“What on earth are you doing?”
“Checking out your adventure wear. I’m not sure sandals and a sundress are the recommended attire of thrill seekers.”
She laughed, then crumpled her napkin and tossed it at him. “Nut. It just so happens my attire is perfect.”
While he gawked like a twelve-year-old, she undid the top five buttons on the dress’s bodice, pulled it aside, and revealed a navy blue swimsuit.
“Today’s project is scuba diving. And that’s why I can’t be a bum and lie out with you on the beach.”
He sat down again. “That sounds like fun. Where are you going? A reef? A wreck?”
“Not exactly.” She pointed behind them to the lagoon-style main pool. “The pool.”
“Wow,” he deadpanned. “You are a thrill seeker.”
She rolled her eyes. “Very funny. Today is the class and tomorrow is the ocean.” She propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “I’ve got an idea. Instead of hanging on the beach, why don’t you take the class with me?”
* * *
THE SECONDthe invitation left her mouth, Kyra realized how much she wanted him to agree. She genuinely liked him, and already he’d filled the little well of loneliness she’d been battling since Michael left.
Tony didn’t look nearly as enamored with the idea. A riot of expressions were splashed across his face—confusion, disbelief, even a hint of nervousness.
She bit back a delighted laugh, unused to men willing to be even the tiniest bit less than one-hundred-percent macho. “Well?” she prodded.
“Scuba diving,” he repeated. “You want me to take scuba lessons with you?”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to walk across hot coals,” she said, teasing him.
“You might as well be.”
With a flash of insight, she realized her mistake. “Oh, I’m sorry. Don’t you swim?” She swept a hand around to encompass the island. “Probably stupid, but I just assumed anyone who came to an island for a vacation swam.”
He nodded. “I swim. And dive. And horseback ride. And ski.”
She imagined that he was extremely good at all those things. The thin T-shirt he wore did nothing to hide the broad expanse of his shoulders and chest, and she’d got a nice glimpse of his well-muscled legs when he’d stood up to tease her about her “adventure wear.” He might be spending his vacation lounging in the shade, but she could tell he’d spent his life doing something a heck of a lot more active. No, it wouldn’t surprise her at all to find out that Tony Moretti was quite the athlete. But none of that explained why he didn’t want to go diving with her. “So you do all that, but you just don’t scuba dive?”
“I dive.” His face tightened, and Kyra thought he looked almost angry. “At least I used to. But I don’t anymore.”
“Why not?” She winced. “Sorry. That’s really none of my business.”
For a moment, his face remained set, distant. She assumed he was silently agreeing, and she mentally kicked herself for being so forward. The man was incredibly easy to talk to, and she’d felt a fast bond, a spark of instantaneous friendship. But that didn’t mean he felt it, too. And it certainly didn’t give her license to pry.
“Listen,” she said, trying to get back onto neutral ground. “I should probably get going. Maybe we can hook up—”
“This,” he said, pointing to his eye.
She squinted, trying to follow, but unable to keep up. “Pardon?”
“An accident. I was a firefighter until I got this, and it messed up my back pretty bad, too.”
“Thus the need for some R and R.” She’d really stepped in it this time. “Look, please forgive me. I spoke without thinking. I didn’t mean to open up old wounds.”
He reached over the table and took her hand briefly, then pulled away quickly, almost as if he’d been burned. The shock of his fingers against her skin left her hand tingling and the rest of her slightly sad. It was an odd sensation, and not one she was sure she should examine too closely. After all, he was just being polite. Nice men didn’t go around touching women they hardly knew.
And nice women didn’t feel all tingly from the touch of an island acquaintance.
True enough. Her senses were probably just on hyperdrive. Still, an odd sense of loss washed over her, and she was sorry he hadn’t held on. Foolish, but somehow it seemed she knew him better than as a casual acquaintance, and she wished she could offer some real comfort for what was apparently a huge tragedy in his life. Instead, she could only say, “I’m sorry.”
