Chapter Thirteen
GREY WATCHED THE Muellers swim off into the middle of the coral gardens that filled the Indians as she waited for Lauren to finish changing so that they could head out as well.
She had been pleasantly surprised by how easy it had been to talk Lauren into going snorkeling with her, and she smiled as she turned the dive mask in her hands over to inspect the lens.
She looked up at the sound of Lauren clearing her throat from the doorway, and she was only dimly aware of the way her mouth fell open when she looked at her.
“Goddamn,” Grey whispered as her eyes roamed greedily over Lauren’s body that was shown off to utter perfection by the navy blue halter-top bikini she was wearing.
Lauren smiled at the look of obvious appreciation on Grey’s face and gave the brunette a quick once-over as well.
She bit her lip as her eyes dragged over the defined plane of Grey’s abs, and she sighed when she eventually forced her eyes back up to Grey’s.
She was going to have a hard time not staring at her. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Grey cleared her throat softly and looked at the snorkeling gear that was laid out on the table beside her. “Here, let’s get this fitted for you,” she said as she handed Lauren a mask.
Lauren slipped the strap over the back of her head and pulled the mask down over her eyes. “Okay.”
“How’s it feel?”
Lauren pushed on the front of the mask and nodded. “Good.”
“We can always make it tighter when we’re in the water if it isn’t sealed right.” Grey waited until she saw Lauren nod again before she lifted a snorkel off the table. “Right, well, your snorkel, milady.”
Lauren eyed the bright red snorkel in Grey’s hands warily. “It’s clean, right?” she asked as Grey clipped it onto the strap of her mask.
“Yes, it’s clean.” Grey rolled her eyes as she gave the snorkel a light tug to make sure it was on tight. “All of this is my personal gear. I never lend it out to guests, and I can swear to you that you’re not going to catch any communicable diseases from using it.”
“If I get sick…”
“You are more than welcome to kick my ass. And if I get sick from using it after you…”
Lauren laughed and shook her head. “You won’t.”
“Well then, yay everybody for being disease-free,” Grey drawled. She winked at Lauren as she pulled her mask on, and then picked up her fins. “Do you have any questions?”
“Nope. I’m good.” Lauren picked up the remaining fins from the table and looked out at the rocks behind Grey. “Let’s go.”
Once they were both in the water and Grey was sure that Lauren’s equipment was fitted properly, she slipped her snorkel into her mouth and started toward the Indians.
They swam side-by-side through a gap between two of the jutting rocks, and Grey smiled when Lauren grabbed her arm and pointed at a burst of purple coral with the most excited look on her face.
Grey followed Lauren around the gardens, occasionally touching Lauren’s arm to get her attention when they happened upon something she thought Lauren would like.
Though she had swam at this particular spot more times than she could count over the years, Lauren’s excitement over every reef fish or different grouping of coral made Grey feel like she was seeing all for the first time as well.
Sunlight cut through the water in golden rays, making the coral lining the walls of the shallow pool practically glow, and Grey was only dimly aware of the fact that she had all but stopped swimming just to watch Lauren.
She smiled sheepishly when Lauren turned toward her, one hand held out in a ‘what are you doing?’ type of gesture, and shook her head as she hurried to catch up.
She had no idea what she was doing. She just knew that she did not want to stop.
They explored the gardens for a couple hours, eventually meeting up with the Muellers.
The boys had fun showing off their skills, and Grey found herself laughing more than she had in longer than she could remember.
It was the perfect morning, just sun and fun and the water she loved, and Grey’s smile was as wide as everyone else’s when she finally climbed back onto the Veritas.
“That was incredible,” Lauren enthused as she wrapped a towel around her waist.
“Yeah.” Grey watched a drop of water make its way slowly down Lauren’s stomach, and she smiled as she looked up into Lauren’s eyes. Her breath felt light in her chest when their gazes locked, and she nodded slowly. “Absolutely incredible.”