Natasha smiled. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She strode up the shore, her gear in both hands.
“I would,” he said. It was true. He was hoping to figure out what her area of expertise was all about. “Maybe you could take me out, show me around a bit.”
She stopped right in front of him, staring at him with those gray eyes that sparkled with flecks of gold. A little crease formed between her eyebrows. Like she wasn’t sure what to make of his suggestion.
“Seriously,” he said. “I’d love for you to point out some of the creatures.”
They stood, facing each other, close enough to touch. Her eyes had a hazy glow to them in the sunlight. He let his gaze wander down, pausing on her parted lips, on the tender hollow at the base of her neck where drips of water caught. Her hair settled in glossy ropes over her shoulders. There were so many places he wanted to kiss her right now.
Max leaned forward and brushed his lips against her cheek. “You look hot in that wet suit, by the way,” he said, smiling. He tapped the mask in her hand. “Can I borrow that for a minute and get a peek under water?”
She didn’t answer right away, just tilted her head to the side, taking him in. Finally, she gave him a little smile. “It would be more fun if you go get your own and we can look together.”
“I just need a peek. I don’t have one of these,” he said, giving her wet suit a little tug, pulling her closer. If he leaned forward just a little...
She shook her head. “You won’t need one. I just wore a wet suit to protect me from getting hurt on the reef, but we won’t be diving. We’ll stay on the surface just right around here.” She gestured to the reef right along the shore.
He ran through that idea. Back in Natasha’s apartment she had mentioned some shark she wanted to see that was common in this area. They wouldn’t be seeing one of those today, would they? Not that he couldn’t handle it, of course. He had surfed for years, which meant he had likely been close to a shark or two at some point, but Max much preferred going about his business without actually coming face-to-face with them. Hell, that went for plenty of things in life. The less he thought about some shit, the better. Though, next week, he’d be forced to change that approach. But not yet. He still had a couple of days on a beautiful tropical island before his life turned into something he no longer steered himself.
Back to the current issue.
“Any chance of seeing that shark you were talking about before?” he asked, keeping his voice casual.
Natasha shook her head. “I didn’t see any over here. I think we have a better chance on the other side of the island, but you’d need a wet suit for that area.”
“No worries.” Max shrugged, like looking for the best area to swim with sharks was a regular topic of casual conversation. For Natasha, it probably was.
“There’s a basket with water gear outside our cabin,” she said. It gave him a small thrill that he and Natasha were staying in the same suite—of course, that was standard when he travelled with Alya, but still... “If you go get a mask and snorkel, we can have a quick look around.”
Reluctantly, very reluctantly, he let go of her wet suit.
“Don’t swim off on me, Aquawoman,” he said, wagging his finger at her.
Natasha laughed and tossed her flippers onto the sand.
Max jogged through the forest along the boardwalk, turning off to the secluded area where a smattering of two-story beach cabins formed a circle around a swimming pool. He found the basket, dug out a mask and snorkel, and headed back to the beach.
She was sitting at the edge of the water, her wet suit still around her waist. Max walked along the shore toward her, where the water had cooled the sand. Natasha was looking the opposite way, out at the open ocean, her hair in a long mermaid tangle down her back, her curves on full display.
This woman was amazing. The tropical heat must have messed with his brain, because instead of steering them into the bedroom, where he could’ve been tasting and teasing that beautiful body, he had suggested getting back in the water.
Max slowed as he approached her. Natasha’s arms were wrapped loosely around her knees, and her eyes were closed. She had left her flippers farther up the beach, by the trees, and her mask dangled from her hand. She looked so...relaxed. She never looked like this in Sydney.
He had been all for the idea of her coming along to Green Island for selfish reasons, of course. But looking at her now, just sitting with her feet in the ocean and the late afternoon sun on her face, he could feel her relief. Alya had been right to push her to come.
Max snuck up behind her, slowing as he approached, and tickled her under her arms. She laughed, squirming away.
“Not cool,” she said, but she was smiling.
He sat down beside her so their knees just touched. He put on his mask and fitted the snorkel into his mouth.
“Ready,” he said, the tube garbling his voice.
She sized him up. “You do know how to swim, right?”
He pulled the snorkel out of his mouth and gave her the best seductive smile he could manage with the mask pressing on the top half of his face. “Is this where my bad jokes about mouth-to-mouth come in? I have a few.”
