Chapter 39
GRADY
I hauled Lina’s limp body toward the boat, my arms burning from the weight. “Felix! Get the emergency oxygen!” I shouted.
The boat captain leaned over the side and grabbed Lina under her arms while I pushed from below, lifting her dead weight onto the deck. She was completely unconscious, her skin pale. I hoisted myself up and immediately rolled her onto her side, checking her airway. Water trickled from her mouth.
“Is she breathing?” Cece’s voice was tight with fear as she climbed aboard behind me.
I pressed my ear to Lina’s chest. Faint, but there. “Barely. Felix, where’s that oxygen?”
Felix thrust the emergency tank into my hands, his face white as a sheet. I fitted the mask over Lina’s face and cranked the flow rate to high. Her chest rose and fell shallowly, but at least it was moving.
“What the hell happened down there?” Felix demanded, his usual calm demeanor completely shattered.
“She was trapped under a beam,” I said through gritted teeth, keeping one hand on Lina’s pulse point. “The whole section was unstable. When I found her, she was unconscious, her regulator was out of her mouth. No telling how long she’d been breathing water instead of air.”
Her tank was scraping empty when I found her. She’d probably panicked inside the wreck, her heavy breaths burning oxygen faster than usual.
We worked quickly. Cece knelt beside us, loosening Lina’s straps and tugging at the wetsuit zipper. Lina gasped, her eyes squeezed shut, forehead creased. She dragged in deeper breaths, shoulders heaving.
Then, suddenly, her eyes opened. Her pupils were dilated but alert. Her chest rattled with ragged breaths as she stared at Cece, then flicked to me.
“Grady,” she rasped, voice raw. Then she lunged, arms wrapping around me. I froze for a moment, stiff as a board, but the gratitude that shook her embrace dissolved my tension. It was pure, unadorned thanks, no heat or suggestion behind it. Just a thank you for not letting her die.
I said the first thing that came to my mind. “You’re welcome. But Cece found you first. If she wouldn’t have pointed it out, you would have been down there a lot longer. Too long.”
I was kicking my ass for not paying closer attention. Now that it was clear Lina was going to be okay, I was furious.
Lina shifted and gripped Cece’s shoulders. “Cece, thank you. You saved me.” Her voice cracked a little.
It surprised me to see Lina truly grateful.
I wasn’t sure she was capable of feeling any real emotions beyond her own wants.
Cece had tied off the dive line and saved both of us.
Going in that wreckage could have been a disaster.
Thankfully, Cece kept her cool and knew exactly what to do.
I stepped aside while Lina offered a trembling forehead-to-forehead hug.
I watched, chest tight, blessed by the moment but feeling dangerously reckless.
We’d just had a professional disaster. Lina veering off and panicking risked her life in the wreck.
She also risked any funding we might get.
She risked my career. And Felix’s. We were the seniors on the trip and she’d nearly killed herself.
The dean would have lost her shit and I have no doubt Lina’s family would have personally sued me into oblivion.
After a few breaths, Lina pulled back. Her gaze was a mix of embarrassment and relief.
“What happened?” I asked, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
“I… I don’t know. I felt like my lungs were closing up. It was too dark in there. Too cloudy. I couldn’t tell which direction led out. I went left at the junction…” She looked stricken. “I panicked.”
It was textbook: diver disoriented by silt, hyperventilation kicking in, freaked out and forgot every ounce of training she had.
“Why did you go in the ship?” I asked. “Especially without telling anyone?”
Lina’s face crumpled. “I just wanted to find something. Something important. Like Cece did yesterday.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I know I screwed up. I know I could have died. But I felt so useless out there, just swimming around while you guys were making all the discoveries.”
“So you decided to risk your life?” I asked, voice rising. “And mine? Do you have any idea what could have happened if that beam had shifted while I was pulling you out?”
Cece placed a hand on my arm, her touch burning through my anger. “Grady, she’s okay. We’re all okay.”
I whirled on her. “This time. What about next time? What happens when she decides the rules don’t apply to her again?”
“There won’t be a next time,” Lina said, struggling to sit up. “I swear. I’m done. I never want to feel that terrified again.”
Felix cleared his throat. “Maybe we should head back. Get Lina checked out by a doctor, make sure there’s no signs of decompression sickness.”
I nodded curtly, still seething. The captain was already firing up the engine. As we headed back to shore, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. The image of Lina’s unconscious body trapped under that beam, her regulator floating uselessly beside her, kept flashing through my mind.
“I owe you both. Champagne tomorrow.” Lina reached for the oxygen mask and took a few more breaths. “All the s’mores you can eat.”
I nodded, relieved but still tense. “Just don’t do it again. I don’t need more reasons to worry.”
She swallowed, pressing lips tight. “Noted.”
Cece’s hair was clinging to her face. She looked torn between compassionate concern and exasperation. I stepped over and patted her shoulder, drawing her away from Lina.
I pulled Cece aside, my hand lingering on her shoulder. The adrenaline was still coursing through me, but now it was mixed with something else. Admiration. Desire. Want. She looked up at me, her blue eyes wide and her cheeks flushed from the excitement.
“You were incredible out there,” I said quietly. “If you hadn’t noticed that silt cloud…” I trailed off, not wanting to think about what could have happened. “You saved her life. You saved my life. My career. My reputation and probably this whole project.”
She shook her head, her damp hair clinging to her face. “I just did what anyone would’ve done.”
“No,” I said, stepping closer. “Not anyone. You kept your head when it mattered most. That’s not luck, Cece. That’s skill. That’s instinct.”
Her lips parted slightly, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. The air between us felt charged, like the calm before a storm. My gaze dropped to her mouth, and I had to force myself to look away before I did something stupid.
“Here,” I said, reaching for the zipper on the back of her wetsuit. “Let me help you with that.”
She turned around without a word. I tugged the zipper down slowly, my fingers brushing against the warm skin of her back.
She shivered under my touch. I felt my own breath catch in my throat.
The wetsuit peeled away from her body, revealing the curve of her shoulders and the dip of her spine.
I swallowed down the urge to put my lips on her skin.
I wanted to run my tongue up and over her neck.
No, I wanted to fucking bite her and then suck her flesh into my mouth and leave a mark. I wanted to claim her.
And I had no idea where that came from. I wasn’t a caveman. Not normally. But shit, I fucking wanted the woman in a way I couldn’t ignore. My dick was trying to get hard in my wetsuit and that would be bad. Really bad. It wasn’t like there were a lot of places to hide in the suit.
She slowly turned to look at me. “Your turn.” Her voice was low. Husky. Like we were in bed and she was offering to get me off after I did it for her.
“What?”
“Your suit. Turn around.”
I hesitated for a moment, my heart galloping more than when Lina had been in danger.
I turned around slowly. Her fingers brushed against my skin at the back of my neck as she reached for the zipper.
I sucked in a sharp breath. She peeled the wetsuit down.
I could feel her breath on my neck. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to turn around and pull her into my arms.
“Grady,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of the engine.
I turned to face her, my eyes locking onto hers. She was so close I could see the darker ring of blue around her eyes. My hand reached up to brush a strand of wet hair from her face, and she leaned into my touch.
“Cece,” I murmured, my voice rough with emotion. “I?—”
The sound of Felix clearing his throat broke the spell, and we both jerked apart like we’d been burned. He was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest and a knowing look on his face.
“We’re pulling up to the dock,” Felix said.
I reminded myself we weren’t alone. And there were too many eyes.
“Let’s get her inside,” I said.
Cece wrapped an arm around Lina’s waist, steadying her.
They stepped off the boat and onto the dock.
Lina wobbled slightly, her legs still jelly from the ordeal.
She was shivering despite the warm sun, her tiny bikini doing little to protect her from the chill of near death.
Cece’s one-piece clung to her curves, and I had to force my eyes away from the way it hugged her hips and accentuated her ass. Focus, Grady . Now was not the time.
“Easy,” Cece murmured, her voice soft and kind as she guided Lina toward the field station. “Just take it slow. You’re okay now.”
Lina nodded weakly. Her typical flirty, cocky attitude was gone. She leaned heavily on Cece, her head down as they walked. I watched them go, my jaw clenched tight. Felix stepped up beside me, his arms crossed and his expression grim.
“That was too close,” he said quietly, his voice low so only I could hear. “Way too close.”
“I know,” I muttered. “She could’ve died down there, Felix. And it would’ve been on us.”
Felix sighed, shaking his head. “She’s reckless. Spoiled. But this was next-level stupid.”
“Stupid doesn’t even cover it,” I snapped, my frustration boiling over. “She ignored every rule, every protocol, and nearly got herself killed because she wanted to play treasure hunter. And if Cece hadn’t noticed that silt cloud?—”
“I know,” Felix interrupted, holding up a hand to stop me. “But she didn’t die. You got her out. And now we need to figure out how to handle this without blowing up the entire project.”
I glanced toward the field station where Cece was helping Lina inside.
My chest tightened at the sight of the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about.
She was strong, capable, and so damn beautiful it hurt.
She’d been incredible today, keeping her cool when everything went sideways. If it hadn’t been for her…
“She saved us,” I said quietly, more to myself than to Felix.
“Cece?” he asked, following my gaze.
I nodded. “Yeah. She’s something else. I’ve seen divers with twenty years’ experience fall apart in lighter situations.”
Felix gave me a knowing look but didn’t say anything for a moment.
Then he sighed again and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Just be careful, Grady. You know how this looks. She’s pretty, but she’s young.
And she’s your TA. You’ve got the Dean on your ass already. I don’t think it’s smart to push this.”
I didn’t argue because he was right. Again. I hated it.
Inside the field station, Cece had Lina sitting on one of the folding chairs with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Lina was still pale but looked more alert now that she was out of the water and breathing normally.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as I stepped inside.
Lina looked up at me with wide eyes filled with guilt and fear. She usually radiated entitlement and confidence but seemed to be rethinking every choice she’d ever made. That was probably a good thing.
“Let’s get you to your room so you can change,” Cece said.