Please...please, let her get through this without making a total fool of herself. That was all she asked.
* * *
Daniel was definitely not in the mood to smile for the cameras, even if the Channel Six woman batted her lashes at him so hard she started a typhoon. All day long he’d been trying to talk to Chloe, and all day long he’d failed. Partly because of the flurry of activity it took to pull an event like this together, but partly because he sensed she was keeping her distance. It was driving him bananas.
He needed to talk to her—face to face, one to one—and now it looked as if he might be robbed of that chance entirely he wasn’t inclined to look very happy. And Daniel was not good at pretending to be happy when he wasn’t.
He saw a camera pointed in his direction, a zoom lens being focused, and he just scowled harder. He had things he needed to discuss with Chloe—plans—and it couldn’t wait until tomorrow. In just over twelve hours he’d be at the airport.
The auctioneer banged his gavel and Daniel jumped. One of Chloe’s lots was up first. She walked past him and a waft of her perfume hit his nostrils. She began to talk about the Miltonia hybrid in her husky voice and he felt as if he wanted to climb out of his skin. He’d wanted to hear that voice all afternoon, but not giving facts and growing instructions; he wanted to hear her saying his name.
It seemed as if a thousand lots passed before his eyes, as if they’d sold off the entire contents of all the glasshouses and the arboretum, but really the whole auction must have lasted less than two hours.
Even then there was no let-up. The PR team wouldn’t set them free, insisting on more photos and, to top it all, a live TV interview for the evening news. The team was directed back onto the stage in front of some of the larger orchid displays that had been transported from the Princess of Wales Conservatory to be used as a backdrop.
Someone from the news crew rearranged the interviewees and he ended up standing next to Chloe. He caught her eye and she held his gaze for just a moment, but it was long enough. Long enough to know she was finding this just as unbearable as he was. He’d find a way to talk to her somehow, he would. They just needed to get through this interview first.
The reporter turned to the camera, smiled, and started her spiel. ‘This is Melissa Morgan for Channel Six news, live at Kew Gardens after their very successful tropical plant auction, which has raised thousands of pounds to go towards their conservation work all over the world...’
Daniel tuned her out. He only tuned back in again when he heard her mention first Chloe’s name then his own as she introduced them as team leaders for the festival. She looked at Daniel and pointed the microphone too close to his face.
‘As Head of Tropical Plants here at Kew, do you feel the festival has been a success?’
‘Yes,’ he said, then closed his mouth and folded his arms.
She opened her mouth to ask him a question, but he must have been looking particularly uncooperative because at the last moment she swung the microphone in Chloe’s direction instead and asked her about the design of the display and what her favourite orchid was.
He snorted gently to himself. It figured. Who’d talk to the Beast when Beauty was at hand?
He could tell Chloe was nervous, however, from the slight waver in her first words, but she was warm and articulate, and he knew the viewing public would be transfixed, just as he was. They would love her.
Just as he did.
But that reporter didn’t miss a trick. Too late he saw her notice the way he was looking at Chloe. Too late he looked away, crumpling his features back into his earlier scowl.
The reporter let Chloe finish her sentence and then she turned back to Daniel. He didn’t miss the slight arch of one eyebrow as she fired off her next question. Guess it hadn’t been such a good idea to tick her off.
‘This isn’t your first Valentine’s Day in the spotlight, is it, Daniel?’
If she thought she was getting even one word out of him now she was sadly mistaken. He merely blinked at her, raised his eyebrows in return.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘And how is it one year on after your Leap Year proposal?’ Her gaze flicked across to Chloe and then back to him. ‘Is there any special woman in your life you’d like to give a Valentine’s message to?’
Beside him, Chloe stiffened. He saw her glance at the exit.
‘I don’t think that’s any of your business,’ he said firmly.
Miss Morgan didn’t like that any better than the monosyllable he’d offered her earlier. She narrowed her eyes and turned the microphone back in Chloe’s direction.
‘And how about you, Chloe? I saw a very interesting picture of you on the Internet a couple of months ago...’ She gave Daniel a sideways glance. ‘What was it like to finally hook The One That Got Away? Did you decide to throw him back?’
Chloe’s mouth moved and she flushed deep pink. He could see the panic in her eyes, knew she was hating every second of this public interrogation.
‘You know what?’ he said suddenly. ‘I would like to answer your question. Maybe it’s time I set the record straight, then people might actually get on with their own lives instead of poking their noses into mine.’
‘Daniel...’ Chloe whispered beside him. ‘You don’t have to.’
Yes, he did. It was his fault Chloe had been put on the spot like this, and maybe it was time to stop running from this and face it head-on. Maybe it was time to face a lot of things head-on.
‘I said no when my girlfriend proposed to me last year,’ he began, ‘and I don’t regret it. What’s more, after the success of the Year of Georgia on Radio EROS—’ he watched in satisfaction as the reporter frowned at the mention of a rival media company ‘—I think it’s obvious that she’s doing much better without me than she was with me. And I can’t blame her. I wasn’t ready for love or marriage or anything like that then.’
A glint appeared in Melissa Morgan’s eyes. He knew what that was—killer instinct. She knew she had a story here and she was going to hunt it down. Luckily for her, Daniel had decided he was going to hand it to her on a plate.
‘And you’re ready now?’ she asked smoothly.
He’d spent weeks trying to let Chloe know how he felt. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t quite realised what those feelings were until it was too late. No wonder she didn’t trust him, didn’t believe in him. Every time she’d put herself on the line for him, he’d pulled back. Well, now it was his turn, and he wasn’t going to run away from it.
He let the scowl melt from his features, looked the reporter in the eye and began to talk. ‘Turning Georgia down was the best thing I ever did—for me and for her. Without that, I wouldn’t have had the spotlight turned on me, and, in turn, I wouldn’t have had to take a good, hard look at myself.’
Beside him, Chloe started to fidget. He stopped looking at the reporter and looked at her instead. She met his gaze, and he could see hope and fear and sadness and discomfort warring behind her eyes. ‘This year I met someone,’ he said softly.
Morgan nudged the microphone closer and he resisted the urge to bat it away. She needed to hear this. Everyone needed to hear this, especially Chloe.
‘I met a woman,’ he continued. ‘An amazing, brave woman, who showed me what it really meant to be fearless, who showed me what courage—what dignity—looked like...and I fell completely and hopelessly in love with her.’
Chloe’s eyes began to shimmer. She shook her head gently, her hand pressed against her breastbone.
‘Yes,’ he said, starting to smile, willing her to join him. ‘I love you, Chloe.’
And then he shoved the microphone out of the way, stepped forward and kissed her. The room, which had descended into a thick silence as soon as he’d begun to talk, suddenly erupted into cheers and applause. There was a gentle tapping on his shoulder, but he i
gnored it, because Chloe was kissing him back, kissing him so softly and sweetly that he finally had no doubt that she felt the same way.
But the tapping continued and he dragged himself away from Chloe’s lips. ‘What?’ he said gruffly. ‘Can’t you see I’m busy?’
That earned him a laugh. Even Chloe chuckled. He was funny. Who knew?
Melissa Morgan was grinning at him, but her grin had an edge of something else in it too. ‘I can see that,’ she said, laughing softly, but Daniel was close enough to see the calculating glint in her eye. ‘But I thought I might repeat my earlier question...’
She looked between Chloe and Daniel, blinked slowly, and then positioned the microphone in Daniel’s direction. ‘So...is there a Valentine’s message you’d like to deliver?’
The meaning behind her words hit him like a lightning bolt. He knew what she was asking, what she was pushing for...the Valentine’s story to top all other Valentine’s stories this year. And he also knew it was the one way he could convince Chloe he was serious about this, serious about her...
He made a nod so minuscule that only the reporter saw it. One corner of her mouth hiked up in a knowing smile, and she stepped back a little, still holding the microphone out.
Daniel swallowed. Nerves hit him in a wave of nausea, but he knew he had to do this, knew now that he wanted it more than anything. Maybe that was why he’d been running so hard in the other direction all year.
It was now or never. The six-headed monster needed to be slain once and for all, and hadn’t he always said he was the hunter, not the prey?
He took Chloe’s fingers, lifted them in his own and covered them with his other hand, then he slid one foot back and let both knees bend, one up in front of the other. The crowd around them gasped.
He looked into Chloe’s face and realised he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. A moment ago, she’d been smiling blissfully, but now her features had frozen and she was blinking rapidly.
He took a deep breath. ‘I love you,’ he said again, and saw her nod, just slightly, and he knew she believed him. That made the next bit a little easier. ‘I know I’m the biggest idiot in the universe...’ he saw a glimmer of something in her eyes that just might have been humour and that spurred him on ‘...and I don’t deserve another chance, but I can’t go without proving how serious I am.’ He took in a deep breath. ‘Chloe Michaels, will you marry me?’
Chloe stared at Daniel. She thought her heart might have stopped beating. Her brain had certainly stopped working. She could feel her pulse throbbing in the hand he was holding. It rushed and pumped, filling the silence, filling every part of her.
She couldn’t doubt the sincerity in his eyes. He’d meant what he’d said, yet...
Yet...
A couple of weeks ago he hadn’t even been able to say how he felt about her. She knew he had baggage. Lots of baggage. Was this really the right time? And, if he hadn’t been going overseas tomorrow, if he hadn’t been pushed into it by that witch of a TV reporter, would he have asked her today? Would he have asked her at all?
The room had been perfectly still for far too many seconds, but that immaculate silence now broke. People began to move. Somebody coughed. She glanced over her shoulder at the gathered crowd. Every single face was turned towards her. Every pair of eyes was heavy on her.
She looked back at Daniel.
She wanted to believe him, really wanted to...but he’d backed off too many times before. When would be the next time? At the altar? She couldn’t let it go that far. She had to be certain.
She opened her mouth, and Daniel pulled her hand towards his lips and then he closed his eyes and kissed it tenderly. A tear slipped down Chloe’s cheek.
All of her. He’d said he’d loved all of her.
And heaven knew he’d seen the worst of her—the bits no one else had a clue existed.
He opened his eyes and looked at her again. The proof of his feelings was there for anyone to see. Intensity, yes, but softness too, and a tenderness she’d never seen before.
Chloe swallowed. She knew.
She knew what her answer had to be.
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, and every single backside in that room shifted forward on its seat. She looked into Daniel’s eyes, let him know how real her love was for him before she formed the words with her mouth.
Her voice rang out clear, even though she was sure it was going to catch on the barbs in her throat. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘No. I can’t marry you, Daniel.’
The room around them went wild.
THIRTEEN
Chloe shivered as she stood on Daniel’s porch. At this time of year, dawn was still an hour or so away. Was it too early to knock? She had no idea what time Kelly and the boys got up and she didn’t want to disturb them. But she also didn’t know what time Daniel’s flight was—apart from this morning—and she had to see him before he left.
She checked her watch again. Five fifty-six. She watched the second hand sweep round. When it hit twelve again she screwed up her face, grabbed for the door knocker and rapped twice. It sounded like gunshots in the silent street.
For the longest time there was no light, no movement at all, but then she saw a patch of dull orange through the obscured glass of the Victorian door. And then she heard thudding on the stairs. Moments later the door opened and she was face to face with a crumpled-looking Kelly, a fluffy pink dressing gown clutched around her and held tight with the hand that wasn’t on the door. When she saw Chloe her expression changed from one of sleepy befuddlement to something entirely less welcoming.
‘For heaven’s sake, Chloe! Have you gone completely insane?’
Chloe wet her lips with her tongue. She considered nodding, but instead she said, ‘Can I see him?’ Her breath came out in shaky white puffs on the predawn air.
Kelly’s brow lowered further. ‘Too late. He’s already gone.’
Chloe hadn’t been prepared for the cold stab to her stomach at that news. ‘No...’ she murmured, feeling a violent stinging in the bridge of her nose.
Kelly stared at her, and then she said, ‘Oh, for crying out loud! Come in. I need to talk to you.’
She hesitated for a second, but she followed Kelly into the house, down the hall and through to the kitchen. When they reached the dining area, Kelly turned round and surveyed her with steely eyes. Chloe knew that expression. It was the one Daniel wore when he was a hair’s breadth from losing his temper.
‘Do you know...?’ she asked, with a quiver in her voice, her pitch rising. ‘Do you know what it took for him to ask you that—in front of all those people?’
She nodded dumbly.
‘Then why, for God’s sake, didn’t you say yes?’ Kelly shouted, then remembered the two sleeping boys upstairs and curtailed her volume.
‘I...I...’
Kelly’s eyes narrowed. ‘Yeah, I got that much on the evening news last night.’
Chloe’s head swam and she had to close her eyes to regain her balance. The evening news.
And Kelly had seen it?
‘I’m so sorry,’ she mumbled, and met Kelly’s fiery gaze.
‘And then you just left him to sit it out here, waiting for his plane, didn’t even explain... Didn’t even talk to him afterwards!’
‘I couldn’t!’ Chloe replied. ‘They—the PR team—they whisked us off in opposite directions. I tried to get to him, but everything was going wild... There were microphones and reporters everywhere.’ She shook her head. ‘Even if I could have got to him, he wouldn’t have wanted it aired for the whole nation to see! I decided I would wait a bit...talk to him once the fuss died down...’
Kelly’s expression softened a little. ‘So why didn’t you?’
‘He wouldn’t answer his phone. I thought may
be—’ a small hiccupping sob caught her by surprise ‘—maybe he just needed some space...’
And then a big fat tear rolled down her cheek.
Kelly puffed out a breath. ‘Sounds about right. You know Daniel... He doesn’t do crushed, he does angry instead.’
Chloe nodded. ‘That’s what I thought. But I couldn’t let him go without talking to him.’ Oh, help. Here came the tears again, and this time they’d brought reinforcements.
Kelly pulled out a dining chair and motioned for Chloe to sit, then she did the same. ‘Why did you say no?’ she asked, her features drooping. ‘You love him, don’t you?’
Chloe hiccupped again and nodded vehemently. ‘We’ve hardly even talked for weeks...’
‘Because you asked him to leave you alone,’ Kelly interjected, far too reasonably.
Oh, crap. She had, hadn’t she?
‘I wasn’t sure...I’m still not sure...if he just said it as a knee-jerk thing, if that reporter kind of pushed him into it... If it’s me he really wants,’ she added, with a desperate look at Kelly, ‘or if it’s just the prize of getting me to say yes.’ She swallowed. ‘You know what he’s like...’
‘Yes, I do,’ she said firmly. ‘I know that he was broken inside until he met you, Chloe. I know he struggled to let himself care about anyone or anything.’ Her expression grew grave. ‘You’ve broken his heart, you know. He meant it. Every stupid word.’
Chloe felt a shiver start deep in her belly and work its way up through her body, through her shoulders and out of her mouth on a breath. ‘I know,’ she whispered. ‘But meaning it and following through with it are two very different things. What if he changed his mind?’ He had before. Twice. ‘I couldn’t live with it if he did it again,’ she added, almost to herself.
Kelly shook her head. ‘He’s not like that,’ she said, her eyes glistening a little. ‘Believe me, if anyone knows about guys who run hot and cold, it’s me. But Daniel... It takes him a bit of time to get there, but when he’s in, he’s all in.’
Something warm blossomed within Chloe, even as her stomach swirled with ice.
The Guy To Be Seen With (Valentine's Day Survival Guide) Page 17