SCORE (A Stepbrother Sports Romance) (19 page)

Confused, he looked at her. “So why are you giving it back? I went out of my way to get this for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” she told him, her arms crossed.

“You didn’t need to; I saw it and I thought I’d get it for you.” He walked past her and to the cart in the room where he set the box down again. “It’s still yours whether you want it or not; I have no use for it.”

“Chance, look,” Claire paused as she searched for the right words. “I came here to get away and to be alone. Yes, you are handsome and a charmer, but don’t waste it on me. Amy has been digging you from the first time she saw you. Why don’t you just stick to the ones who are…”

“Available?” he finished her sentence for her.

“Yes. Available,” she answered, lowering her eyes.

“You know, going out with someone else can be a good way to get your mind off of another,” he told her. “I know he hurt you…”

The look Claire gave him stopped him mid-sentence. “You know what? How do you know someone hurt me?”

“I can tell,” he said nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’re lying,” she replied. “Admit it.”

“Okay, I admit it. Amy told me why you are here,” he said after a pause. “But that has nothing to do with any of this.”

“I don’t believe this! Why would she be…what did she tell you?” Claire was growing angrier by the minute.

“Nothing much,” he defended. “Just that you were to be married and it didn’t work out so you came here.”

“I think that’s enough,” Claire said, placing her hands on her hips and turning away from Chance. She started crying before she could stop herself.

“Claire?” Chance asked from behind her, moving closer.

“Just go,” she said. Her voice cracked as she stood with her back to him.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he whispered, touching her shoulder. “I just thought I’d do something nice for you, to take your mind off him. Any man who does that to you doesn’t deserve your tears.”

“Just go,” she said, but her voice had grown weaker and the sarcasm was gone from her voice. She didn’t want him to go. Not yet.

“You’re too good for him. Don’t you ever forget that,” he said. He released her and left the room.

Claire stood rooted to the spot, crying even after he had gone. Her heart felt heavy and somehow she felt betrayed by Amy. She didn’t need a stranger to know that, let alone a man who was apparently interested in her. She must seem like a fool to him now. And she had no one to blame for that but Amy. She quickly brushed the tears away, dressed in cut-off jeans and a tank, and headed for Amy’s room.

“Amy!” she shouted as she pounded on the door. “Open the door.”

“Claire?” Amy answered from inside her room. “Are you okay?” As soon as Amy opened the door, Claire barged in. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” she fumed. “What did you tell Chance about me and Trent?”

“Oh,” Amy said and covered her face. “I’m so sorry, Claire; it just kinda slipped out.”

“It slipped out? My personal affairs just accidentally slipped out to a perfect stranger? What makes you think I wanted Chance to know anything about me, let alone that I was jilted the day before my wedding?”

“Claire, I was at dinner with him, and remember how I told you he always seemed unavailable to me? Well, that’s because he likes you. A lot! I only told him so he would understand why you aren’t interested in him and why he should leave you alone. I was wrong, and I’m sorry,” she said as she moved closer to Claire and took her hand. “You are my best friend, and I love you, and I wish I could kill Trent for what he did to you. But that doesn’t mean I want to see you sad all the time, or hurt again, either. I thought I was helping.”

“Well, you didn’t help keep him away,” Claire sighed. “As a matter of fact, you only made him try harder.”

“How? What happened? What did he do?” Amy asked.

“I got a delivery this morning,” Claire said and sat down. “He bought an emerald necklace and had it delivered to my room,” she smiled. “And then he showed up in my room this morning.”

“He did what? So? What did you do?” she asked excitedly.

“What do you think I did? I gave it back to him.”

“You did what? Are you crazy?”

“He didn’t take it back. It’s still sitting in my room, and you know I don’t like men buying me things. It makes me feel cheap, and with him, it felt like a down payment for whatever he wants after. And honestly, by the look on his face, he was expecting me to run into his arms out of gratitude.”

“He’s full of himself, isn’t he?” Amy smiled.

“Is he! He irks me,” Claire said and smiled at Amy.

They sat next to each other on the bed, and for a moment, each of them was lost in their own thoughts.

“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.