Max looked, too, but there was nothing but sand. “Is this when you tell me that the shark is invisible?”
Natasha laughed. “No. I thought I saw an eel. But if we see a shark, it’ll be around here, too.”
“Come on, Nat,” he said. “What’s going on?”
“The sharks we’re looking for are small,” she said with a wink.
Max eyed her skeptically. “How small are we talking about?”
Natasha held out her hands. The space between them was less than the length of two rugby balls.
“You’re kidding,” he said. “A mini-shark?”
“An epaulette shark,” she corrected. Then she gave him a wide smile. “But wait until you hear what it does. It walks.”
Her excitement was infectious. “On its fins?”
“Yes! Exactly,” she said. “Crazy, right?”
Max might have found that fact interesting on its own, but the joy and excitement in Natasha’s voice raised it another few notches. Before he met her, Max had never thought much about fish beyond his own menu preferences, but it was the way she lit up when talking about marine life that had him hanging on to every detail. Yes, he teased her a little about it, but more than anything else, he admired it. There was something so pure, so uncalculated about her passion for fish, of all things.
“Does this thing look like a shark?” he asked. “Will I recognize it?”
“The shape is similar to other sharks, but it’s spotted,” she said. “Big spots.”
He pressed his lips together.Just ask the question, you wanker.
Max cleared his throat. “Is it, um, known for biting humans?”
A grin spread across her face. “It’s not dangerous, Max.”
Some of the tension left his shoulders, and he cleared his throat. “Just checking.”
He was almost sure she smothered a laugh as she turned to paddle away. They floated along the edge of the reef, peering into the channels of water.
“Low tide is a great time to see some of these species up close without disturbing them. I would have taken you diving, but the shallow water is full of different stingers, so you’d need full gear. Underwater it’s even better.” She pointed down at a bright sea star draped over a small piece of coral. “Check out this guy.”
Max leaned over the side of the kayak to get a better look. “How do they work? I don’t see the eyes or mouth.”
“They don’t have eyes. And their version of a mouth is underneath.”
“Huh,” he said, studying it. “What does sea star sex look like?”
Natasha snorted. “It’s not sexy. We can watch a video later if you want to.”
“I like videos,” he said, the corners of his mouth tugging up.
Her kayak was next to his, and he was dying to get closer to her. The sounds of the shore, the palms, the breeze, the lapping of water on the coral, all mingled with her breaths, shorter, faster, as if she, too, was taking in the gentle friction between their bodies. He wanted this woman.
She bit her lip and smiled. “If that’s your thing. I’m not judging.”
Max threw back his head and laughed. When he looked at her again, Natasha’s smile was full and glorious. She looked so happy. And his heart, his breaths, expanded in the glow of her happiness.
“Why fish, Natasha?” he asked.
She tilted her head to the side, her hair falling over her shoulders in sexy waves. “What do you mean?”
“Your parents are both actors, and your sister is a model. How the hell did you get interested in all this?”
