“She’ll be fine.Want to tell me why she needed more time?”
Oliver pursed his lips.“I’ll let her tell you.”
Sam nodded.“Is the engine really dead?”
“I don’t think so.”He shifted the gear stick into neutral and turned the key.The engine roared to life.
Rodney glanced back, his expression livid, and Oliver switched it off again.“I’d forgotten how satisfying it was to take him down a peg or two.”
“Did you do that often?”Sam asked.
“Not as much as I would have liked to.He hasn’t changed.”
“Have you?”
The question made him pause.Had he changed from the self-absorbed immature man who had broken Dot’s heart?“Maybe.I hope so.”He wanted to sit with Dot and discuss what had happened, but when would he have a chance?“Are my students on board?”
“Yeah, they’re organising tomorrow’s dives.”
“Everything is arranged to stay on board overnight?”
“Sherlock’s setting up the rooms at the moment.”
Damn.It was what he wanted, but it meant he wouldn’t see Dot again.Especially not if Rodney sent her home.
“Do you want to head back to the boat?”Sam asked.
Oliver shook his head, his gaze on where Dot and Rodney had disappeared through the bushes.“I’d rather wait for Dot.”
Sam nodded and sat on a chair.“What do you know about Stonefish?”
Oliver frowned and glanced at him.“The fish?It’s found up here, so you should be careful where you tread.Pain is supposed to be the worst on Earth.”
“What about the company?”His gaze was focused and probing.
“Is that some kind of surf brand?”He shook his head.“I’ve never heard of it, but one of my students might have.”
Sam smiled.“I’ll ask.”
Oliver checked the time.They could do a couple of dives this afternoon, but he couldn’t shake the feeling not to leave Dot.
“What are you anxious about?”
“Dot.”Oliver had been right about Sam.Beneath his laid-back attitude, the man saw everything.“Rodney was one of the few people who used to get under her skin and he knew it.He would look for reasons to get her kicked out of the academy, probably because she was his main competition.”He glanced at Sam.“I’m half expecting only one of them to come back,” he joked.
“Then let’s get closer.”Sam leapt over the side of the boat.
Oliver followed.“That will irritate Dot.She’ll think we don’t believe she can handle herself.”
“You know her well,” Sam said.
“I used to.”
“And now?”
“We’ll see.”Oliver wasn’t spilling his guts to a man he barely knew, but he appreciated Dot had someone who had her best interests at heart, someone who would protect her if he wasn’t here.
They strode across the beach towards the hideout.“What’s in there?”Sam asked.
