the heat that emanated from him as he pulled her against him in the lift, the taste of his lips when he closed his apartment door and kissed her, the breeze over her bare skin as he lifted her dress over her head, and finally the look in his eyes as he took her to his bed.
She could sleep with Josh to satisfy her curiosity and desire but nothing more would come of it. She remembered the photo of them dancing and she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep with him without exposing herself to heartache, she would be leaving herself wide open. She’d never had a one-night stand and she wasn’t going to start now.
Maybe she should put a stop to this fake relationship before she got any more involved. Before it was too late.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GEORGIE was flat out for the next couple of days and it had nothing to do with work. She’d spent a pleasant day with her parents following Isaac’s wedding, although she found herself watching her dad carefully, looking for any sign that he was unwell. Her parents were only in their mid-sixties and it was the first time she’d really thought about them getting old. Her dad was semi-retired; he was a builder and he’d worked hard and always been in good physical shape, but perhaps the years had taken their toll on him. It wouldn’t be unusual. But Georgie had never imagined her life without her parents. Keeping a close eye on him while trying not to make him aware of her attention was difficult but thankfully she didn’t see anything that concerned her.
Con and Anastasia arrived the next day and Georgie found herself playing tour guide to not one elderly couple but two. She’d organised to take them up to Kuranda, a town in the rainforest hinterland inland from Cairns. Travelling by a combination of cable car and old steam train, it was an extremely touristy thing to do but Con and Anastasia seemed to enjoy the outing and were appreciative of the effort Georgie had made.
But the combination of looking for anything untoward with her father’s health and being a shining example of a perfect daughter meant she was exhausted by the end of the day and she was looking forward to returning to work.
Until she got there.
The first thing she saw on the noticeboard in the kitchen was photos of Isaac and Lani’s wedding. That was fine, except that when she got closer to the board she saw that most of the photos were of her with Josh. Lou was in the kitchen, making herself a coffee, and Georgie knew she was watching her, waiting to see her reaction.
‘Who put these up?’ she asked.
Lou stirred milk into her coffee. ‘Marty. He’s taking bets on whether your relationship with Josh is happening for real now.’
‘He’s doing what?’
‘He seems to think that you and Josh are dating seriously now.’
‘And what about everyone else? What do they think?’ She’d been off work for two days and this was what had happened? She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
‘I think they’d be quite happy to believe it. You do make a good couple.’
‘Not you as well, Lou?’
‘Don’t worry, I haven’t put any money on you either way, I value my life too much.’
That was why this whole fake relationship was a dumb idea. She didn’t want to be gossiped about. She’d conveniently forgotten all the reasons why she hadn’t wanted to do this but Lou was rapidly reminding her. ‘What about Josh? What has he said?’
‘He said nothing’s going on but it seems most people are choosing not to believe him.’
Georgie was mortified. ‘Is he working today?’ She had to find him.
Lou was nodding. ‘He came in just before you. He should be in the change room.’
Georgie didn’t bother saying goodbye to Lou, she bolted for the change room and hoped and prayed she’d find Josh alone. He was just coming out as she got there. She grabbed him by the arm. ‘Can I talk to you? Somewhere private?’
‘Sure. What’s this about?’ he asked as she dragged him outside. She took him around the QMERT building, on the opposite side to the helicopters—that way she was pretty sure they wouldn’t be interrupted.
‘Do you know what Marty’s doing?’
‘Running a book?’ He nodded. ‘Yeah, I know. Pretty funny, don’t you think?’
‘No, I don’t think.’
He was frowning now. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘This is just what I didn’t want, people gossiping about me. This is why dating a