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“It’s hard to believe I’m already on my second ocean session.”
“After this, you’ll be an open water diver.” Alex winked at her, and her breathing quickened.
They had spent a considerable amount of time together over the previous twelve days and developed an easy banter back and forth, though he evaded any personal questions. Alex had been calm and professional throughout her course, but also kept things light and fun, which prompted her feelings even more.
On top of that, she was pretty sure he felt the same way, though Hope was still trying her best not to encourage him. And that was getting harder when she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
As they got ready to enter the ocean, he peeled off his shirt and started tugging on his wetsuit.
Yep, definitely a swimmer’s body. Look at those shoulders.
“I’m surprised you wear a wetsuit on every dive. Don’t you build up a tolerance or something?”
“Just the opposite, actually,” he said. “The water is warm, but it’s still a lot cooler than our bodies. When you dive every day, your core temperature decreases, and you get cold easier. The water gets warm enough in the summer that I go without a wetsuit sometimes, but not now.”
“Then I thank you for taking the time to brave these frigid waters to help little old me.”
He grinned and held her gaze. His eyes were extraordinary, a mixture of crystal blue ocean with darker indigo flecks. “You’re welcome, Boss Lady. It’s the high point of my day.”
Hope took a deep breath, turning to tug her BCD over the tank and attaching the regulator to the tank valve. The first time Alex had gone over the equipment, she’d been overwhelmed at the complexity of it. But after several sessions, she was much more confident.
Alex was ready to go with his mask around his neck. After closing all the straps and buckles, Hope stood up, already feeling the heavy weight on her back and shoulders. She put her mask on her forehead and started to grab her fins when Alex stopped her.
“I always tell my students not to put your mask on your forehead. It’s a sign of a diver in trouble, so you don’t want someone thinking that if it’s not true. Also, it’s really easy for a big wave to knock it off—and they’re expensive. Or it marks you as a newbie who was never told that. I never say anything to the divers I’m leading, but it’s best to pull your mask down around your neck.”
After some tugging to get the mask over her hair, she had it in place. “Satisfied now? Let’s go—this is heavy.”
When she got to thigh-deep water, Hope crossed one ankle over the other knee and put her fin on, then did the same with the other. She grinned and shook her head, remembering the snorkeling trip where she walked into the ocean with fins on—yes, this was definitely a better way to do that.
“Ready?” Alex asked. “We’ll do the navigation and a few other skills that are left, and next I’ll take you over to the reef to do a little tour.” He pointed to the area where she’d been snorkeling. “Then we’re done.”
She gave him the ok signal, and they slipped beneath the surface.
Hope swam beside Alex an hour later, pride swelling through her. She had passed the required skills with no major difficulty, even the navigation and mask removal. After the last exercise, Alex applauded her and held his hand out. As Hope shook it and grinned around her regulator, her heart fluttered when he ran his thumb over the top of her hand. Next, they headed to where she had been snorkeling previously. Once again, there was the beautiful large gray fish with brilliant yellow accents.
As they headed toward shore, Alex pointed. She didn’t see anything until he waved his hand over the sand, and a perfectly camouflaged flounder swam away, delighting Hope. Smiling, she turned to Alex, whose eyes twinkled. They kept swimming until they were in a few feet of water and stood up together.
“Great job. You did it!” Alex held up both hands for a high ten, which she slapped enthusiastically. They removed their fins and walked toward the beach.
She squeezed his arm. “Thank you. That was a lot of fun, and not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.” She stopped. “Oh, I saw the most beautiful fish. I think it’s an angelfish. Really big, about a foot across. It was gray with beautiful yellow margins around its scales.”
His eyes lingered on hers, drawing her in. “French angelfish. Only one? Or a pair?”
“You’re right, there were two.”
“Yeah, they like to pair up. You usually see them together.” They locked eyes for a long moment. Finally, Alex’s softened. “You did a great job, Hope. Congratulations.”
She grinned at the praise. “Well, I can’t take all the credit. I had an excellent instructor.”
As they turned toward the beach, a line of people headed toward them. Patti and Clark approached along with Gerold, who held a cake with a scuba diver on top. They were all applauding.
“Congratulations, Hope!” Patti gave her a distant hug, trying to stay dry.
“Come on, you two!” Gerold said. “We’ve got some cake to eat.”
“And I have champagne on ice!” Clark added, leaning in.
“Absolutely,” Alex said. “We’ll just dump our tanks and wetsuits first.”
