‘Brighton,’ he said.
‘Absolutely. Today is “Sean and Claire do the seaside”,’ she said brightly.
‘And this isn’t planned out?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t be daft—you don’t plan things like going to the seaside. You go with the flow and you have fun.’ She parked the car, then took his hand and they strolled across to the seafront.
This was so far removed from what he’d normally do on a Sunday. He might sit in his garden—perfectly manicured by the man he paid to mow the lawn, weed the flower beds, and generally make the area look tidy—but nine times out of ten he’d be in his study, working. He couldn’t even remember the last time he went to the seaside. With one of his girlfriends, probably, but he hadn’t paid much attention.
But with Claire, he was definitely paying attention.
He hung back slightly. ‘Those are very short shorts.’ And it made him want to touch her.
She just laughed. ‘I have great legs—I might as well show them off before they go all wrinkly and saggy when I’m old.’
‘You’re...’ He stopped and shook his head.
‘I’m what, Sean?’
‘A lot of things,’ he said, ‘half of which I wouldn’t dare utter right now.’
‘Chicken,’ she teased.
‘Discretion’s the better part of valour,’ he protested.
She laughed and took him onto the pier. They queued up to go on the fairground rides.
‘You couldn’t get fast-track tickets?’ he asked.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Queuing is part of the fun.’
‘How?’ he asked. In his view, queuing was a waste of time. If something was worth visiting, you bought fast-track tickets; otherwise, you didn’t bother and you used your time more wisely.
‘Anticipation,’ she said. ‘It’ll be worth the wait.’
He wasn’t so sure, but he’d agreed to do this her way. ‘OK.’
But then they queued for the roller coaster.
‘I thought you hated heights?’
‘I do, but it’ll be worth it if it loosens you up a little,’ she said. ‘It’s OK to stop and smell the roses, Sean. If anything it’ll enrich the time you spend on your business, because you’ll look at things with a wider perspective.’
‘Playing the business guru now, are you?’
‘I don’t play when it comes to business,’ she said, ‘but I do remember to play in my free time.’
‘Hmm.’
He wasn’t that fussed about the thrill rides, but for her sake he pretended to enjoy himself.
They grabbed something quick to eat, then went over to the stony, steeply sloping beach next. The sea was such an intense shade of turquoise, they could have been standing on the shore of the Mediterranean rather than the English Channel. He’d never seen the sea in England look so blue. And this, he thought, was much more his style than waiting in a queue for a short thrill ride that did nothing to raise his pulse.
Claire, on the other hand, could seriously raise his pulse...
‘Shoes off,’ she said, removing her own canvas shoes, ‘and roll up your jeans.’
‘You’re so bossy,’ he grumbled.
She grinned. ‘The reward will be worth it.’
‘What reward?’
She fluttered her eyelashes at him. ‘Wait and see.’
He had to admit that it was nice walking on the edge of the sea with her, his shoes in one hand and her hand in his other. The sound of the waves rushing onto the pebbles and the seagulls squawking, the scent of the sea air and the warmth of the sunlight on his skin. Right at that moment, he’d never felt more alive.
It must have shown in his face, because she said softly, ‘Told you it was rewarding.’
‘Uh-huh.’ He smiled at her. ‘Talking of rewards...’ He leaned forward and kissed her. But what started out as a sweet, soft brush of her lips against his soon turned hot.
He pulled back, remembering that they were in a public place and with families around them. ‘Claire. We need to...’
‘I know.’ Her fingers tightened round his. ‘And this was what I wanted today. For you to let go, just a little bit, and have some fun with me.’
‘I am having fun,’ he said, half surprised by the admission.
‘Good.’ Her face had gone all soft and dreamy and it made him want to kiss her again—later, he promised himself.
When they’d finished paddling, they had to walk on the pebbles to dry off—Claire clearly hadn’t thought to bring a towel with her—and then she said, ‘Time for afternoon tea. And I have somewhere really special in mind.’
‘OK.’ He didn’t mind going with the flow for a while, especially as it meant holding her hand. There was something to be said about just wandering along together.
As they walked into the town, he could see the exotic domes and spires of Brighton Pavilion.
Another queue, he thought with a sigh. It was one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. Again, if she’d planned it they could’ve bought tickets online rather than having to queue up. He hated wasting time like this.
But, when they got closer, he realised there was something odd. No queues.
A notice outside the Pavilion informed them that the building was closed for urgent maintenance. Just for this weekend.
Sean just about stopped himself pointing out that if Claire had planned their trip in advance, then she would’ve known about this and she wouldn’t have been disappointed.
‘Oh, well,’ she said brightly. ‘I’m sure we can find a nice tea shop somewhere and have a traditional cream tea.’
Except all the tea shops nearby were full of tourists who’d had exactly the same idea. There were queues.
‘Sorry. This is, um, a bit of a disaster,’ she said.
Yes. But he wasn’t going to make her feel any worse about it by agreeing with her. ‘Carpe diem,’ he said. ‘Maybe there’s an ice cream shop we can go to instead.’
‘Maybe,’ she said, though he could tell that she was really disappointed. He guessed that she’d wanted to share the gorgeous furnishings of the Pavilion with him—and there had probably been some kind of costume display, too.
They wandered through the historic part of the town, peeking in the windows of the antiques shops and little craft shops, and eventually found a tea shop that had room at one of the tables. Though as it was late afternoon, the tea shop had run out of scones and cream.
‘Just the tea is fine, thanks,’ Sean said with a smile.
They had a last walk along the beach, then Claire drove them home. ‘Shall I drop you back at your house, or would you like to come back to my place and we can maybe order in some Chinese food?’ she asked.
Given what she’d said to him by the sea, Sean knew what she wanted to hear. ‘I think,’ he said, ‘we’ll go with the flow.’
Her smile was a real reward—full of warmth and pleasure rather than smugness. ‘We won’t go home on the motorway, then,’ she said. ‘We’ll find a nice little country pub where we can have dinner.’
Except