Fool Me Once

by Karly Lane

  Sure, he’d had his share of one-night stands in his younger days, but not recently. Over the past few years he’d been too busy building his business to worry about dating or relationships. His whole life had centred around the need to succeed and to prove his stepfather wrong.

  Derrick Matthew would have liked nothing better than for Michael to fall flat on his face, ever since the massive blow-up that had resulted in Michael walking out of the family business and starting his own company. Whenever Michael felt as though he was done and couldn’t make things work, all he had to do was hear the smug words his stepfather had thrown at his back as he’d left the house that evening: You’ll come crawling back—you won’t make it out there without me steppin’ in to save your arse. Even now, years later, the memory of those words still sent a steel-like determination through him.

  It took a minute to release the familiar tension that followed the memory. He’d proven his stepfather wrong. He’d built his company into a profitable business and had nothing more to prove to anyone. Although he told himself this, it was still hard to let down his guard completely. It was still his greatest fear: failing and knowing that Derrick would always be there waiting to gloat.

  Last night had been the first time he could recall stepping out of that tightly controlled discipline into which he’d been locked for so long. He’d felt freer and more alive than he had in a very long time. Somehow, meeting Georgie had opened a part of him he’d thought had been lost forever. Which was what made him feel so deflated now, as he lay back down and stared at the empty pillow beside him. He wished she’d still been here this morning. He wanted to find out more about her life, who she was, what she wanted to do. Was there really something special about Georgie Henderson or had last night been a trick of his imagination? Somehow, he knew it wasn’t a trick. There’d been something different about her; he’d seen it the moment she’d realised he’d been watching her from across that old hall. There’d been chemistry then—before they’d even spoken.

  Now she was gone. As soon as the thought entered his mind, he rejected it. She couldn’t be gone. He didn’t want it to end like this. Maybe he’d realise in the harsh light of day that she had just been a pleasant diversion after all, but what if it was more? What if this had been his only chance at something special and he just let her walk out of his life without even trying to stop her? As quickly as that thought came, another followed swiftly on its heels. Why had she crept from his room without waking him to say goodbye? Had she realised she’d made a huge mistake? A twinge of hurt stabbed him in the chest. Last night he’d felt a connection—surely she’d felt it too? After all, he wasn’t the kind of guy who normally dwelt on things like this; in fact, he couldn’t think of a single time he’d sat and questioned things the way he was right now. That in itself was alarming. He didn’t want to believe it, but this felt a lot like wounded pride. Why hadn’t she wanted to face him this morning?

  Michael sat up on the side of the bed and reached for his clothes. He wasn’t going to stop thinking about her all day anyway. The sooner he found her, the sooner he could settle this debate once and for all.

  Georgie frowned at the sound of knocking on the motel door. Reluctantly, she threw off the covers and grumbled as she made her way across the room to answer it, staring dumbfounded at the man before her.

  ‘How did you know where I was staying?’

  ‘I called my brother.’ His low, gravelly tone sparked memories of his warm body against hers just a few short hours earlier.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  Behind him, the first stirrings of Sunday morning could be heard along the street.

  ‘I came to find you and ask what you think you were doing creeping out of my room like a damn thief in the middle of the night?’

  ‘I—’ she started to explain but was cut off as he continued.

  ‘I don’t know what kind of men you usually sleep with, but if they’re the kind who don’t care about getting the courtesy of a goodbye before you leave, then maybe you need to change the type of men you see.’

  Georgie’s eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘I really hope you’re not implying that I sleep around,’ she fumed. Who the hell did he think he was? ‘And look who’s talking. You picked me up at a B&S ball. Real classy.’

  ‘As I recall, you accepted without too much arm twisting,’ he shot back, a dark expression etched onto his face.

  Okay so he had a point. ‘Well, for your information, I don’t make it a habit.’

  ‘Me either.’

  They stood staring at each other, wearing matching expressions of pain and injured pride.

  ‘Why did you leave?’ he finally asked. His voice had lost the annoyance of a few moments before.

  ‘Because I didn’t want to have the “I’ll call you” farewell, which roughly translates to “Thanks for the tumble in the hay, don’t hold your breath that you’ll ever hear from me again,”’ she told him wearily.

  His face relaxed a little at that and he shook his head. ‘I won’t lie to you, I’ve been guilty of that in the past, in my youth,’ he stressed, ‘but I’ve become a lot more discerning as I’ve got older. I don’t play games, Georgie. I’ve never met anyone like you before and I feel as though we’re a long way from saying goodbye just yet.’

  Georgie let out a long breath. How did he shake her carefully erected defences and common sense with just a look? She’d had her share of romances, but nothing serious and few that ever went anywhere other than the occasional movie or dinner. In one night, this man had managed to sneak under her defences and defuse all her alarms.

  ‘Look, I don’t really know anything about you, and I wouldn’t normally have done what I did last night.’ Her voice stammered a little as the memory of exactly what she had done last night, and she cleared her throat quickly. ‘I would never usually go home with a stranger. I’ve never gone home with a stranger,’ she corrected weakly, as the implications of her actions sank in. What if he’d been a serial killer or something? She had been fairly certain he wasn’t, but still … that was probably exactly what every victim of a serial killer thought too.

  ‘I guess we’ve just established that last night was a first for both of us then,’ he said, relaxing and leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. ‘I can’t say I’ve ever felt a need to track down a woman this early in the morning before either, but here I am.’

  She felt herself relax too as she took in his wry grin. ‘So why have you?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged. ‘I woke up and realised you’d left, and I couldn’t shake this horrible feeling that letting you go would be a big mistake.’

  A little bubble of surprise and excitement fluttered around inside her at his words. She couldn’t deny that she’d felt a pang of regret as she’d turned at his guesthouse doorway and taken one last look at him before leaving. Whatever last night was—as foolish as it may have been—a tiny piece of her was glad she’d done it.

  She liked his grin, the one that tugged his mouth up slightly on one side. The dark stubble covering his chin and jawline wasn’t the designer stubble that some men sported these days, his was the kind that had grown overnight and she could imagine the feel of it now against her skin as he kissed his way down—

  ‘Georgie?’

  ‘Sorry, what?’ she said with a notable start, snapping from her momentary lapse in concentration.

  ‘I said, it was fun though, wasn’t it?’

  Swallowing over her embarrassment, Georgie could only manage a brief smile. ‘Yes, it was, but fun isn’t something that fits into my life right now.’

  ‘That sounds like a pretty depressing kind of life,’ he said doubtfully.

  ‘Well not all fun, obviously, just that kind of fun.’

  ‘What if there was more to this than just fun?’

  ‘There isn’t,’ she said pointedly.

  ‘But we can’t know that.’

  ‘Yes. We can. The fact that this was completely out of cha
racter for both of us tells me that this was only ever supposed to be an escape from reality. In our real lives, we would never have even met, so how could this possibly be anything more?’

  ‘I’d like to get to know you better and find out.’

  Georgie gave a shake of her head, perplexed by the man’s stubbornness. It was too early for this; she hadn’t even had coffee yet.

  ‘Would you like to come in and have coffee?’ She stepped back and allowed him to enter the somewhat claustrophobic room.

  ‘I’d like,’ he said, stepping closer and slipping his arms around her waist, ‘to pick up where we left off last night.’

  With his body so close to hers, familiar feelings from the night before began to reawaken and all her protestations flew out the window.

  Later, when they collapsed exhausted on the bed, he lay close and she had no urge to run away.

  They ventured outside to buy breakfast, which was really closer to lunch, and spent the day driving around the countryside. The scenery was breathtaking at this time of year. Huge Chinese pistachio trees throughout town were a magnificent spectacle of colour. Leaves of red, yellow and orange had burst into life everywhere. Georgie and Michael walked down to the lush green park to lie in the sunshine beneath sweeping willow trees and stare at the clouds.

  Georgie smiled to herself. This was not what she’d expected when she’d agreed to a weekend away with Shannon. The B&S was one thing, but she’d imagined today would be a lazy recovery day and catch-up before they headed their separate ways. Shannon had called earlier to make sure she was okay, and to gush about Brent. She was full of apologies over their girls’ weekend not turning out to be quite so girl focused, and Georgie listened patiently as Shannon rattled on about this amazing guy she’d just met. She sounded positively smitten. Which wasn’t unusual for Shannon. She’d always been the one who was boy crazy. As kids, when they imagined what their futures would be like, Shannon’s always involved finding her knight in shining armour and a fairytale wedding. So far she’d only managed to find a bunch of not-so-shining tossers in tinfoil.

  ‘I promise I’ll take a week off soon and come out to stay so we can really catch up,’ Shannon had said.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. This whole weekend was kind of spur of the moment anyway—we only really decided to do it as a bit of a laugh.’

  ‘I know, but I feel bad that I talked you into taking time away from the farm and then I abandoned you. Although apparently someone wanted to find out where you were staying … Is anything happening there that I should know about?’

  ‘Nope, nothing to report,’ Georgie said lightly. Nothing she was willing to share right now anyway. Despite Shannon being her best friend, Georgie preferred to keep some things private—especially when she couldn’t even figure out herself what last night meant.

  ‘I don’t want to leave you by yourself today. Do you want me to see if Brent can track down Michael and we can all do something together? Although he’s apparently even more of a workaholic than you are,’ she added, lowering her voice.

  ‘No, that’s okay, don’t worry about it. I might go shopping for supplies and have a bit of a relax. I’ll be fine.’

  ‘Then let’s meet up for breakfast before you go tomorrow. Brent’s talked his brother into flying back and he’s going to drive me home. We can meet up before we all take off.’

  ‘Ah okay, sure.’ She looked across at Michael. ‘Breakfast tomorrow with Brent and his brother would be good.’

  Michael lifted an eyebrow, sending her an amused look.

  ‘I’d better go, I need to check in at home. I’ll see you in the morning.’

  Michael turned his head to look at her as she put her phone away. ‘So Shannon isn’t aware that we spent the night together,’ Georgie began. ‘And apparently Brent’s driving her home and we’re all having breakfast in the morning before you fly out.’

  Michael pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. ‘Two missed calls from Brent,’ he said ruefully. He listened to the messages before replying to a text, then put his phone away. ‘Apparently I’m flying home,’ he informed her dryly, ‘and Brent’s taking a few extra days to drive to Brisbane, via Sydney.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ Georgie said with a lopsided smile. ‘I hope that’s not a problem for you.’

  ‘Nope. I should have expected it. Brent does have a tendency to fall for pretty women. A little too often sometimes.’

  Georgie frowned at that. ‘Should I be warning Shannon?’

  ‘You think she’d listen?’ Michael asked doubtfully.

  ‘Maybe we should be warning your brother. Shannon doesn’t really do serious relationships … just frequent ones.’

  ‘They’re both old enough to take care of themselves without us butting in.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right.’

  ‘Was there a reason you didn’t tell her we were spending the day together?’

  Georgie fought against the urge to squirm. ‘I just didn’t want her making a big deal out of it. She’s always trying to hook me up with men or push me into dating,’ she said irritably. ‘I’d just like to keep this between … us.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ he said lightly. ‘What are you doing tomorrow after breakfast?’ He linked fingers with hers and turned his head to watch her next to him on the grass.

  ‘Going home.’

  ‘Can you stay longer? Spend the day with me?’ he asked.

  Georgie blinked up at the sky. What was happening to her? She was always so reliable, dedicated. Her work always came first and yet here she was, actually considering changing her plans to spend the day with a man she barely knew. She hesitated at that though. Technically, she supposed he was still someone she’d only met the night before, but they’d spent so much time together today and she’d found herself telling Michael things she’d never considered telling anyone before—certainly not someone she’d met on a date. This, however, was not a date. Somehow, after last night they’d skipped the first date and moved on to something else. It wasn’t just the intimacy of the sex that had propelled them ahead; the feeling that had compelled him to come and find her this morning had been lingering within her too.

  She felt different when she was around him. She opened up about things she’d never consider telling anyone else. She was a bit of a hermit, all things considered. Other than Shannon, whom she spoke to most days in some form or other, Matt was the only person she was around on a regular basis and they didn’t have these kind of deep conversations. It didn’t feel like she and Michael had only just met—she felt as though they’d known each other for far longer.

  ‘If you can’t, I understand,’ he said, finally breaking the silence between them.

  ‘It’s not that I don’t want to,’ she sighed.

  ‘Then explain it to me,’ he said, heaving himself onto one elbow to look down into her face.

  Distracted by the shadows that played across his face, intensifying its rugged appeal, it took her a moment to remember his question.

  ‘I don’t just take days off … I guess I’m kind of boring like that.’

  ‘I don’t think you fit into the boring category,’ he assured her as he lightly traced the outline of hip.

  ‘Shannon’s always trying to get me to go away more, but she just doesn’t get it. I actually like being on the property. I have responsibilities, it’s not a nine-to-five job like hers.’

  Georgie had a plan, and plans didn’t come cheap. Her goal was to work her butt off, save like crazy and gain enough experience so she could secure a loan to buy back her family property. Tamban. The name always brought a mix of joy and pain whenever she thought of it. The memories of her childhood were always bittersweet. She’d had the perfect childhood—fresh air and sunshine, animals to care for, the room to run and roam as she pleased. There were always chores and plenty of helping around the property, but she’d loved it. She’d been her dad’s shadow as a kid—afternoons spent sitting beside him as they drove out to check fenc
es and feed livestock had been some of her most treasured. Whenever she thought about home, she could almost smell the scent of warm biscuits just out of the oven and her mother’s beautiful smile and tight hugs. But invariably linked with those memories were the ones that hurt, and she could never have one without the other.

  ‘We’re very alike,’ Michael interrupted her thoughts. ‘I’m usually considered a bit of a workaholic. Brent’s always on my case about getting out and having fun too.’

  Georgie smiled and reached up to run her hand down the length of his face and along his jaw. She watched his eyes darken and zone in on her gaze. No one had ever looked at her the way this man did. It wasn’t so much looking at her as looking into her.

  ‘Georgie, I know this puts you in a tough position, but I don’t want this to end yet.’ His voice was gravelly and low, each word sealing her fate.

  ‘Me either,’ she admitted softly. This guy was dangerous. When she was around him, she didn’t feel like reliable, grown-up Georgie anymore.

  Later, when they went back to her motel, Georgie looked at the luxurious new four-wheel drive parked next to her ute and glanced uneasily at Michael.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked warily.

  ‘Nice wheels.’

  He flashed a smile and gave an offhand shrug. ‘It’s not really mine, it belongs to the business.’

  He must have really thought he was slumming it getting into her poor old beast. A niggling voice in the back of her mind kept trying to raise the concern that this guy was too far out of her league, but every instinct told Georgie he was being honest with her. He genuinely seemed to enjoy her company as much as she enjoyed his. Then again, what did she really know about relationships? She’d never had a serious one before. She’d always had bigger plans.

  Four

  Michael glanced at the woman lying on the blanket beside him and gave a silent, rueful chuckle. If anyone he knew could see him now, they wouldn’t recognise him. Michael Delacourt didn’t do lazy weekends picnicking in the park. He couldn’t even recall the last time he’d done anything that didn’t involve work on a weekend. The drive out here, he and Brent on a spontaneous road trip, had opened his eyes to just how much of life seemed to be passing him by.