Reluctant Date

by Sheila Claydon

  He grinned at Claire and stuck out his hand. “Sorry about that! The computer is on the blink. I’m Scott. Welcome aboard!”

  Hoping that her jaw hadn’t actually dropped open, Claire took his hand with a dazed smile because he was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen. About Daniel’s height, but broader, it was obvious he worked out regularly. And his olive skin, dark hair, strong cleft chin and perfect teeth made him the hero of every romantic novel she had ever read.

  * * *

  An hour later, logged onto a new laptop computer and surrounded by piles of leaflets and company reports, Claire listened to Scott making coffee in the tiny storeroom that doubled as a kitchen, and wondered anew at her good fortune. An apartment on the beach, early morning assignations with pelicans and dolphins, and now a work colleague whose film star looks were combined with a sweet nature and an enthusiasm for his job that left her breathless.

  His stunning looks could have turned him into the sort of man who considered it his divine right to have all women at his beck and call. He could have been a nightmare to work with. Instead, he was friendly and down to earth, apparently ready to turn his hand to anything, including making the coffee. All she had to learn to do was to stop staring at him so that he didn’t get the wrong idea. It was going to be very difficult though, because her photographer’s eye was already conjuring up a thousand and one poses for the company’s publicity material. If Daniel was trying to widen its appeal then Scott was his man. Leaflets with a picture of him on the front would draw in every female tourist within miles of Dolphin Key.

  “I didn’t tell you that the job had a hidden bonus, did I?” Beth whispered wickedly as she dumped yet another pile of papers on Claire’s desk. “And he’s single too. No complicated past. No girlfriends that I know of. So as that date with Daniel didn’t work out, you’re both completely fancy-free. How lucky is that!”

  Their eyes met and they both dissolved into giggles, which they struggled to hide as Scott came out of the kitchen carrying three mugs of coffee. Taking hers, Claire thanked him without daring to look at Beth. Even though they had only met that morning, they already understood one another perfectly. Sisters under the skin, she thought, and she was suddenly very glad she had made the move to Florida.

  It was time she got out more, did something with her life. Like Wendy in Peter Pan, which had always been her favourite childhood story, it was time she learned to fly. If she got shot down by an arrow to the heart, then so what? The wound would heal and she would just have to get up and try again.

  Chapter Ten

  Claire spent the rest of the day either being briefed by Scott or forced to concentrate on various administrative functions by Beth.

  “I know I can’t compete but this stuff is really important,” she complained when Claire’s attention was diverted yet again by Scott dropping another report onto her desk. “You need to know where I file everything, how the expense system works, who you need to talk to if there’s an emergency, all that sort of thing, or you won’t be able to function on the days when I’m not here.”

  Scott hastily retrieved the report from Claire’s desk and shoved it into his top drawer. “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! She’s right. I’ll grab some sandwiches for us while you two discuss all the boring stuff!”

  Beth threw a screwed up ball of paper at his retreating back and then turned to Claire. “I don’t come in on Wednesdays or Fridays because that’s when I help Carl at the print shop. All the major stuff can wait until I’m here of course, but there will still be things you’ll have to deal with such as queries from the public, or where to find a particular document.”

  Claire gave Beth her full attention. “I didn’t realize. I guess I just thought you worked here while Carl ran his own business. I didn’t know there was an overlap.”

  “That would be far too simple and straightforward for the Marchant family,” Beth told her. “No, Carl runs his own print design business, and I share my time between him and Daniel, that’s when I’m not acting as a buffer between them and their father!”

  Remembering her bitter remarks earlier in the day Claire decided to steer the conversation towards Carl rather than his father. “What sort of design work does he do?”

  “All the basic stuff, letterheads, leaflets, posters, that sort of thing. Most of the local businesses use him now although it took us a while to persuade them. And Daniel uses him too of course, so you’ll be working with him once you start to revamp some of these leaflets with your photos.”

  She saw the panicked expression on Claire’s face and grinned. “Don’t worry. He won’t mention THAT date! Not if he knows what’s good for him anyway.”

  Claire gave a relieved laugh. “He seems to have dug himself into a deep hole with you as well as Daniel over that.”

  “You better believe it! Now are you going to let me take you through the admin system or not?”

  “I’m all yours,” Claire assured her as she turned her back on the stuff Scott had given her and moved her chair across to Beth’s desk.

  * * *

  The rest of the day passed quickly, especially when, after a hurried lunch of shared sandwiches, Scott took Claire through the program of events he had penciled into the calendar for the forthcoming year. Fascinated by such items as Horseshoe Crab Bonanza, Down Upon the Suwanee River and Runway Osprey, none of which meant anything at all to her, she realized that she had a great deal to learn about the place that was to be her home for at least the next few months.

  She and Scott were still discussing some of the details when Daniel finally turned up. Not aware she had an audience, Claire was making a robust case for a change to one of the puzzle books that had been produced for children.

  “Photographs would make it so much more interesting. These line drawings are good but they don’t have the punch of an actual picture. Children are fine with drawn illustrations in story books but when it’s factual stuff they want real pictures of the things they’re learning about.”

  “Told you she knew her stuff!” Daniel walked across the room and picked up a copy of the booklet they were talking about, chuckling as he did so.

  Scott nodded. “It’s exactly what I need. A challenge. No more do what you think is best Scott, because we are all too busy to listen to you.”

  “Are they really that bad?” Claire joined in with the banter.

  “Worse!” Scott told her. Then he cleared his desk by scooping all the papers into his drawer with one sweep of his arm. “They’re quite good drinking companions though. Who’s for a beer?”

  “Not me, I’ve got a house to run,” Beth had tidied her own desk and now she picked up her bag and made for the door.

  “As if!” Scott jeered at her retreating back. “Everyone knows Carl does all the ironing and the cooking. You’re probably going home to drape yourself across the sofa and watch him stir saucepans.”

  “Ah yes but I’m going to drape in a very supportive way,” she grinned at them all, blew a kiss, and was gone.

  “How about you Claire?” Scott asked as he pushed back his chair, stood up and stretched. “Can we welcome you to Dolphin Key with a celebratory drink.”

  Claire glanced at her watch. “I don’t really have the time. I promised Carol I would pick up my groceries before the supermarket closes.”

  “Not a problem, we can do that on the way. In fact I’ll even carry them home for you as long as you don’t tell Beth. I don’t want her to think my male chauvinist tendencies have softened.”

  “In that case…”

  “I can do better than that. I have transport or, to be more precise, Claire has transport,” Daniel interrupted, suddenly wondering if putting Claire and Scott together had been such a good idea after all. It was one thing for work colleagues to get on well, entirely another when they got on too well. He hoped that wasn’t about to happen here before he made a move of his own. Surely Claire would see Scott for what he was. A great guy, a good worker, but e
motionally on the shallow side. Someone who appeared to want a good time without any responsibilities, and someone whose looks and physique ensured that he usually managed to get it.

  Banishing such uncharitable thoughts, he smiled at Claire’s questioning look. “Come and take ownership of your company car,” he said.

  Gathering up her bag and sweater, she followed him outside to where a customized green and yellow golf cart was parked. It had the company logo on the side panel. Daniel grinned at her stunned expression.

  “Carts are mainly what everyone uses around here so the town doesn’t get clogged up with cars and trucks. Even the police use their own version for local patrol. It will only do twenty kilometers an hour max but that’s not a problem in a place this size. Also it doesn’t pollute, and it’s quiet, both things that are very useful for us when we’re anywhere near a wildlife habitat.”

  Claire gave a disbelieving shake of the head. “This place gets more and more surreal by the minute, but I love it.”

  He handed her the keys. “I’ll talk you through it. It’s really easy to drive but you must remember to follow all the normal traffic rules.”

  Claire gave a joyous laugh as she turned on the ignition. Memories of the summer her father had decided to take up golf flooded back to her. Memories of early mornings full of bird song, of wild flowers growing along the edges of the greens, of rabbits, and squirrels, and an occasional fox, and of the exhilaration of being in total charge of her father’s golf buggy even though she was only thirteen years old.

  “Come on! What are you waiting for?” She swung the buggy in a wide arc so that it was pointing downtown, back towards the supermarket.

  “You’re obviously way ahead of me on this,” Daniel said as he jumped into the passenger seat with a smile of approval. Not to be outdone, Scott swung in behind with a loud whoop of enthusiasm, and the three of them drove down the road at a steady ten kilometers an hour. When they reached the supermarket Claire parked the golf cart with a flourish to the joint applause of her passengers.

  Sending a silent thank you to her father, she grinned at them before hurrying into the shop to collect her groceries.

  * * *

  Two beers, a tuna salad, and three pages of the book she was reading later, and Claire was sound asleep, her bedside light still burning. It had been a very long day!

  * * *

  Too tired to be seriously affected by jet lag, Claire slept without waking until six o’clock the following morning. Then, resisting the temptation with some difficulty, she showered and dressed before she pulled back the drapes and stepped out onto the balcony. As if they had been waiting for her, a group of dolphins immediately flipped into action and chased one another across the bay. The water streaming from their backs turned to iridescent silver in the early morning sun. Transfixed, she watched them until they disappeared, and then hurriedly prepared her breakfast and spent the next thirty minutes sitting on the balcony wondering what she had done to deserve such an idyllic start to her day.

  Watching dolphins while I eat breakfast and drink freshly squeezed orange juice she texted to Jenny, hoping that would be sufficiently exotic to distract her friend from her self-imposed role as marriage broker. She had already sent Claire a stream of messages, most of them asking whether she and Daniel were an item yet.

  Just as well she doesn’t know about the beautiful Scott or I’d never get any peace at all, Claire smiled to herself as she pressed the send button. Then she collected her belongings and set off for her second working day.

  * * *

  It started with Scott suggesting they visit the local Wildlife Refuge. “I know you’ve lots of reading to do,” he said. “But it’s not the same as actually seeing the birds in their own habitat. You need to do it several times in succession, and at different times in the day, so that you develop a feel for the place.”

  “Does that mean I get to sail the dinghy again?” Claire asked.

  He gave her a startled look. “Have you been out in it already?”

  “Well yes…Daniel took me out to look at the white pelicans yesterday morning. Didn’t he say?”

  “No, but no matter. At least you’ve seen them already so I can concentrate on showing you some of the other wildlife that’s out there. And yes, you will get to sail the dinghy again, because you need to become proficient enough to take it out on your own. This week is not too bad but soon the place will be so overloaded with tourists we’ll be lucky to find time enough to talk to one another, let alone spend a whole morning together at the Refuge.”

  * * *

  Beth was too involved with a series of phone calls to acknowledge the fact they were leaving the office together, so when Daniel arrived forty minutes later she didn’t have the slightest idea where they’d gone.

  “They might have gone to the islands,” she guessed. “Or maybe Scott is just showing her around the area.”

  Thwarted in his attempt to see the woman who had invaded his dreams so badly the previous night that he had eventually given up all pretense of sleeping and been out in his boat well before sunrise, Daniel looked for something to do. None of the hundred and one jobs that were waiting for him held any appeal. Nor did the prospect of hanging around until Scott and Claire returned. He didn’t want to see them rosy-cheeked and full of a joint enthusiasm for whatever adventure they had been involved in, not now that he had started to worry about how well they seemed to be getting along.

  Why hadn’t he given Scott a thought when he had moved heaven and earth to get Claire to Dolphin Key? How could he have been that stupid? How could he have placed her in an everyday situation with someone who, he knew from the gossip he had picked up from Beth, was so high up there in the male attraction stakes that he was like a walking, talking babe magnet. And as far as he could tell, Scott milked it for all he was worth, the same as any red-blooded man would unless he was hooked on a tall, slim woman with a cloud of blue-black hair and an enchanting dimple at the corner of her mouth.

  In the past Daniel had seen Scott work a room full of female tourists to such effect that the organization was better off to the tune of several hundred dollars by the time he had finished. At the time he had found it amusing, but now that he was worried Scott might target Claire, he didn’t feel like laughing one little bit.

  “Are you okay?” Beth peered at him over the top of the glasses she wore when she was working.

  “I’m fine,” he said. “Just tell Scott I’ll come back later on this afternoon so we can go over the figures for the work we’re doing with the university.”

  “But…” Beth didn’t finish what she was about to say. Instead she watched his retreating back in puzzlement. He and Scott had already been over the figures and agreed them. The bidding letter had gone to the Marine Research Department at the university over a week ago. What was to discuss!

  Then she shrugged. She was used to Daniel. He always had too much to do, was always trying to keep too many balls in the air, so maybe it wasn’t surprising if he dropped one occasionally.

  * * *

  Claire, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. Despite having the normal female appreciation of his sensational good looks, she was completely immune to Scott’s charms thanks to her hang-up on Daniel. Consequently she was enjoying the trip out to the cluster of islands that made up the wildlife nature refuge far more than she had the previous day. For a start she wasn’t self-conscious every time her eyes met Scott’s, nor did she become tense if his hand brushed against hers, or if his long legs, clad in khaki shorts, bumped against her as he leaned across the dinghy to correct her steering.

  “Sorry!” he would tell her cheerfully, and then continue to explain about the wildlife they were looking at, were going to see, or had already seen.

  And Claire, who had never seen so many birds in once place in her life, would just smile at him, or ask questions, or jot down a sentence or two in the notebook she had stuffed into her pocket as they left the office.

&n
bsp; She liked Scott and she knew the feeling was reciprocated. She also knew there would never be a glimmer of romance between them. The necessary zing of attraction just wasn’t there. They were on the same wavelength as far as work was concerned, however. They were both passionate about wildlife education; both full of ideas; and they each recognized the other as a useful sounding board, someone to discuss things with, make plans with. It all filled her with excitement. At last she had found something she really wanted to do. She just needed to get her feelings for Daniel into perspective and then life would be perfect.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Daniel reappeared Beth was already packing up to go home. She had passed on his message to Scott, who had shrugged good-naturedly and then carried on talking to Claire. Now she watched them and smiled as she wondered if there was any chance their working relationship would eventually lead to romance. They were ideally suited after all. Both of them were passionate about their work. Both of them were focused and intelligent, and both of them were completely unaware of the effect their looks had on the people around them.

  Admittedly Scott played the field from time to time, but Beth knew his heart wasn’t really in it. He was too wrapped up in his precious wildlife, and far too keen to get up before dawn to watch for migrating birds to consider settling down with a permanent girlfriend.

  It was too soon to understand Claire of course, but she would love to know her back history. Not that she expected to learn about it anytime soon because there was something innately private about her. Also, if Daniel was to be believed, she wasn’t interested in dating, although why she would have told him that Beth couldn’t begin to understand. After all they had met via an Internet dating site, so she must have been looking for someone. Maybe she was suffering from a recently broken heart, or some other emotional trauma that would slowly heal around Scott. It was obvious that she liked him, so perhaps he would be the one to change her mind…except there didn’t seem to be any sort of a spark between them. Beth’s sensitive emotional antennae hadn’t detected the slightest hint of flirtation so far.