AllFreeNovel
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But when this holiday is over I need to start taking care of my heart.
I need to pull myself together, look for a new job, start saving, and stop being in love with a man I can’t have.
***
We have two more days at the beach house.
This morning, I woke up and was told we were all going out on the family yacht. Leon and Sasha have organized an amazing sundown adventure and a dive near a reef. I’ve never been diving before, so I’m really excited.
Yefim tells me it’s one of his favorite things to do and that he knows I will love it.
Late afternoon, he takes my hand and leads me up the slipway, towards the waiting yacht. A warm breeze stirs the fabric of my dress and catches my hair, swirling it around my face. Yefim smiles at me, the sun in his eyes, making them look even bluer than ever before.
His eyes are brighter than the ocean water.
On the yacht, he stands with me at the bow, his arms around my waist as I lean my back against his chest.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispers against my ear. I hear him breathing in the scent of my hair.
"It’s really magical,” I agree, letting myself feel safe and warm against him. Two more days, Tia. Two more days, and then you have to let go.
It takes the captain and hour to reach the dive site. Then suddenly, everyone is excitedly running around in bikinis and swim shorts, looking for their snorkels and goggles. I stand nervously at the edge of the boat.
“Just jump,” Yefim laughs, and I shake my head.
“I’m a little bit scared."
"Of what?”
“Sharks.” I laugh, knowing I sound silly.
“We’d be really lucky if a shark came by. It’s something really special to see.”
“Are you crazy?” I say loudly, and everyone laughs at me. Playful, teasing.
“There aren’t any sharks, Tia. And the captain has a shark radar on the boat, he will shout if he sees anything,” Sasha shouts from in the water. She was the first one in.
She looks confident and at ease in the blue ocean.
Yefim takes my hand. “I’ll jump with you,” he says, nodding.
“Okay.”
“On the count of three?”
“Okay.” I swallow nervously.
“One—" Yefim picks me up in his arms and leaps into the water. I scream my lungs out in fright. We plunge beneath the surface. The water is warmer than I thought it would be, but it’s still a shock to my system.
He pulls me up above the surface, and the first thing I hear is his laughter.
I use the flipper I’m holding to whack the side of his head, but his face is so bright with happiness that I can’t help laughing, too.
“You asshole,” I grin as he holds me steady in the water so I can slip my feet into the flippers.
“I left my goggles up on the boat,” I sigh.
Leon shouts at one of the crew members and the goggles are tossed overboard into the ocean. Yefim swims to grab them.
