"Who was she?" Owen's question echoed loudly in Andrew's head. He never spoke to anyone about his relationship with Claire. Well, no one on the island. His brother on the other hand has gotten more than an earful. But Andrew has never opened up to a friend and coworker. Taking a deep breath, he peered around the room, making sure they were alone. "Claire." Andrew said softly. It's not like their relationship was a secret, but it was very important to her that their work relationship and private one stayed completely separate. She'd go up one side of him and down the other if someone overheard him and it got back to her.

Owen practically felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. He quickly placed Delta back down with her sisters, feeling the need to have his hands free and curled his fingers into tight fists. He was friends with her ex? Now he understood her constant hesitation when Andrew was around.

"You dated Claire?" Owen choked out, doing his best to keep his voice sounding normal.

Andrew nodded. "Yeah, we both kind of fucked things up." He explained, unaware of Owen's reaction.

Owen was dying to ask a million question, but they all revolved around Claire. Though there was only one question he needed to know. "What happened?"

"She loves her job and I watched her fall in love with it." Andrew gave a hollow laugh, "It was almost like watching her fall in love with another man right in front of me. In the end she chose work." Andrew shrugged, his features relaxed. Owen couldn't find any hint of regret for letting her go.

Owen folded his arms against his chest as he listened to Andrew. He knew there were two sides to every story, but the way Claire has been tiptoeing around any type of relationship with him, had him convinced there was more to her side of the story. He was almost angry at Andrew for causing Claire to be so hesitant. He wanted to ask more questions. He wanted to know more, but it was for the sake of Claire's heart, not Andrew. The urge to suddenly protect Claire from him was very evident in his mind.

"I've only seen her in action for a week and I can't say you're wrong, she puts in long hours." Owen agreed with Andrew's statement. It was obvious she loved her job, but what Owen couldn't understand was why it was such a big deal for him. Sure Claire worked a lot, he has been witness to that, but him and Claire aren't even dating and he's spent enough time with her to warrant a strong and healthy relationship.

Andrew nodded. "Yeah she does," he agreed, pulling Owen from his thoughts.

Owen watched Andrew look down at his left hand. "I had plans to marry her, you know." Andrew said quietly.

Owen's heart jumped into his throat. He couldn't imagine stepping foot on this island and accepting that Claire was a married woman. She didn't belong with Andrew. He wasn't good for her. "Wow," Owen sighed, leaning forward and reaching for Blue. "That really sucks, man, sorry to hear."

"I thought she would fight for us." Andrew shook his head, settling in for a deep conversation with Owen. He suddenly regretted even trying to get Andrew to talk about Claire in the first place. Owen stayed quiet, unsure how to even respond to that. He was happy she didn't. He preferred her just the way she was— single and available for Owen to sweep her off her feet. "I thought she would come find me." Andrew continued, unaware of Owen's thoughts.

Confused as to where this conversation is going, Owen tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"I moved out when she was on a business trip. I even had some of my things packed before she left. I had started sleeping on the couch a few days before she left and she never even questioned it." Andrew shook his head, still clearly upset over her actions, or lack thereof.

Owen placed Blue down, again, feeling the need to have his hands in fists. "So you tested her? You didn't even bother trying to talk to her? How was she supposed to know?" The questions spilled out, but he was able to hold back the most important one. He desperately wanted to knock him over the head and ask if he was insane. There would be no way he would leave Claire to sleep alone. He could barely imagine allowing her to sleep clothed, let alone choose to sleep on the couch, away from her.

"I had to test her." Andrew shrugged. "The only test in her life she probably failed," he sighed heavily. "She was so caught up with work that she didn't even notice my own bag sitting by the door when she was leaving."

Owen scoffed as he shook his head. "Naw, man, I'm pretty sure she passed that test. You lost her. She didn't lose you. Was she in the middle of something big at work? She's the operations manager for fucks sake. A time where you could be supportive, you let your damn ego ruin your relationship." He sat back, his head still shaking as he tried to make sense of it all. Closing his lips in a tight line, Owen held back everything else he wanted to say. The need to stand up for Claire was strong. If she wasn't there to defend herself, he's do it for her.

Andrew leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as Owen's words struck a nerve. "I watched that woman climb her way up that corporate ladder. I have been nothing but supportive. She changed when she settled into this position. She changed a lot."

It was hard for Owen to imagine her any different. She was beautiful, successful, hardworking and a very strong-willed woman. She definitely knew how to flirt and he couldn't help but love hearing her laugh. Owen couldn't see any flaws in her supposed new personality. "I'm sorry, Andrew, you lost something good and that's all on you. I'm sure she probably changed a little, but look at everything she's responsible for now. You really should have cut her some slack. You just pissed because your woman suddenly outranked you in the payroll bracket?" Owen paused when he noticed Andrew look down at his hands. Bingo.

"Yeah, I know. Trust me. I regret it. I regret it all…" Andrew trailed off, glancing up at the ceiling where Claire was just a few floors above them.

Owen sat silently, realizing he had made Andrew understand just how wrong he was in letting her go. "Yeah, well," he said quickly. "Can't change the past."

"No," Andrew agreed. "But I can try and fix it."

Owen opened his mouth to try and convince him that, no he didn't need to try and fix anything with Claire, but Andrew's pager went off.

"Excuse me," Andrew said as he stood up. "I'm needed back at the clinic." He paused before walking away, turning back towards Owen. "Please don't repeat any of this. If it get's back to her…" Andrew tailed off at the wave of Owen's hand.

"Your secret is safe with me." He promised and turned his attention back to his raptors.

Owen dove back into his reverie, allowing his mind to drift off once more. This time, though, his thoughts were on whether or not Claire would want him or go back to Andrew if given the choice. No, Owen shook his head at his internal answer. She couldn't still want Andrew. Flirting is there between him and Claire. At times it's a little hesitant on her end, but now he could understand why. She was protecting her own heart. A heart he couldn't even imagine hurting.

Sitting back, Owen reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He found Claire's name and typed out a text. What are you doing?

It took a minute before Owen saw the three small dots pop up indicating she was answering him. Going through some files. Boring… She answered, adding a sleeping emoji at the end of her text.

Owen smiled, immediately sending her another message. Take a break and come play. He immediately blushed after realizing she was probably going to take that the wrong way. His heart pounding in his chest when she didn't answer right away. Those three little dots appearing and then disappearing on the bottom of the message for what seemed like forever. He started to write out a message explaining that he meant with the raptors, but her response came in before he could send it.

Don't tempt me.

Owen stared wide eyed at her response. So she held more confidence behind her phone than she did in person. He could go along with that. Meet me for lunch.

I'll be taking a late lunch today.

It's ok. I'll wait.

I'll be down at two.

If you're not down here by two I'm coming up there and dragging your ass out of your office.

It took a moment for Claire to answer and he hoped her attention was pulled from their conversation and not that he offended her. The vibration on his phone in his hand a few minutes later made him jump. He sat, eyes gaping at the phone. My ass will be ready. He desperately wanted to hear those words come out of her mouth. He wanted her to have that confidence to flirt with him in person.

There was a knock on Claire's door, pulling out a startled yelp from her as her phone dropped to the floor. "Come in!" She called out, leaning down to grab her phone.

"Lost that thing again?" Andrew asked gesturing towards her phone as she stood up. He shut the door behind him.

Claire let out an unsteady laugh, "Slippery little sucker."

They fell silent for a moment as Andrew studied Claire. After his conversation with Owen, Andrew could actually see Claire in a different light now. He no longer blamed her for choosing work over him. He understood she has a lot on her plate. Her features changed in the last year, or she just looked even more beautiful to him, he couldn't tell. The smile on her face and the light flush to her cheeks had her green eyes sparkling.

He could only see from her hips up from her position behind her desk, but her shirt was tight fitted and low cut. It took him a few seconds, but he realized why he loved the shirt so much. "Hey," he pointed out, moving to stand right in front of her desk, reaching out and poking her ribs. "I bought you that when we were on the mainlands Christmas shopping last year."

"Huh?" Claire looked down, realizing he was right. She hadn't thought of that when she picked it out to wear. She actually wore it because she was meeting Dr. Wu in the lab for a meeting and knew she'd run into Owen. "Oh, yeah." she agreed, unsure of what else to say.

"Still looks hot on you." He winked, allowing his eyes to travel.

Claire gave an embarrassed laugh, reaching for her blazer behind her chair and put it on. "Did you just come up here to tell me that… or…" She trailed off, unsure if she actually wanted to know the answer.

"Unfortunately not." Andrew said as he moved around Claire's desk, lifting a leg to partially sit just off to the side of Claire, which was his usual spot when he came to see her when they were dating. She instinctively slid her chair away. "I sent you an email regarding shutting down the Allosaurus exhibit for the day tomorrow." He explained.

"Wait," Claire slid back towards Andrew to check her computer. "I didn't read the email, but why would you want to shut it down for a day?" She asked, opening up the email and trying to skim over it.

"She hasn't been acting right the last few days and I want to do a thorough exam."

"And you feel that you need an entire day to do that?"

Andrew took a deep breath, trying to remember what Owen told him earlier. He needs to show her he supported her and that he understands her choices when it comes to the park. "Well she's going to be out of it for a while. We have to bring in more equipment depending on if I find something or not."

Claire drummed her fingers across her keyboard as she checked the animal's showing schedule for the next day. "Do an overnight exam. I will close the attraction an hour before closing tonight so you can prepare."

"Overnight?" Andrew repeated. "After working all day, you want me to work on her overnight?"

"What's the matter?" Claire teased, leaning back in her chair, smiling up at him. "Sad you won't get enough beauty sleep? I've pulled plenty of overnights."

"Hey," Andrew smiled, immediately honing in on her joking mood. "I've had my share of overnights as well. I just hate doing exams and any type of procedures under those damn floodlights."

Claire reached out and patted his knee. "It's either tonight or tomorrow night you do it, and if I'm not mistaken we're going to be getting some storms tomorrow night."

"Fine," Andrew sighed heavily. "You win."

"I know," Claire said with a wink. "I always do."

It took everything in him to not lean down and kiss her. Her lighthearted attitude is what he missed the most about her.

Claire's phone buzzed and she glanced down at the incoming text, a flush of pink flashing in her cheeks. Andrew wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was. He felt warm inside hoping the flush in her cheeks were caused by the same visions he had. She had sent a quick text to someone and looked back up at him. "I'm sorry, but I'm on a tight schedule and am trying to be on time for lunch today."

"Sure, sure." Andrew stood up, hesitating besides Claire. "Come to my office and we will go grab some sushi." He said, reaching out and tucking her hair behind her ear.

Claire slid her chair away, standing up to walk towards her door, opening it for Andrew. "I have lunch plans already, sorry." She apologized again and motioned towards the open door. "I have to head over to control now, so…"

"Yeah, ok. I'll see you later." He smiled and squeezed her arm lightly on his way out the door.

XXX

Claire drummed her fingertips on her desk impatiently waiting for the conference call to end. She glanced at her clock and groaned loudly, thankful she had the call on mute as she listened to Mr. Masrani talking. She should have met Owen two minutes ago. Huffing, Claire tuned back in to the call.

It was a few minutes later when Claire's phone buzzed. She was in the middle of speaking to Mr. Masrani, but she couldn't help but grab at her phone the moment it went off. She finished what she was saying, placing the call on mute again and quickly checked her messages, gasping at what Owen sent. You're late. That ass is mine.

"Claire?" Mr. Masrani's voice caused Claire to jump.

"I'm sorry, I'm here." She said quickly.

"Ok, so you will be ready for the investors coming on Friday?"

Flipping through her calendar, Claire quickly filled it in. "I have it all ready to go. I will put the presentation together and get back to you."

Just as Mr. Masrani was wrapping up the call, there was a light knock on the door. Claire's heart jumped to her throat. Owen was staying true to his word.

Before the call ended, Owen burst through the door, silently stalking towards Claire. Her eyes locked with his as he crept his way across her office. She swallowed hard when he moved around her desk and slowly reached out to grab onto her chair, slowly turning her towards him. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head when he heard some of the other managers asking last minute questions. He held Claire's gaze until there was a dial tone echoing loud in her ears. Owen reached out and hung up the phone, bringing his hand down to grab hers and pulled her to her feet. "Did you think I was bluffing?"

"No." Claire answered quickly, allowing Owen to lead her towards her door. "But I would have been downstairs. Mr. Masrani like's to talk."

"Well, you're mine for the next hour." He said, tugging on her arm and pulling her into his side. He slipped his arm around her waist, leading her towards the elevator.

The moment Owen's arm slipped around Claire, everyone else in the office disappeared. Claire saw no one but him. She didn't care who they passed. The only thing that mattered to her was the arm holding her tight to Owen's side. With most of the employees on her floor, including Zara, out to lunch, she held back the urge to explain to him her rule about PDA at work.

They settled on a small sandwich stand for lunch, Owen relaxed at the table, kicking his feet up on the chair beside him. Claire picked at her fruit salad, snickering when Owen immediately went for the bag of chips he got.

Owen brought the first chip to his mouth and hesitated, looking over at Claire. "What?" He asked, popping the chip in his mouth.

"Don't you know the rules? You always save the best for last." She informed him, taking a bite of her watermelon.

Owen rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward towards Claire. With a wink he replied, "Oh, don't worry I am." He laughed as Claire's eyes dropped to her tray in front of her and her cheeks flushed a dark red.

"What's the matter, Claire? Lose that flirting confidence? Want me to text you instead?"

Her eyes shot up to meet his, her mouth falling open in shock. "You're an ass." She laughed and chucked one of her grapes at him.

Owen dodged it, laughing along with her. "So I see we're back to the ass talking again."

"You started it." Claire argued.

Owen nodded. "And I'm happy I did."

Claire gave Owen a smile that would have knocked him to his knees if he was standing. "So am I." She agreed.

"Any big plans tonight?" Owen wondered as he reached for his sandwich.

Claire shook her head as she chewed, taking a sip of her water before she spoke. "Nothing tonight. I have a presentation on Friday. That was what my conference call was about," she informed him, gesturing back towards the innovations center. "We're introducing a new asset and—"

"Dinosaur?" Owen interrupted and eyebrow arched in question.

Claire rolled her eyes and groaned. "Yes, a new dinosaur." She corrected. "Anyway, I have to prepare."

"Need some help?" Owen asked, throwing Claire a crooked smile. She shivered unsure if she could tell him no. She didn't need any distractions right now.

"Don't you have 4 Raptors to look after?"

"Barry has the overnight shift. Their usually in bed around nine."

Claire couldn't help but giggle at the way he said that. "So you have to wait for the babysitter to get home to watch the kids, so you could go out."

"Yeah," Owen laughed. "Something like that."

"How's it going?" Claire wondered, taking the last bite of her sandwich.

"With the girls?" Owen asked. Off of Claire's nod he continued. "It's going great. Blue is standing on her own. Andrew thinks they will be ready to graduate to the nursery by next week." He sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. "Finally. I'm so tired of just sitting and watching them stumble and flop around the incubator all day. I actually can't wait until they start interacting more."

"And trying to kill you." Claire added.

Owen rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, that too."

"Your safety gear should arrive by the end of the week. I can double check the delivery date when I get back to my office." Claire offered.

Owen shook his head and waved his hand, "No need to check. I don't need it quite yet."

"Still." Claire sighed, opening her bag of chips. "I would feel better if I knew you were prepared."

With wide eyes, Owen placed his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his hands. "Worried about me?" Owen said with a wink.

"No— Well, I mean…" Claire stuttered before clearing her throat and starting again. "Of course I worry. I may not be head of your project, but being the operations manager, I worry that all employees working up close and personal with the asse— dinosaurs have the right safety gear."

"Well," Owen reached out, laying his hand over Claire's. "I appreciate the concern, but you don't need to worry about me."

"Sure," Claire snorted. "You say that now, but give it a few weeks."

"Ok, I'll make you a deal." Owen offered, taking Claire's hand in his.

Claire raised an eyebrow, feeling a little nervous to learn what the deal was.

"If I can make it through the next two weeks without any injury from the girls, we go on a date."

Claire choked on her chip, clearing her throat a few times. Did he just ask her out? "What happens when you get hurt?"

"That's not going to happen." Owen replied, smiling at the way Claire was nibbling her bottom lip. Her hand tightening around his. He immediately knew she was worried that he wouldn't hold up his end of the bargain.

"I'll put a rush on that safety gear." Claire informed him with a smile.

"And the truth comes out!" Owen cheered, suddenly aggravated that the table was between them. He would have loved nothing more than to lunge for her and feeling her lips on his.

Claire's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She was confident she wanted something to happen with Owen, but her capability to actually hold onto any type of relationship was something she wasn't good at. Her face fell serious as she looked down at their intertwined hands. "Owen I—" She started, but cut off.

"Hey," Owen said softly, squeezing her hand until she looked up at him. "I'm not here to fuck around." He informed her. He paused a moment watching her reaction. She glanced at him with a shy smile. She was holding back and he knew it. "Two weeks," he reminded her. "Have dinner with me in two weeks."

"If you don't get malled by one of your raptors." Claire pointed out.

Owen smiled and winked at her. "I'll be fine."

"I'm holding you to that." Claire said with a wink.