chapter SIX
HER heart raced in her chest and she could feel every beat as Josh’s lips covered hers. She closed her eyes, succumbing to his touch. She opened her mouth and Josh caressed her tongue. She felt her nipples peak in response as he explored her mouth. His hand was on her bare arm and she could feel the heat of his fingers on her skin. She wanted his hand on her breast but she didn’t dare move it there. She pressed herself against his chest instead as she kissed him back. Where was the harm in that?
Her skin was on fire as Josh ran his fingers up her arm. She melted against him. She was aware of nothing else except the sensation of being fully alive. She wanted for nothing except Josh.
She felt his hand move to her back. Her skin was bare between the straps of her sundress and her flesh burned under his touch. She felt her nipples harden further as all her senses came to life and a line of fire spread from her stomach to her groin. She deepened the kiss, wanting to lose herself in Josh, but a car horn tooting shattered the silence, interrupting the moment and making her jump. Her eyes flew open as Josh straightened up. Too late, she remembered where they were, standing beside her car in the middle of the street, behaving like a couple of hormone-fuelled teenagers. Her heart was racing in her chest and her breaths were shallow. She could hear herself panting.
Josh was studying her face as if committing each of her features to memory. His fingers trailed down the side of her cheek, sending a shiver of desire through her.
‘Now would you like to come up to my apartment?’
She hesitated. The kiss was magical but it couldn’t lead anywhere. Hadn’t he made it clear at dinner he wasn’t looking for commitment? It would be a one-night stand. That wasn’t what she wanted.
She pulled back, breaking their connection. ‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘It’s a bad idea.’
‘It was just a kiss.’
Just a kiss! Maybe to him, but it had set her world on fire and she knew she couldn’t be trusted if she followed him to his apartment. No, this was definitely a bad idea. ‘You’re a colleague. You’re off limits.’
‘Are you sure?’
She nodded. She couldn’t speak.
‘Okay. But let me know if you change your mind. No strings attached.’
No strings attached. It wasn’t her style but it was tempting.
If he could play it cool, so could she. She smiled, striving for a casual tone, and said, ‘I’ll get back to you,’ as she pushed the remote on her car keys and unlocked the door.
He bent his head and kissed her softly on her mouth, a brief brush of his lips, a gentle goodbye kiss, but her reaction was every bit as strong as when he’d kissed her more thoroughly. She used every ounce of willpower to make herself get into her car and drive away. But she watched him in her rearview mirror as he stood in the street and she knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid him or pretend he didn’t exist. She knew she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t attracted to him and she suspected he would become her forbidden apple, a temptation too strong to resist. One way or another she would need to get him out of her system.
* * *
Josh had got to work early and was chatting to Louise when they saw Georgie struggling through the door, carrying two large baking trays. She pushed the door open with her hip and nodded in their direction as she headed for the QMERT kitchen.
Louise watched her go before she turned to Josh and said, ‘Something’s bothering her.’
Josh wondered how on earth Louise had figured that out. Georgie had seemed perfectly okay to him. In fact, she’d seemed perfectly okay for the past few days, ever since he’d kissed her. He, on the other hand, had been completely rattled. Despite what he’d told Georgie, their kiss had rocked his world. It hadn’t been ‘just a kiss’. It had shocked him, surprised him, to his core. The moment he’d kissed her he’d had the sensation that he’d been waiting all his life to find her, all his life to have that kiss, and ever since then he’d been wondering how to persuade her to date him. What was the difference between him and any of the blind dates she was prepared to go on? The only difference he could see was that they already knew they had chemistry. But she refused to date a colleague and she’d refused to discuss it any further and he had no idea what he could do about that.
But why did Louise think something was wrong? What had he missed? What did Louise see that he didn’t?
‘How do you know something’s wrong?’ he asked.
‘She’s been cooking.’
Josh frowned. As far as he could tell, Georgie was always cooking. ‘Don’t forget we’re all going to her place this weekend for Pat’s birthday. Maybe she’s run out of room in her fridge.’ To his ears that sounded like a perfectly reasonable explanation.
‘I’m telling you, something’s bothering her. Go and find out what’s wrong.’ Lou glared at him and he half expected her to shove him out the door.
‘Okay, okay, I’m going,’ he said, fighting the urge to laugh. With a sharp salute in Lou’s direction he followed Georgie into the kitchen.
Her back was to him as she slid the baking trays into the fridge. He dragged his eyes off her rounded backside as she stood up and turned around.
‘Hi. Is everything okay?’ he asked.
‘I guess.’
Josh felt his heart drop to his stomach. She wasn’t sounding like her normal chirpy self. Something was wrong. He wondered if he could fix it.
He crossed the room and put his hand on her arm, connecting them. ‘What is it?’
‘My parents arrive tomorrow.’
‘I thought that would be good news.’ In the time he’d known her she’d only had nice things to say about her parents and she seemed more than happy to have visitors.
She nodded. ‘But they’re meeting up with some friends here too.’
‘And?’
‘These friends have three sons.’ She paused. ‘Three single sons.’
‘Let me guess, they’re your next string of blind dates?’ he smiled.
‘It’s not quite that bad. I don’t think the boys are coming, but my parents think it’s time for me to settle down and they’re getting desperate. If it doesn’t look like I’m going to find my own husband, I think they’re not averse to helping me.’
‘An arranged marriage?’
‘That’s not very twenty-first century,’ she said, and finally he saw her smile. ‘I don’t think they’d call it that but they seem happy enough to send a few eligible bachelors my way. Or the bachelors’ parents.’
‘Why haven’t you told them you’re happy being single?’
‘Because that’s easier said than done. You haven’t met my parents. That excuse would only work for so long and then they’d feel obliged to “help” me again.’
‘Well, tell them you’ve already got a boyfriend.’
‘Josh, they’re coming to Cairns, they’re coming to visit.’ Georgie sighed. Hadn’t he been listening? ‘They’ll expect to meet my fictitious boyfriend. What do I do about that?’
‘Introduce me.’
‘You? Why?’
He shrugged. ‘You have a problem, that’s one solution. I’ll be your surrogate boyfriend. It’ll give you your freedom back. Your parents can stop setting you up. It’ll take the pressure off you.’
It wasn’t a bad idea—in fact, she rather liked the sound of it—but she knew she liked the sound of it for all the wrong reasons. ‘You don’t want to do that. The experience could be a bit traumatic.’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘How long are your parents staying? A week? I can keep the charade going for that long.’
‘Thanks for the offer but I wouldn’t subject you to that.’ She smiled and added, ‘It’s for your own protection.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘My last relationship ended because of my parents. Trust me, you do not want that level of expectation.’
‘Didn’t they approve?’
‘No, quite the opposite. They loved Peter. So much that they wanted him to join our family. They started asking when we were going to settle down, offering to help us buy a house. Peter decided he wasn’t ready for that commitment and headed for the hills. If you told my parents that’s what happened, they’d be horrified. I don’t think they’re aware of what they did, but I don’t want to subject each and every boyfriend to the same treatment. I don’t want someone forced to marry me.’
‘That’s why I’m the answer to your problems. There’ll be no forcing me to marry anyone! I’m offering my services and I guarantee I can handle parental pressure.’
She wished he was the answer to her problems but she doubted it was that easy. It was his fault she’d spent hours in the kitchen cooking, trying to clear her head. Her parents’ expectations were nothing to cope with compared to her reaction to Josh. If she’d relived the kiss they’d shared once, she’d relived it a hundred times. She’d never spent so much time obsessing over a man, let alone one she barely knew, but she couldn’t get that kiss out of her mind. She could remember how he’d tasted and felt and how the kiss had made her blood flow like molten gold and warmed her insides. For every second the kiss had lasted she’d spent as many hours thinking about what she should do, but when Josh walked into the kitchen she still hadn’t made up her mind. Just the sight of him got her all flustered again. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch and her skin tingled when his fingers caressed her arm.
She shook her head. Her parents were definitely the least of her problems.
‘They’d know something was up. They wouldn’t be expecting you.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘You’re not Greek.’
‘You’re kidding? You have to date Greek men?’
She shrugged. ‘Pretty much.’
‘Surely you’ve dated men who aren’t Greek before?’
‘Yes,’ she admitted, ‘but I’ve never seen the need to introduce them to my parents. It’s never been anything serious and it would just make everyone uncomfortable. I don’t need a pretend boyfriend. I don’t even need a real one. I don’t need to be rescued but I appreciate your offer.’
He shrugged. ‘Okay, but let me know if you change your mind. I’m happy to help.’
‘Thanks, but I’ll manage. I’d better go and get changed.’
She appreciated his offer but it wasn’t one she could imagine accepting. As if the kiss wasn’t enough for her to ignore, now she had to ignore the image in her head of Josh as her boyfriend. The idea was delicious. He was delicious. But therein lay the danger. He was offering to be a fake boyfriend and she knew she might have trouble remembering that.
No. She was positive she could handle having her parents’ friends here. Surely that would be easier than handling Josh. But knowing she had his support gave her some comfort.
* * *
Twenty-four hours later Josh was surprised to receive a frantic phone call from Georgie. Her parents had landed in Cairns that morning and he hadn’t expected to hear from her at all today.
‘Josh, it’s me. Can you talk?’
‘Why are you whispering?’
‘I don’t want my parents to hear. I have a favour to ask you. Remember when you offered to be my surrogate boyfriend?’
‘Yes.’
‘Does your offer still stand?’
‘Why?’
‘Mum has just told me that Con and Anastasia, the friends with the three sons, were making noises about bringing one of them up to Cairns to meet me. I kind of panicked, I’m definitely not ready to be set up by two sets of parents, so I took your advice. I told them I have a boyfriend and now they expect to meet him tomorrow at Pat’s birthday barbecue!’
‘And you want me to be your boyfriend?’
‘Just for a week or so. Unless you’ve got any other ideas? Please?’
He had no intention of refusing, especially as it had been his idea in the first place. ‘All right.’ He was happy to do it, not least because he knew there would be some enjoyable perks to accompany the position of Georgie’s boyfriend. ‘I’ll come over a bit early tomorrow and you can introduce me to your folks.’
‘Thank you. You’re a lifesaver. I owe you.’
* * *
Josh kept his word, arriving half an hour earlier than the other guests, and Georgie tried to get her heart to slow down and stop its frantic pounding. She was nervous and anxious. She hoped their plan wasn’t a disaster.
He was carrying a large cardboard box, which he deposited on the kitchen table before kissing Georgie. His spontaneity startled her and she could feel her mother’s eyes watching every move.
‘Relax,’ Josh whispered, and Georgie willed herself to stay calm. She knew Josh was keeping up appearances and she needed to do the same.
She introduced him to her parents, George and Sofia, and Josh pulled gifts out of the box, champagne for Georgie and flowers for Sofia, and then he set about helping with last-minute preparations, setting up the bar, putting out glasses, turning on the barbecue. He obviously remembered his way around the kitchen, he looked right at home, and his casual assistance lent authenticity to their charade.
When their QMERT friends began arriving, Georgie introduced them to her parents as Josh slipped into the role of host. As she watched Josh pouring drinks and handing around nibbles, Georgie realised she hadn’t properly thought through their story.
What would happen if one of their colleagues alerted her parents to their fabrication? What would happen if her parents found out about their deception? What would their colleagues think? If she’d known she’d worry so much, she would have thought of a different plan.
She pulled Josh aside to ask him what they should do, only to find he’d already filled Louise in on their scheme and she’d told the others. Their secret was safe.
But the one thing she hadn’t thought about was physical contact. Josh was very demonstrative and she realised she hadn’t given this side of things any consideration. She didn’t want to appear cool and aloof but she jumped every time he touched her. Which was often. Every brush of his fingers, every touch of his hand sent her pulse racing, and she grew more and more self-conscious.
Eventually, when she thought she was going to go crazy, she dragged him aside again and begged him to stop.
‘Don’t think you’re overdoing it just a little?’ she asked.
‘Overdoing what?’
‘The touching, the kissing, the looks.’
‘The “looks”?’
He was laughing at her now. ‘Stop it,’ she said, trying to glare at him, but he’d made her smile. ‘I think you’ve convinced my parents enough for one day.’
‘Don’t be a spoilsport, I’m enjoying myself.’ He reached for her hand and hooked his fingers through hers. ‘This is what people do when they’re in a new relationship, when they can’t get enough of each other. Before it all goes pear-shaped. Don’t you remember a time when you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself?’ He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. Georgie had to clamp her lips together to stop herself from sighing out loud. ‘I’m making sure we look authentic,’ he said. ‘I’m having fun.’
‘I think you’re having too much fun. Can you try keeping your hands to yourself? Please.’
‘That’s the first time I’ve had that request,’ he said just before he leant forward and kissed her lips. It was just a quick kiss, timed to perfection so she couldn’t resist or complain, and then he winked at her. ‘I’ll do my best.’
He walked away then and left her standing, rooted to the spot, looking after him as he did another round of the party, topping up people’s drinks.
She took a deep breath. Her fingers were still warm from his touch and her lips were still tingling from his kiss. She needed to relax.
She went to find her glass. Perhaps another drink would help.
* * *
She finished her drink and tried to forget about Josh but she couldn’t help wondering whether she’d made a mistake by asking him to do her this favour. She couldn’t help wondering if it was all going to end in tears.
But the rest of the afternoon went smoothly. Her father was enjoying himself, mingling with the guests, but Sofia was spending most of her time in the kitchen. Georgie tried to get her to leave the dishes and go outside to enjoy the party, but she resisted.
‘I’m happy in here and everyone pops in eventually either for more food or on the way to the bathroom. I’m fine,’ she said as she started to assemble coffee cups and saucers on the kitchen table. ‘So Josh is the one who took you white-water rafting?’
Georgie nodded in reply.
‘I thought you weren’t going to date co-workers after what happened with Peter,’ Sofia said.
‘Peter was a paramedic, Josh is a doctor.’ It was all semantics but Georgie could hardly tell her mother it was irrelevant because it was only a charade. Fortunately Sofia had moved on to more important matters.
‘His surname is Wetherly?’ she asked. ‘He’s not Greek, then?’
Georgie suppressed a smile. ‘No, Mum, he’s not.’
‘Well, your father seems to like him anyway.’
She looked across the deck to the barbecue, where Josh and her father were deep in conversation. She realised then it was too late to change her mind. Josh was doing her this favour and it was working. Her parents liked him and hopefully he’d buy her some time.
She wondered if she should rescue Josh but before she had a chance, guests began to say their farewells and she didn’t get a moment alone with Josh until everyone had left, the dishes were done and her parents had gone to lie down.
Georgie made more coffee and took it out to the deck to Josh. ‘Thank you for your help,’ she said as she handed him a cup.
‘My pleasure,’ he replied. ‘It went well. Pat enjoyed himself. It was a really nice thing to do for him.’
‘He gets a bit lonely, I think. I wish he would find someone, I’m sure he’d like the companionship.’
‘You’re not planning on matchmaking, are you?’
Georgie shook her head. ‘No. He says he’s happy on his own and I’m the last person who’d interfere in that case. I hate that interference myself.’ She sipped her coffee and asked the question she’d been dying to know the answer to. ‘What were you talking about with my dad?’
‘Your ex-boyfriend, Peter.’
‘Peter! What about him?’
‘Your dad was just saying that it was good to see you happy again after Peter broke your heart.’
‘What? He didn’t break my heart.’
Josh held his hands in the air. ‘Don’t shoot the messenger. They were your dad’s words, not mine.’
‘That’s probably my fault,’ she admitted.
‘How so?’
‘After Peter and I broke up I pretended to be more distraught than I actually was because it gave me a reason to escape Melbourne. I wanted to take the twelve-month posting up here but Dad would have argued against it—his single daughter moving to the other end of the country—but he gave in when I said it would help me to get over Peter. We worked together. He was—is—a paramedic too, and I over-emphasised the discomfort I felt at work after we broke up. But my move wasn’t so much to do with Peter as it was to do with me. I wanted a chance to find my own identity, away from being a daughter, a sister or a girlfriend. This move was about a journey of self-discovery.’
‘You can handle going back to your old job? Even though Peter is married?’
‘He wasn’t married when I went out with him. He got married three months later.’
‘Sorry, that’s not what I meant, but I thought he broke it off with you because he wasn’t ready for a commitment?’
‘That’s what he said, but it turns out he just didn’t want to commit to me.’
‘And you’re okay with that?’
‘Yes, perfectly okay. Despite what my parents were hoping for, I didn’t want to marry him either.’
‘You weren’t in love with him?
‘No, and he didn’t break my heart. I’m twenty-seven years old and still waiting to fall in love,’ she said as she finished her coffee and took a piece of birthday cake from the plate in front of her. ‘Have you ever been in love?’
‘Yes,’ he said.
Georgie was surprised at the wave of disappointment that flowed through her when she heard his answer. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say, he was thirty-four years old so it would be unrealistic to think he’d never been in love, but she hadn’t realised she’d hoped he was in the same romantically barren situation as her.
‘Was it a long time ago?’
He nodded.
‘Was it the loveliest thing in the world?’ She sighed. Despite being in no hurry to get married, she did want to experience her own very traditional, romanticised idea of being in love.
‘Yes and no. I gave her my heart but it ended badly.’
‘What happened?’ She asked the question before she realised it might not be something Josh wanted to talk about.
‘She was killed in a car accident.’
‘Oh, Josh, I’m so sorry.’
Georgie felt mortified, as though she’d had the wind knocked out of her. She was so shocked she could barely talk. She sat in silence for a moment and then remembered he’d told her that that he didn’t plan on marrying. ‘Was she your soul mate? Is that why you said you won’t marry?’
‘No.’ He was shaking his head. ‘We were engaged but a few months before the wedding she came to me and said there was something she needed to tell me. It turned out she’d been having an affair. She told me because she was worried I’d find out anyway. I think if she thought she could keep it a secret she would have. We had a huge fight. That wasn’t unusual, we had lots of ups and downs and usually I gave in, but not this day.’ He paused slightly and Georgie wondered how long ago this had happened. It was obvious it still affected him deeply. ‘I couldn’t believe she’d behaved that way. I told her it was over, the engagement, us, everything. I told her I didn’t want to see her again. I should never have let her get in the car but I didn’t stop her and then she was dead. And it was my fault.’
‘You weren’t to know what would happen.’
‘Maybe not but I should have stopped her. She was upset when she left, she was in no state to drive, but I was so angry I let her go.’
‘When was this?’
‘Eight years ago.’
‘You’re still blaming yourself?’
‘No, eventually I realised that a lot of what had happened was beyond my control but it took me a long time to process it all and it made me think differently about relationships. I decided that I needed to be in control of my life and being in a relationship, to me, seemed to require giving up control. When my parents were still married there was a lot of arguing in our house, lots of yelling and screaming, lots of crying, lots of broken promises. I thought that was how families were. But to keep things together, someone always gives in. Tricia and I had a similar pattern but I was the one backing down. I didn’t want to live like that again. I didn’t want to be one of those people who spend their life fighting and arguing. I promised myself I wouldn’t solve problems that way.’
‘And have you changed?’
‘I hope so but I don’t really know. I avoid serious relationships, I don’t want to put myself in that position again. I don’t want to lose control. That’s why I’m the perfect fake boyfriend—you know I won’t fall in love with you and make things difficult.’ He finished his coffee. ‘But now it’s time for me to go.’ He stood and came around to her chair. He leant over her and kissed her softly on the lips. Georgie was surprised again, thinking this time it was a spontaneous gesture on Josh’s part, but that was before he explained himself. ‘Kiss me back, your mum is watching.’
He pulled her to her feet and tipped her face up to his. Georgie closed her eyes and waited for his lips to meet hers. His mouth brushed across hers very gently before he deepened the kiss. She tried to pretend she wasn’t enjoying the experience but as his tongue teased her lips apart she sighed and opened her mouth and she knew she’d just given him part of her heart.