Her First Vacation (12 page)

“Good evening, everyone.”

As if her voice broke some kind of dam, two or three people
started speaking at once. Colin saw Tate try to scoot his chair back, but it
got caught up in the carpeting. Garret had no such difficulty. He was on his
feet and at her side with remarkable speed. She shot him a startled look as he
pulled out her chair for her. Then she schooled her features into a polite
smile as she murmured her thanks. Garret seated her,
then
returned to his own chair. It was Cathy who finally drowned out the other
chatter.

“My God, Claire, you don’t even look like yourself.”

There was genuine shock in her voice, but more as well.
Colin heard a thread of jealousy and understood it completely. Cathy was
attractive, but it wasn’t any sort of natural beauty. She worked at it, which
wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Most women worked at it to some degree or
another. Next to Claire, though, Cathy suddenly looked a little too artificial.
Too much makeup, too much hairspray, and too much practiced grace. Claire was,
as she had always been, a natural.

Claire thanked Cathy as if she’d paid her a compliment,
then
gave her attention to the waiter as he arrived to take
her drink order. The guy was about to fall all over himself in his effort to
serve her. His gaze dropped to the front of her dress, and Colin felt his jaw
clench. Dinner finally got going, though it wasn’t anything close to what he’d
come to think of as normal. Every man at the table, including himself, only had
eyes for Claire. The women each reacted to the addition of a new rival in
predictable ways. Cathy was clearly unhappy about it, though she was never
anything but civil. Janine made a conscious effort to flatter Claire without
going overboard since she was smart enough to know how unhappy Cathy was, and
the two of them had struck up a friendship. Angela Hamilton simply accepted
that Claire was the most attractive woman at the table. He worried how Claire
would handle all the attention, but by the time dessert was served he’d
realized that she was a lot stronger than he’d given her credit for.

She was fielding Cathy’s slightly acidic comments with ease
while dividing her attention around the table with practiced skill. Colin
eventually realized she was handling them all just like a teacher might take on
a class of hyper children. His admiration for her went up another few notches.
She still hadn’t said much to him, though she wasn’t ignoring him completely.
He’d seen her gaze slide to him a few times, and he knew she was aware of him
watching her. There wasn’t anything he could say to her in front of everyone
else, though, and he wasn’t sure what he’d say if he had her alone.

She laid her napkin on the table, and Colin started to push
his chair back. Garret got to his feet first. He moved around the table and
pulled out her chair as she rose. Colin watched as Garret asked if he could
walk her to her room. He saw her nod and felt something ugly rear its head
inside him. When she rested her hand in the crook of Garret’s arm, Colin had to
clench his jaw to keep from protesting. He watched them walk away and excused
himself as soon as they were out of sight. He couldn’t take the thought of her
alone with Garret. He knew what the other man was, what he was capable of and
God help
him,
he knew he’d never be able to allow
Claire to become another notch on his bedpost.

Claire was feeling recklessly euphoric. She’d done it.
She’d made it all the way through dinner without panicking once. And now she
was walking on Garret’s arm. She knew there wasn’t anything particularly
special about that. Garret was very free with his attentions. But it wasn’t
some other woman on his arm, tonight, it was her. Claire Abernathy. The stodgy,
plain schoolmarm had snagged the attention of a man who never paid attention to
any woman who wasn’t attractive. She supposed that was why she’d accepted his
invitation to walk her to her room. She certainly had no intention of letting
it go any further than that. For this moment, though, she wanted to revel in
her triumph.

Garret took the long way to her room, leading her out onto
the deck where they paused to take in the endless sky overhead. They talked
about nothing in particular until they finally reached her room. There he
paused and gave her that charming look she’d come to recognize over the past
week and a half.

“I’d like to spend some time with you tomorrow. We’re
docking. Maybe we could go ashore together?”

Claire shook her head. “I don’t think so, Garret.”

He frowned. “Why?”

She was as honest with him as she had always been with
Colin. “I’m not your kind of woman. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve
seen your habits, and I’m just not the one-night-stand sort.”

He looked a little startled for a moment, then that
charming smile was back. “Okay, you got me. I like women.
Beautiful
women.
And I like you. But I respect your standards. I’d still like to
spend some time with you.” He held up his hand in the three fingered salute
made famous by the Boy Scouts. “Nothing funny, I swear.
Just
friends.”

She arched a brow at him. She had serious doubts that
Garret Palmer was capable of being “just friends” with any woman. Still, it
would be nice to get off the ship for a few hours, and she’d feel more
comfortable going ashore with someone she knew. At least Garret wouldn’t
pretend to be something he wasn’t. That was more than she could say for Colin
Montgomery. The thought of him almost made her frown, so she shoved it away as
she finally nodded to Garret.

“Okay, we’ll go ashore together tomorrow, but just as
friends. I mean it, Garret, nothing more.”

He nodded.
“Friends.”

He offered her his hand, and she laughed as she took it.
Before she realized what he intended he’d turned it and lifted it to his mouth.
He kissed her knuckles lightly, then winked at her as he let go of her hand.

“I’ll drop by about nine in the morning. We can have
breakfast before we go ashore.”

He turned around and walked away without waiting for her to
agree. Just like the self-assured man he was, he simply assumed she wouldn’t
argue. It almost made her want to stand him up, just to make a point. But she’d
already accepted him for what he was. She could put up with it for a while. She
turned and unlocked her door, then stepped into the room with a smile on her
face.

Colin watched Garret go by from his vantage point in a
linen closet. He’d ducked into it while Garret and Claire still had their backs
to him. He hadn’t been able to hear what they were saying when they were
standing in front of her door, but he’d seen Garret kiss her hand, and he’d
heard what he said as he backed away from her. They were going to have
breakfast, then go ashore together. He stepped out of the closet and stared at
Claire’s closed door. He wanted to go to her and tell her to stay away from
Garret. He wanted to do whatever it took to keep her from getting hurt by him.
But he couldn’t. She’d want to know why he was so interested, and he couldn’t
give her any kind of answer that would make any sense short of the truth, which
was definitely not an option. He was left with only one choice. He was going to
have to follow them around tomorrow, while trying to keep his own emotions from
getting in the way of his job. It was the first time that had ever been a
problem for him, and he didn’t like the feel of it at all.

Claire was pleasantly surprised to find that Garret truly
appeared to make an effort to keep things strictly platonic between them. After
that kiss to her hand the night before, she’d been afraid he was just taking
her warning as a challenge. But he was a perfect gentleman all day. He escorted
her around the marketplace in the island village without once “accidentally”
brushing against her. He helped her haggle over the price of a large colorful
scarf she fell in love with at first sight,
then
paid
for it before she could get her money out. He ignored every one of her attempts
to refuse the gift, insisting that it was well worth the price if he got to see
her wearing it. She finally accepted it with a promise that she’d wear it to
dinner that night. It was large enough to be worn as a sarong style skirt or
dress, which was why she’d bought it. The shopkeeper had arranged one on a
mannequin and she instantly wanted to try wearing it the same way. She had a
blue, knit top she’d bought the day before that perfectly matched the blue in
the scarf’s flowered print. With a pair of sandals it would be a perfect casual
outfit.

She picked up some souvenirs for her mother and sister,
choosing to buy each of them a necklace made of tiny shells and scarves similar
to the one she’d purchased. Hers had a thick fringe along the edge and the ones
she bought for them didn’t. It was her way of making sure there would never be
any doubt about which scarf belonged to whom. She knew both her mother and
sister would love the blue floral print, but it was hers and she didn’t intend
to let either of them try to lay claim to it. She bought a straw hat more for
practical reasons than out of any appreciation for the style. The sun was very
warm and the hat gave her just enough shade to keep her comfortable. She’d left
her hair lose around her shoulders, though she was starting to wish she’d
braided it or at least pulled it back into a pony tail. It was a little warm to
have it down on her neck. Still, the day was lovely, and she hated to see it
end.

Garret dropped her at her room with a promise that he’d be
back to escort her down to dinner. She took a shower,
then
blow-dried her hair the way Tom had shown her so that the ends of her hair
would curl under. She pulled the sides back and secured them with a clip, then
spent half an hour working on fitting the scarf around her hips correctly. It
took several tries to get it right, but she finally appraised herself in the
mirror and was satisfied with her work. The scarf was a perfect match for the
blue top. The fringe brushed her ankles and rose up her leg to her hip where
the front folded over. She was just applying her lipstick when someone knocked
on the door. She gave her hair a final smoothing stroke,
then
hurried to the door. She had a smile on her face and was about to praise Garret
for being early when she realized it wasn’t Garret who’d knocked.

Colin had seen her admiring the scarf. He knew Garret had
bought it for her. There was a part of him that hated it because he knew who’d
bought it, but even that part couldn’t deny that it looked spectacular draped
around her hips. The blue in the scarf and the top she wore brought out the
blue in her eyes. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to enjoy the sight of her smile
for long. It faded the moment her gaze met his.

“Colin. What are you going here?”

“I thought I’d walk you to dinner.”

He saw something in her gaze, but he couldn’t decipher its
meaning. She shook her head. “Sorry, I’ve already told Garret I’d go down with
him. He ought to be here any minute.”

So she’d been expecting Garret when she opened the door.
That brilliant smile and those sparking blue eyes were for him. Colin had to
clench his hand into a fist to keep from giving in to the irritation that
thought spawned.

“No problem. I guess I’ll see you at dinner, then.”

She nodded,
then
practically
closed the door in his face. He stared at it for a few seconds in impotent
anger. Didn’t she see what Garret was? Surely she hadn’t decided that she
wanted to be one of his bimbos. Claire was too smart for that. Or maybe she was
just naïve enough to actually buy Garret’s act. Colin didn’t want to believe
she was that gullible, but the fact was she was new to the kind of attention
Garret was paying her. Who knew what all that flattery would do to her? He
forced himself to walk away from her room. He couldn’t interfere. He couldn’t
jeopardize the job.

Claire frowned at the closed door. It annoyed her that
Colin evidently thought she wasn’t intelligent enough to know his sudden desire
to escort her to dinner stemmed from jealousy over the attention Garret was showing
her. She’d seen the way he looked at her when she accepted Garret’s invitation
to walk her to her room the night before. She knew better than to imagine it
had anything to do with her, with the woman she was beneath all the new glamour
and polish. Colin had insisted he was interested in her before she so
dramatically changed her appearance. He probably thought she’d had the makeover
for him. And clearly he was still interested. He wouldn’t have come to her door
if he wasn’t. She shook her head. He had to be an idiot to think she’d had a
makeover as a way of letting him know she’d changed her mind about sharing his
bed. Well, sharing her body at least, since he’d made it clear that he didn’t
require a bed to get what he wanted from her. She felt her irritation with him
grow. He really must think she was pathetic. She was determined to show him
just how wrong he was.

Colin suffered through another dinner watching Claire
settle more firmly into her new appearance. He followed her and Garret back to
her room again and hid in the same closet until he saw Garret drop her off at
her door. He watched them from a distance while they played shuffleboard, of
all things, the next morning. He had to scramble to rent a boat when he learned
that Garret had signed up to take out one of the jet skis. Watching Claire
laugh and scream while Garret drove it across the waves had nearly driven him
nuts. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit that was hardly daring, but it
showed off enough skin to make his mouth water. Seeing her arms wrapped around
Garret’s waist was enough to make Colin want to take out his gun and shoot the
other man on the spot.

That night at dinner, Claire’s skin had born the slightly
red glow that was evidence of her day in the sun. Already her pale skin was
starting to darken to a more healthy looking tan. Again, Garret walked her to
her room and Colin followed them. Again, she said goodnight to him at her door
without
so
much as a kiss. Colin felt a small measure
of satisfaction as he considered just how frustrated Garret must be. He wasn’t
accustomed to having to work to get a woman. He was used to having them just
fall into his bed at the slightest hint of invitation. But Claire wasn’t that
easy. Maybe he’d underestimated her again.