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He grabbed one of the new snorkels that sat on the edge of the boat, along with a pair of blue fins, and leaped into the water with a large splash. Maisy rolled her eyes. She took a second mask and snorkel and tried them on. Once she’d adjusted it to fit tightly, she put on a pair of fins, then she perched on the edge of the boat and slipped into the ocean. It was momentarily cold, but then her body adjusted. Maisy aligned herself on the surface with her snorkel above the water. Once she was settled, she looked down at the seascape below and almost caught her breath in wonder.
Perhaps three body lengths below was a coral reef. It wasn’t the bright technicolor of reefs in photographs, but it was intricate and colorful all the same. Tiny fish darted in and out of coral monuments, and seaweed swayed gently in the current. Higher up, schools of silver fish darted and turned in perfectly choreographed unison, their bright scales flashing in the underwater sunbeams. A little to the left, Maisy saw Xander dive down. He kicked down, his muscular legs moving powerfully, and managed to go impossibly deep. She watched as he swam through a school of fish, circled a coral monument, then leisurely kicked back toward the surface beside her.
“There’s a turtle down there!” he called to Maisy once he was above water.
“Really? I don’t see anything.”
“You have to dive down a little.”
Maisy shook her head. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
“Come on, it’s really a sight to see. I’ll go with you. If there’s any trouble, I’ll be there to help.”
“Um. Fine.” Maisy took a few slow breaths to calm herself, then sucked in the largest breath she could and kicked down, hard. A glance to her left showed that Xander was beside her, just as he’d promised.
A few feet down, Xander touched her arm and pointed to a tuft of seagrass. Maisy swam closer and made out the blurry outline of a shell. As she watched, the turtle emerged from the seagrass and lazily paddled towards a rocky outcropping populated with tiny fish. His flippers moved slowly, magically, like he was a strange bird flying through his underwater kingdom. His small head turned from side to side as he swam. Maisy wanted to see more, but her lungs were already burning. She kicked back toward the surface.
“Wasn’t it beautiful?” Xander asked as they treaded water side by side.
“Yeah.” Maisy grinned. “It really was.”
They spent another hour or so in the water. Maisy grew more and more confident with her dives until she was able to almost reach the coral reef below. She managed to stay there for at least a few seconds, taking in the swarms of colorful fish and, once, following the turtle towards the surface. Being in the water, surrounded by such a breathtaking array of natural life, made Maisy feel weightless. It was as though all her worries on land were melting away. Her future didn’t seem to matter as much when she was swimming with a school of silvery fish or spotting an octopus hidden among shells and rocks on the ocean floor.
Xander seemed to feel the same way. He was able to dive and circle with such grace and endurance that Maisy found herself repeatedly impressed. She rested between dives by snorkeling along the surface, taking in the seascape below, but Xander was able to perform dive after dive with little pause in between.
Towards the end, Tom finally managed to track them down, and he took a few shots of Xander and Maisy holding hands and floating on the surface. Maisy was getting used to the feel of Xander’s hand in hers. That was a problem, but she was too relaxed to worry about it much.
When they hauled themselves out of the water, Maisy promptly wrapped herself in a towel and took a seat at the back of the boat. While they’d been in the water, she hadn’t felt self-conscious, but now she realized that her bikini was very revealing.
Xander had no such qualms. He grabbed a towel, then sprawled beside her with it flung over his shoulder. His bare chest, glistening with droplets of ocean water, was on full display. Maisy turned her attention to the waves on the other side of the boat.
“How was your snorkel?” Tom asked as he piloted the boat back towards shore.
“Amazing,” Maisy said. She quickly finished drying off and slipped her sundress back on.
“Definitely. A-Maise-ing.”
Maisy snorted. “That pun was terrible. And believe me, I’ve heard all the terrible puns about my name before.”
“I’ll see if I can think of any new ones.” Xander winked.
When they arrived back at the beach, a picnic had been set up on the sand. It looked like it had been cut out of a travel magazine. The picnic blanket was red-and-white-checked, and atop it sat a small wicker basket and a small metal container filled with ice and a bottle of champagne. When the boat came to a stop, Xander hopped off first, then held his hand out for Maisy.
“My lady.”
She took his hand and let him help her out of the boat. It was only safe. They waded through knee-high water to the sand, Maisy holding her skirt out of the water with her free hand. There, Maisy sat gracefully on the blanket, her knees to one side as she’d learned. Xander sprawled beside her, not seeming to care about how he looked but appearing effortlessly attractive even so.
Maisy took a deep breath. This was no time to notice how attractive Xander was. She reached for the picnic hamper and drew out two sandwiches, a fruit salad, a pair of lemonades in glass bottles, and a large package of fancy chips.
“Great. Let’s get a few shots of you two opening the champagne and toasting your marriage,” Safa prompted. Maisy was a little startled to see the publicist. She’d been so caught up in thoughts of how to behave around Xander that she hadn’t noticed much else.
“Right.” Xander reached for the bottle of champagne. He opened it effortlessly and poured a glass each for him and Maisy. Then they brought their glasses together in a posed clink, which they repeated several times until Safa was satisfied.
“Now let’s get a few shots of you chatting and enjoying each other’s company,” Safa instructed.
“Um.” Maisy raised a hand. “I just want to point out that my hair is all wet and stringy and I’m not wearing makeup anymore. Are we sure these are the shots you want?”
“We’ll make you look nicer in the post,” Safa said dismissively. “We just need some candid shots to work with.”
