“I thought you were heading off today. Was there trouble with the ferry?”
“Oh god, is that common?” I ask, thinking of Eva.
“Occasionally,” he shrugs, avoiding my eyes. “So no trouble? You’re just… here. In the employee room. Because…”
“Because I’m a new volunteer!” It hits me that he is, to some extent, my boss. At the very least he is much more senior than me and I should probably act accordingly. I jump up from the couch and hold out my hand for him to shake, as if we’re just meeting.
“Oh.” He leaves me hanging. “Mike said—but he didn’t say—that’s great.” He gives a sort of weak grimace and turns to leave the room.
Why is flustering this man quickly becoming my favorite pastime? I thought Australians were supposed to be a friendly, high-energy bunch, but he reminds me of a hermit crab—grumpy, alone, and likely to pinch.
“Do you want to see what I’m working on?” I ask, letting my hand drop. I want to follow him, to pepper him with questions, to see how thin his lips can go, how many creases I can create in his forehead. I want to keep having an effect on this man, any effect at all, but I rein myself in. We’re going to be stuck together for the next month, so I can’t let it start off on that foot. If I want to get invited on any of the eco-dives, I’ll have to play nice.
“I’ll see you around!” I shout after him, then fall back onto the couch. It’s hard to focus on my research after that. Instead, I flip through the hundreds of folders Mike has given me access to,looking for photos of Steven. He may be a man of few words, but an idea is forming. He doesn’t need to talk to be the face of Hot Dive Instructors of the Gilis. I can just picture it now.
Chapter 11
Steven
The moment I see her, my dick is back at attention, pushing against my pants almost painfully. What the fuck is she doing here? I’m going to kill Mike.
To save us both from a huge clusterfuck of embarrassment, I bolt from the room. When she shouts, “I’ll see you around!” I duck my head and swing my arms at my sides to escape faster.
I know that fucker can’t be far away. He’s like me, obsessed with the place. Our lives revolve around these turtles and these reefs. So why is he so determined to pollute my mental waters with this chick?
“Mike!” I shout, finally seeing the back of his dark head out on the dive boat, elbow-deep in a crate of masks and snorkels.
“Steven!” He waves with a grin. “Why aren’t you enjoying your day off at home?”
The smug son of a bitch doesn’t look the least bit guilty. “I saw Junie,” I say, wasting no time on catching my breath.
“Oh, yeah! She’s been a huge help already. We finally have someone to work on our social media presence.”
“Since when have you ever gave a fuck about social media presence?” I demand, clutching a stitch in my side. Fuck’s sake, why am I so winded?
“We need tourists. We need volunteers. We need money. She thinks she can find that for us. I care about that.” He shrugs and bends over to straighten some equipment.
He’s right about that. I finally let my body relax, taking deep breaths as I assess the situation logically—something much easier to do when I can’t smell her soft skin or see the light bouncing off her hair.
“Yeah,” I concede. “Those things would be nice.”
“Not everything is about you, mate,” he teases.
“Fuck, so she’s here for a month?” I ask, shading my eyes as I look out over the crystal blue. Longboats crisscross between the islands, dipping between the ferries shuttling tourists across the water. The green silhouette of Mt. Agung is wreathed with clouds.
“Mmm,” he agrees, as if he has no interest in that detail at all. “Much longer than one night, huh?”
My chest constricts. What did I say earlier? That I might’ve pursued her if she were here longer?
“Mike, if I don’t fuck clients, I definitely can’t fuck volunteers. That’s worse!”
He looks at me with eyebrows raised. “As you pointed out, there’s no rule about it. No one on the island cares.”
“But—” I choke. “I can’t just—”
Mike untangles a few more regulator hoses and pretends as if this is the most uninteresting conversation in the world, but I swear he’s holding back a shit-eating grin.
“And all that shit about Victoria? Was any of that even real?”
