Owen was more astute and intelligent than some gave him credit for, maybe at some point asking a hundred dollars per date seemed outrageous; but he knew this assignment didn't just consist in randomly take Claire out once a week or at the janitors' convenience. Women needed development and investment. He would have been crazy to think the redhead would keep interest in going out with him for the rest of the soccer season if he only showed up every now and then. This took dedication and time; he had to woo her and show interest every day and in different ways. His price was completely reasonable to his eyes and he was making every penny worth.

It had been three days since their first date and he had made sure to sporadically text her, let her believe she was on his mind. He also made sure she had hot fresh coffee, but strategically had avoided sitting with her for breakfast, even if this one was always waiting for her with Zara every morning by the time she made it to her office.

Claire was at her desk that morning, at this point her curiosity keeping her distracted while she tried sent a couple of e-mails. It was the first morning that she had come to work and no food or coffee had been left for her to have. It was until the screen of her iPhone lit up on her desk when she smiled and nibbled on her thumb.

"Hello pretty lady." The notification read, letting her know the raptor wrangler on her mind was texting her.

She slowly grabbed the cellphone and leaning back against the rest she nibbled on her lower lip, "Hey you." She texted back, blushing lightly.

"Hungry?" He immediately replied.

"Starving..." She let him know.

"Busy?" She pursed her lips unable stop herself from finding his one word texts charming.

Claire opened the calendar tab on her outlook and checked her appointments for the day, "not for the next hour."

"May I come in?"

She giggled loud enough for Owen to hear her on the other side of the door, he missed the little smile that grew on his lips at the sound of it, "Yes, you may..." with that sent, Claire stood up from her desk and walked over to the couch.

Owen slowly opened the door to her office, he was carrying two plastic containers and their coffees. The redhead met him half way to help him bring the food in and settled it on the center table in front of the couch.

They sat next to each other and with her head tilted, she watched him open each container, the bigger one was keeping two thick spongy blueberry pancakes warm. He had chopped fruit in the other one and using one of the forks he poured it over their pancakes. He had been carrying the utensils (wrapped in paper napkins) and three little syrup bottles in the pockets of his front jeans.

Claire couldn't help smile the whole time, watching him finish the little details on their breakfast. Once he was done, Owen looked up and caught her smiling, he couldn't help himself and offered a side smirk.

"Tell me beautiful," He teased her, "what kind of man makes you smile bright?" He bumped his knee with hers playfully before bringing the food close and resting the container on his lap, Claire blushing hot red and chuckling while she shook her head.

"So what kind of contact do you have in the kitchen?" She tried to change the subject. He never failed to have them make them food.

"These are not from the cafeteria." He shook his head, cutting a piece of pancake to feed her. "These are from La Cuisine de el Grady." He totally failed to make that sound genuine, coming out as some French and Spanish hybrid.

She smirked and bit on her lip before opening her mouth for him to feed her the first bite. She moaned softly, they were incredibly good, "tell me~" the redhead mirrored his question from before, "should I feel special or do you cook for all the girls?" She let her green eyes meet his, the small butterflies she felt flapping uncontrollably.

"You first..." He murmured, demanding to have his question answered if she wanted hers, taking the moment to feed her another bite of the pancakes he had made for her.

Claire slowly leaned closer and took the bite, her hand gently reaching out for the fork and cutting a piece of the pancakes herself. She slid it over the syrup and pinched a piece of strawberry with the fork, bringing the bite to his lips.

He offered a cheeky smile and leaned closer, parting his lips to take it just to watch her pull the fork back from him and chuckle, "very funny." He rolled his eyes playfully.

"I have a very underrated sense of humor..." She flirted with him, slowly brining the fork close to his lips and pulling back just in time for him to miss again. At the third try, Owen softly held her wrist and drove her hand to feed him, making her giggle. Claire fixed her eyes on his for a second before letting them drop down to his lips; they looked glossy with syrup on them. She gulped softly looking down to their food and pinched some of the fruit to eat.

"I think it's adorable." He licked his lips and reached out for his coffee to take a sip.

She smiled to herself at the sound of that, "do you want to do this a...um...a thing?" She frowned before looking up and making eye contact with him, "have breakfast before your day starts?" She had been finding herself really enjoying his company and even if still nervous about it, she was forward and determined into getting what she wanted. That's why she had asked for a second date, one she hoped he was still interested in.

"I would like that." He nodded. "Yeah~we can definitely do that." He agreed.

"Alright." She smiled and reached out for her coffee to have a sip, "maybe tomorrow I can put something together for us." She suggested, "Well not me—" She shook her head, she couldn't cook for her life, "unless you like burnt eggs and undercooked bacon." She laughed.

"How did you know? That's my favorite!" He teased her before he agreed to that arrangement. "At what time do you need me here?" He asked softly, letting his hazel eyes make her green ones shy away after he looked deep into them, his hand taking hers.

"How does seven thirty sound?" She figured she had to do this before her own day officially started, guarantee she'd have her schedule cleared.

Owen nodded, "in the meantime..." he started suggesting, "how about we go together tonight?"

"Tonight? Where?" She shook her head, not really following.

"To the costume party? The annual Halloween party?" He didn't believe for a second she didn't know about it, seeing how it was for employees and she was the operations manager.

"Oh." She wrinkled her nose and sighed, "I don't really go to that." She chuckled nervously.

"Well, you are going tonight — as my date, what do you say?" He offered his most charming smile, the one he knew ladies could never say no to. The redhead looked up and let her fingers brush her hair while she thought this through, she wasn't the type to be comfortable in this kind of gatherings, and she always managed to book something work related during the event so she could have a valid excuse to miss it.

Claire smiled and shook her head, that was a negative. "It'll be fun! We get to use those cheesy couple costumes and make everybody jealous because we are hotter than everyone else!" He playfully nudged her. "I already have mine, I'm going as Hercules." He explained. The redhead rolled her eyes and still didn't give in.

"Disney...?" Claire disapproved.

"No, greek mythology." He explained.

"So it isn't about betrayal, it's about rage?" Claire teased him. "Either way one of them ends up dead and.. spoiler alert; it's always the girl." She shrugged.

"Why don't you like Disney?" He was more interested in that subject rather than getting in an argument about mythology he wasn't even that familiar with — he just wanted to show off his 'guns' in the outfit.

"They are the competition." She simply admitted. That's how she saw it anyways, Disney Parks, even if there was not one of their properties near by, was still the competition. It was a matter of brand loyalty.

"No they aren't; one sells fairy tales and you guys sell a life threatening experience." He laughed.

Claire rolled her eyes, she had kept that park running without any major disaster for almost a decade. "Lets say you are a family man who managed to save for a thrilling vacation, you sit down with your wife and kids and you ask... 'what park would you like to go to for summer break?' What options would you give?"

"Hold on, are you the wife in this?" He offered a cheeky grin.

"No—"

"Then I would divorce that woman and then marry you." He teased her, "'where would you like to go to, honey?'" He asked playfully, his hand taking hers. "'Disney or Jurassic World?'"

"HA!"

"Oh, shit." He laughed falling for it and shook his head. "It's okay, I'll just ask someone else to be my Megara." He shrugged.

At his words, Claire frowned. She felt something in her stomach tightening— was it jealousy? She shrugged trying to seem indifferent, "have fun." She offered dryly. His hazel eyes trying to study her body language from the corner of his eyes. He watched her brush her fingers through her long red hair and smiled.

"I'm sure there are many out there who would love to come with me." He started pushing it.

"Mmmhmm..." She stood up from the couch and moved back to her desk. She had better things to do than let this guy mess with her.

Owen followed her and sat on the edge of her desk, by her chair, "so should I pick you up at seven?" He noticed the glow in her face had vanished, his finger gently reached out for her chin and tilted her head to the side and face him.

"What for? Aren't you going with one of your many girlfriends, Hunkules?"

He laughed and standing up headed back to the couch. He cleaned the table and gathered his things, the redhead not taking her eyes away from her screen. For some reason he thought it was amusing to leave her feeling like this, in his mind it was obvious he wouldn't go find someone else. But Claire, honestly didn't know what to think. "See you later, gorgeous." He winked at her, the redhead moving her eyes away from the screen just to watch him find his way out of her office.

Wearing a very Disney inspired war skirt with a golden Olympus medallion in the center of his belt and a blue cape, along with a red headband around his forehead, the perfect gladiator sandals, and wrist bands... Owen gently knocked at the door of one Claire Dearing's office. He was already in full costume, holding a long garment bag and a back pack over his shoulder. He slowly made himself welcomed, surprising the redhead. It was only five in the afternoon.

She was quiet, her green eyes watching him from her desk, biting her lower lip. He looked sexy as hell and the realization of her brain going there made her clear her throat. He set the garment bag across the couch so her dress wouldn't get wrinkled and rested the backpack down on the floor, brining all kinds of hair product, make-up, as well as a pair of sandals out of it and placed them on the table. "Time to get ready." He smiled.

"What? Your girlfriends bailed on you?" She smiled playfully.

"Truth is, I don't have a wig for them and I need a redhead so my costume can be on point." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I can't be your accessory tonight." She sighed and went back to her work.

Owen laughed and inched closer, he kneeled by her desk chair and looked up at her from there, "you know I have wanted to go with you from the start and only you..." He grinned softly, stealing a smile from her, "—no need to get jealous." He murmured.

Claire scoffed and rolled her eyes, "please leave."

"Ah c'mon! I thought we were beyond that!" He chuckled referring at those times when she'd kick him out of her office. She gave him a look, and letting him take her hand on his, they walked to the waiting area, Owen pulling her chair along with them.

He set the chair near a socket and had her sit back down. Owen stood behind her and started to play his fingers through her long red hair, "What are you doing?" She pulled away, looking back over her shoulder.

"I'm going to do your hair...and make-up." He smiled, "and if those two go well, maybe you'll let me undress you." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"You are not getting anywhere near my hair!" She shook her head, not addressing the last part of his statement, it had made her blush though and be glad her back was on him so he couldn't see.

Owen didn't say, but he had spent his lunch break watching YouTube tutorials on how to pull off that amazing high ponytail. He was a man of many skills, and it hadn't taken long for Claire to realize he actually knew what he was doing while working with the hair dryer and giving her red hair the perfect amount of volume and noticing how tender and careful he was with it.

It had taken him almost an hour, but the hairstyle looked flawless, "where did you learn how to do this?" Claire admired her hairdo through the mirror he was holding in front of her.

"I had a lot of practice with the four girls back at the paddock." He joked. Next, was her makeup. That had been another hour of tutorials but now that he had been able to pull off the hair, he was confident this one would be equally successful.

Claire's dress and sandals had fit perfectly; with the help of Zara, of course. Owen had worked with the English assistant in getting the dress and shoe size and made sure the long waist complimented both the redhead's breasts and hips. The only reason the woman kept teaming up with Owen from the start was because she had noticed her boss's interest in him and could tell she already liked him a lot — like every other employee, she agreed that a boyfriend should do her some good.

The party was to take place outdoors, take advantage of their weather. They always decorated main street and that day the park closed earlier. By six thirty in the afternoon, every guest had already been escorted out so the cleaning team could work along with facilities and set up the tables for the special dinner the park treated its staff to, along with cleaning the street and setting up the dance floor.

Claire and Owen walked out of the Innovation Center hand in hand, the redhead was already regretting agreeing to this. She knew everybody would make a big deal out of her presence since she was always absent in this kind of event. She sighed and letting go of his hand, the redhead held onto his bicep. "Should we find a table?" He suggested, getting a nod as an affirmation. They walked down Main Street, passing Miguel and Hector who looked puzzled. They felt the need to have a private conversation with their guy.

The two Latinos walked behind them but had to postpone their thoughts once they got beaten by the Park's owner who who had come dressed as Batman.

"Claire!" Simon smiled, he already had a martini in hand. "It's a pleasant surprise to see you here! And in costume!"

"Mr. Masrani, I believe you already know Owen Grady, our —"

"Of course!" He interrupted her, offering a handshake.

"Sir." Owen nodded, greeting him back.

"I'm glad you decided to follow my suggestion and get—"

"It's not like that!" She widen her eyes and wished for the Mosasaurus to jump out of the lagoon and swallow her.

"Heart eyes, Claire." He pointed out at both her green eyes and smiled at her, "I've never seen them in you before."

"I don't have heart eyes or heart anything." She assured Owen, feeling completely embarrassed that her boss was worse than any father when it came to humiliating their daughter in front of their crush.

Owen just smiled at her and jumped slightly once he felt their boss invading his personal space, "and you better not break her heart or I'll find you..." Simon was serious, making the young man gulp. "Enjoy your evening, lovebirds." He offered before walking pass them.

"I think he's had more than he should." She motioned with her hand about drinking and blushed lightly trying to find an excuse for his behavior.

"Speaking of, can I get you a drink?" Owen offered, his hand lightly caressing her naked freckled shoulder.

"I...I don't really drink." She confessed.

"I got you." Owen winked, "be right back."

Claire nodded and walked around looking for a table for them to take a couple of seats at. She found one near the sidewalk, closer to the volcano-shaped building and away from the speakers blasting the music their DJ was playing for the party.

"Hey, Owen?" Miguel and Hector approached the man, one on each side. The two Latinos were dressed as Wayne and Garth.

"Hey, what's up?" The raptor wrangler casually asked while he waited for their drinks to be prepared.

"This one is on you, right?" They wanted to make sure this guy wouldn't be charging them a hundred bucks at the end of the evening for something they hadn't asked for. "The next match is on Monday." They explained.

Owen sighed, "you mean if I'm going to charge you for bringing her here?"

The Latino men nodded.

"Don't worry, this is included in the current agreement." He rolled his eyes. These idiots really thought that just remembering her existent every soccer match would be enough.

"Okay. Okay." They nodded, "and so are all those breakfast and all that right?" Latinos were used to trying to be scammed and they just wanted to make sure.

"Yep." He confirmed, both his drinks ready so he took one on each hand, "I'd need that second date cash between tomorrow and Friday, by the way." He added, "I need the money for you know, getting the stuff I need for the date." He let them know before leaving them there and going back to his date.

Claire smiled upon his arrival to the table and let her eyes move down to the drink he had brought for her, "what's in this?"

She tilted her head looking down at the darkish brown nectar with fruit in the bottom.

"It's called Pimm's," Owen filled her in, "you'll like it." He promised.

The redhead nodded, trusting him on that and slowly gave it a sip. It tasted sweet and he was right, it wasn't bad at all. "Thanks." She smiled before giving it a full sip.

He had gotten a beer, not really a fan of those prepared drinks. He took a sip straight from the bottle and nodded, "so what are the chances of me persuading you to dance?"

"You'll have to ask and see~"

He nodded and took another sip of his beer, watching her timidly enjoy her own drink. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, he just watched her anticipate for him to ask her properly to dance. He slowly started to chuckle and reaching out, he played his fingers with the ends of her hair.

"I don't understand why you think this is funny?!" She said serious but couldn't help start laughing.

"Because you look cute when frustrated and annoyed." He admitted, his index finger twirling her hair.

She rolled her eyes and taking her drink, she took a sip from it.

He laughed, "Do you want to dance?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

The redhead moved her eyes over, "no." She shut his request down. "Do you like candy? There's supposed to be a candy bar somewhere." She casually added, looking around before she stood up and fixed her dress.

Owen stood up behind her and placing his hand on the small of her back, he followed her to the other side of the street. They had a long table set up with several candy bowls. They held different brands of chocolate, hard candy, sweets, and even bubblegum. She grabbed one of the small containers for them and started to take some of the stuff she liked.

Using the tweezers, she dropped some dark chocolate and sour gummy worms in the container as well as skittles and MMs, "ooh...I like those sour candy strips!" Owen requested, both his hands on her waist, keeping her close against him, looking over her shoulder from behind. The redhead did as requested and pinched a few of those for their container.

They kept walking down the line, both picking what the wanted to take back to the table. By the time they were at the end of the candy bar, Owen's arm was around her waist completely, his hand resting on her belly. Her face she would stay an inch away from his when looking over asking what other candy he wanted.

"I think that's enough or we will have a sugar induced coma." He laughed before they agreed to go back to their seats.

Once they were back to their table, Claire pulled her chair closer to his and smiled feeling him bring his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. He fished for a sour gummy worm in their candy container and fed it to her.

"I would have never taken you for someone who eats candy." He admitted, watching her sucked slowly into the piece of dark chocolate he was feeding her.

"I'm not." She admitted, "after this piece I'm done for a whole year." Claire shrugged and fishing into their container she grabbed a few MMs and Skittles, not really able to tell the difference in the dimmed lighting around them.

"No~" Owen turned his head away when she tried to feed him. "You are banned from feeding me." He pressed his lips together.

"What? Why?!" She wondered, her body lightly resting against his, while his arm kept her close to him.

"Because you are a tease!" He laughed, his fingers once again unconsciously playing with the ends of her hair, "You may, but you can't move." He suggested.

"I can't move? How am I supposed to do that?"

Owen shrugged.

The redhead smiled and pursed her lips, "open big..." she requested, tilting her chin up and watching Owen doing so, she gently threw one of the MMs into his mouth but failed and hit his cheek. He laughed and taking it with his hand he ate it.

"Okay, try again. I'll try catch it this time." He offered now that he knew what she was doing. Claire started throwing one after the other, Owen catching all of them with his free hand as she kept missing, hitting his chin and one of them almost hitting him in the eye. It was until the last try when she finally managed to feed him the Skittle like that.

She celebrated by throwing her arms in the air, Owen chuckling pulled her closer and gently kissed her cheek. The redhead slowly turned to face him and smiled back, her eyes dropping to his lips for a second before she found herself biting on her own.

"They finally started playing decent music, do you want to dance?" He asked once again, his fingers tenderly caressing her cheek.

Claire nodded quietly and simultaneously stood up with him, he took her hand and they walked down Main Street to the end, finding a spot by the lagoon's railing. The song that started playing in that moment was Paul McCartney's 'Maybe I'm Amazed'.

Owen held her close to him, his arm gently wrapped around her waist while he smiled at her. She rested one of her arms on his shoulder, her other hand holding his. The redhead took a second to look into his eyes, quietly admitting to herself that her boss had been right and she didn't know any other way to look at Owen but with heart eyes.

"You~" She mumbled blushing and looking down to her feet, "You are the type that makes me smile bright." She confessed, answering his question from that morning.

Owen frowned, it had been her words what snapped him out of the hypnotizing moment their eyes were sharing. Claire nibbled on her lower lip and stepping closer, she hid her face in the crook of his neck, "I have never cooked for any other girl." He admitted with a light murmur, "so you should feel special." He closed his eyes and shook his head, "You are—special."

Claire smiled to herself, her fingers sliding through the hair in his nape, gently nosing close and taking in his scent.

"You look gorgeous tonight." He felt like adding before tightening the grip around her while the song they were dancing to told the story of a lonely man in the middle of something that he really didn't understand.