Page 43 of Hired Husband

“Ready?” I asked, also not hating the sight of him without a shirt either.

Isaac was no gym-bro, steroid-junkie kind of guy, but his frame was tall and strong, his shoulders broad but tapering down to well-defined abs and narrower hips. Those trunks hung off them in a way that made me have to resist the urge to give them a little tug just to see what would happen—and to see what those lines between them were pointing toward.

Suddenly averting my own gaze, I accepted a dive mask from a staff member and waited for Isaac to respond. He cleared his throat again, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

His voice cracked ever so slightly and a little thrill shot through me, but I managed to maintain my composure as I smiled at him. “Great, then let’s go.”

Without any further ado, I jumped in and surfaced only briefly to fit my mask, the water just cool enough to soothe my suddenly slightly overheated body, but warm enough to be comfortable too. Once both of us had our masks on, we drifted together on our stomachs, watching schools of brightly colored fish dart between protected coral formations. Sunlight filtered through the clear water in shimmering ribbons and I finally felt desire give way to awe.

I’d been here dozens of times, but it still felt like entering another world. Massive coral gardens stretched below us, with tiny caves formed over centuries of erosion hidden among them. There were ancient rock outcrops and too many species of marine life to keep track of. The visibility was so amazing that it felt like I could see for miles.

When I finally glanced over at Isaac again, he was already looking back at me, his eyes impossibly wide behind his mask. Satisfied that he was sufficiently awed, I smiled around my mouthpiece and turned my attention back to the reef, fascinated by the way the plants moved with the currents.

About an hour later, we were back aboard the yacht, stretched out on thick towels and the morning sun warming our skin. Isaac’s hair was sticking up in at least six different directions, sandy brown now that it was wet, water still trailing from it down the strong column of his throat.

He leaned back on the towel, closing his eyes as he let out a soft groan. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything even remotely like that. I feel like a broken record, but it was incredible. Un-fucking-believable, actually.”

I chuckled. The boat rocked gently beneath us as I reached for a bottle of water standing on the deck beside me. “I don’t think you sound like a broken record, for what it’s worth. When something truly is incredible, then that is what it is, and around here, a lot of things are exactly that.”

“I’m glad you understand.” He cracked open one blue eye only to wink at me, then closed it again. “Either way, that was totally worth waking up that early for, so thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” I meant it too. “Sharing this stuff with someone who actually appreciates it makes it worthwhile for me too. But here’s a serious question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Are you interested in seeing any of the really touristy things?”

“What, like the Pyramids? Yeah. Absolutely.”

“Wow. Like, no hesitation whatsoever?” I chuckled. “Okay. Well, I promise I’ll take you to the Pyramids as soon as we get back to Cairo, but today, we’re hanging with the locals.”

“I’d do that with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever too,” he murmured. “Another snorkel first, though?”

“Definitely. Let’s just grab that breakfast we got out of the water for, and then I plan on staying in until every inch of my skin is completely wrinkled.”

He cracked open an eye again, apparently surprised by something, but instead of explaining, he just laughed and shook his head. “Yeah. Totally. I’m in.”

We baked in the sun for a few more minutes before hitting the breakfast spread the staff had laid out for us, and once we were finished eating, we dove back into the warm water and spent the next few hours exploring underwater valleys and gardens.

We docked back in the city by mid-afternoon. Isaac stretched as we climbed off the yacht. “What’s next? You said something about hanging with locals?”

“Yeah, there are some people I want to introduce you to, so it’s back to my favorite place.”

“The Old Market?” he guessed out loud.

I smiled. “Don’t you know it.”

We strolled from the marina to the market, drifting down its winding streets while I introduced him to the shopkeepers who knew me by name. Today, I’d brought him to the part of it where Nanna was a regular—and practically a rockstar.

Everyone here knew her and, by extension, knew me too. As we wandered deeper into the maze of narrow streets, however, we had to stop every few seconds because Isaac simply couldn’t help himself. He kept running his fingers lightly across hand-carved stone walls or pausing to study archways. He patted the brickwork and squinted thoughtfully at balconies.

I’d noticed the same thing last night, how he just couldn’t seem to get enough of the architecture around here. While I didn’t mind it since I was pretty fascinated myself, I’d never gotten quite as touchy-feely with it as he did.

“You pet buildings,” I finally said when he stopped again, this time to curl his fingers around the rounded corner of a wall.

He glanced at me, those blue eyes covered by dark sunglasses, but the amused curve of his lips betrayed him. “I do not pet them. I appreciate their design.”

“With your hands.”