m speaking to you today because I don’t want this incident to hurt Ms. Monroe’s career. She’s far too talented to be punished because I asked her to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. Most of all, I don’t want her to have to suffer personally either. She’s just as beautiful on the inside as she is the outside, and I can’t bear to see her trashed in the newspapers.”
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I pressed on. “There’s some things that were left out of the article. Debrett’s Deb’s source was my ex-wife, Lydia. In a fit of rage and jealously, she decided to punish both me and Ms. Monroe by outing us to the press. She also spiked Ms. Monroe drink when she was playing Ms. Littleton, which led to her behavior at Ascot.”
Comments of “What the hell?” “That’s insane!” “Crazy!” rang around me from the reporters. I had to fight the urge not to laugh.
“I’d ask now that you have the whole story, you give us our privacy.”
Just as I turned to start into the house, a reporter shouted, “Ms. Monroe is there anything you’d like to say?”
It was then I realized Charlie stood on the stoop. Inwardly, I winced that she’d been privy to seeing me babble on. With a determined step, she came down the walk to me. “Yes, there is one thing I’d like to say.”
“That Lydia better watch her back?” a balding reporter towards the front asked.
With a laugh, Charlie replied, “No, I wasn’t going to advocate violence.” She turned to me. “My comment is to set the record straight about my true feelings. I’m utterly and completely in love with this man. There isn’t a script anyone could write that would be a better love story than what I’ve experienced over the last few months with him.”
Bloody hell. Charlie had really gone and done it. She’d told the world she loved me. When she turned back to me, she grinned. “So much for taking it slow, huh?”
“Fuck taking it slow.”
Her eyes bulged. Leaning in, she murmured into my ear. “My, my Earl Whittingham, aren’t you being naughty.”
“You have no idea just how naughty I’m planning on being with you as soon as I get you inside.”
Rob groaned behind us. “I think it’s time I got the hell out of here.”
Both Charlie and I laughed. “We don’t blame you,” I replied. I clapped my hand on his back. “Thanks for everything you’ve done today.”
“You’re welcome.” Jerking his thumb to the door, he said, “Now get your arse’s inside and do nasty things to each other.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied. In a move the old Rand wouldn’t have considered, I swept Charlie off her feet, and just like a married couple, I carried her over the threshold. She squealed with delight.
Leaning my head out the door, I shouted, “Now fuck off!”
And with that, I kicked the door shut on the lot of them. Charlie’s giggle echoed in my ear. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“Me neither.” I kissed her hard and fast. “This is totally your influence.”
She gave a breathless laugh. “Don’t blame me.”
With Charlie still clinging to me, I started up the stairs. Maude’s voice echoed behind me. “Is there anything I can get for you, Sir?”
I glanced over my shoulder to smile at her. “No calls or meetings today, Maude. Have Mrs. Homiller send us up a lunch tray. Then the two of you can have the rest of day off, and the love of my life and I can have this house to ourselves.”
Tears shone in Maude’s eyes. “Yes, sir. It will be my pleasure.”
And with that I started up the stairs to Charlie’s and my happily ever after.