PRINCE CHARMING: A Secret Baby Stepbrother Romance (43 page)

“He does seem to like you a lot. I don’t think he goes around handing necklaces to every girl who throws herself at him.”

“And that’s another thing,” Claire said, as if she didn’t hear a thing Amy said other than ‘girls.’ “There are always a lot of women following him around. He is clearly a ladies’ man, and I don’t want to get caught up in that.”

“But you know you don’t have to be,” Amy said. “Maybe just have a little, no strings attached. Get Trent out of your mind. He’s putting a lot of effort into getting your attention. I think he deserves a date at least. Remember, we leave here in a couple of days. Maybe you should oblige him just once so you don’t spend the rest of your life wondering what might have happened if you’d said yes to dinner.”

Claire nodded. Chance had told her Trent didn’t deserve her tears; she could see that now. Still, she wasn’t so sure about running off with a playboy, either.

“I’m going to see if Mom is awake,” she said abruptly, rising to her feet. “I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“I’ll meet you for breakfast in a few,” Claire replied. “I need to wash up first.”

Claire stepped out into the hall just in time to see her mother entering her room. “Mom?” she called in surprise. “Are you just getting in?”

“And what would be so wrong with that?” her mother defended.

“You’re being too defensive,” Claire said as she covered her face. “I don’t even want to know where you have been.”

“Bryan is quite the host,” Willow laughed.

“Gross. No details, please. I’m going to the dining room,” she said before any images of her mother and a man in bed ruined her appetite.

As she waited for her meal, she saw Chance enter the room. Was he stalking her? He had his hands tucked into his pockets as usual, but he seemed unaware of her. She looked at him, willing him to turn and look at her and just when she was about to give up, he looked directly at her. She thought he would smile or wave, but he turned away without doing either. And in that moment, she felt a pang of guilt and tasted rejection again.

Claire wore a dejected look on her face until Amy came down to join her.

“What’s the matter?” she asked as soon as she saw Claire’s face.

“I guess it is a little unnerving when someone has been after you for some time and then suddenly changes their mind.” She offered Amy a fake smile before sticking her fork in the pancake.

“Chance?” she asked. “He said no to you?”

Claire nodded her head. “I saw him earlier and he looked right through me.”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“I don’t know,” Claire heaved an exasperated sigh. “It was just weird.”

“Or maybe you do like him and are afraid to admit it.”

“I don’t know anything anymore, Ames,” she told the girl. “I don’t know half the time what’s going on in my head. When I agreed to this trip I didn’t expect to find someone like Chance here, and he reminds me of Trent sometimes. Remember how it used to be in the beginning?”

“I do,” Amy said. “I also remember what it was like in the end, and that’s what’s important: there was an ending. That wasn’t even the kind of break up that leaves room for a make-up. It is over, and you need to move on and stop wasting time and energy on that loser. No offense.”

“None taken,” Claire added. “It just reminds me of something Chance said this morning,” she said sadly, her head down.

“What did he say?” Amy wanted to know.

“He told me that Trent doesn’t deserve my tears, and that I am beautiful.”

“You already know that. And any man who doesn’t appreciate you is a fool,” Amy said.

“I guess.”

“Don’t lose out on future happiness because you are too busy being sad about the past, Amy.”

“Well, Chance is the past,” Claire said.

“Are you kidding me? For all the effort he put into this, do you think he would just give up like that? I know men like Chance, and they always have a game. I’m thinking he might just be bruised from his encounter with you this morning. Trust me, he’ll watch you from afar until you show him you want him.”

“I don’t know that I want him,” Claire admitted. “Or don’t want him.”

“One day at a time,” Amy said to her.

CHAPTER 10

Chance sat at the corner table watching her. She couldn’t see him now, but he could make her out perfectly. Never in his entire existence had he been so callously cast aside by a woman, and it only made him want her more. He would play it smart, though. He realized that constantly showing her he wanted her wasn’t working, so he was experimenting with something else. When their eyes had locked before, he had pretended she meant nothing to him when all he wanted to do was run over and scoop her up in his arms and kiss the lips he had been yearning for.

He had turned away but had seen how disappointed she had looked—or was it surprise? Still, he reveled in his small victory, though at present he didn’t feel like a winner. She would be at the hotel for a few more days, according to Amy, and if she left before he got through to her, he would be forced to follow her halfway across the world. Or lose her forever.

He was still brooding when Bryan walked up to the table. “What’s so interesting over there?” he asked him as he sat down.

“Hey,” he answered, but he didn’t answer his dad’s question.

Bryan looked around and smiled. “I’ve seen you with that girl. I think she is pretty. But then, you always did know how to pick ‘em.”

“Not now, Dad,” Chance grumbled. “I’m not that into her.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that based on how fixated your eyes are on that particular table.”

“There happen to be two women over there,” he said and sipped his coffee. “Anyway, what have you been up to?”

“Me? Nothing much.” He looked absently around the room.

“That’s what you call her?” he asked. “I’ve seen you sneaking out of your room like a teenager.”

“Watch it, son,” Bryan said sternly.

Chance laughed. “Every bit the player you have always been.”

“No reason to quit the game while I’m still breathing, right?” he asked. “But I kind of like this one, you know. She is different, and there comes a time when a man must stop running.”

“You’ve been running?” Chance asked.

“When was the last time you saw me serious about a woman?”

Chance thought about that for a minute. “I believe you are right. No one really since Mom died.”

“Your mom was my life, but I have to move on at some point.” He looked over at the table where Amy and Claire sat. “Besides, I have set a bad example for you.”

“Teaching me to be a player? Of course not, Dad.”

“All I’m trying to say, son, is don’t be a rolling stone like your old man. Find a woman that means something and stick to her.”

“Wait, was that actual fatherly advice?” Chance grinned. “When did you get so philosophical?”

“Yeah, don’t get used to it; I’m not so good at that,” he said and ruffled his hair. “I do need some heirs, you know. Anyway, I need to get some sleep.”

“Sleep? It’s only eight in the…oh…I see what’s happening,” Chance laughed. “Or happened.”

“Too smart for your own good,” he grinned sheepishly. “I’ll see you later.”

“You know what,” he said to his father. “I believe you just gave me an idea.”

“Uh-oh. Should I be concerned?”

“You should be proud,” he said to him and ruffled the old man’s hair when he walked past.

Chance had no intention of surrendering his game; if anything, he planned to up the ante. His stunt this morning was just to get her attention, to test how much of an effect he’d had on her. It probably wasn’t the best thing to have done, but he had to do something to get a reaction out of her. Better any reaction than a cold shoulder. Chance made sure not to look at her when he was leaving but still walked by close enough so she could see him walking by her. He smiled when he imagined what Amy and Claire would think as he hurried to his room to make preparations for what he was sure would happen soon enough.

***

Chance waited on his balcony until he saw movement in her room. He leaned against the rail and pretended he didn’t see her watching him. He flexed his muscles and searched the beach for nothing in particular, all the while spying on her out of the corner of his eye. Almost nonchalantly, he turned and stretched, and his face showed recognition when he saw her. He smiled and waved quickly before going back into his room.

He fell against the bed, feeling like an idiot. What if she didn’t take the bait? He wasn’t even sure this was going to work. Damn it! Maybe he should just go over and ask her to dinner before another man beat him to it. Or, even worse, before she believed he was no longer interested and the opportunity passed him by. He was doing it all wrong.

With his heart in his hands, he crossed the courtyard and stood just beneath her window. He picked up a pebble and tossed it at the lattice door. He waited anxiously for a few seconds before tossing another. He was just about to toss the third when she came out on the balcony.

“I thought that might be you,” she said and leaned over to look at him. “You need to grow up, you know.”

“Would you like to go to dinner with me?” he asked. “You can’t say no.”

“In that case, I guess I have no choice,” she smiled back. “But I’m not hungry.”

“Okay then, how about a stroll on the beach? We can eat dinner later,” he said. His confidence was returning now that he hadn’t been rejected.

“I guess,” she said. “Nothing better to do. Let me get dressed.”

“I’ll be waiting here,” he responded and watched as she disappeared inside.

Chance couldn’t remember the last time he felt so nervous about being with a person; Claire was a force to be reckoned with. She was strong and stubborn, from what he could tell, and she could easily blow him off whenever she felt like it. He wasn’t really in control of this game.

Claire walked up behind him without him realizing it. She tapped him on the shoulder.

Chance jumped and turned to her. “I didn’t see you come up.”

“Maybe you should pay more attention,” she said.

“Maybe,” he replied with a grin.

Claire was absolutely taken by his good looks, his dimples, and the commanding air he possessed. He seemed confident and self-assured, and she wasn’t sure she was a good fit for him. Still, this was a vacation, and this fling would probably end with the week.

“So deep,” she smiled.

Chance beamed as he enjoyed his mini victory, and he cringed when he passed the same girl who had been vying for his attention the day before. She stared at him incredulously and looked Claire up and down.

Claire glanced back at the girl after they had passed, and she noticed Chance looking dead ahead. “One of your admirers?” she asked.

“Yep,” he replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “Nothing happened between us if that’s what you are wondering. Not when you’ve occupied my head.”

“Is that so?”

He smiled and took her hand as they wove through the tables and chairs in the courtyard. He was content to be in control of his game once more, at least for the time being.

***

Chance shared his knowledge and adventures with Claire as they sat in the dinghy on the lagoon.

“Are you sure about this?’ Claire asked as she looked at the little space they shared on the small boat.

“About what? Have you never been in a canoe?”

“No,” she said as she shook her head.

“Now that’s frightening. The first time my father took me in that thing I almost died,” he laughed. “Especially after it collapsed.”

“I’m a good swimmer, but that doesn’t mean I want to be stuck underwater with this thing over me,” Claire laughed. “So if you’re trying to frighten me, it won’t work.”

“I won’t let you drown, Claire,” he grinned. “Even if my life depended on it.”

Hearing him say her name for the first time, she felt warm and fuzzy inside as she recorded his words and played them over and over again in her mind. “You’d better not,” she exclaimed and looked down into the water.

From where he sat across from her, Chance watched Claire stare at the water below them and put her hand over the side of the boat to comb the water as it moved. They could see the sand at the bottom, and the small fish that raced along. He watched her as she focused on taking in all the sights around her like a child might. Gosh, she was beautiful, and all he wanted to do was pull her to him and kiss her, but he didn’t want to spook her. It had taken him far too long to gain her attention to lose it by doing something stupid.

They spent the rest of the morning and mid-afternoon on the water; by the time they got back to the bay and resort, Claire was red all over.

“Did I do that to you?” Chance blushed as he touched her parched skin.

“Not unless you instructed the sun to shine,” she said and smiled. “Don’t worry about it; it will be fine after I shower and cool off. I should have applied sunscreen.”

“We are still on for dinner, right?” he asked as he stopped in front of her door, wishing she would invite him in, but he knew it was too early in the game. They hadn’t kissed yet, and from what he had already learned about Claire, there was no way she would get closer to him that night than she already had.