Road Trip with the Eligible Bachelor

by Michelle Douglas

  ‘No.’ The word shot out of him. A moment later his head snapped up. ‘I mean, I know that’s what the Fairhalls do and what we’re known for, but it was always Daniel’s passion, not mine.’

  A sliver of ice traced a path down her back. ‘What were you doing before you made the move to politics?’

  ‘I was a lawyer.’

  ‘Oh?’ She injected every ounce of curiosity and interest that she could into that single syllable.

  ‘I worked for a big firm in Sydney that prided itself on its social conscience.’ He named the firm.

  ‘I’ve heard of them!’

  ‘Yeah.’ He grinned crookedly and it flipped her heart right over. ‘We made the news a lot. We’d take on high profile cases and charge through the nose so we could afford to subsidise the cases we were really interested in.’

  ‘You guys did great work.’

  ‘We did.’ He sobered. ‘They still do.’

  Without him. And that was the moment she realised what he wasn’t saying. ‘You’re keeping the family tradition alive by giving all of that up and going into politics.’

  He glanced up as if he’d heard the censure in her voice. ‘I will do good work in politics too, Quinn.’

  ‘I don’t doubt it.’ But at what cost to himself?

  The silence between them stretched. Eventually she cleared her throat. ‘You know what you said to me yesterday afternoon about who I reminded you of?’

  He stilled.

  ‘Is that a good thing or a bad thing?’ Did it bring him pain to spend time in her company?

  His lips lifted. It was as if she’d removed a weight from him. He met her gaze. ‘A good thing.’

  She didn’t know what to say after that.

  He went to top up her glass but she snatched it up and shook her head. ‘I really should go to bed now.’

  ‘It’s not even eight o’clock.’ He set the wine bottle down with an audible thump. ‘What are you afraid of, Quinn? That I’m going to make a pass at you and pressure you to have sex with me?’

  The thought filled her with a heat almost impossible to ignore, although she did her best to do precisely that. ‘I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.’

  ‘You’re not.’

  She leaned towards him. ‘I haven’t done anything impulsive in a very long time. To be honest, me and impulsive are barely on speaking terms these days. But this trip, and you, it feels as if...’

  ‘What?’

  He’d stilled but she recognised the hunger burning deep in his eyes. ‘This trip feels like a timeout from the real world, and it feels as if what happens now couldn’t possibly affect the future.’

  ‘And that scares you.’

  ‘You’re darn tootin’ it scares me. I know it’s an illusion, a lie. How on earth do you think I ended up single with two children?’

  Even in the dark she could see the way he paled.

  ‘Aidan, we’re from two different worlds.’ Which wasn’t precisely true. ‘And we’re on two different paths.’ Which was. ‘You’re a politician who certainly doesn’t want to blot his copybook by doing something reckless. And I’m a single mum who can’t afford the luxury of recklessness.’

  She stared down at her hands. ‘I’ve turned my whole world upside down and there’s a part of me that’s screaming in panic. I like you, you’re a very attractive man, but I don’t want to go looking for comfort and reassurance where I shouldn’t. Experience warns me it will only get me into trouble.’

  ‘I don’t want to cause you any trouble, Quinn.’

  ‘I know that.’ She rose. ‘Which is why I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Thank you for the wine.’

  He didn’t say anything, but she could feel the weight of his gaze and it slowed her steps. But it didn’t stop them.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  AIDAN MADE COFFEE—instant—from the complimentary jug and tiny sachets in his cabin. The cheap shorts and T-shirt he’d bought at a discount store in Norseman’s surprisingly adequate shopping strip yesterday scraped against his skin with an unfamiliar stiffness. That said, they were strangely comfortable, even if they didn’t fit as well as the closetful of designer clothes he had in his apartment in Sydney. He slid on his brand new tennis shoes and, mug in hand, headed outside.

  The harsh Outback light bouncing off caravan windows made him blink and he had to squint until his eyes adjusted. He’d slept later than he’d meant to, but with the easy, unhurried hours Quinn kept he didn’t think that’d be a problem. He glanced around and something tugged at him, something off-key that he couldn’t identify. Stifling a yawn, he shrugged it off. This whole situation was strange and off-key.

  He ambled up and down the line of cabins and caravans for a bit, reminding himself to get what exercise he could. Mind you, they were only going as far as Madura today—less than six hours of driving. He spent twice that long in his office chair most days.

  For pity’s sake, they were still only eight hours from Perth! They had another twenty to go before they reached Adelaide. That was what was off-key—this plodding, leisurely pace. He sipped coffee and then frowned. No, what was off-key was his easy acceptance of it.

  He closed his eyes and shadows danced behind his eyelids as he acknowledged his utter disinterest in returning to Sydney and his wretched campaign.

  But the way his mother’s voice had quickened on the phone last night. He forced his eyes open again. Her immediate interest and concern had pulled her out from beneath a morass of apathy. Just like that.

  It was why he’d bought the wine. It was why he’d sought out Quinn’s company. He’d been searching for solace and reassurance.

  Liar.

  He blinked.

  You wanted her. You still want her. You hoped—

  No he didn’t! His head reared back. He...

  His brain synapses slowed to the consistency of cold treacle. Realisation spread like a toxic chill. He did find Quinn attractive. Very attractive. From the moment when he’d nearly kissed her yesterday he hadn’t been able to get the thought of what she’d taste like out of his mind.

  He scratched a hand through his hair and scowled at his feet. Why had he hidden his motives behind a barricade of petty justifications and oh-woe-is-me excuses?

  His lungs suddenly cramped. Because of Danny? Because Danny was no longer around to pursue and woo a pretty woman?

  For a moment he thought he might throw up.

  And then, out of all the spinning chaos in his mind, one tiny shard of comprehension detached itself. That sense of wrongness when he’d stepped out of his cabin...

  He spun, coffee flying out in an arc around him. Her car was gone. Quinn’s car was gone. She’d left him. Abandoned him!

  Air punched out of his lungs. He bent at the waist, resting a hand against his knee, while he fought to get oxygen back into his body. He’d screwed up. Royally. Quinn’s every instinct last night had been spot on. He might’ve lied to himself, but she’d seen through him. He’d gone looking for temporary respite in its nearest available form—Quinn.

  Why? Because he’d felt backed into a corner after that phone call with his mother? What on earth did that have to do with Quinn? Nothing!

  He straightened. Taking, that was all he’d been interested in. He deserved this. Totally deserved it. But...

  He braced an arm against the side of Quinn’s caravan—Quinn’s empty caravan—and rested his head against it.

  ‘Aidan?’

  He lifted his head.

  ‘Aidan?’

  He jerked around.

  Quinn!

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Her brows drew together.

  He glanced beyond her to see the station wagon parked on the other side of the caravan. Robbie and Chase loitered nearby. ‘I, uh...just waking up. Where have you been?’ His voice came out on a croak.

  ‘Just into town to grab some supplies. This is the last decent-sized town now until we reach Ceduna or Port Augusta.’ She shrugged. ‘On impulse we
popped out to the Beacon Hill lookout.’ She shifted her weight. ‘I left a message for you at reception in case you were looking for us.’

  Of course she had!

  She frowned then and planted her hands on her hips. He didn’t want her to question him too closely. ‘What time do you want to set off?’

  ‘Within the hour.’

  ‘I’ll...um...go get packed up.’

  He stumbled back into his cabin and collapsed onto the sofa and dropped his head to his hands, his coffee mug still dangling from his fingers. He’d been given a second chance.

  Don’t mess it up!

  * * *

  Aidan intended on being the best darn travelling companion Quinn and her kids had ever had.

  With his encouragement, the boys spent most of the first hour telling him about the Beacon Hill lookout. They’d seen salt lakes and giant mine tailing dumps. The view obviously hadn’t been pretty, but it had certainly left an impression. He tried to squash the sense of having been left out. Instead he recalled his gratitude when he’d lifted his head to see Quinn standing in front of him this morning.

  The talk moved from that lookout in particular to lookouts in general and Aidan found himself trying to describe the view from Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro.

  And to then explaining that there weren’t any tigers in South America, other than in zoos. Which in turn led to a discussion about zoos. The boys loved zoos—no surprises there. ‘You should get your mum to take you to Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney once you’ve settled in. It’ll only be a couple of hours in the car.’

  ‘You live in Sydney,’ Robbie said. ‘You could come too.’

  ‘If I’m free it’s a date,’ he promised.

  Quinn glanced at her watch. ‘Okay, you have an hour of Gameboy time if you want it.’

  The boys were soon immersed in their games. She glanced at him, their eyes clashed for the merest fraction of a second before she whipped her gaze back to the road. Damn it! He didn’t want her feeling tense around him. He wanted her relaxed and happy. Not because he wanted to seduce her, but because she was a nice woman who’d helped him out and she deserved good things in return.

  He shifted on his seat, cleared his throat. ‘I’ve gotta say the variety and splendour of this scenery is something to behold.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Dirt and scrub for as far as the eye can see. You could go a long way before seeing something so...’

  ‘Appealing? Engaging? Captivating?’ All words that could describe her. He cut off further musings in that direction. It wasn’t going to happen.

  ‘It’s amazing, though, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘It’s so unvarying, so...unrelieved.’

  ‘I think it’s amazing anyone can eke a living out here.’

  She puffed out a breath. ‘I don’t think I could live so far from civilisation.’

  Polite chit-chat. Nothing threatening. He excelled at this stuff. He bit back a sigh.

  From the corner of his eye he saw her glance at him again. He lifted his chin. ‘Do you know we’re now on the single longest piece of straight road in Australia?’

  ‘A hundred and forty-six point six kilometres.’

  She did know.

  ‘Aidan, you’re being great with the boys and I appreciate it, but I don’t want you to feel as if you have to make promises to them.’

  The change in topic threw him. ‘I don’t. I...’ He stared at her. ‘You mean the zoo?’

  She nodded.

  He rolled his shoulders and stared back out to the front. ‘If you want the truth, I’d love to spend the day with you and the boys at the zoo.’

  Her knuckles whitened around the steering wheel and he snatched back a curse. ‘I’ve not had much to do with kids. I didn’t know...’

  She didn’t look at him. ‘What?’

  ‘I didn’t know how much fun they’d be or how much I’d enjoy their company.’

  Her knuckles returned to their normal colour. ‘Really?’

  ‘I always figured I’d marry and have kids one day. I mean, it’s what you do, isn’t it?’ He scraped a hand across his jaw. ‘But... Now I know that’s what I want.’

  The softest of smiles touched her lips and an ache started up deep inside him. An ache that stretched and burned and settled in his groin. He shifted on the seat and did what he could to ignore it. ‘I gotta tell you the conversation I had with the boys over hopscotch yesterday.’

  He proceeded to tell her about Robbie’s question and the plan they’d concocted between them, embellishing where he could until she was laughing so hard he had to reach out and help her steer for a moment.

  ‘Oh, that’s priceless.’ She dabbed at her eyes—first with her left wrist and then with her right.

  She had colour in her cheeks. She’d stopped biting her lip every other minute. He settled back into his seat and listened as she hummed along to a song on the radio. The view outside hadn’t changed—still an unending expanse of sand and scrub—but it somehow looked brighter and more inviting than it had earlier.

  * * *

  They reached Madura late afternoon. They’d had what Chase quaintly phrased ‘pit stops’ at Balladonia and Caiguna. Settlements that were mere specks on the maps. Balladonia had a population of nine. Nine! That put the concept of isolation into perspective. The boys had a lot of fun choosing the nine people they’d most like to have in town...and the nine they’d least want.

  Like the rest of the Nullarbor Plain, they were dry dusty places with that same endless low scrub. But they did have roadhouses and accommodation.

  Madura was a little larger and some would say a little more scenic, situated as it was at the base of the Hampton Tablelands. As far as Aidan could tell, that just meant that the land undulated a bit more. They booked rooms at the motel and the boys were over the moon to discover it had a pool.

  Which was how Aidan found himself wandering around outside the pool fence with Quinn while the boys splashed and whooped inside. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Robbie race from one end of the pool enclosure to the other as a run-up for a big jump into the water. It had been a long time since he could remember running for the sheer joy of it. He wouldn’t mind running now.

  He ran a finger around the collar of his T-shirt and reminded himself he was a grown man. ‘Quinn, about last night...’

  She tensed. She tensed so much she stopped walking.

  He squinted at the sky. ‘Last night I was feeling at a bit of a loss. I didn’t know what to do with myself.’

  She started a jerky forward motion again. ‘Because of your conversation with your mother?’

  ‘Do you think it’s crazy of me to worry about her?’

  ‘No.’

  His collar stopped trying to strangle him.

  She glanced at him. ‘Do you read?’

  ‘Sure I do. Not that I get much time for it.’ When she raised an exaggerated eyebrow he had to nod. ‘You’re right, there’s plenty of time for it at the moment.’

  ‘If you’re interested, I have a few books in the back of the car.’

  Reading for pleasure had become a rare treat. He straightened. ‘I’d love to borrow one.’

  ‘C’mon, then.’ She hitched her head in the direction of the car.

  She moved with the grace of a gazelle, dainty and elegant, though neither of those things hid her supple strength. He had to force his gaze from the long length of her legs and back to his surroundings before he betrayed himself.

  She shifted a couple of boxes in the wagon and then pointed. ‘That box there, can you drag it out?’

  He did. When he peered inside it his lip started to curl. ‘Science textbooks?’

  Her grin was sudden and swift and he thanked heaven he was leaning against the car or he might’ve fallen face first into the dirt. ‘I worked in one of the science departments at the University of Western Australia and one of the professors had a clean-out of his bookshelves last week. I helped myself to a couple.’

  Good Lord, why? He didn’t ask, but s
he must’ve seen the question in his face. ‘If you find such things dull and dry, they’re guaranteed to put you to sleep in five minutes flat.’

  She didn’t find them dull or dry, though, did she? What had she meant to do with her life before fate had intervened in the shape of an unplanned pregnancy? He stared at the textbooks.

  ‘Dig deeper.’ She nodded at the box. ‘There’s quite a selection in there.’

  He chose an autobiography of a famous actor. He turned it face out to show her. ‘Do you mind? I’ve been wanting to read this for ages.’

  ‘Help yourself.’

  He packed the box back up and stacked it in its original position. When he finished he turned to find her leaning against the car with her eyes closed and her face lifted to the sun.

  A breath eased out of him.

  Her eyes sprang open. ‘What?’

  Stop staring! He shut the trunk. ‘I was just thinking how much more relaxed you look today than you did yesterday or the day before.’

  ‘Oh, that.’ She blinked and then she smiled and it was such a beautiful smile the breath punched out of him all over again. There were moments when this woman smiled with her whole being, the way Daniel used to. It made him crave something he had no name for.

  ‘When we set off from Perth I started having panic attacks wondering if I was doing the right thing or not.’

  ‘And now?’ His heart pounded though he couldn’t have explained why.

  ‘Now I’ve decided to embrace what’s ahead of me—to enjoy it and make the absolute best of it.’

  ‘Bravo!’ No sooner had the word left his mouth than his mind started to whirl. Could he take a leaf out of her book, follow her example? Could he find a way to embrace the course set before his feet—the political life?

  His legs and shoulders grew heavy. The day darkened, even though the sun remained high and warm above them.

  They started walking again because their only two options were walking or sitting and they’d both had enough of sitting.