Her First Vacation (13 page)

The next day Claire had breakfast alone. Not that she
couldn’t have had company if she’d wanted it. Colin, watching from a discrete
distance, had seen two different men trying to draw her attention. She ignored
all their efforts as if she didn’t even see them. And maybe she didn’t. She
wasn’t experienced at being pursued by men. It was possible that she didn’t
even realize how much attention she was drawing. He watched her savor a bite of
her fruit topped French toast,
then
finally gave in to
his own desire to be near her. She glanced up at him when he stopped at her
table.

“Mind if I join you?”

She looked like she was thinking about saying no, but she
finally shrugged.
“If you like.”

It wasn’t exactly an invitation, but it would do. He pulled
out a chair and dropped into it. She didn’t say anything and neither did
he
. He was too busy focusing on her tongue as it darted out
to lick at a tiny drop of strawberry syrup that clung to her lower lip. He
noticed her go still and jerked his eyes up to hers. She was watching him
warily.

“Did you just want to watch me eat?”

He cleared his throat and nodded toward her plate. “Sorry.
I was just thinking that looks really good.” He motioned for one of the waiters
and ordered the same thing she was having. He wasn’t hungry, but he’d look like
an idiot if he didn’t follow through on his excuse for staring at her. Once the
waiter was gone, he refocused on her without the intensity this time.

“I’m guessing that you’re finally enjoying your vacation
more than you were a few days ago.”

She shrugged. “I decided to take your advice.”

He frowned. “Which part?”

“It’s too beautiful here to be unhappy. Besides which, I
was achingly tired of it. So I decided an attitude change was in order.”

“Along with some physical ones as well.”

She dropped her gaze from his. “Yes. I figured it would be
easier to affect the one if I started with the other.”

“You certainly succeeded. I didn’t recognize you the first
time I saw you. It took me a few seconds to realize who you were.”

“Like you said, a little makeup and some decent clothes can
go a long way.”

He leaned forward in his seat. “I said you weren’t ugly,
and I meant it.”

When her eyes met his he saw the mistrust in her gaze. “Did
you?”

“You know I did, Claire.”

She slowly shook her head. “I don’t know anything of the
sort. I mean, you told me you were attracted to me. You went through the
trouble of pointing out some of those attributes you so admired. It was the
kind of thing a man would do for a woman he felt something for. But then you
made it very clear that you don’t have those kinds of feelings about women. You
don’t feel anything that goes beyond physical gratification, right?”

She was blushing, but she kept her eyes locked with his,
and there was no way he could tell her she was wrong. She held his gaze for a
few more seconds,
then
shrugged.

“I suppose I should thank you for making me face the truth
about myself and about you. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling particularly
charitable at the moment.”

He should never have approached her. There was nothing that
he could say to make her trust him at this point. He shook his head.

“I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“Why did you?”

“Because I couldn’t stop myself.”

She narrowed her gaze. “I see. That need for physical
gratification must really be a strong one. Maybe you could find the woman you
were with that night at the casino. I’m certain she’d be happy to accommodate
you again.”

He felt a spark of irritation. “Careful, honey, or I might
just think you’re jealous.”

She shot him a glare. “Don’t flatter yourself. I wanted you
when I thought you were something better than epitome of every bad stereotype
about men. Now I know the kind of value you place on women, and I don’t mind
telling you that I don’t like it.”

“You don’t like it in me, you mean. But apparently, you
don’t have a problem with it in Garret. Or are you too desperate to see the
truth about him?”

He regretted his words the moment they were out of his
mouth. He saw the pain flash in her eyes and then the anger that followed it.
She dropped her napkin on her plate as she glared at him over the table.

“Garret might be a dog, but at least he made no effort to
hide it behind false sincerity.” She pushed away from the table and stood up.
“He may be shallow, but I know where I stand with him, and that’s far better
than having my emotions toyed with.”

She walked away, ignoring Colin when he asked her to wait.
She felt like crying, and she had no intention of doing it in front of anyone,
especially him. Why was it that every time she looked into his eyes she wanted
things she knew she shouldn’t? Why did he inspire a shocking array of erotic
images, when Garret made her feel nothing at all? She hated Colin for holding
that power over her, and despised herself for being so foolish. She’d changed
her appearance and was slowly changing her attitude and bearing as well, but
every time she looked at Colin she still felt like the same old pathetic shadow
she’d always been. He made her feel weak-kneed and tongue-tied. It was infuriating.

Colin was getting up to go after her when the waiter
arrived with the food he didn’t even want. After a moment of indecision, he
finally dropped back into his chair and glared at the plate of food. Damn the
woman, couldn’t she see that he wasn’t toying with her? He called himself an
idiot for even asking. Of course she couldn’t see it. He was too good at lying.
He’d made a career of it. The performance he was putting on for Garret’s
benefit had been so good that she believed it completely. And he couldn’t tell
her the truth. She’d never be able to hide it, especially since Garret was
going all out in his effort to seduce her. Telling Claire the truth now could
destroy everything he’d worked for. He cursed beneath his breath. This was one
of the reasons he’d come to hate his job. There was always some innocent who
got caught up in the middle of things, and he wound up feeling like a
cold-blooded bastard when he had to let them get hurt. He had a feeling that
this time was going to be the worst, though. He didn’t know who he hated more
at that moment; Garret for making it necessary for him to be
there,
or himself for not getting out of the business a long time ago. The one thing
he did know was that however angry or hurt Claire was now, she’d wind up hating
him before it was over.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Claire spent the rest of the day in her room. She felt a
little ill, probably from getting too much sun the day before. Add to that the
fact that she was still struggling to understand her response to Colin Montgomery,
and she was in no mood for company. Garret had called her twice to invite her
out, once to lunch and again to take a swim in the ship’s massive pool. She’d
declined both offers. She was still debating whether or not she wanted to go
down to dinner or have something brought to her room when someone knocked on
her door. This time she checked the peephole before she opened it. She couldn’t
say she was particularly surprised to find Garret waiting on the other side.

“I’ve come to take you to dinner.”

He was holding a single flower in his hand. It was a large
tropical lily that he offered to her like one of the kids in her class. She
couldn’t help smiling at the sweet gesture.

“Thank you.”

She started to take the flower, but he pulled it away from
her reach.

“May I?”

She frowned at him. “May you what?”

He snapped most of the stem off the flower,
then
reached up to tuck it into her hair just over her ear.
He stepped back and studied her for a moment, then smiled. “Perfect.”

She had to resist the urge to reach up and pluck the flower
out of her hair. It felt odd there, mostly because she could see the edges of
the petals in her peripheral vision. He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and
stepped out of the room. She closed the door behind herself,
then
let him lead her down the hall. He asked how she was feeling. She said better,
since she’d rested all day. She’d told him that she wasn’t feeling well when he
asked her out to swim. She frowned as he turned a corner to the left, instead
of the right.

“Wait a minute, where are we going?”

He smiled down at her. “It’s a surprise.”

Five minutes later he led her onto a small upper deck.
There was a table set up with two chairs. A waiter stood nearby, and a
three-piece ensemble played softly a few feet away. Claire stopped to stare at
the elaborate setting,
then
lifted her gaze to Garret
when he spoke. “I thought you might enjoy something a little more private since
you haven’t felt well today.”

Warning bells started going off in her head. This wasn’t a
good idea. She’d explained to Garret that she only wanted to be friends, but
this wasn’t a friendly setting. It was romantic. “I don’t think this is a good
idea, Garret.”

He frowned at her for a moment,
then
arched his brows. “Oh, Claire, I’m sorry.” He looked a little sheepish. “I know
how you feel about us, but I swear I’m not trying to do anything sneaky here. I
just wanted to do something nice for you. If you’re not comfortable with it, we
can go on to the dining room with the others.”

He looked so sincere that Claire felt herself blush. Was it
possible that she was making too much of this? She turned to look at the table
once more. It was a beautiful setting. The night was perfectly clear: the
breeze was warm. It would be lovely to enjoy the music and the stars. She
focused on Garret again. He didn’t look like a man who was in danger of having
his well-thought out plan of seduction thwarted. He was just watching her
expectantly, waiting for her to make a decision. She finally shook her head.

“You’ve gone to all this trouble. It would be a shame to
waste it.”

His smile was enough to knock any woman’s socks off. He
lifted his hand to cover hers where it rested in the crook of his arm. “Great!”

He escorted her to her chair,
then
took his. Claire found the food superb and Garret as charming a companion as
ever. They talked about a lot of things over their dinner, things that
eventually went much deeper than their typical small talk. She found herself
telling him about some of what had motivated her to make such a drastic change
in her style, and he said all the right things. He was understanding and
sympathetic without being condescending. By the time they’d finished their
desert, Claire was more relaxed than she’d been in days. She knew it had as
much to do with the two glasses of wine she’d drunk as with Garret’s
compassion. But she was glad that he seemed to be willing to accept her terms
for their relationship. He wasn’t pushing her, and she appreciated the space he
was giving her. She hadn’t believed he was capable of behaving so well.

He walked her back to her room,
then
stopped to face her at her door. “I really had a great time tonight. If you’re
feeling up to it, I thought we might go ashore tomorrow. There’s something I’d
like to show you.”

Claire felt an instinctive inclination to tell him no. She
and Garret had spent an awful lot of time together over the past three days,
and she knew that it wasn’t fair to keep going out with him. He’d behaved impeccably,
never making her feel like he was trying to pressure her into anything, but she
couldn’t believe he was truly content to be her friend. It just wasn’t in his
nature. She started to shake her head,
then
stopped
when he gave her a pleading look.

“Please, Claire. This island is one of my favorite places
in the world. And there’s something really special that I’d like to show you.”

She sighed. He looked like a little kid begging for a
puppy. She finally nodded. “Okay.”

He gave her one of the endearing smiles she’d grown
accustomed to.

“Good. I’ll see you in the morning, and wear some jeans and
boots if you have them. We’re going to do some hiking.”

Colin watched Garret place a quick kiss on Claire’s cheek,
before turning to walk away. It was getting harder and harder to just stand by
and watch the two of them together. Garret was going all out in his effort to
seduce Claire and though Colin knew she hadn’t fallen for it yet, he was afraid
she would. Sooner or later, Garret was going to say the right thing, and she
was going to give in and let him kiss her. Colin closed his eyes as his hands
curled into fists. God help him if she let it go any further than that. He
opened his eyes when he heard her door close,
then
left the closet. Garret would be heading for the casino. He went there every
night after he left Claire. Colin would have to hurry if he wanted to get there
first.

Colin was parked at the Blackjack table when Garret walked
up. He gave him a smile. “Finally got her to give it up?”

Garret shook his head.
“Hell, no.
She’s as prickly as a cactus.”

“Maybe she’s frigid.”

Garret gave him a twisted smile.
“Oh, no.
Claire may be skittish, but she’s not frigid. She’s got all kinds of fire
banked inside her, and I’m not going to stop until I taste it.”

Colin tightened his grip on the beer he was holding until
he was surprised the bottle didn’t break. “Yeah, well you better hurry up. You
know you’ve only got a few days left.”

“I’ve got a plan. Tomorrow I’m going to go all out with the
romance. It’s all taken care of. We’ll start out with a hike to a nice,
secluded little spot I know where we’ll have a picnic, and I’ll tell her how
wonderful she is, how stupid I was to not see her for the precious jewel she
really was. By the time I’m through with her, she’ll be begging me to fuck her
brains out.”