Why Resist a Rebel - By Leah Ashton Page 0,53

could live with this, especially when she kissed him. When Ruby was kissing him, that was all he thought about, all that filled his mind.

But when she left—and she always did—then he would think.

She’d leave around midnight. Ruby said it was because sometimes she gave members of the crew lifts to set—which sounded plausible.

But it wasn’t the real reason. She was keeping this light, and simple. Waking up together, or breakfast in bed, or conversations where they bared their souls—no. They were not things they wanted, not what this thing they had was about.

They both knew that.

Did she guess he still wasn’t sleeping? Sometimes he thought so. She’d look at him with concern in her eyes, and occasionally he’d be sure she was going to start asking questions.

But she never did.

On set, the rumours had dissipated. Dev had done nothing to perpetuate them—excluding that one morning, he’d never missed his call, had never been anything but prompt and professional. Everyone seemed to love Dev Cooper.

And, thank goodness, there were no new rumours. This was Ruby’s nightmare, the niggling fear at the back of her mind that suddenly All Would Be Revealed somehow, or that the paparazzi that occasionally bothered to make the trip out to Lucyville would snap a photo of her and Dev together.

Which would be difficult—given their relationship existed entirely within the walls of his cottage. Graeme got rid of any loitering cars anywhere near the property, and so far it was proving remarkably effective.

But still—Ruby worried.

And not just about becoming the subject of gossip once again, but about Dev.

She needed to go. She lay curled on his couch, her back to Dev’s chest, a warm blanket covering them both. Earlier they’d been watching a nineteen-fifties Danny Kaye musical they both loved—but not enough to be rather easily distracted. It had long ago ended, the TV screen now black.

Dev was breathing steadily behind her, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. She seemed to have a talent for dozing off, but not Dev. Except for that morning in the penthouse, she’d never seen him sleep. Not once.

He mustn’t be sleeping. Not well, anyway. She knew that whenever she saw the red in his eyes and his skin after he washed off his day’s stage make-up. She’d seen a packet of sleeping tablets in his bathroom, but she had no idea if he took them. She’d never asked.

She’d never asked about anything.

She could guess what was wrong. Extrapolate from what he’d told her at the beach that day. All the rumours had been way off. Her guess was that Dev was still processing his father’s death, and his own grief. That was the cause of his weight loss, his problems sleeping, the sadness in his gaze.

But that was all it was—a guess. So many times she was tempted to ask him about it. Like right now, in this darkened room, and in this intimacy they shared.

Did he want to talk to her about it? Did he want to share something so personal with her?

Did she want him to share something so personal?

No.

On the beach, it had all been too intense. Too much, too overwhelming. He’d felt the same way, too.

She didn’t want that. She couldn’t want that—not when they had only weeks together.

What would be the point?

So she turned in his arms and kissed him goodbye. And, as she did every other night, drove home to her own, lonely bed.

And she told herself she was doing the right thing.

Ruby woke up with a start, blinking in the unfamiliar room.

Dev’s place.

She’d fallen asleep. Her handbag was still out in the lounge room, so she turned over, planning to reach across Dev to where she knew he left his phone on his beside table, so she could check the time.

But Dev wasn’t there.

She crawled across the bed, wrapping herself with a sheet before she checked his phone. Three-twelve a.m.

Far too late to drive back to her place.

She realised she didn’t mind.

A thin crack of light glowed beneath the en-suite door. ‘Dev?’

No response. She stood, arranging the sheet like a towel. She felt faintly ridiculous for her sudden modesty—Dev had, after all, seen her naked.

But still, just walking about his house in the nude felt like a step too far—a dose of reality in their perfect little world.

She knocked on the door, but the slight touch pushed it open.

Dev sat on the closed toilet lid, in boxer shorts only. His head had been in his hands, and as he looked up at her