Slippery When Wet

Dev stared at the boat speculatively as it settled in at the dock to exchange old passengers for new, then turned to Taylor. “You sure I can’t lure you out for a snorkeling trip?”

She adjusted her sunglasses. “Tanks and wet suits make me claustrophobic.”

He reached out to encircle her ankle with his thumb and forefinger. “You don’t need that for snorkeling. All you need is fins and a mask. And a bikini top, of course.”

“I just want to lie here and relax.”

“Look, it’s only a half-day trip. You’ll love it, I promise you.”

“I don’t know about this.” She pushed her sunglasses down her nose to look at him, laughter in her eyes. “What if I do it and I don’t like it? What do I get?”

Dev stroked her calf. “The trip will be my treat.”

“Not good enough. You’re asking me to give up a half day out of my vacation.”

He nodded to her book. “I’ll read you page 132, in glorious Sensaround.”

“Promise?”

“Sure, if the Iberonova has a trapeze.”

THE DIVE BOAT BOBBED in the blue water off the coast of the island, near the Columbia Shallows. It didn’t bother Taylor to be in open water. The waves were gentle, and she was an experienced swimmer. She swished her fins experimentally and was gratified when she shot forward. She slid the mask down over her eyes.

“Okay, are you ready?” Dev asked from where he treaded water next to her.

“You guaranteed me this wasn’t work,” she reminded him, adjusting her mask.

“It hardly is when you’ve got fins on. Anyway, there’s enough of a current that you only have to float and let the water take you. I can get you a life ring if you want,” he said, with an impudent look.

“I can swim for myself, thanks.”

“And look mighty good doing it,” he added, ducking his head under the water to survey her. “I don’t think I’ve seen this bikini before. I definitely haven’t taken it off you.”

“Well don’t get any big ideas out here. We might lose it and some barracuda would be flouncing around in my suit.”

“It probably wouldn’t look nearly as sexy as you do,” he offered, but she swatted his hand away.

“We’re out here to see the reefs, remember? Now where are they?”

“Just look down.”

Taylor blinked in surprise, then put her head down into the water. If she hadn’t had a snorkel in her mouth, she’d have gasped. Below her spread a fairy land of unimaginable variety. Red-orange coral towers rose next to whitish tubes with pink centers. Fronds of kelp waved gracefully in the ocean currents. Sea sponges fanned out next to the solid, crenelated spheres of brain coral.

She ducked under the water and swam closer. A small school of mottled peach parrot fish wove along the edge of the reef, skimming over an octopus swirling gracefully along to its lair. Behind all of it was the intense, immense blue of the sea.

Taylor ran out of air and rose to the surface, blowing the water out of her snorkel as she did. She yanked her mask down to her neck and whooped.

Dev surfaced next to her. “What do you think?”

“It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Put your mask back on. You’re just getting started.”

Below her, the reef rose in a solid mass, separated in places into serene white towers. A school of tiny silver fish made its way along the edge of a reef and then with no apparent provocation made an abrupt shift to the right before swimming forward again.

Time stretched out, paced by the measured sound of her breath in the snorkel, by the infinite peace that stretched below her. In the cool blue twilight of the sea was a world of color and mystery.

Dev swam up to her, pointing downward and then to his chest. Understanding, she took a trio of deep breaths to charge her lungs and then they were swimming down, hand in hand. A puffer fish floated by, looking like a large, spiny sphere. She felt her ears pop as the reef rose alongside her, and she felt more a part of the ocean than ever. Dev gestured toward the reef, and she saw it. At a dark hollow in the coral, the glittering eyes of a moray eel stared back at her. She looked up, and somehow it was the surface and the air above that looked like another world, and the sea around her that seemed like home.

Then her lungs began to burn and she swam for the surface. She broke through to the air, trying to absorb the wonder. Dev rose next to her. “There’s so much to see, I can’t stay down there long enough,” she said shaking her head.

“We’ve got more time. Take a deep breath and we’ll go back down.” His mouth curved. “Unless it’s too much work for you.”

She splashed him and dove under.

THE ENGINE OF THE BOAT vibrated and rumbled, taking them back to the resort. Taylor sat on the padded boat seat. “That coral that was like fairy fans, it was so gorgeous. And did you see the school of those fish with the yellow edging?” She was too wired to relax as she pulled on her tank top.

“Angelfish,” he said, watching in bemusement at her bright-eyed pleasure. He hadn’t quite understood the impulse that had led him to cajole and persuade until he’d talked her into going out to the reefs. He’d only known he’d wanted her to experience it. The underwater universe had been a revelation to him. When he found that she’d never been, he’d suddenly found himself consumed with helping her discover it. “Now you see why I wanted to bring you out here?”

“It’s wonderful.” She leaned in to kiss him, lingering with her forehead pressed to his. “Thank you for giving this to me. Now take me for a real dive.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I want to go deeper and stay down longer. Will you teach me?”

“We can get you qualified tomorrow and be diving by afternoon. Just say the word.”

“Yes.”

“Yes to what?”

She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a smacking kiss. “Yes to everything.”

The dive captain passed around a cutting board with spears of pineapple on it. Taylor picked up one of the juicy spears and took a bite.

Dev leaned back against the cushions, watching her suck the spear of pineapple. She took another bite, then held it out to him. “Have some. It’s good for what ails you.”

He leaned closer to her. “You’re good for what ails me,” he said softly, pressing a kiss on her lips. Then he took a bite from the spear. The tart, sweet flavor banished the saltwater taste from his mouth, just as her simple joy banished the memory of his self-absorbed ex. “Now I seem to remember that we’d arranged a guarantee in the event you didn’t like the trip, but we never discussed any kind of tip or compensation for me if I turned you on to something good.”

“I didn’t realize you were doing this for a fee,” she said in amusement, popping the final bite of pineapple into her mouth, then holding her hand over the side to rinse it in the spray from the boat.

He clicked his tongue at her. “You of all people should realize that no service comes free.”

“And here I thought this was an all-inclusive resort. What do you expect for payment?”

He tipped his head to one side, considering. Then a slow grin spread across his face. “Surprise me.”

BY THE TIME THE BOAT DOCKED, the gathering clouds had coalesced into a tropical downpour. They hadn’t even reached the end of the dive dock before they were soaked.