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“Yeah. He did a good job calming me down.”
“Why are you so worried about what Hope and Alex think about you?”
“I can’t help it.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Did he tell you what a wreck I was?”
“Of course not. He just said you did great. And you did.”
“I had the hang of it by the end of the second pool session. I can’t wait to see the house reef and the new corals. That’s what made me want to get certified from the start.”
He brushed a long lock of hair away from her face. As he’d gotten to know Sara better, one of her greatest surprises was that she wasn’t as confident and brash as she acted. He was touched she felt comfortable enough to share her insecurities with him. “Most people get nervous at some point learning to dive. Even when I’ve taught DSD classes, which don’t go that deep, some people are petrified. Then they see it’s all the same stuff they learned in the pool, and they get over their fear.” Well, most of them. He’d had a few who took one look at the open ocean and changed their minds.
“That’s what Alex said too.” She glanced at him, her head cocked. “How did you end up being a dive guide in St. Croix, anyway?”
“I used to divemaster for a shop in Galveston, mostly helping with classes. But I really wanted to lead dives. So, after I got divorced, I didn’t have any reason to stay there, and decided to make a new start. I moved to St. Thomas and worked for a shop there.”
“Did you get to lead dives there?”
He laughed and shuddered. “Yes, lots of them. It was a case of be careful what you ask for because you might get it. Really high stress. Plus, St. Thomas is really busy and crowded with tourists. Within six months, I’d had enough and moved here. It was a good choice.”
“Why did you get divorced?”
Nervous laughter rolled out of him. “Boy, you don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
She arched an eyebrow, and a small smile grew. “I’m known for being rather direct.”
Jack shifted positions, crossing an ankle over his knee. “My wife wasn’t the happiest person. She was always searching for something, never satisfied with what she had... what we had. What I could give her. She was in a book club, and even tried diving for a while, but lost interest to get consumed by yoga. She said it was to please me. I tried to tell her that wasn’t necessary. Any of it. I didn’t want to change anything about her.” I just wanted her to love me back.
He sighed, resting his head on the back of the couch. “But Diane couldn’t see that. And we’d start arguing, and things just got worse.”
Sara straightened. “Wait. Your ex-wife’s name is Diane?” She covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh, then gave up, giggling. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be rude. But seriously—Jack and Diane?”
He joined in her laughter, glad he was able to find the humor in it now. “Yeah. Maybe we were doomed from the start. We got all kinds of grief over that.”
She squeezed his hand. “Go on. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“There’s not much more to tell. The final straw was when she got into golf. She bought this incredibly expensive set of clubs without consulting me. There was no way we could afford it, and we got into a huge fight about it. When I came home from work the next day, she was gone. Diane hooked up with a guy soon afterwards, but I licked my wounds for a long time.” He hesitated. Should I say it? Why not? “Until now. You’re the first woman I’ve been with since the divorce.”
She tightened her hand on his. “That makes me feel pretty special.”
“Because you are. Even wearing five gallons of water.”
Sara smacked him in the ribs as he burst out laughing. “Jerk. Stop bringing that up.”
He leaned closer, stroking a finger across her collarbone. He felt lighter now that they had that conversation out of the way. “Well, there are things we can do besides talk, you know.”
Her eyes became smoky. “Mmm. Much better things.”
The sultry cast to her eyes sent his pulse into the stratosphere, then she pressed her full, lush lips to his. He ran both hands through the silky strands of her hair, still not believing how soft it was. How it just slid through his fingers. He couldn’t get enough, and opened his mouth, tasting the red wine on her tongue, and all the blood in his body went south.
She broke the kiss to set her wineglass on the coffee table before taking his and doing the same. “Come on. We’ve got all night to figure it out.”
CHAPTER 17
Sara hugged herself as she darted her eyes all over the multicolored reef. A small brown and white fish swam right up to her mask, flitting back and forth before rushing back to its coral home to chase away a much bigger fish. She grinned around her regulator and glanced at Alex, who was writing on his slate. He turned it around. Damsel fish—very protective! She nodded, and they continued.
She was officially a certified diver, and Alex was leading her over the house reef to end her second open-water session. Though nervous before the first, once surrounded by the underwater environment, her tension had been replaced by fascination. Sara had enjoyed their previous snorkeling tours, but now she understood why Hope was so enthusiastic about diving.
There was no comparison.
