David looked down and checked his clipboard. “You’re not signed up for this class, Moretti.”
“I’m not interested in the class. But I’m the lady’sdiving buddy. If she’s going to practice, she should practice with me.”
For half a second, Joe and Tony locked eyes. Kyra tensed, afraid there was going to be a fight, and more than a little baffled that she might be the reason for it. For a moment, the air held a charge, like the calm before a storm. Then Joe backed away, his hands held up in surrender.
“Hey, whatever, man. She’s not worth a fight.”
“Well, that’s why I’m with her,” Tony said. “I think she is.”
He sat down next to her, his feet dangling in the pool. “I hope you don’t mind me muscling my way into your class.”
“No,” she said, succumbing to a wash of pure happiness. “You can muscle in any time.”
* * *
THEY DEVELOPEDa rhythm—slow, sensual—thirteen feet under the water, with nothing to rely on but each other. Their eyes locked, and the complete trust he saw reflected in her slate-colored eyes warmed his soul. This was the woman he wanted in so many ways. And she wanted him, too.
She just didn’t know it.
With a firm grip, he held on to the vest she wore over her swimsuit that held her air tank and her regulator. They were practicing sharing a regulator, and her mouthpiece was dangling free. Her lips were pursed, and she blew a tiny stream of bubbles.
Through the wall of bubbles, she looked at him, her eyes clear through the thin plastic of her mask. Right then, she was totally reliant on him, and he knew with absolute certainty that she trusted him completely.
He inhaled a second breath, then guided the mouthpiece to her. She took it, her hand covering his, and pulled in two breaths of air, her eyes never leaving his.
His free hand held on to her vest, and he could feel her breasts move as she inhaled, the gentle press of her skin against his fingers setting his fingers to itching. He wanted so much for her to know who he was—for her to want him, to wantTony, as much as she wanted Michael. But he knew that was impossible.
He’d learned from Amy the hard way that Tony Moretti wasn’t lover material, and certainly he hadn’t caught any signals from Kyra that she was interested in being more than friends. Hell, he should feel lucky he even had her friendship.
She cocked her head and made an okay sign with her fingers. He nodded, realizing his mind had drifted.Count your blessings, boy. Isn’t that what the doctor had said?
Well, maybe Dr. Johnston was right. Maybe he should just be satisfied that this wonderful woman considered Tony a friend. Maybe they could even stay in touch once their week was over. A friendly correspondence over the Internet, maybe.
Yes, that was the best solution—cultivate her friendshipduring the day, and force himself to stay away at night.
She passed the mouthpiece back to him, then gestured to the surface with her thumb.
He nodded, and they linked arms, kicking to the surface together, trading air as they went, their bodies as close as lovers.
It would be hard, getting through the nights without her. But in the end, falling in love with her while she fell for a man who both was and wasn’t him…well, that would be even harder.
* * *
“YOU STILLhaven’t told me if I was right,” Kyra said. They were baking in the sun, turning golden brown like French fries. Totally unhealthy according to everything she’d read lately, but it seemed almost criminal to go to an island and not go back with a tan.
Tony propped himself up on one elbow, his skin glistening from a layer of sunscreen, the muscles in his arm and shoulder well defined as he turned to face her, sunglasses covering those chestnut eyes she’d learned to read so well while they’d been underwater. She frowned, trying to figure out whom he reminded her of. It was, right on the tip of her—
He pulled the glasses off, and she lost it.Damn.
“What?”
“I was trying to figure out who you remind me of,” she said. “I almost had it, too.”
For a second, he looked almost troubled. “No. I meant what did you mean by ‘were you right’?”
“Oh, that.” She sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the lounge chair and digging her toes into the sand. It felt cool, a nice contrast to her overwhelming body heat. She blamed it on the sun, but a tiny, hidden part of her wondered if it didn’t have a bit to do with Tony as well. She’d been so thrilled when he’d shown up to be her buddy. And practicing the dive with him, sharing the very air they were breathing, had been so…intimate.
And now they were lying side by side on the beach and he was so very, very male. She stifled a shiver. Surely she just had sex on the brain. What other excuse could she possibly have for getting all hot and bothered about sharing a regulator with a friend?
