Chapter Fifteen
Every warning in John blared for him to stop. To think this through. Let go. Step back. Breathe. But every instinct, every yearning, every heartbeat urged him forward. Only inches away, he dared close his eyes, already savoring the feel of Ava’s lips against his. The sound of tires crunching gravel approached. A loose stone spit at the back of his legs and still he couldn’t bring himself to stop.
The tender feel of her lips had barely met his when two doors slammed loudly behind them, one after the other. In a flash Ava tensed; his arms fell to his side, and she leaped back. Big black eyes stared up at him. He’d have given anything to know what she might be thinking. His ability to read people had vanished. If she was startled, surprised, hurt, angry, insulted or disappointed, he didn’t have a clue as to which.
“I’d better get to the boat,” she mumbled, backing away.
Like a hormonal teen stealing his first kiss, John stood rooted to the ground, not sure where to go or how to face her. There was only one thing he was definitely sure of. He wanted to kiss Ava Everrett again. Thoroughly. And not in the middle of a public parking lot.
* * *
OMG. Ava’s head reeled, and she had no idea how much was due to her good news and how much from a barely there kiss that still had her toes curled. She could only begin to fathom what it would be like to really get her hands, and mouth, on Forrest Maplewood. The workaholic who didn’t know how to have fun. Right.
Her sides were still tingling where his hands had been but then slowly eased away, as she’d stepped back from his embrace. The echoed rumble of his laugh lingered against her ear. Damn, had she ever felt so totally at home in a man’s embrace? Ever? And the whole thing only lasted what…a minute? Maybe less. Holy shit.
“You okay?” Jonathan stood at the edge of the dock, staring at her, as though she’d sprouted a third eye.
“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “Why?”
“You look sort of…lost.”
“Nope.” Time to shake it off and put on her big-girl panties—focus on what’s important. The aquarium. “I just got some really great news.”
“Strange reaction for great news.”
“I won a bid for a big project in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Jonathan’s expression brightened. “Well, that’s really cool. Congrats.”
“Thanks.” She had to pull herself together. “Where’s Billy?”
“In the water with Maggie.” He pointed aft and returned his attention to the lingering passengers.
Shielding her eyes from the sun, she spotted Billy and Maggie at the back of the boat, just barely underwater. Her heart swelled once again for a whole different reason. Not much more than a year ago everyone in the family had feared her brother would never again go in the water. Never again be a fraction of the man they’d known and loved. Losing a leg had been nothing compared to losing the heart and soul of her brother. Seeing him now, in his element, loving life, Ava had to hold back the urge to weep with the joy of having her brother back and with sorrow for those brothers who would never come home.
Bubbles surfaced, followed by Maggie and then Billy. Maggie whipped the regulator out of her mouth, and, for a few seconds, Ava thought there might be some crisis, but, just as quickly, Maggie looked up at Ava and flashed a huge grin.
“Damn, I don’t remember diving being this much fun.”
Billy lifted his mask from his eyes and took the regulator from his mouth, then urged Maggie toward the boat. “Your brother said the same thing.”
“Does this mean she’s all set?” Ava reached out to help Maggie into the boat.
“Absolutely. We won’t take her too deep. Stay above sixty feet. But she’s good to go.”
“Who knew diving could be like riding a bike? Once Billy reminded me of a few things, the rest all came back.”
“Great.” Ava gave her a thumbs-up. “Then we’re almost ready. Rinse off your mask in that bucket over there. We’ll switch out a fresh tank for you and be set to go.”
Once Maggie was across the boat with her sisters, Ava looked to Billy. “Do I need to watch her more closely?”
“Nope. She suited up and adjusted her equipment as though she’d been doing it for years. She stepped into the water, and I had to hurry to catch up to her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she winds up rescuing someone else in trouble.”
He was only kidding, but Ava knew her brother was thinking the same thing she was. Heaven forbid. They’d never lost a life on a dive, and, in all the years her father—and now Billy and Nick—ran the business, they’d had fewer than a handful of incidents. “I have some news.”
Billy slipped his arms out of the wet suit and let it hang around his waist. “Good news?”
“Yep. I got the contract.”
“The aquarium?”
Ava nodded.
“Hooyah!” He high-fived her, then assumed a nonchalant stance. “I knew it all along.”
“Right.”
“You tell Mom?”
“You’re the first. Well, I was with Forrest when I got the call, so he knows. And I guess I mentioned it to Jonathan.”
“The first, huh?” Billy hugged his sister. “I need to get this show on the road, but no reason you can’t take a few minutes to call and spread the good news.”
“I’m going to wait till we get back. It’ll be more fun sharing the news in person.”
“Whatever floats your boat.”
Yeah, well, she sure as hell wasn’t going there.
* * *
“I’m good to go,” Maggie announced with glee to her siblings.
“They’re really going to let you underwater?” Heather made no effort to hide the horror of the idea.
“Yeah, and I’m really looking forward to it. Wish I’d tried it sooner all those times Annette and the kids went out.”
“I’ll stick to snorkeling, thank you.” Rose slathered on another coat of sunscreen, then held out the tube. “Anyone need some?”
“Thanks, but all covered.” Heather pulled out her e-reader. “I think I’ll just hang out here.”
Maggie followed the direction of her youngest sister’s gaze. “Jonathan’s too young for you.”
“Besides,” Rose added, “he’s going to be underwater with the more experienced tourists.”
Heather shrugged. “No matter. I’ll be just fine. I can keep an eye out for anyone in trouble.”
“That’ll be the day.”
Heather either didn’t hear, or chose to ignore Maggie’s pithy comment.
Maggie didn’t spend much time with her sisters anymore. As a matter of fact it had been years since the three of them had spent any time together, but it hadn’t escaped her attention that Heather’s world still revolved around Heather.
“Not that I don’t love chatting about me, but did either of you catch the lip-lock?”
“Lip-lock?” Maggie and Rose repeated.
“In the parking lot. Our dear all-work-and-no-play brother planted one on the pretty native girl. The sister.”
Maggie and Rose turned to see Ava on one side of the boat with her brother, and Forrest on the opposite side, casually pretending not to watch her.
“Excuse me.” Maggie walked away without giving either of her sisters a parting glance and didn’t stop until she stood beside her brother. “How’s the new suit fit?”
All zipped, Forrest lifted a thumbs-up. “So far, so good.”
“Besides the other day, you haven’t dived in as many years as me.”
“Did a little diving in the navy.”
“That was almost just as long ago.” Maggie studied her brother. “I like the Everretts.”
“So do I.” He didn’t look at her; instead he busied himself playing with the straps on his new mask.
“Some more than others?”
This time Forrest looked up. “Maybe.”
“You know they live in a different world than we do. Than you do. Here everything is about family and enjoying life. Earning a living is just a means to an end. It’s not the purpose in life. They don’t care about settling old grudges or conquering the world. The longest American life expectancy is for the residents of Hawaii.”
“Really?” He put the mask on top of the rest of his gear. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
The man could be irritating as hell, when he opted for obtuse. “Did she get the contract?”
“How did you know?”
“I’m a good listener. Besides, how many aquariums are planned in the northern California area?”
Forrest nodded. “Yes.”
“Does she know she’ll be working for you?”
He shook his head.
“When do you plan on telling her?”
“Soon.”
Suddenly her brother was a man of few words. “I don’t know Ava very well, but it’s my guess that, if she thinks she got the job for any reason other than her own merits, she’s going to hate it.”
Forrest gave a curt nod, his gaze tracking Ava. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“You can’t hide who you are forever.”
“You have.”
“Give me a break. That’s totally different. I no longer walk the runway. My world is a smaller, simpler place now.”
“And it suits you.”
“It does. And I’d love to see you step back and have more balance in your life, but, when you leave Kona—if you plan on going back to eighty- and hundred-hour workweeks, sleeping on flights as you cross the world and taking your computer to bed with you—don’t get involved with an Everrett.”
Forrest looked down at her and flashed that lazy half grin that reminded her of the little boy about to play with fire. “That ship has sailed. Like it or not, I’m involved.”