Why Resist a Rebel - By Leah Ashton Page 0,63

was surrounded by his family, and he was here because of love. Love he’d tossed away, not appreciated, and now was hoping to win back, slowly and with absolutely no assumptions. It was going to take time.

And he was doing this because in his darkest moments, when the darkness had sucked the world away from him so that he was left isolated and so, so alone, love was what he had craved. Love from his father, but also from his family. Love and respect were all that he’d ever wanted.

In his rejection of his father, he’d tossed away a family who loved him. And they must love him, to allow him to sit here after so long.

He’d let himself believe he’d failed his father, and his family, with his chosen career.

But he’d been wrong.

His failure was in being as stubborn as his dad. For closing himself off from the possibility of love—from his family, or from anyone. He’d rejected love, because he’d been too scared to risk it—to risk failing in the eyes of someone he loved again.

Now he wanted love back in his life, regardless of the risks.

He’d wasted a huge chunk of life alone, even if he had been surrounded by people and the glitz and glamour of his career.

But enough was enough.

He wasn’t letting Ruby go without a fight.

FOURTEEN

Ruby padded to her front door in bright pink fuzzy bed socks and floral-printed pyjamas, a mug of instant noodles warming her hands.

It wasn’t late, not even nine p.m., but it had been a long day and the lure of her couch had been far stronger than that of the pub and the rest of the crew.

Whoever was at the door knocked again as she opened the door just a crack, and the insistent pressure pushed the door to the limits of the short security chain.

‘Settle down!’ she said, ‘I’m here.’

‘You’re not really in a position to complain, you know.’ The all too familiar deep voice froze Ruby to the spot. ‘I’ve learnt my door-knocking technique from you. Loud and...demanding.’

She ignored that.

‘Why are you here?’ she said, trying to sound calm. She considered, and dismissed, pretending to assume this was work-related. Or simply closing the door and walking away.

Option two had the most merit, but...well...

It was Dev. He just didn’t do good things to the logical, sensible, decision-making part of her brain.

‘We need to talk,’ he said.

He’d stepped up right close to her door, so he could peer through the opening at Ruby. A dim globe above the door shone weak light over him, throwing his face into angular sections of darkness and light.

He met her gaze, and his was...too hard to make out.

She told herself that was why she mechanically reached upwards to close the door temporarily to unhook the chain, and then to swing it wide open and gesture him inside.

He paused for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts or taking a deep breath, and then strode into her tiny living area. He stared at her couch and its piles of blankets and magazines, and the small collection of DVDs she’d hired from the motel’s surprisingly extensive supply.

Ruby swallowed her automatic apology and the compulsion to fuss and tidy. He’d just turned up uninvited—he could stand.

‘So?’ she asked, crossing her arms across her chest. ‘Talk.’

If he was ruffled by her abruptness he revealed none of it.

‘You don’t have to live in Beverly Hills,’ he said. ‘Or work in Hollywood. I wouldn’t expect you to.’

Ruby walked back to the door. ‘I think you should go.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Why did you let me in? What else did you think I was here to talk about? The film?’ He laughed. ‘No. You knew this was about us.’

She shook her head, but he didn’t move. He just looked at her.

Now she could interpret his gaze. It was...just Dev. Honest, with not a shred of the actor’s artifice that had fallen away as their time together had lengthened.

But right now, she didn’t want to deal with that. She wanted to deal with the arrogant actor she’d originally thought him to be, the man who always got his way, who manipulated people—manipulated her—to get what he wanted.

As hard as she tried, she couldn’t now believe any of that was true.

She didn’t know what to say, but she did walk away from the door. She remained standing, more than an arm’s length away from Dev, too far away to touch.

‘Ruby?’

She picked a spot on the wall to stare at—a crack in the