The Guy To Be Seen With (Valentine's Day Survival Guide)

by Harper, Fiona

  Daniel was still so close to Chloe that he could feel her chest shaking as she tried to suppress a laugh.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t finding this the least bit funny. He’d had his own plans for this evening. Maybe of a similar pattern—starting with the toes, and working his way up, bit by bit...

  Just that thought alone made him ache.

  Reluctantly, he got up off the sofa and took Cal back upstairs. A complete search—involving torches—was made of the under bed area, and it was only when Daniel had tucked the duvet in round his nephew and read him yet another story that Cal consented to lie down and close his eyes.

  When he got back downstairs Chloe wasn’t on the sofa where he’d left her, but in the hallway, putting on her coat.

  ‘Thanks for a lovely evening,’ she said. The dazzling smile she wore informed him that whatever barriers he’d managed to coax down in the last half-hour had sprung up again while he’d been hunting for Cal’s crocodile.

  Damn.

  He couldn’t wait another month to try again. It would seem like an eternity.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want another glass of wine?’

  Chloe shook her head and her curls bounced. ‘I think I’ve had enough.’ The seriousness that crept into her eyes told him she wasn’t just talking about the Merlot. But he wasn’t quite ready to let her go that easily.

  ‘Think how much it would help our case if Kelly could tell everybody that you’d stayed for breakfast?’

  Chloe sighed. ‘Daniel... That’s not the deal, and you know it.’

  Damn again. So close.

  ‘Maybe,’ he said, smiling slowly. ‘But optimism is one of my most appealing traits.’

  At least she laughed. ‘Of course it is,’ she said and patted him on the arm as if he were an elderly aunt. Ouch.

  He wanted to ask her to stay, to give him another chance, but it sounded suspiciously like begging inside his head, and he didn’t do begging. Persuading, yes. Pursuing, definitely. But never begging.

  The muffled hoot of a car horn outside took him by surprise.

  ‘That’s my cab,’ she said.

  Her cab.

  She’d called a cab?

  Suddenly Daniel didn’t feel as firmly in control as he had been before. He liked the chase, but this quarry was intent on running him in new and unexpected directions. He couldn’t quite decide whether he loved it or hated it.

  ‘Night, Daniel,’ she murmured, and then, without a flicker of hesitation or nerves, she leaned in close and pressed her lips gently to his cheek.

  And then she was gone into the balmy night air, her little handbag swinging off her fingers.

  Daniel shut the door when the cab drove away and gave out a loud growl of frustration.

  ‘Uncle Daniel!’ The terrified shriek came from Cal’s room, and a few seconds later he was standing at the top of the stairs. ‘The crocodile’s back!’ he said between sobs. ‘And he’s really, really angry.’

  Daniel rubbed a hand through his hair and tramped up the stairs, scooping up the small, snivelling boy when he got to the top.

  ‘Don’t want to sleep in my room,’ Cal hiccupped as Daniel headed across the landing. ‘Can’t I sleep with you?’

  Daniel looked at the clock. Not even nine-thirty. When he’d dreamed of an early night, snuggling up with a warm body in his bed this evening, this was not what he’d had in mind.

  He took his nephew into his darkened bedroom, making sure the landing light was on and the door wide, and he climbed on top of the covers while Cal slid underneath. It wasn’t ten minutes before he could hear small-boy snoring and the rhythmic smack of Cal’s lips against his stubby thumb.

  Daniel lay there a little longer, just to make sure he didn’t wake his nephew when he carried him back to bed. He couldn’t be cross, not really. Both boys had been very clingy since their dad had left and Kelly had slipped into the habit of letting them sneak into her bed if they woke in the night.

  As he lay there he stared at the wedge of orange light the street lamp had painted on his ceiling and let out a heavy breath. Chloe Michaels was a mystery to him. One minute she was all wide-eyed and trembling at his proximity, the next she was cool and detached and contained.

  As much as he hated all those silly women turning up since George’s proposal, at least they proved something—that he wasn’t totally repellent. Quite the opposite. So why could Chloe resist him so easily? What made her so different? He just had to find out.

  * * *

  Thank goodness for small boys with crocodiles under

  their beds.

  Chloe repeated the phrase to herself a hundred times as she got ready for work the next day.

  Normally, she brushed her teeth on automatic, mind drifting, but this morning she watched herself in the mirror, her face free of make-up and her hair hidden beneath a twisted towel. She looked quite different from the woman who’d walked in the door last night.

  She’d thought the Mouse was long gone, buried beneath years of being so cool and confident that play-acting had become reality. But she was still there. As Chloe brushed her teeth she occasionally caught a glimpse of her—something about a tightness in her jaw, a flicker of hesitancy in those eyes.

  Chloe—the real Chloe—was glad she’d been handed an excuse to leave Daniel the night before. But the Mouse, stupid thing, was feeling all fluttery and excited about the way he’d looked at her, obvious desire in his eyes.

  He wasn’t looking at you, Chloe told the Mouse in the mirror. He was looking at me. He likes me.

  The Mouse got all defiant then, asking her why, if Drop-Dead Daniel liked her, she wasn’t doing anything about it. It was safe, after all, if the Mouse was really still safely under lock and key.

  Why are you so scared...?

  Chloe spat out her toothpaste and rinsed her mouth, and then she met her own eyes in the mirror again.

  I’m not scared. It’s just a bad idea.

  Because...?

  We are colleagues. We’re... I just...

  She pulled the towel from her head and released the damp curls darkened by the recent washing.

  Okay, she admitted it. She was worried. Not scared, just a little concerned.

  Because, as drop dead as he was, there was something about Daniel Bradford that burrowed beneath her armour.

  Maybe it was because she’d liked him before New Chloe had taken form, because she had the oddest feeling he was the one person who had the power to crack her open and release the Mouse. Already the damn creature had come scratching around, making her say stupid things, do stupid things—like not breezily and smoothly disentangling herself when he first pressed his lips to hers in the Palm House. Like saying yes to that second glass of wine instead of going home.

  She sighed. The Mouse wanted to relive that memory for a while, but Chloe shut it down swiftly.

  No. It couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it. Because she couldn’t go back to being that pathetic person. It would be too sad.

  So she faced herself down in the mirror again, applied camouflage in the form of foundation and concealer, obliterated the creature with a wave of a magic mascara wand and her favourite tube of Valentine Rose lipstick. And when she was finished, she slid her feet into the highest, most impractical shoes she owned and made the journey to work.

  SEVEN

  Chloe found Daniel waiting for her outside the tropical plant nurseries after work. A large wicker picnic basket was swinging from his hand. She stared at it, already guessing where they were going for their July date. Just as well she’d changed into something casual and summery.

  ‘I hope you like live music,’ he said.

  She nodded and smiled, determined not to show she was nervous at the prospect of another evening in his company.
>
  While all months at Kew had their own special appeal, July was bold and bright and showy. Everywhere flowers bloomed, filling the gardens with a stunning palette of colours and a cocktail of scents. They walked the half-mile to their destination: past the Palm House, through the Mediterranean garden with its temple, and on to the largest of Kew’s glasshouses, the Temperate House.

  Each year Kew hosted a week-long music festival, erecting a stage in front of the three-sectioned greenhouse. As dusk fell the Temperate House became the backdrop for the performance, and coloured lights inside would bathe the trees emerald and turquoise and magenta, and bands would play into the night as the audience picnicked on the lawn in front.

  The music selection was different each night. There was classical. There was jazz. There were top-name chart acts and old-timers touring on a second wind of fame. Tonight, Kat de Souza, one of the rising stars of the UK music industry, was playing.

  Chloe had asked Emma if she wanted to come, but she’d cried off, saying some hot young guy had turned up at her belly-dancing class a couple of weeks ago and she didn’t want to miss one in case he came back. So, secretly, Chloe was very pleased Daniel had chosen this for their July ‘date’.

  He led her to a reserved section of lawn near the stage, pulled a thick woollen blanket from the top of the basket and spread it on the ground. Chloe sat down as elegantly as she could in her knee-length summer dress, crossing one leg over the other. He wrestled with something in the picnic basket behind her and then there was the distinctive breathy pop of a champagne bottle being opened. Seconds later he passed a slim flute to her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said and took a sip. ‘This is lovely, if a bit...well...public.’

  He sat down beside her and lounged back, stretching his long legs out and resting on one elbow. ‘You complained our last date wasn’t public enough.’

  ‘I did not complain. I merely commented,’ she said in her smoothest voice.

  Daniel chuckled. ‘Believe me, after living with my sister for the last year and a half, I am well aware that in the female species those terms are practically interchangeable.’

  ‘Rubbish,’ Chloe said, but her lips curled at the edges.

  He just raised his eyebrows and did a pretty passable impression of Kelly. ‘Daniel, there are muddy boots in the hallway... Daniel, there’s some weird compost—like rotting muesli—in the bathroom sink...’

  Chloe couldn’t help but laugh. She liked this side of Daniel. When she’d first come back to Kew she’d thought him more buttoned-down than before. But he seemed much more like his old self now. Maybe it had just been a result of all the stressful press attention in those early months.

  He unpacked the picnic—one of Kew’s gourmet affairs that he must have pre-ordered when he’d booked the tickets. Just as well, given Daniel’s culinary skills. There were appetisers and Greek salad, poached salmon and strawberries and cream. Chloe helped herself to a miniature tartlet. It was heavenly.

  The last month had gone seamlessly. The Mouse had been banished and she and Daniel were executing their plan perfectly. They’d reached a silent understanding after their last date. As a result, it wasn’t awkward when they bumped into each other at work any more. He often dropped by her nursery when he was passing, occasionally bringing her a cup of her favourite coffee from the nearby café. They were friends. And if people saw their easy banter and read more into it, then she let them.

  The first act came on as the sun fell low in the sky and music permeated the balmy evening air. Chloe leaned back on her hands and felt all the tension melt from her shoulders.

  They were good. A lively little swing band that had the audience’s toes tapping and heads nodding. She and Daniel worked their way through the picnic and a little more of the champagne. He was attentive, giving her the lion’s share of the strawberries, offering to top up her glass if it got too low, and they chatted easily as the band played and twilight fell.

  And he was being the perfect gentleman, which made things so much easier.

  Chloe sighed with contentment. So she didn’t want to get romantically entangled with Daniel. It wasn’t a crime to spend time with a man who enjoyed being with her. And he did enjoy being with her. She could tell that from every look, every scrap of body language.

  She should have paid attention to the wave of warmth that flooded her torso at that thought, but she didn’t. She was too busy stripping the ghosts of the past of all their power.

  Before, she’d just been a faceless girl to him. One of the many anonymous bodies in a packed lecture hall. He hadn’t known her when he’d pushed her away, told her to get a grip on herself. But now...

  Now Daniel did know her, and he liked what he saw. It changed everything.

  So when the breeze picked up and Chloe gave a little shiver, causing Daniel to shift closer so she could rest against his shoulder if she wanted to, she didn’t wriggle away. And when the swing band finished their set and everyone got up to dance for their final number, she let him pull her to her feet.

  The music was so loud that he had to lean in very close to talk into her ear. His breath was warm on her neck. ‘You’re good at this,’ he said, after she spun out and then back in again. ‘You’ve got the moves right down.’

  Chloe showed off by doing a tuck and spin. ‘I had a few lessons,’ she said, a little smugly.

  Daniel looked suitably impressed. He twirled her out again perfectly, but when she came back he was closer and she all but crashed into him. Her palm splayed across his chest was the only thing that stopped the entire length of their torsos touching.

  ‘You’re a woman of many talents,’ he said, sliding his hands round her waist. ‘Are you this good at everything you do?’

  ‘I make sure I am,’ she replied. She’d meant it quite innocently, but the husky tone to her voice added a whole extra layer of meaning.

  Daniel’s eyebrows rose in reply and his smile widened. Then he pulled her closer so her temple was pressed against his cheek. ‘I’ll bet you are,’ he whispered into her ear, and Chloe started to shake deep down inside.

  The song came to an end and people started clapping. Chloe and Daniel didn’t move. An invisible force field had glued them together, even when the applause faded and people started sitting back down to continue eating and drinking in the break before the next artist. The slap of the double bass was still pounding in Chloe’s ears, even though the band had left the stage minutes ago.

  There was no comfortable, easy conversation now. They’d gone beyond words, the delicious little undercurrent zapping between them was doing all the talking.

  Would it really be so bad?

  To give in to this tugging deep down inside, the one that was drawing her to Daniel? They were both single, both grown-ups. Wasn’t this what she’d wanted—longed for—for years? She couldn’t quite remember why she was so set on denying herself now.

  While she was still contemplating this, the stage darkened and the crowd hushed in anticipation. Reluctantly, they pulled apart and sat down as Kat de Souza walked onto the stage, her feet bare, in tight fitting jeans, a simple sleeveless black T-shirt and a multitude of necklaces and bangles. When she reached the centre she sat down on a stool. Everyone went quiet. Chloe could even imagine the trees in the arboretum leaning just a little bit closer to listen.

  Kat’s first song was one of her early hits. Chloe found herself mouthing the words and swaying slightly, knees bent, feet together, body hugged against her knees. She was completely lost in the moment until she heard a deep, rich voice beside her, humming. She turned to find Daniel singing.

  She leaned closer so he could hear her without her shouting. ‘You know every note.’

  He gave a rueful smile. ‘Kelly mainlined this album for about three months. I could probably recite the lyrics in my sleep, if I really wanted to. It’s not reall
y my kind of stuff, but it grew on me.’

  ‘Let me guess,’ Chloe said. ‘You’re more of a rock guy?’

  He smiled at her in a way that made her insides avalanche. She turned to face the stage again and carried on singing silently, feeling a wee bit oxygen starved.

  The song was a bewitching one of love and passion and regret, and the magic it wove throughout the crowd deepened the spell working on Chloe. The sky grew dark, the rainbow lights in the Temperate House glowed and the champagne danced in her veins. Daniel shuffled in behind her and she sank back into him, while she kept her eyes on the young woman on the stage.

  Every part of her that touched him was fizzing with electricity, and she didn’t want it to stop. And that only meant one thing.

  Dared she really do this? Was she really that brave?

  Daniel moved so he could talk into her ear. ‘Your lips are moving, but you’re not making any sound.’

  She twisted towards him and found his face breathtakingly close. ‘How do you know? I was facing away from you and it’s too loud to hear me even if I was.’

  His arm snaked around her and he flattened his palm against her lower ribs. And then he just looked at her. Looked into her eyes. Looked at her lips. ‘I can’t feel any vibrations in your torso,’ he said quietly.

  He couldn’t? Chloe sure as hell could.

  But he was right—she hadn’t been singing.

  ‘Singing is the one thing I’ve never been any good at, no matter how hard I tried.’ And, boy, had she tried. Two years of private singing lessons hadn’t been able to get a good note out of her.

  Strangely, this made Daniel smile.

  ‘What?’ she said, knowing her cheeks were colouring further.

  ‘It’s nice to know you’ve got a few imperfections like the rest of us.’

  He’d meant it as a compliment, but Chloe couldn’t help the instinctive bristling at his words. A spike of something cold went through her. She was an attractive, confident, sexy woman now. It had been a long time since her parents’ suffocating ambition for her had weighed on her heavily. She knew she didn’t have to be brilliant at everything, but it was hard to let go of the little inner push that told her to try harder, be better. And she was feeling a little of that pressure tonight.