“Nice to see your sense of humor is intact,” I said, waving goodbye as I continued on my way to the wharf.
A shark was the last thing I was worried about.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I couldn’t helpit–I cringed when I walked down the floating dock, waving at the fishermen stocking their boats with bait, as I got to the end and saw Sienna kissing Trace.
Gauntlet thrown, Sienna, gauntlet thrown.
Now I was glad I’d worn my skimpy bikini. Let’s show this stick of a girl what a real woman looks like, I thought uncharitably as I cleared my throat loudly before hopping onto Trace’s dive boat.
“Oh, hey Althea,” Sienna said sweetly, and I smiled brightly at her. I wondered what she would do if I walked over and wrapped my arms around Trace and pulled him in for a big kiss.
My thoughts must have shown on my face because Trace’s eyes narrowed at the corners and he shook his head slightly at me.
“Hey, Sienna,” I said, moving past her to put my bag on a bench at the back. Without really thinking about it, I began to go through our morning routine. I unpacked mybag and hooked my regulator up to my tank, threading the regulator hoses through my BCD. When Trace started the boat’s engines, I walked to the front and hopped onto the dock, crouching to unravel the rope from where it wound around the hook on the dock. As Trace reversed slowly, I held the rope and walked towards the end of the dock, jumping easily back onto the boat at the last minute. Sienna watched all of this carefully, her eyes darting between Trace and me, and I knew she was assessing our established relationship patterns.
“Where are we going today?” I asked, stopping on my way from the front of the boat back towards where my stuff lay on a bench. Trace stood at the wheel, motoring us from the channel that would feed us out into the ocean.
“I was thinking just out to Shipwreck Reef,” Trace said sheepishly and I tilted my head at him.
“If you’re just going to take us to a snorkeling spot, I could’ve stayed home,” I said, annoyed that I’d gotten up to go on a shallow water dive.
“But he said it would be a good spot for me to do my check-out dive,” Sienna said, looking back and forth between us.
“You know I can’t take her where we usually go. That’s a little too advanced for her,” Trace said, pleading with me to be nice.
“Just how often do you guys really go diving?” Sienna asked, her tone annoyed.
“Twice a week, usually,” I said, smiling at her.
“Really? I didn’t know that,” Sienna said, her eyes on Trace. He just shrugged.
“It’s nice to get out early before my day fills up withclients. I like to have a little peace in the water,” Trace explained.
“With her,” Sienna asked pointedly.
“Yes, with me. I have thousands of dives under my belt and I’m also an accomplished underwater photographer. Trace doesn’t have to worry about me in the water like he would with you,” I said, not softening the sting in my words.
“Well, then I’ll just have to catch up, won’t I?” Sienna said, raising an eyebrow at me and standing her ground.
“You do that,” I muttered as I finished checking my gear over and pulled my camera from its case. Shipwreck Reef was only a short ride away and I could already see the buoy marker bobbing in the water ahead of us. Pulling my dress over my head, I tucked it into my bag and walked to the front of the boat, not caring that both Sienna and Trace watched me in my little bikini.
The sun was already warm against my skin, even this early in the day. The wind was kicking up a bit from the west, and I wondered if we’d have any hurricanes coming our way this season. The large white ball of a buoy bobbed on shimmering aquamarine water, signaling that the reef was close and that the depth was shallow.
Oh well. Maybe I’d get some good macro shots while Trace dealt with Sienna.
I hooked the buoy line to the boat and then moved past Sienna, not caring that she was watching my every move. At this point, she should have been paying attention to how Trace was hooking up her gear instead of worrying about what I was doing. I slid into my skin wetsuit, pulling it all the way up and leaving the back loose.
“Can you zip me?” I asked sweetly, turning my back to Trace. Trace zipped me so quickly he almost caught my skin, and I shot a glare over my shoulder at him.
“I know this reef pretty well, so I’ll just let you two do your thing.”
Sitting down on the bench, I slid my arms into the BCD vest and worked my straps closed, watching as Sienna slid her neon-clad body into a wetsuit, smiling up at Trace as he zipped her.
Damn it. They were cute together.
But I would never do this again, I decided, standing hunched over from the weight of the tank on my back.
