Starting Over (New Beginnings #1) Read online

  "One million three hundred and sixty-three."

  "Stop it." Ashleigh said, chuckling quietly as she opened the car door and got out.

  It was a beautiful house; a large Colonial style homestead with wrap around verandas and French style doors opening out at regular intervals. It had a high pitched roof and high ceilings with detailed fretwork and window glazing bars.

  "Wow, how rich is your cousin? This place is amazing." Ashleigh commented.

  "I already told you, he just signed a big music contract. He's Connor Maise. Surely you've heard of him?"

  "No, you told me he was some big wig in the music industry. I assumed you meant an executive. I didn't realise you meant a musician, but no I haven't heard of him."

  "Yes you have. You know the song, - Best of my life?"

  Ashleigh shook her head with a puzzled expression.

  "Yeah Mummy, you know that one." Beth said as she sang a few bars. Ashleigh realised she did know that one and she bent down beside Beth and started singing along with her. Sarah joined in and Hayden stood there watching them in rapt attention. None of them noticed the front door opening up behind them, or the man standing there who stepped outside to see what the noise was about. It was only when he started laughing that they paid him any mind at all.

  Hayden started laughing right along with him and Ashleigh stood up wrapping one arm around each girl protectively.

  "What's so funny?" She asked indignantly. "Don't you like our singing?"

  "Ash," Hayden said, pulling himself together. "This is my cousin, Connor."

  Ash felt herself turn redder than she imagined could ever be possible.

  "Oh... I... Umm... It's just..." She fumbled for words to explain.

  "Ash hadn't heard of you, so the girls were pointing out that she did know you by singing a few bars of your song." Hayden explained.

  "I guess I do know the song." Ash confessed, still embarrassed at being caught acting like some sort of star struck groupie, when she was anything but. She didn't hold anyone famous in any higher esteem than she did anybody else, and she never acted like a giddy schoolgirl around people, which she was sure, was how she had just come across.

  "I must say, that was by far the cutest rendition I have heard, and trust me I've heard a few. I was enjoying it and was rather hoping you'd keep going." Connor said with a smile.

  "I don't think so." Ash said, just as the girls started singing the song together again anyway.

  She shook her head and laughed "Well I'm not, but obviously they have other ideas."

  Connor watched, mesmerised, as her smile lit up her eyes and shone back at him. He'd never been so enthralled with a woman at a first meeting, but she was something extraordinary. She was beautiful, with sparkling blue eyes and soft blond wavy hair; she sported a stunningly classic look, but it was more than that, he couldn't pinpoint it but there was more to her and he felt drawn to her. Shame she was Hayden's latest squeeze, although with the way he tended to turn over women, maybe all Connor had to do was display a little bit of patience.

  The girls stopped singing and looked up at Connor expectantly, but he hadn't even really heard them, he was more interested in hearing their mothers voice again, watching her mouth form the words of his song.

  "Did you like it?” Beth asked, beaming up at him. The girls were beautiful too, although in almost direct contrast to their mother. While she was blond, with fair smooth skin, the two girls were dark, with black hair and beautiful sun kissed olive skin and such dark brown eyes, they were almost black. He realised they were identical except for the fact that one had her hair cut in a shoulder length bob, while the other wore her hair much longer.

  "One million three hundred and sixty-four." Hayden murmured quietly, before adding, "Connor, these beautiful girls are Beth and Sarah." He said, indicating which twin was which.

  Connor bent down to shake their hands.

  "Welcome girls, I'm so glad you could be here this weekend. How about we go inside and I'll show you to your rooms so you can get organised."

  "Can we go for a swim?" Sarah asked.

  "One million three hundred and sixty-five." Hayden called out and Ash slapped him again playfully across the shoulder, while she tried to hold back her chuckle.

  Connor watched their playful banter with a knot twisting in his stomach.

  What's wrong with me? He thought to himself.

  "What does that mean?" He asked Hayden, swallowing the lump that was blocking his throat.

  "Private joke Cuz." Hayden answered while he pulled the luggage out of the boot of the car and placed it on the ground. The girls ran over and picked up their small matching suitcases, a purple one for Beth and a pink one for Sarah.

  "Hayden thinks my girls ask too many questions." She said in response to Connor’s question, heading to the back of the car to pick up her own bag.

  "I'll get that for you." Connor said from right behind her, as he bent down beside her to pick up her bag from the ground next to Hayden's.

  "That's only how many questions they asked on the drive up here," Hayden said before adding, "Hey, what about mine?" He gestured to his own bag still sitting on the ground.

  "You're big and ugly enough to carry your own bag Cuz." Connor replied, heading back up the stairs with Ash's bag over his shoulder.

  Ash couldn't tear her eyes away from his biceps bulging at the bottom of his t-shirt sleeve. She could only imagine what the rest of his arms and shoulders would look like. She had seen Hayden without a shirt on a number of times and he was certainly well toned and easy on the eye, but from the looks of things Connor was in a whole other ball game.

  "So can we go swimming Mummy?" Sarah asked again, interrupting Ash's quiet fantasies.

  "Umm... I don't know honey." She answered, looking questioningly at Connor.

  "It doesn't bother me," he answered. "Dinner will be in about an hour if anyone's hungry, but if you've already eaten it, or you're just not hungry it's entirely up to you." He contemplated skipping dinner himself and going for a swim if that was where Ash was headed. He could imagine watching her in a bathing suit would be a thoroughly enjoyable experience and well worth going hungry for.

  He shifted uncomfortably as he struggled to open the door while getting marginally turned on at the thoughts running wild in his head.

  "Please can we Mummy?" Beth added to the pleading.

  Ash lifted her hand and the girls stopped. "Let's get settled in our rooms and then we'll work out what we're going to do."

  Although they had stopped and had burgers for dinner on the way up, Ash and Hayden hadn't eaten and she was feeling rather hungry. It was getting close to the girls’ bedtime, but she knew getting them settled into bed any time in the near future would be a futile effort. They were too hyped up and had both had a short nap on the drive, albeit a very short nap.

  "You must be hungry Ash," Hayden said. "You didn't even eat anything when we stopped at MacDonald's," he added while pulling faces at Connor, indicating his general distaste with the fast food giant.

  "Well the pools lit, so it doesn't matter how late it is when you go for a swim, and its heated, so even if the temperature drops a bit it's still beautiful in the water."

  Sarah's and Beth's eyes both lit up at once.

  "Please Mummy, can we swim after dark, can we please?" the girls called in unison.

  "Rooms first!" Ash stated. "Then we shall decide what we're doing."

  Connor glanced at her and grimaced. "Sorry." He mouthed. "Okay, follow me." He added out loud, heading down the hall to the left. He really wanted to follow behind and watch Ash's arse move in the tight black shorts she was wearing, but aside from the fact he thought that might make the walk even more uncomfortable than it already was, it also wasn't practical for showing them the way to the bedrooms.

  The hallway turned to the right and Ash marvelled at the high ceilings and ornate cornices. She would have preferred to be watching Connor’s behind, instead of the beautiful architec
ture but Hayden and the girls were in the way.

  Connor stopped in front of a door.

  "Hayden, you and Ash can have this room." he said, opening the door to a stunning bedroom with a large canopy bed as the centrepiece. Connor saw the look of discomfort on Ash's face and wondered briefly what it was about. He wasn't sure of her exact age, late twenties if he had to guess, but he was sure she was old enough to be having sex and based on the girls, she obviously had before.

  "Hayden, you promised." she said quietly.

  "I know," he answered, turning to his cousin. "Connor, is there another room for me? Ash and I aren't sharing."

  Connor raised his eyebrows in surprise, it seemed his cousin was full of surprises this weekend. He never put any time into a girl he wasn't sleeping with, and for that matter, he never dated a woman who had kids either. He didn't really have any spare bedrooms, there were a lot of people coming up this weekend so they were all taken, but if they didn't want to sleep together, then he certainly wasn't going to push for it. Think boy, think.

  "I don't have any spare rooms this weekend Cuz." he said, watching Ash's expectant face crumple slightly in disappointment.

  "It's okay," she said. "I'll deal with it."

  Connor watched the range of emotions flicker across Hayden's face; from worry, to relief, to anticipation.

  "There's three beds in the room the girls are in though."

  Connor smiled when every feature in Hayden’s face screamed disappointment.

  Ash smiled back.

  "That would be fine," she said, she didn't mind sharing a room with the girls for a couple of nights.

  Connor opened the door to the next room, there was a pair of bunks on one wall and a king size single bed against the opposite wall. A pair of open French doors led straight out to the pool area with a clear glass fence being the only barricade between the bedroom and the pool. Connor placed Ash's bag on the single bed and watched her smile and shake her head as the girls instantly started fighting over the top bunk.

  "I'll leave you to it," he said. "Dinner should be ready at seven if you want to join us in the dining room then and meet some of the others staying this weekend." he backed towards the door, watching her survey the room as he did.

  "Umm Connor, sorry, where's the dining room?" Ash asked quickly.

  "It is through the double doors opposite the entry, where we came in."

  Ash nodded her thanks and watched him as he left the room. Yeah, she definitely would have enjoyed watching that butt walking down the hallway. He turned back after he walked through the door.

  "Feel free to explore once you have settled in Ash. I only got here yesterday so I haven't had much of a chance to learn my way around, otherwise I'd have offered you a tour."

  "Well the girls will probably be able to give you a tour by tomorrow." she smiled at him, he nodded, turned away and walked off down the hall.

  Ash tried to tune the girls out as she sat down on the bed. They would be here for three nights, so she couldn't even make them share and have one night each. Instead she just ignored them while she thought about Connor. Damn he was hot, like sizzling, she'd never seen eyes such an intense shade of green. He must have been wearing contacts. And those arms, hot damn, how nice would they be wrapped around her body. And his lips, oh his lips, they'd looked so soft and smooth and if she could just taste... Argh, what was wrong with her? She was acting like a star struck teen and that just wasn't her. But that five o'clock shadow he was sporting was such a turn on. So damn hot, pure masculinity. Oh God, if she kept this up she was going to start drooling, not good.

  Hayden tapped on the door frame as he walked into the room.

  "We've got about half an hour before dinner. I'm going to see if I can find something to drink. Do you want to come, or do you want me to bring something back for you?”

  Ash waved him off. "I'm good Hayden, you go and get your drink. I'll get these girls sorted out and I'll meet you in the dining room for dinner."

  Hayden looked over at the girls fighting at the end of the bunks. He wasn't sure if he should leave Ash but he definitely didn't want to stick around for this.

  "Are you sure I can't bring you back a drink? I'm sure I can find something really strong."

  Ash nodded. "I'm good, but a beer waiting for me at dinner would be appreciated."

  "Consider it done. I'll see you then." Hayden walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

  Ash sighed and put her hand on her head, preparing herself to sort out the girls.

  ****

  Chapter 3

  Connor walked into the games room after leaving Ash in her room and went straight behind the bar. He poured himself a scotch, straight up on ice and sat down on one of the bar stools. He knew he could probably afford whatever drink he wanted now, but still found he preferred Chivas Regal. Not bottom shelf by any stretch, but still a far cry from some of the top shelf drops available. It used to be his favourite splurge, but now it was his favourite staple.

  He downed the first glass and poured himself another. He was desperate to take the edge off after meeting his cousin’s new girlfriend. He had no idea what she had done to him, but she made an impression. He'd been a musician since he was seventeen, sneaking into bars with fake identification, at the time, so he could play Saturday night gigs. Women had been plentiful, but none had ever made the impression on him Ash had. He didn't know what it was about her that had him feeling like a fifteen-year old virgin again, but the need to get close to her was doing his head in. He didn't know if it was a physical need, or if there was more to it, but he only met the woman half an hour ago and he couldn't get her out of his head. He was obsessed with the way her blond locks caressed her back and her alabaster skin gave him the impression it would feel like velvet to his touch. He imagined she would avoid the sun like the plague with skin so white and he couldn't stop wondering if it was as smooth as it looked. He found himself constantly fantasizing about running his hands over her smooth thighs, as well as a few other parts of her body. He wondered jokingly if maybe she was a witch and had put some sort of a spell on him.

  Connor was making his third drink when Hayden walked into the room.

  "Is this where I can find the alcohol supply?"

  "Sure is Cuz. What's your poison these days? "

  "Hasn't changed."

  Connor smiled at him and poured another scotch on ice and handed it over before returning to his stool.

  "So where's your girl?" Connor asked. He hated to refer to Ash as Hayden's girl, even as he said it.

  "Dealing with her girls, who were fighting over the top bunk when I left."

  "So you left her alone to deal with that then?"

  "Hey, I offered to take her back a drink, but she declined my offer."

  "She doesn't drink?"

  Hayden laughed "Nah, she drinks, she just wants me to meet her with it for dinner."

  Connor nodded.

  "So what's the go there? " he asked.

  "What do you mean?"

  "What's the go with you and her? She's got kids. You're in separate rooms. That's not like you Cuz. Or are the separate rooms a ruse for the kids? "

  "Yeah, I wish. But no, she just wants to be friends."

  "But you?"

  "Not even close Cuz. Come on you've seen her."

  "But you don't date chicks with kids."

  "This one I would, this one I'm trying to."

  "She's not interested?"

  "No. She thinks men are only good for friends or fucking, but not both. "

  "Really?" Connor asked, intrigued.

  "Don't even think about it Cuz, you hurt her and I'll kill you."

  "Whoa." Connor said, holding his hands up in defence.

  "So why don't you… ahm, you know… her then?"

  "Because I like her, and I'm not willing to forgo the friendship, I'd miss her too much."

  "How'd such a sweet girl get such harsh perceptions about men?"

  "The ex
from hell. He's one seriously messed up a-hole."

  "The girls’ father?"

  "Yeah. He did a real number on her Con, so she's here as a friend the weekend. I promised her a nice weekend with no pressure, so that means you can back right off as well. I've seen the look in your eyes, stay away from her Cuz. So where is everyone?" Hayden asked, changing the subject before things got too awkward between them.

  Connor sighed, he really didn't want to stay away from her, and the only way he would be able to figuratively stay away from her would be if he literally stayed away from her. This was going to be a long, long, weekend.

  "Ariane and Scott are the only other ones here thus far, and they're in their rooms getting settled. They'll meet us for dinner."

  "So Ariane didn't bring anyone then?"

  "Nope, only Scott."

  "Damn."

  "You better watch out Hayden," Connor laughed. "Especially if she gets wind of the fact that your girlfriend is only a friend."

  Ever since Connor and Ariane had broken up she had her sights set on Hayden, but Hayden was anything but receptive to her advances. It wasn't that she wasn't attractive, far from it, but he wasn't interested in her in that way. She seemed to have difficulties in getting the hint though, even when the hint was anything but subtle.

  "I wonder." Hayden said hatching a plan in his own mind that he figured might help him out on a number of levels. "If I could convince Ash that it would really help me out if she pretended to be my girlfriend this weekend."

  "Then she'll have Ariane acting all bitchy to her all weekend, and we both know how much fun that can be. She'd be demanding you drive her home straight after dinner."

  That may be a good thing, he thought. Then he wouldn't have to try to stay away from her for the entire weekend.

  "No she wouldn't," Hayden said. "She's only here for the girls and she wouldn't drag them away because she has to put up with Ariane's bitchiness. She'd suffer in silence but vow never to put herself in the same vicinity as her ever again, which wouldn't work well if I want her in my life and still be able to see you. I think this one is going to have to play out honestly."

  "She's only here for the girls?"