Pet Me (7 page)

Drusilla sighed. “Cormack said you would know the difference.”

“Cormack?”

“Just a guy I know and don’t tell your mother or I will never hear the end of why I’m not married yet.” Her sister Cecile often lectured Drusilla on her attitude and how it was unbecoming when it came to the pursuit of a husband. Drusilla’s argument was if she had to pursue a man and not the other way around, then she didn’t want him. Drusilla wanted a strong, sexy and confident man—not one who had to be dragged to the altar.
Not that I’m getting married
. That was a big no.

“Cormack Flint?” Hayley looked at her with interest.

“What, are you psychic as well?” Cormack was an unusual name. It was not one heard often. Where would her niece have come across his name?

“Cormack Flint is from
Set in Stone
.”

“Huh?”

“The newspaper column.”

“So?” Was this supposed to mean something to her? Drusilla rarely had time to scan the paper and the pontificating views of columnists did not appeal to her.

“Jeez, Auntie Dru, don’t you ever read the newspaper?”

“I watch the television news. Do you?” Drusilla was not surprised when Hayley nodded. “You’re ten.” Ten going on forty that is. Drusilla sometimes forgot that when she dealt with her four-foot niece.

“So?”

Yeah, so what. Drusilla had to give her that. Age was irrelevant. The kid was smart. “What is
Set in Stone
?” How was Cormack connected to it?

“It’s a newspaper column that is written about everyday people. Mum won’t let me read it.”

“But you do.” That wasn’t rocket science. This kid could run rings around her and her mother and probably most of the world leaders.

“Yeah.” Hayley looked pleased at herself.

“Amazing, Grace.”

“He’s a reporter.”

Drusilla was having a hard time reconciling how a ten-year-old knew so much about life when she herself still was floundering around. “Who’s a reporter?”

“Cormack Flint.”

“My Cormack?” Was he hers? Well, yes, sort of. Anyway how was that possible if it seemed like she knew nothing about him? Drusilla watched as Hayley stretched over and picked up the latest newspaper. She flicked through the pages until she came across the column in question and then handed it to her aunt. Drusilla’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Bastard,” she swore softly, her hands screwing up the pages as her eyes went from the black-and-white picture of Cormack to the heading underneath.

S
even ways to meet real women. Number one—go out to the suburbs and trawl the small out-of-the-way shops like markets, florists and pet stores. Great beauty is to be found in the suburbs and these lovelies are less pretentious than their city counterparts. Do not limit your horizons when it comes to finding a lady. It may take several attempts but it will be worth the pursuit.

Drusilla felt sick to her stomach. Cormack had used her for a newspaper article? She was one of the women from the suburbs. And he had found her in a pet store. This was no coincidence and it posed the question of how many more suburban women was he screwing around with? “To think I—”

“What, Auntie Dru?”

“Nothing.” What Drusilla was thinking was not something she could tell her niece.
Damn.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” She had fallen for him hook, line and sinker.

“Didn’t you ask what he did?”

“Sorta.” Drusilla saw the look her niece gave her. “I had other things on my mind.”
Like having sex without thinking about who I was having sex with.
Had she been so dazzled by his unexpected flattery and charms that it had overcome her common sense? “Anyway, I’ve got to go.” Where, she wasn’t sure. But hunting Cormack down and demanding answers was high on her list. Drusilla hesitated. As pissed as she was she didn’t want Cormack thinking he had affected her in any way. It was just sex after all. Still, the man needed to be taught a lesson.

“Auntie Dru?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“I know you did your best with Arthur.”

“Thanks. And hey, slow down with the aging thing will ya?” Hayley smiled at her. Drusilla was impressed with her niece. She was growing up to be a really great young woman. “And thanks for not whining and stamping your foot at me.”

Hayley rolled her eyes in amusement. “Only Mom does that.”

“And she does it very well.”

———

“What to do?” Drusilla muttered to herself as she drove home. She felt like a fool. She had fallen into Cormack’s trap and she had no one to blame but herself. Any anger she had toward him was also aimed at herself. Had she been so desperate that she missed the obvious signs that he was toying with her? “But then he shouldn’t have treated me like this.” How dare he? She was not just any woman. Did she mean anything to him at all?

“Clearly not.” And yet Drusilla could have sworn she did. She was not one to give so much of herself without knowing she was not giving in vain. But then she had never fallen in love before and maybe that screwed up her antenna when it came to people. With Wayne it hadn’t been love. It had been momentarily lust and a case of indigestion that soon passed. Cormack seemed like a good guy but good guys did not profit from their lovers did they? Drusilla sighed. “So I ignore him.” She drove in silence for another mile or so. “Nah. That would so unlike me.” She was the vengeful kind. Cormack Flint needed to be taught a lesson.

Drusilla thought about the man in question. He was arrogant, a free agent and used to getting his way through lies. She smiled as a thought struck her. Lotharios like Cormack were also afraid of commitment hence the reason they acted as they did with women. “I hear wedding bells,” Drusilla muttered as she turned the car around and made for the nearest newsagent. She was no longer heading home. Drusilla had a plan.

———

Cormack was stunned. “You want to what?”

“I think we should get married.” Drusilla pushed inside his home, her arms aching from the bundle of bridal magazines she carried. She had bought every single one in the store.

“Why?” The words shot out of Cormack’s mouth in amazement.

Drusilla handed him the bulk of the magazines. “What do you mean why? We love each other.”
You lying toe rag. Toy with me? I think not. I may even marry you just to piss you off for life.

“Yes, but it seems kind of sudden.” Cormack juggled the magazines until he could put them down the coffee table.

“Sometimes you just know, sweetie.” Drusilla had kept a couple of glossy bridal journals. She dumped her purse and quickly flipped thought the wedding photos
oohing
and
aahing
enthusiastically at random, wondering how anyone could keep white so clean. Added to that, she had never been the sort of woman to consider matrimony. What was the point of it? She’d have to share everything and Drusilla wasn’t big on that. But she was happy to pretend for a moment. She was most pleased by the stunned expression on Cormack’s face. “I know technically I’m not entitled to the whole white wedding thing but what the hell—we only get married once.”

“Dru, honey—”

“And I booked the most exquisite boutique hotel for the ceremony. I say why not spend a lot of money and make it memorable so when we’re old and gray and bored with each then we’ll have something to look back on.” Drusilla wanted him to feel trapped and was going to do her best to do it. How many men could handle a woman they barely knew suddenly planning their wedding? “And the food? Well only the best for us. We want to show everyone how much we love each other don’t we? More food equals more love.”

Okay—what hell was going on?
Had he missed something? Cormack had been delighted when he had opened his door to see Drusilla. That she felt free to visit him willingly made him happy in the knowledge that they had crossed an important barrier in their relationship. But then—
wham!
She had hit him with the wedding thing and it had knocked the wind out of his sails. Not because the idea of marriage to Drusilla was a bad one. In fact he liked the sound of it and he was certain their lives would never be boring. What confused him was why she was suddenly acting like this. It seemed out of character to Cormack. But then he had only known her for a short time and maybe there was something he’d missed about her. Like a rampant desire to get married. Cormack had written an article about the
Hunter Bride
who stalked eligible men. But it had been tongue-in-cheek. He had no proof this type of woman existed.
Until now.

Drusilla smiled at him. “I know what you’re thinking, sweetie.”

Sweetie
? That was new. “You do?” Then she was not only beautiful and smart but also psychic.

“Yes, the engagement ring,” she answered as she rapidly flipped through the pages of a magazine. “I would love one.” She pointed to one that had to be at least two carats. “This big flashy one is my particular favorite.”

The diamond was huge and the thing was if that was what Drusilla wanted then Cormack would get it for her. But he had a feeling it wasn’t.
So what was going on?
“Anything you want, honey.” Cormack decided to play along until he knew what was really happening.

“Really?”

Now who looked surprised? He smiled softly. Now he got it. Drusilla was trying to fake him out. But why? Had she planned to make him freak with the idea of a big, splashy wedding? Did she think he would run from marriage? Cormack saw her eyes dilate. Then he knew. She was acting. There was no other reason to go from a commitment-shy woman to one who had already picked out place settings with matching napkins in her mind. In a flash Cormack knew what the answer was. Drusilla had found out who he was. She must have seen his column and jumped to all sorts of conclusions. The article wasn’t about her. It was some random dross he had written to get his editor off his back. Not that he would be able to convince her of that at this moment. “It all sounds wonderful, honey.”

“It does?”

“Yeah.” Cormack pulled the last of the magazines from her hands. “Let’s go get that ring.”
Now
w
hat are you going to do,
honey
?

Uh-oh.
This was not going to plan. Drusilla wanted to freak him out and have him backing off from her at a million miles per hour. He was ready to buy her a tacky diamond engagement ring. Why was he acting like this? Why was she even pissed Cormack hadn’t proposed, yet he was taking the whole marriage thing for granted? Did she come across as someone desperate to get married? And why was he keen to jump into matrimony anyway? What sort of person decided to do that just because a woman showed him a picture of a ring?

“Of course you’ll understand we will need to stay celibate until the ceremony.”
Let’s see how calmly you take that.
Cormack was a very sexual man. Celibacy would kill him.

“That’s fine. I actually think it’s kind of sweet.”

“Sweet?”
Am I hearing correctly? Is this the right house? Or am I in a parallel universe?

Cormack gathered her hands into his. “Yeah, I like this old-fashioned side to you.”

Drusilla’s eyes narrowed in thought.
Is he trying to freak me out now?
It was hard to tell. “That’s good because I want to start working on having at least six kids straightaway.”
Take that.

“I love kids.”

Crap.
That was not what she had expected to hear. “So I’ll set the date for three months?”

“A month would be better.”

Drusilla stiffened. Either Cormack was playing her or he really wanted to get married. Either way she was not marrying him. Sure she could stand him up at the altar and there would be a certain satisfaction in that but that was not who she was. She was not deliberately cruel no matter how badly she had been treated.
Not that I’m marrying him
. “Gee, a month will be hard to organize.”

“Let’s elope then.”

Fuck.
Was this the same misogynist pig who wrote
Set in Stone
? Drusilla had read all the back copies and the one about
Hunter Brides
had really irritated her. “No, I want a big, white wedding.”

Cormack leaned in and kissed her forehead chastely. “You had better run along now as I want to fuck your brains out but I’ll respect your wishes until the wedding night.”

Oh boy. What the hell was going on?

Drusilla had picked up the phone seventeen times to call Cormack to invite him over or just to hear his voice. But as soon as she lifted the receiver, she placed it down again. “He used you. Don’t be a dummy.” But it was hard to forget someone like Cormack in a rush. She was weak and needy and in love. “I want him.”

The phone rang. Drusilla looked at it. It was unlikely it was Cormack. He would no doubt be home honoring the vow of celibacy or laughing his ass off at her idea of marriage. “Damn it.” She’d grown accustomed to his cock and needed to feel the heat of his body on hers once more.

“Hello?”
Maybe I should get some wine and zone out for a while.

“Dru, honey.”

Cormack. Her thighs started to sweat on cue. “I…er…um…”

“What?”

His voice was low and teasing and her heart pounded. “How are you?”
Please come over. Please tell me what I believe about you isn’t true.

“I miss you.”

“Oh,” she murmured, unsure of what to say. She sank down on her sofa. Drusilla twisted the phone cord as she told herself that Cormack was an accomplished flirt who knew how to lull women into a false sense of security. She had to toughen up and see him for who he really was. Drusilla cleared her throat. “Cormack I think we should—”

“Get married as soon as possible? Absolutely.”

Drusilla jerked bolt upright, unsteady on her feet, at his words.
Crap.
She had been going to say break it off for good. “Um—”

“I know honey, I’m just dying to touch and taste you and the sooner we can the better for me.”

Oh boy, oh boy…
”What about the celibacy thing?” It was probably one of the dumbest ideas she had come up with in a long time.

“What are you wearing?”

That didn’t answer her question. Drusilla looked down at her panties and bra. She had stripped down only so far after coming home. Other thoughts had sidetracked her. “An old tracksuit and slippers.” They were passion killers for sure.