Road Trip with the Eligible Bachelor

by Michelle Douglas

  Both boys started to bounce.

  A knock sounded on the door. Before she could move, a voice on the other side called out, ‘It’s Aidan.’

  ‘Come on in,’ she called back. Reclining on her bed probably wasn’t the best place to receive visitors—especially one as alluring as Aidan—but she did have the safeguard of two young boys tucked in at her sides and they’d banish anything loaded from the situation.

  When he saw them, Aidan’s grin hooked up one side of his mouth. ‘That rest you said you were going to take...’ He glanced at the bouncing, wide-awake boys. ‘It looks...uh...successful.’

  She forced her eyes wide. ‘Oh, yes.’

  They both laughed.

  Chase launched himself off the bed and across to Aidan. ‘Mum said we might go to the zoo tomorrow.’

  Aidan lounged in the doorway, all hot, relaxed male, and it made her stomach tighten and her breath shorten.

  ‘But only if we let her have a sleep-in first.’ Robbie joined them in the doorway.

  ‘That sounds like a fair exchange.’ Aidan glanced at her and she suddenly realised she was alone, adrift on this enormous bed. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and his eyes darkened.

  She hitched herself up higher against the headboard and made sure her dress covered her legs to below her knees. She avoided direct eye contact, but couldn’t stop herself from looking in his direction. He bent down to whisper something to the boys. They glanced at her with barely contained excitement and raced off to their room.

  And then Quinn found herself alone in all of this five-star luxury with Aidan, and she couldn’t move a muscle. It took all of her strength to wrestle the fantasies rising through her to the ground.

  ‘I hope you’re not going to be upset by what I’ve just organised.’

  She had to get off this bed!

  She swung her legs over the side, forced steel to watery knees and moved across the room to one of a pair of tub chairs. She motioned for Aidan to take the other but he remained lounging in the doorway and she suddenly realised he didn’t trust himself to come any further into the room.

  Heat scorched her cheeks. A whimper rose inside her. She cleared her throat. ‘What have you organised?’

  ‘An afternoon of pampering for you while I take the boys to the movies.’

  ‘Oh! Oh, that sounds divine, but...’

  ‘Please don’t refuse. You put everyone else’s needs before your own and...’ He folded his arms. ‘I wanted to thank you. I really appreciate what you’re doing for me.’

  ‘You’ve repaid me tenfold by helping me give the boys a holiday they’ll never forget.’

  ‘I’m enjoying it as much as they are.’

  So was she.

  ‘So...?’

  There was something in his eyes, something hopeful and happy that she didn’t want to wound. Pampering? She smoothed her dress down over her knees and lifted one shoulder, glancing at him sideways over it. ‘What exactly have you organised?’ What kind of pampering were they talking about here?

  ‘A massage, a facial, a manicure, a pedicure and a stylist for your hair and make-up.’

  Her eyes widened. She did her best not to drool.

  ‘And someone from the hotel boutique will be up with a variety of outfits for you to choose from for tonight.’

  ‘Oh, that’s too much!’

  ‘It’s not half of what you deserve.’

  ‘But...’

  ‘Look, Quinn, I suspect you’d rather just stay in and watch a DVD with the boys than hit the town tonight.’

  Then he thought wrong.

  ‘So I’m trying to make this as pleasant for you as possible.’

  She really should say no.

  ‘I suspect you don’t have anything appropriate in your suitcase to wear for this evening—it wasn’t the kind of trip you had planned—and I don’t want to put you to unnecessary expense and the bother of having to go out at short notice to buy something.’

  It was true. She didn’t have a single thing in her suitcase that would do. She’d been hoping to dash out to buy something. And there was still time, but...

  She should’ve known he’d have taken all of this into account. The allure of a few hours all to herself circled around her, warm with promise. She hadn’t had the kind of pampering Aidan was proposing since the afternoon of her eighteenth birthday party. ‘I should refuse.’

  ‘There are no strings.’

  She smiled. She already knew that. ‘I really should refuse, but I’m afraid your offer is far too tempting. It sounds heavenly, Aidan. Thank you for thinking of it.’

  He grinned at her. Her heart started to thump. She moistened her lips. ‘I’ll just make sure the boys are ready to go to the movies.’

  She started to rise, but a hand on her shoulder kept her in her seat. ‘Leave the boys to me. I’ll collect you for dinner at seven-thirty.’

  And then he was through the adjoining door into the boys’ room with the door between them firmly closed, as if he’d been afraid to linger.

  She hugged herself. He was taking her hands-off policy seriously and it touched her, made her feel safe. Even as it left her body clamouring with frustration.

  * * *

  Quinn swung from surveying herself in the full-length mirror to answer the knock from the adjoining door. The boys’ babysitter stood on the other side—a fresh-faced eighteen-year-old with a wide smile and a winning manner.

  ‘Robbie and Chase want to say goodnight.’

  ‘I’ll come through.’ She went to step into the room but Holly didn’t move. She just stared at Quinn. Quinn swallowed and ran a hand across the electric-blue knit of her dress. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I think you look hot!’ Holly straightened. ‘Oh, I mean—’

  ‘No, no.’ Quinn laughed. ‘That was perfect.’

  Both boys’ eyes widened when she walked into their room. ‘You look beautiful,’ Robbie breathed.

  ‘Beautifuller than beautiful,’ Chase whispered.

  She kissed them both, told them to be good for Holly, double-checked that the sitter had her mobile number, and then moved back into her own room to pace. That was three votes in the pro camp so far, but Aidan’s was the vote that counted.

  Would he think she looked ‘hot’ and ‘beautiful’?

  She sank down to the bed and lifted a leg out to admire her strappy black sandals. A bow studded with diamantés sat high at each ankle. These were definitely wild woman shoes.

  A glance at the clock told her she still had five minutes before Aidan would arrive. She checked her hair in the mirror. It had been swept up into a loose French roll. A couple of tendrils curled by her ears to brush her shoulders and neck. It was an elegant style to counter the sexiness of her dress and shoes and the glitter of dangling diamantés in her ears. She hoped Aidan would approve.

  She stepped back to survey her overall image again. Oh, Lord! What if she’d gone too far and—?

  A knock sounded.

  She swung to stare at the closed door. Her fingers curved around her stomach to try and counter its crazy churning. She suddenly wished herself next door with the boys, watching whatever movie it was that they’d chosen.

  There was another knock.

  Oh, get over yourself!

  She kicked herself forward and opened the door. Aidan stood there in black trousers and a white shirt with a black jacket casually tossed over one shoulder. Her mouth dried. He looked...

  Divine. Scrumptious. Sexy.

  And like a stranger.

  She held her breath and waited for him to smile.

  His gaze swept her from the top of her French roll to the tips of her ruby-coloured toenails, and back again. Her blood thundered in her ears.

  His eyes flashed and his lips pressed into a thin, hard line. Her heart slithered to her knees. She wanted to close the door and hide behind it, but she forced her chin skyward.

  ‘We’d best go if we don’t want to be late.’ Clipped and short, the
words shot out of him like arrows, barbed and flinty.

  ‘I’ll just get my purse.’

  She turned, blinking hard against the stinging in her eyes.

  * * *

  Aidan punched the elevator button and kept his eyes firmly fixed straight ahead.

  Damn it! He should’ve arranged to meet Quinn in the foyer. It would’ve been a heck of a lot safer. What had he been thinking? He tried to slow the tempo of the blood in his veins. He tried to remember to keep breathing. In out. In out. He gritted his teeth. It wasn’t hard.

  The elevator doors slid open on a silent whoosh. He motioned Quinn ahead of him, careful not to touch her. He caught a glimpse of long tanned thigh and swallowed a groan.

  Pull yourself together. He’d seen more of her body at the aquatic centre earlier in the day. He slammed a finger to the button for the ground floor. Hurry up! He didn’t need a confined space at this point in time. He’d made her a promise—a promise he wouldn’t break. His hands clenched. But all he could see from the corner of his eyes was a vibrant tempting blue.

  Her swimsuit had been a simple one-piece designed for modesty. The dress she wore now was anything but. It was flamboyant and provocative. And those heels! She was wearing take-me-to-bed shoes. What he wouldn’t give to do exactly that and—

  Nostrils flaring, he forced his gaze straight ahead to the polished metal of the elevator doors. He stared at them, willed them to open onto the ground floor asap and deposit them into a crowd and safety.

  ‘I’m sorry, Aidan.’ Quinn pushed the button to halt the elevator’s progress. ‘But I can’t do this. I can’t go out if what I’m wearing is inappropriate.’

  He turned. She’d caught her bottom lip between her teeth, but not before he’d seen its betraying wobble. He closed his eyes and tried to collect himself, resisting the urge to run a finger around his collar. ‘Quinn, what you’re wearing is perfect for this evening and—’

  ‘You hate it.’

  He’d hurt her feelings? Careless brute! ‘I love it!’

  ‘No, you—’

  ‘But I’m in danger of forgetting my promise to you so I’m trying to get us out of the danger zone as quickly as I can.’

  She blinked. Not an ounce of comprehension dawned in her eyes. He leaned in closer. ‘At the moment all I want to do is haul you back to your room, toss you onto your bed like some darn caveman and to slowly and very thoroughly explore every—’

  Her hand clapped over his mouth. ‘I get the picture.’ Her voice came out hoarse and she pressed the button to set the elevator in motion again. ‘Sorry, I thought...’

  She brought her hand back. ‘I’ve never worn anything this risqué before and I thought maybe I’d taken the whole wild woman thing too far. I mean, look how short this hem is! Not to mention that this material hugs every curve, leaving next to nothing to the imagination.’

  He closed his eyes again.

  ‘And now I’m rambling. Sorry. Nerves. I have to try to get your suggestion out of my head or...’

  He bit back a groan.

  ‘Not that what you suggested would work in practice.’

  He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

  ‘I mean, the minute the boys heard we were back they’d be straight into my room and I expect that would be something of a mood killer.’

  He laughed then. He couldn’t help it. The door whooshed open and he took her hand to stride out into the foyer. He said now what he should’ve said at her door. ‘Sweetheart, you look absolutely ravishing. I am going to be the envy of every man that claps eyes on you tonight.’

  She beamed back at him. ‘We’re going to have so much fun this evening.’

  They would. Just as long as he remembered the promise he’d made. And kept reminding himself that he was a man of his word.

  * * *

  Quinn was right. Dinner was fun.

  She recounted the pampering she’d received that afternoon, and her sheer enjoyment of it touched him. Life had been unkind to Quinn, but she didn’t waste time feeling sorry for herself. She took full responsibility for her own happiness. Still, it felt good to have given her a treat.

  ‘Have dessert,’ he urged. ‘I mean to.’

  She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t possibly fit it in. But I’d love a coffee.’

  That made him grin. ‘Not used to late nights, Ms Laverty?’

  Her eyes danced. ‘Not ones that don’t involve earaches or tummy upsets.’ She glanced around. ‘I have to say, Aidan, this is a really lovely restaurant.’

  They sat at a window table that overlooked Adelaide’s streetscape. The lights of the city twinkled beneath them with an effervescence he found infectious.

  He ordered coffee for Quinn and chocolate mousse cake for himself. When the waiter had gone, Quinn turned from the view to survey him. ‘So...how will the press know that you’re out on the town tonight?’

  ‘They’ve been tipped off.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘When we leave here there’ll be a photographer somewhere. He could be hidden or he could be brash and in our faces.’

  ‘If it’s the latter, how should I act? Natural or furtive?’

  He considered that. ‘It won’t matter.’ Either would garner his mother’s full attention. ‘And there’ll be more of the same at the nightclub we’re going to.’ He’d arranged for a photographer to get in and take photos of him and Quinn dancing. He didn’t tell her that, though. He didn’t want her feeling self-conscious the entire evening.

  She stared out of the window with pursed lips and he frowned. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘I’m feeling a little uneasy...’

  ‘You don’t need to. I promise to look after you and—’

  ‘About doing all this to sabotage your campaign.’

  He was prevented from answering when the waiter arrived with dessert and coffee.

  ‘But that’s the whole point of the exercise,’ he said when the waiter was gone.

  ‘The point is to rouse your mother from her depression and make her look beyond her grief.’ She reached out and touched his hand. ‘Why can’t you just tell your parents the truth—that you don’t want to be a politician?’

  How could he tell Quinn that her plan was a losing game? His parents loved him, sure, but it had never been on the same scale as they’d loved Danny. Besides, he didn’t want to have that particular conversation with his mother. It wouldn’t be a conversation but an argument. It would end in her tears and his guilt. Lose-lose. This way...

  ‘Aidan?’

  The lights of the city were reflected in her eyes and it made something inside him start to pound. He swallowed and tried to ignore it. ‘If I tell my parents I don’t want to embark on a political career they’ll be mortally offended.’

  She frowned.

  ‘What they’d hear is not that I love my job as a human rights lawyer, but me criticizing their entire way of life and value system. What they’d hear is me spurning their way of life and all they hold dear. And most of all, Quinn, what they’d see is me refusing to bring Danny’s dream to fruition.’ He stared down at the chocolate cake, his appetite all used up. ‘They’d see it as a betrayal.’

  Her lips parted a fraction and her eyes almost seemed to throb. ‘Oh, Aidan,’ she whispered.

  He ached to reach out and touch her.

  ‘So instead you’re going to let them devalue all you hold dear, to belittle the life you want to lead?’

  ‘I can live with that. My losing the campaign will be a blow to them, a major disappointment, but it’s always been on the cards. That’s the nature of politics. But me walking away from it all, they would find that unforgivable.’

  ‘What if you’re wrong?’

  A weight settled on his shoulders. What if they didn’t forgive him for ‘going off the rails’ and inadvertently sabotaging his political career?

  ‘What if you’re short-changing them? It’s possible that they’d understand your position, you know. They don’t so
und like ogres. You’re not narrow-minded. Danny doesn’t sound as if he was narrow-minded, which makes me think they’re not either. You’re not giving them a chance to support you.’

  ‘Danny has only been gone for eight months. I might not be prepared to sacrifice myself to a career in politics, but I’m not prepared to cause them any more pain than necessary. Not at this point in time.’

  They stared at each other for several long moments and he clocked the exact instant she decided to leave it be. He should’ve been relieved, but he wasn’t. Which didn’t make any sense.

  She reached across with her teaspoon and snared a spoonful of his cake. ‘Oh, that is really good. I mean seriously good.’ He went to push it towards her but she shook her head. ‘The last thing you need is to be seen on the dance floor with a woman who has a distended stomach.’

  Her wryness made him laugh. ‘Quinn, when all of this is over, I’d like to keep seeing you.’ Pokolbin was only two hours north of Sydney, maybe two and a half. It wasn’t that far.

  She snagged another spoonful of his cake and shook her head. ‘Not going to happen.’

  He forced himself to have a spoonful of cake too. Forced himself to hide how much her easy rejection cut at him. ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because I refuse to be a part of your strategy to ruin your political career. And we both know a woman like me—a single, unmarried mother with a low-paying job and few qualifications—is not the kind of woman to stand at an aspiring politician’s side.’

  ‘That’s not why I want to see you!’

  ‘Maybe not.’ She ate more cake and she looked utterly in control but the spoon trembled in her hand. ‘But I remind you of Danny. I remind you of better times and I wonder how much of the real me you see.’

  He flinched and abandoned all pretence of eating. ‘You’re just grasping after any excuse. You want to deny what’s happening between us.’

  She set her teaspoon to her saucer. ‘There’s an element of truth in that.’

  Her simple statement made his jaw drop.

  ‘You’re a nice man, Aidan. I like you a lot, but...’ She glanced up and met his gaze. ‘Honesty is important to me.’

  A chill slid beneath his ribs.

  ‘Phillip lied to me about what he really wanted because he thought that was the right thing to do. The same way that you’re lying to your parents.’