For a long, painful minute, I focus on her breathing. At least she got a good night’s rest. With the wedding on her doorstep, she’s going to need it.
As quietly as possible, I slip from the bed and get myself ready. When I head out for my run, I pause to make sure I’m hearing right. Lexi is snoring. It’s soft and so cute. She’s like a kitten, all sweet and cozy. I want to stare a moment longer, but I leave her be, as staying only eats at my resolve to keep away from her. After last night, Lexi would probably be feral if I woke her with an unsolicited morning kiss.
When I return, she’s gone like every other morning.
After a quick shower and breakfast at the staff canteen, I don’t head straight to the dive center but instead make my way to the office to check on her.
“Tristan.” Jem quirks an eyebrow as I walk inside.
Lexi looks up, frowning to see me here, so off script. We’re back on stage, and with Jem’s eyes on us, I’m going to have to play my role, which seems even more duplicitous and complicated than before.
“Jem,” I say in greeting as I walk over to where Lexi’s sitting behind her desk. “Babes.” I lean in as she swivels in her office chair and looks up, surprise widening her eyes. I block any further movement with my hand on the back of her chair. “Feeling better than yesterday?” I ask, keeping her trapped so we can have this private word.
“You don’t need to ask?—”
“But I want to know, so I can look out for you.”
“I’m fine,” Lexi says. And there it is, that sweet blush she has zero control over. “That’s a one-day thing.”
“Good.” I pull away, but don’t let go of the chair, crowding her with my body for Jem’s sake.
Lexi clears her throat, searching my face. “Good run?”
“Yeah.” I smile at her and straighten, but watch as she crosses her legs.Dammit, Lexi. “I want to check Mike’s schedule for the week ahead. I need him to man the boat when I go out with Roger.”
“Roger is your boat boy. What do you need Mike for?” Jem eyes me over the rims of her glasses. “He’s going to be busy enough with transporting things from Pemba and with the wedding guests and their whims.”
“I’m training Roger up to master-diver level,” I say, not fazed by Jem’s authoritarian tone. “We’ll start with walk-in dives, but later this week we’ll need to go out to deeper waters. We need a skipper. It’s a standard safety procedure.”
“Huh,” Jem grunts. “Deeper waters, huh. Diving. Huh.”
“Yes, Jem, surely you won’t stop Roger from learning how to dive? He wants to up his skills, and Tristan is here to help him out,” Lexi says. “If they need a boat and Mike is available, I don’t see why they can’t go out in the afternoons.”
Total annihilation. Awkward doesn’t begin to describe it. Jem glares at Lexi. Lexi glares back. I squeeze the back of Lexi’s chair.Attagirl.
Eventually Jem drops her gaze, and you could hear a pin fall in the room.
Lexi shifts in her chair, her shoulders stiff. “I’ll check for you.”
My eyes move to her screen, where she has some random gossip page open.
She minimizes it, but it’s too late. I know what she’s doing. She’s checking up on Mia Reed and the bomb that’s officially airborne.
“You shouldn’t.” I squeeze her shoulder, and she tenses under my touch. Now there’s one way to give us away. Jem’s eyes are on us again, brooding, clinging to us like sand to suntan-lotioned skin. So instead of pulling away, I keep my hand on her shoulder, tracing a line on the delicate column of Lexi’s neck with my thumb. She shudders, as if on cue.
I shouldn’t play with her like this, but I can’t stop myself from touching her. I don’t like Jem’s scrutiny, and I also need to comfort Lexi somehow and get the message through that she should stop tormenting herself by scouring the internet. When the Mia Reed story breaks, it will be plastered front-page everywhere.
“I know I shouldn’t,” Lexi murmurs as she types away. “Mike is out on Wednesday and Friday afternoon for now. For the rest, he seems available. Today and tomorrow are madness.”
“Great. I’ll speak to him.” With a soft brush down her arm, I lean in and kiss her temple. “Good luck. Call me if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“The first delivery arrives in an hour, and then the guests are coming in three batches,” Lexi says. She seems to force herself to relax under Jem’s continuing watch. “It’s going to be busy.”
“You keep Matthias de Foch out of our hair and out of our girls’ panties,” Jem says on a huff. “He’s at his best a couple of meters under water.”
Jesus Christ.De Foch has a reputation. “Will do.”
I’m hardly out of the office when Jem’s voice follows me. “When are you two going to kiss and make up, huh? Properly?”
