Just This Once (5 page)

She laughed. “I’m afraid that takes me all of two minutes. I
read these articles about all the steps you’re supposed to take, and how to get
them down to twenty minutes. But I can’t be bothered, I suppose.”

“Well, I reckon that means you don’t mind getting wet. Which
is a good thing. I brought snorkeling gear and was hoping to coax you into the
water again. Something about getting back up on the horse.”

“I’m surprised you trust me in the water, after yesterday. I
thought you might decide to beg off and take somebody less prone to drowning
instead.”

“Nah, as long as I’m there to save you, no worries. I do a pretty
good line in rescues. And you’re even getting into a closed vehicle with me
today.” He held the truck door for her. “My mum will be so pleased.”

“Your fatal charm won me over,” she sighed. “What can I say.
But did you say we’re going snorkeling? I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never been.
I’d love to try it, though. Is it hard to do?”

“Dead easy,” he answered confidently. “Don’t worry, I’ll
show you.”

It was a short trip down to the marina, where Drew took her
through the locked gate to the pier. She asked him curiously, “Do you have your
own boat here, or do you rent one?”

“It’s mine, not a hire. Can’t use it all the time, of
course, but like all Kiwis, I love being out on the water. Got to have our
boats. I come out here every chance I get.”

The boat was a sleek motor launch, not overly large, but
even to Hannah’s inexpert eye, clearly top of the line. Drew helped her aboard
and set about stowing their gear and getting the boat ready to launch. He
obviously knew what he was doing, and she settled herself in the seat next to his
captain’s chair, watching his preparations with interest.

“Even though I’ve lived in the San Francisco area for ten
years now, I don’t know much about boats, I’m afraid,” she confessed. “I love
to swim, but that’s about all the water knowledge I have. So I don’t know
anything about hauling lines in or making anything fast. If you need my help,
though, just tell me what to do, and I’ll do my best.”

“Don’t need a mate for a boat like this,” he assured her.
“Nothing for you to do. We’ll be off straight away.”

Within minutes, they were indeed out on the ocean. Hannah
marveled again at the clear water, the beauty of the beach and rugged cliffs
they passed, and felt herself relaxing in the sunshine. Drew pointed her to a
thermos of coffee, and they were both quiet as they enjoyed the clear morning,
the feel of the wind, and watching the boat cut through the water, raising a
wake behind them. Drew seemed to handle the boat with confidence but without
aggression or bravado, enjoying the day rather than trying to dominate the
water or impress her with a show of speed.

He stopped not far from shore, near a headland at the end of
a deserted beach, and dropped the anchor.

“Snorkeling time,” he told her. “This area is all a marine
reserve. Heaps of fish to see. I brought you a wetsuit as well. You’ll be more
comfortable and be able to stay out longer.”

She looked at the rubbery blue garment doubtfully as he
pulled it from the duffel. “Are you sure it’ll fit me?”

“Give me credit. I’m used to sizing up my teammates, you
know.” He grinned at her wickedly, and she found herself blushing once again.

“Go below and get changed, if you like,” he offered.

Even though she could have stepped out of her clothes and
into the wetsuit on the deck, she was grateful for his consideration. Somehow,
she felt shy about doing something as intimate as taking off her clothes in
front of him. She told herself it was silly. After all, she’d met him—if you
could call it a meeting—in her swimsuit. But still, she took advantage of his
offer and headed down the stairs into the small but well-appointed cabin to
remove her clothes and pull on the wetsuit.

She arrived topside again to find him outfitted in his own
wetsuit, pulling out masks and snorkels. “You look like a very pretty dolphin,”
he said approvingly. “Let me show you how this works.”

“You just have to remember, if you’re tempted to dive down,
to let go of the snorkel and hold your breath,” he told her as he finished the
demonstration. “But where we’re going, it’s shallow enough that we can stay on
the surface.”

Dropping down the boat’s ladder into the sea, he showed her
the direction they would be going, put his face into the water, and began to
swim. She copied him, and realized with wonder that she had entered a new
world.

The sea floor below them was full of marine life. Seaweed
that resembled thick bushes, and another type like fronded, long-leafed plants,
waved in the current. She was excited when she saw her first fish, a beautiful
electric blue, and then amazed when she found herself swimming over a two-foot
long silver animal that seemed totally unconcerned with her presence. She
lifted her head from time to time to make sure she was still following Drew,
and he too stopped and looked back often for her.

He was leading her toward the headland, she saw. As they
approached, she realized why. Cut into the side was a large, triangular opening
with large rocks surrounding it. A sea cave, she marveled.  

Drew stopped, treading water, as they neared the entrance. Pulled
out his snorkel and told her, “It’s a tunnel, through to another bay that’s
only accessible this way. We’ll have to swim around the rocks, and the waves
will push at you. You’ll need to ride with them. Let them help you rather than
fighting them. Are you OK to do this? I’ll stay behind you, make sure you’re
all right.”

“Sure,” she answered. In truth, she was a little nervous.
The tunnel was long and dark, and she could already feel the waves being pulled
into it, and herself rising and falling with them. But she would be with Drew,
and he clearly knew what he was doing. He could be under no illusions as to her
skill in reading the water, after all. She gave herself a mental shake and put
her snorkel back in, ready to try.

As she entered the cave, the waves did take her. Remembering
what he had said, she stroked with their push and aimed to guide her progress
between the rocks, reaching out with her hands and pulling herself through in
places. It grew darker as she continued in, and she felt the unease from the
day before return. She reminded herself again that Drew was behind her, watching
out for her, and focused on the triangle of light ahead of her at the tunnel’s
end.

She kept moving doggedly between the jagged rocks, and found
herself after a few minutes coming out the other side at last. She raised her
head and saw she had swum out of the tunnel into a narrow bay, the beach and
water empty of any other people. Nothing but the sea ahead, the beach behind
and a headland on either side. And Drew next to her, his head up as well,
checking her progress.

“How’d you go?” he asked. “Any problems?”

“No. It was a little exciting, but I did what you said, and
I was fine.”

He nodded and put his head back under, beginning to swim
slowly. Following his example, she discovered even more marine life than on the
other side. A school of brightly colored fish darted by, making patterns in
formation like swallows in the air. Large sea stars dotted the ocean floor,
some in the traditional star shape, others with slender, elongated arms, in
different sizes and shades of pink, purple, and orange.

Drew touched her hand suddenly, and she turned. She looked
where he pointed, and blinked in surprise at a large ray, hovering just over the
sea floor, that darted suddenly away, its thin tail flicking behind it, as
their shadows fell across it.

As they swam on, she found herself over another of those
huge silver fish she had noticed on the other side, and decided to try to
follow it. She was delighted to find that she was able to keep up, and was being
taken on a Fish Tour of the bay. The big animal didn’t seem bothered by her
presence above it. Its meandering course took her past others of its kind,
though it didn’t seem to be interested in them, and to areas with colorful
smaller fish and more of the darting schools.

She had been happily swimming with her fishy friend for
about fifteen minutes when she suddenly found herself almost face to face with
a huge jellyfish. Startled, she looked around to see several more suspended in
the water ahead of her and to either side. Her heart pounded as she looked at
their beautiful, translucent bodies, with their streamers hanging down several
feet below. She didn’t know what kind they were, but she certainly didn’t want
to find out the hard way. She turned as neatly as she could, pulling her arms
in toward her body to avoid touching the translucent shapes all around her, and
fairly levitated across the bay toward Drew. His head came out of the water as
she approached at speed.

When she told him what she had seen, he answered calmly,
“Yeh, we can get those. We’re all right in the wetsuits, just faces and hands,
but best not to swim into them and get your hands stung. We may be ready to
swim back anyway.”

She agreed. The encounter with the jellies had shaken her a
little. The trip back through the tunnel was less frightening this time, now
that she knew what she was doing. She enjoyed the leisurely swim back, the feeling
that she was part of the sea rather than just swimming over it. It was like a
garden, she thought. A garden under the sea.     

Back on the boat again, Drew handed her a large towel and
took one for himself as they compared notes over the fish they had seen. The
big fish she had followed was a snapper, she found. “Tasty,” he commented. “You
should try it.” They pulled off their wetsuits together, and she realized in
surprise that she no longer felt shy. Something about exploring the ocean
together, sharing the experience, as well as the physical exertion, had relaxed
her.

When she was free of the heavy wetsuit and was blotting her
long braid of excess water, she looked up to find him watching her with
considerable interest.

“I like that costume,” he told her. “Much better.”

“My sister will be glad you approve. She made me buy this
suit. She even told me it wasn’t orange, though I still have my doubts. She
says it’s tangerine.”

“I’m not too good on the fruit colors, but I’d say whatever
it is, it works. Tell your sister cheers for me.”

He looked pretty good himself in a swimsuit, she thought
privately. Without the T-shirt, his broad chest was nothing short of
spectacular. She had always preferred slim men, and now she wondered what she
had been thinking. Surely nothing could attract her more than the power latent
in all that muscle.

She had wondered at first, seeing the boat, if he had
expected sex to be part of the outing. She knew that athletes had more than
their share of opportunities, and guessed that few women could resist his
attraction—and that they hadn’t made much effort to. But although he was
clearly interested, she wasn’t feeling pressured. In fact, other than taking
her hand to help her into the boat or directing her attention to something in
the water, he hadn’t touched her at all.

Which was maybe just a
little
disappointing. She was
certainly enjoying looking at him, and watching him move through the water and
climb in and out of the boat had been a pure pleasure. She wouldn’t mind, she
admitted. Not at all.

No holiday flings, she reminded herself sternly, but the
warning didn’t carry quite the same conviction as usual.

Drew caught her looking, smiled back at her. She looked away
quickly, reached into her bag for a wide comb, and set about unfastening her
braid. She felt his eyes on her as she settled into a seat at the side of the
boat, spread her hair out around her, and began to pull the comb through the
long, heavy mass, beginning at the bottom and working her way to the top.

“I reckon I’ve seen a mermaid now,” he said slowly. “I’ve
never seen anyone with that kind of hair. Or so much of it.”

She smiled ruefully as she continued at her task. “I know,
and I ask myself every day why I keep it. I work out a fair amount, and just
washing and drying it takes me an hour. I keep thinking I should cut it off and
be done with it, but I’ve had it this way for so long, it’d feel like losing a
part of me.”

“That would be a crime,” he said seriously. “I’ve met a lot
of blondes. But I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone with hair exactly that
color. It’s so blonde, it’s almost white.”

“My friend Emery calls it Rapunzel hair. You know, Rapunzel,
let down your hair? When I was little, I always wanted sleek black hair, like
Snow White. Or shiny golden hair, like my sister’s. I guess we always want what
we don’t have.”  

She pulled her curtain of hair around to the front and set
to work with the towel and comb again, blotting and untangling. The fine
strands began to curl as they dried, becoming tendrils around her face and
waving in spirals down her back.

Finished, she fastened it again in a loose braid that
reached well below her waist. When he protested, she laughed. “You wouldn’t
thank me if you had a yard of hair whipping around your face while you tried to
drive your boat. Believe me, it can really get in the way.”

He’d have taken that chance, Drew decided. The sight of all
that hair had done something to him. Aloud, he just said, “Pity. It’s quite a
show, best I’ve seen in a while, watching you in your togs with your hair
around you.”

And, he thought, the only thing better would be watching her
without
her togs, with her hair around her. And him. He forced the image
from his mind as he saw her blushing faintly again. She blushed more than any
woman he knew. Of course, most of the women he’d known had long since passed
the stage of blushing. Over anything.

That was what was so intriguing about her. That reserve,
combined with the adventurous spirit that had brought her here on her own. Her
willingness to try something new even after her near-disastrous experience of
the day before. Her delight in something as simple as snorkeling. He wanted to
see more of her. A lot more. In both senses of the word.