“Your breathing tube. It’s the wrong way.”
He swims closer, and I find my body tensing in anticipation of his nearness.
“Here.” He takes the breathing bit from me and shows me how the tube is the wrong way. “So, when you go under, the tube is in the water too.”
My cheeks flame red with mortification. “Oh my God. I’m so embarrassed. I’m such an idiot.”
“I’d disagree with you, but …”
I give him a dirty look and splash water at him.
“Hey!” He’s laughing. “You said it! Not me! See, this is why you should listen when the guy on the boat—you know, the expert—is talking, telling you what you need to do.”
“I was listening.” I totally wasn’t. I’ve always had a hard time listening to instructions. Someone starts talking, and I just tune out and go into the stories in my head. My teachers always said I was a dreamer. I wasn’t. I was—am a writer. “Kind of. But you weren’t listening.”
“No, but I’ve snorkeled hundreds of times. You’ve snorkeled …” He gestures his hand for me to finish for him.
“Never,” I say begrudgingly.
“Well, seeing as though I like you, you can stick with me, and I’ll guide you, make sure you don’t drown yourself.”
He likes me?
That’s all I heard in that statement that mattered. I got the rest, and hanging with him for the duration of this trip and not by myself is hardly a hardship.
“You sure you don’t mind? I won’t be holding you back?”
“I’m sure. I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”
“Then, I accept your offer.”
He smiles. “First, let’s tighten your goggles a little too. They look like they’re letting in a bit of water.” He swims behind me and starts tightening the elastic strap.
I’m just here, treading water, with his fingers leaving little trails of fire on my head, wherever they touch.
I’ve just had the worst experience a person could have. Caught my mother having an affair with my fiancé, my heart shredded to pieces, and I’m literally on my honeymoon alone, lusting over this guy.
My libido clearly hasn’t gotten the memo.
Or maybe I just wasn’t as into Tim as I thought I was. Maybe I just liked the idea of him more than I actually liked him.
The security he was offering. The way he treated me kindly—until he didn’t.
“All done.”
West’s hands fall to my shoulders. My skin breaks out in goose bumps.
“You ready to snorkel?” His voice is deep and husky in my ear.
I have to suppress a shudder.
I swallow down and say, “Yes.” It comes out a little croaky.
“You sound nervous.”
I turn in the water to face him. His hands fall from my shoulders. It’s definitely easier to think and talk when his hands aren’t on me. Those big hands that covered my shoulders … just imagine what they could do to me …
Okay, so I was wrong. Removing his hands from me didn’t help.
Now, I’m looking into his face because in the water, we’re the same height, and all I can think about is him touching me with those hands and my lips sucking the water droplets from his mouth.
An image of me and him having sex flashes through my mind.
My heart speeds up. I can feel my body heating in response to the thought. I’m in warmish water, but I feel like I’m on fire. I know my neck and chest are flushed because West’s eyes are now on them.
Stupid body gives my thoughts away every time.
His eyes lift, meeting mine with knowledge.
He knows I want him.
We’re already close, but when he tips his head forward, it puts his mouth centimeters from mine.
I gulp down. His breath blows through my parted lips.
I bite down on my lip and try to regain control over my body.
I’m in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and I’m getting aroused over a guy I barely know.
“We’ll snorkel now. We’ll talk about this later.”
This? What’s this?
But I don’t get a chance to ask because he’s swimming away, ducking his head down into the water.
I wait a beat, confused. My mind still reeling over what this actually is. Then, I give up thinking, duck my head into the water, and follow after West.
When I catch up to him, he’s floating on the surface, staring down at one of the reefs.
The moment I look down at what he’s seeing, my insides light with happiness at the utter beauty of the reef.
Then, I feel a hand touch mine. I tilt my head to look and see that West has curled his large hand around mine, engulfing it. My stomach swoops just like the shoal of fish I’ve been watching.
Hand-holding. Such a small act. But it can be so incredibly intimate when you’re hot for a guy.
And I’m hot for West. So fucking hot.
He gestures to something and then starts to swim, taking me with him.
Maybe he just held my hand to get my attention and to lead me over to what he wants to show me. I don’t need to be getting carried away.
But on the surface minutes ago, there was definite sexual tension between us, and then there’s the this that we’ll be talking about later.
And I really need to stop overthinking and analyzing about a guy I haven’t even known twenty-four hours even if we did share a bedroom last night. What I need to do right now is look at the life and beauty happening right below me.
I follow along with West, moving farther away from the boat and from the group we came here with. It’s like we’re in our own little bubble.
We could almost be the couple he pretended us to be earlier, and …
Stop being weird, Dillon. And get out of your head.
I toss all thoughts out of my brain.
Something to the right catches my attention. The instant I see it, I freeze. Pretty sure my heart stops, missing a good few beats.
Then, the panic sets in, and I kick into action. Pulling free from West’s hand, I push up to the surface, kicking my legs like a maniac. I pull the mouthpiece from my mouth, breathing heavily.
“Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Shark!” I yell just as West resurfaces. “Th-there’s a shark! We have to get out of here! Back to the boat!” I’m literally living every one of those damn shark movies that I’ve ever seen.
And in each one, the idiot like me almost definitely dies.
I start kicking my legs to get moving. But I’m stopped by West. His hands wrapping around my waist.
“Relax. It’s fine. It’s not gonna hurt you.”
“It’s a shark!”
“It’s sleeping.”
“I don’t care if it’s having a mani-pedi! It’s a fucking shark, and I really don’t want to be eaten!”
He chuckles. “You’re not going to be eaten. It’s only a reef shark. Probably about seven or eight feet long. Not big at all.”
“That’s almost twice my size!”
He nods. “That’s true. You are tiny.”
“Oh fuck. It’s gonna eat me, for sure. It’s gonna see me, the smallest one here, and pick me out as the easy snack!”
“It’s not going to eat you or me or anyone else.”