Chase A Dream

CHAPTER ONE

IT was the man’s hair that caught her attention first. Thick and vibrant, it gleamed like burnished copper under the hot Florida sun. Add to that a leanly muscled six-foot-plus frame, and an aura of power and confidence, and the result was, frankly, devastating!

Stephanie let her eyes linger appreciatively on the man a moment longer, then realised she was in danger of missing the very thing she’d come to see. Mickey, Donald, Goofy...all her childhood favourites were about to pass a few feet away, and the man was blocking her view of the parade.

She edged sideways, aiming for a small gap to the man’s left, then gasped when someone jogged her elbow, sending the large-size cup of frosted cola she’d just bought flying from her hand. It hit the man’s broad back and splattered in every direction, spilling dark brown liquid all over the back of his white T-shirt and the seat of his jeans. For a stunned second Stephanie just stared at the damage, then hurriedly pulled a handful of tissues from her bag and tried to wipe up the mess.

‘I’m really sorry,’ she muttered apologetically, mopping at the stain spreading across the man’s muscular back. ‘It was just an accident, but...’

He caught her hand as he turned to glare at her, his face like stone, his eyes mirroring displeasure, and she felt the words dry up. His eyes were very dark, bitter-chocolate-brown, under brows the same colour, his face deeply tanned. With hair that colour his skin should have been pale, his eyes...

‘Blue, definitely blue,’ she heard herself murmur, and flushed to the roots of her dark brown hair with embarrassment.

‘I beg your pardon?’ His voice was very deep, gravelly, and so unfriendly that Stephanie gulped. She dragged her hand away from his grasp and bent back to the stain, wiping the wad of tissues down the back of his muscular thigh before suddenly realising exactly what she was doing. She straightened abruptly, her face beet-red, her soft blue eyes filled with apology.

‘I really am sorry. It was just an accident, you see. Someone behind me jogged my arm and—’

He cut her off, his expression never softening at the sincerity with which she offered her apologies. ‘Forget it. It really doesn’t matter.’

How could anyone with eyes that colour make them look so cold? The thought skipped through her mind almost too fast for her to be aware of it before she realised that the man was moving away from her. She couldn’t let him go like that, not until she’d at least of fered to pay for any damage she’d caused to his obviously expensive clothing. She followed him through the crowd, murmuring apologies to left and right for the disturbance she was causing.

‘But Dad, we’ll miss it now! Can’t we just stay until the parade goes past and then go back so you can change?’

She hadn’t realised he had anyone with him before, and now she slowed, studying the pleading face of the little girl whom he was holding firmly by the hand. It was obvious even without having heard what the child had called him that she was his daughter, because she had the same glorious colour hair surrounding a face that was just a shade too pale and wan for a child her age. As Stephanie hovered uncertainly, the man glanced down at the child, his expression softening just for a moment.

‘We can come back, Jess. There’s another parade later on, and we can watch that. I can’t stay here in these clothes. I’m soaked to the skin, thanks to that fool woman back there.’

Fool woman! Just who did he think he was calling a ‘fool woman’? It had been an accident, pure and simple, and anyone with a spark of decency would have accepted her apology in the spirit it had been intended! She pivoted on her heel, all thoughts of making further apologies or offers to pay to have his clothes cleaned fading abruptly at his boorishness, but she’d gone no more than a step or two when the child spoke again, a hint of tears in her voice that brought Stephanie to a halt.

‘Oh, but that’s not fair! If we go back now then you’ll find something more important to do rather than come back here, and you promised, Daddy. You promised!’

‘I know I did. And I have every intention of sticking to that promise. Now come along.’

‘No! I won’t. I want to stay here!’

‘What you want,_ young lady, is——’

She’d heard enough, more than enough. It was her fault that the child’s day was being ruined, although she could have expected the man to show a bit more understanding towards his daughter. From the sound of it, the little girl had set her heart on seeing the parade.

‘Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing what was going on, and I wonder...’ She faltered as the man turned slowly towards her. There was something frankly intimidating about his height, the sheer breadth of his muscular shoulders straining under the thin cotton, the iciness of those disturbingly dark eyes. For a moment Stephanie almost forgot what she’d been trying to say, before hurriedly marshalling her thoughts again. ‘I was wondering if I could help in some way.’

He raised a mocking brow, his thin lips curving into a faint smile that seemed closer to a sneer. ‘Help? I think you’ve already done more than enough today, thank you.’

Stephanie flushed, but she stood her ground, refusing to back down in the face of such open hostility. She shot a quick look at the child’s unhappy face and drew her strength from that. No child that age should-look so unhappy in Disney’s Magic Kingdom. It was a contradiction in terms that she couldn’t accept!

‘I have apologised already for what happened, but perhaps you didn’t hear me before,’ she said sweetly, staring steadily back at him. ‘So let me repeat myself. I am extremely sorry. It was an accident, but that can’t be much consolation for you. The one thing I don’t want to happen, though, is that your daughter should suffer because of it.’ She smiled warmly at the child and received a small, hesitant smile in return. ‘If you would like to go back to your hotel to change, then I shall be only too pleased to mind your daughter for you until you get back. That way she won’t have to miss any of the day.’

‘Dad, d’you think——?’ The faintly hopeful note in the child’s voice was drowned out by deeper tones, tones that sent a shudder of ice inching slowly down Stephanie’s backbone despite the heat of the July sun.

‘My daughter won’t miss anything. Thank you for your offer of help, but I’m afraid I shall have to turn it down.’

He didn’t sound sorry—in fact he didn’t sound even the tiniest bit concerned that she must have heard the scorn in his refusal—and for some reason it didn’t really surprise her. Whoever he was, this man wouldn’t care one way or the other about people’s opinions of him. He was a man who lived by his own rules, not by those written by others.

Stephanie was sorely tempted to turn tail and walk away from the open hostility, but a quick glance at the child’s disappointed face stopped her. She took a deep, heartening breath and tried again to get through to him. ‘I realise that you must be wary of letting a stranger take charge of your daughter, but I assure you she will be perfectly safe. I have identification if you would like to see it.’ She opened her bag, then jumped when his hand closed over hers, his fingers hard and dry against hers.

‘Don’t bother. I don’t want to see any ID because I don’t intend to take you up on your offer.’ His eyes skimmed her slender body with an insulting thoroughness, lingering on the thrust of her breasts under the sleeveless lime-green T-shirt before travelling down her rounded hips to her long legs, bare under the hem of her lime and navy shorts. ‘I might have been flattered if it hadn’t been so obvious, honey. Unlike a lot of men nowadays, I prefer to do the chasing myself. I guess I must be a bit old-fashioned like that.’

‘I... Pardon?’ It came out as a whisper of horror as what he meant hit home with the force of a sledgehammer. For a moment Stephanie could only stand and stare at him, wishing there was something she could think of to say to wipe the arrogant smile off his equally arrogant face.

‘Don’t take it to heart too much, will you?’ He shrugged indolently, letting his hand drop away from hers before he glanced down at the child by his side. ‘I’m sure that some guys would appreciate your interest, but if you’ll take my advice then I suggest you modify it somewhat next time. It can be off-putting to have that amount of Coke thrown over you.’

‘Now you just look here. I never...!’ Her voice tailed off as she suddenly realised she was speaking to thin air. She took a deep breath, glaring at the man’s broad back as he made his way through the crowd. She had never met anyone so arrogant and self-opinionated and full of himself in the whole of her twenty-five years! It was a wonder he could manage to walk with an ego that big weighing him down! That he should imagine for even a moment that she’d spilled her drink over him deliberately... Well!

Fuming, she turned back to the crowd lining the roadside, but her heart really wasn’t in watching the parade now. She glanced at her watch, wondering if she should call it a day and return to her hotel, but if she did that then she would miss her one and only chance to see this very special piece of Disney World magic. She was on a very tight schedule, with every one of the next three days filled: Epcot, Sea World, Universal Studios, all to be seen and reported on when she got back to England and met up with Laura and Rachel again. The trip had been her idea; she’d cajoled the other two into coming along, confidently dismissing any worries they’d had about giving up their jobs to take six months off to see Europe, culminating in a few days in Florida to enjoy all the man-made attractions.

They had been friends in university and kept in contact afterwards, Stephanie and Laura both opting for careers in teaching, while Rachel had gone into social work. It was a shame the trip hadn’t worked out quite as planned, what with Laura staying on in Spain and Rachel receiving the news that her father had suffered a stroke just hours before she and Stephanie were due to board the flight to America. It was at Rachel’s insistence that she had agreed to carry on with the plan, so was she really going to let that man spoil it for all of them?

Her chin lifted and she pushed back into the crowd to watch the glitzy parade passing, and if thoughts of that arrogant redhead did occasionally slip into her mind then she quickly dismissed them. That was one bit of Florida she didn’t want any reminders of to take home!

The night was soft and balmy. Stephanie side-stepped a family group of mother, father and three excited children, almost tempted to follow them, but she’d done every single attraction and she didn’t think her aching feet could take much more. It was already after eight o’clock, way past the time that she’d planned to return to her hotel. Tempting though the thought of staying for another hour or so was, she had to get back or she would be too tired to enjoy Epcot in the morning.

With a last reluctant glance over her shoulder she started back towards the exits and the bus that would take her back to her hotel. After all these months travelling, funds were running low, so she hadn’t been able to afford the cost of hiring a car for her stay. However, she’d been lucky enough to find a hotel at Lake Buena Vista which ran a courtesy bus service to all the Disney attractions, so that hadn’t proved to be a problem.

She rounded a corner, then slowed when she noticed the child standing forlornly at one side of the path. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but it wasn’t until she shifted into the light spilling from a nearby hot-dog cart that Stephanie recognised her. Even as Stephanie hesitated, the little girl took a look around then started to cry, fat tears sliding down her pale cheeks.

Stephanie hurried forwards and crouched down beside her. ‘What’s the matter, love?’ She searched her memory and came up with the echo of a deep, gravelly voice, quickly stemming the accompanying shiver that ran down her spine. ‘It’s Jess, isn’t it? I spoke to your daddy before ... remember?’

The child sniffed, wiping a hand across her face as she stared back at Stephanie. ‘It’s Jessica Alice, and I do remember. Daddy called you that fool woman and was awfully cross all the way back to the hotel.’

Stephanie hid a grimace. ‘Jessica Alice is a nice name. Mine is Stephanie Jacobs. So tell me what’s wrong, Jessica. Have you hurt yourself?’ She put her bag down beside-her on the path and pulled out a tissue to wipe the child’s face, then smiled at her reassuringly.

Jessica shook her head, her blue eyes tear-sodden as they stared back at Stephanie.

‘Then what is the matter?’ Stephanie glanced round. ‘Are you by yourself? Where’s your daddy?’

‘He’s gone!’ the child wailed. ‘He said he wouldn’t be long, but he’s not come back. He’s left me!’

The child’s distress was evident, her choice of words somehow disturbing. Stephanie frowned, tossing the statement around her head to see what it was that bothered her about it before shrugging the idea aside. Naturally a child this age would be upset at being separated from her parent. She caught hold of the little girl’s hand and held it firmly, making her voice as deliberately reassuring as she could. ‘That’s the trouble with daddies; they will go wandering off on their own and getting lost. I expect he’s feeling just as scared and miserable right now.’

‘Is he?’ Jessica glanced up at her, her face very solemn.

‘Of course. I mean, being on your own among all these people... Why, even the biggest daddy would be scared.’

Jessica smiled shyly. ‘I don’t think my daddy is scared of anything.’

Amen to that, Stephanie silently endorsed. That man would be the one to do the scaring, not vice versa! I However, she kept the thought to herself and smiled back at the child. ‘Even the biggest, toughest people get scared sometimes, chick.’

Jessica giggled. ‘I’m not a chick. Hens have chicks.’

Stephanie ruffled the silky red curls on top of her head and grinned. ‘Where I come from that just means ... well, honey or dear. OK?’

‘OK.’ The child glanced round, and her mouth started to droop again. ‘Daddy still isn’t here. He’s left me.’

‘Now why on earth should you imagine he’s done that?’

Jessica shook her head, staring down at the toes of her trainers as two tears slid down her cheeks. Stephanie stared at her helplessly. She’d never seen a child cry this way, silently, and it bothered her. She looked round at the crowds milling around them and came to a sudden decision, realising that she had to do something. ‘Look, Jessica, shall we walk down this path and see if we can find your daddy for you? If we can’t then we can go and find one of the people who work here, and maybe they will announce it over the speakers that you’ve been found and where your dad can come to collect you.’

‘But