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Authors: Nikki Logan
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flat. Engineered flat. His eyes narrowed.
‘Can’t you go later?’ she hedged.
‘No. The wind’s perfect right now. I don’t know how long it will last.’
Come on, lady. I’m not going to beg.
She stared at him. Eyes empty.
‘Please.’ That shamed him, but seemed to be effective.
She looked out to sea between the trees and then back to him. Quiet and dignified but incomprehensible. ‘I don’t do boats.’
Rob’s pulse hammered out his confusion. ‘You’re living on an island!’
‘I take one trip in and one out again and that’s it.’
‘But you love to swim …?’
Her chin was determined. ‘Only the shallows.’
‘Honor, please. I may not get another chance to see her up close. You don’t need to dive, just monitor from up top. We’re talking an hour of your life.’ It galled him to have to grovel like this.
‘I’m sorry, Rob. No.’ She turned back to her breakfast, though it was lunchtime. Disappointment made his heart pound. Or was it anger? Then he turned and stalked away. So much for all the rapport he’d hoped they’d built last night.
She wasn’t going to help him and without a dive buddy he wouldn’t be seeing the
Emden
this trip. Maybe ever.
‘How can it be safe to take
The Player
out to dive if it’s not safe to run the twenty-five kilometres back to Home Island?’
He was angrily stripping and repacking his gear on the boat when Honor appeared on the coral behind him and called her question out to him on deck.
He turned. ‘You changed your mind?’
She stared at him, desperately eager to swim back to shore but determined to face this demon. ‘I figured I owe you one.’
For last night.
She didn’t need to spell itout—he’d sat with her half the night. And then held her as she’d blubbed her heart out. Her being his second today was a fair trade—as far as he knew.
Because he knew nothing.
He nodded and thanked her but the waves breaking on the atoll drowned it out. ‘You didn’t answer my question,’ she called.
‘We’ll only be three hundred metres offshore. Even if she starts taking on water we can be back here long before things get critical.’ Honor knew that was not the case further out to sea. From experience.
‘What will I have to do?’ She shifted uncomfortably on the reef, a large rock in her stomach.
‘Just monitor the tug-rope and the air gauges, and second-check the dive-time.’ He looked at her as though he expected her to turn and swim off in panic. She would not panic.
‘Okay.’
There was no way he could have heard her tiny assent, but he must have got the message loud and clear from her body language. A delighted smile broke across his face and he exploded into action.
‘Stay there,’ he called, moving to the wheel. ‘I’ll get closer.’
He started the motor, hauled in both anchorsand motored closer to the coral edge, countering the swell as it came and went.
Honor knew the routine. It had been a long time, but she and boats used to have a good relationship. Some things you just didn’t forget. As Rob swung
The Player’s
stern towards her, she leaped lightly onto its drop ladder and then nimbly stepped into the boat.
If he was surprised at her boat sense, he didn’t show it. He shoved
The Player
into gear and roared out to sea before she could change her mind.
She sank onto a padded seat and gripped the rail behind her where he couldn’t see. She fixed a smile to her face like rigor mortis but she was determined he wouldn’t see anything but her teeth each time he looked at her. She’d faked it for four seasons of drop-offs and pickups with the supply vessel; she could fake it now.
He did look at her a couple of times, but just briefly, and Honor saw how changed he was at the helm of his boat. He looked so much more comfortable in his skin there, focused on the waters ahead, accurately reading the surface indicators. This was his element. Where he belonged. Yet another reason he was bad news for her.
Rob
‘Can’t you go later?’ she hedged.
‘No. The wind’s perfect right now. I don’t know how long it will last.’
Come on, lady. I’m not going to beg.
She stared at him. Eyes empty.
‘Please.’ That shamed him, but seemed to be effective.
She looked out to sea between the trees and then back to him. Quiet and dignified but incomprehensible. ‘I don’t do boats.’
Rob’s pulse hammered out his confusion. ‘You’re living on an island!’
‘I take one trip in and one out again and that’s it.’
‘But you love to swim …?’
Her chin was determined. ‘Only the shallows.’
‘Honor, please. I may not get another chance to see her up close. You don’t need to dive, just monitor from up top. We’re talking an hour of your life.’ It galled him to have to grovel like this.
‘I’m sorry, Rob. No.’ She turned back to her breakfast, though it was lunchtime. Disappointment made his heart pound. Or was it anger? Then he turned and stalked away. So much for all the rapport he’d hoped they’d built last night.
She wasn’t going to help him and without a dive buddy he wouldn’t be seeing the
Emden
this trip. Maybe ever.
‘How can it be safe to take
The Player
out to dive if it’s not safe to run the twenty-five kilometres back to Home Island?’
He was angrily stripping and repacking his gear on the boat when Honor appeared on the coral behind him and called her question out to him on deck.
He turned. ‘You changed your mind?’
She stared at him, desperately eager to swim back to shore but determined to face this demon. ‘I figured I owe you one.’
For last night.
She didn’t need to spell itout—he’d sat with her half the night. And then held her as she’d blubbed her heart out. Her being his second today was a fair trade—as far as he knew.
Because he knew nothing.
He nodded and thanked her but the waves breaking on the atoll drowned it out. ‘You didn’t answer my question,’ she called.
‘We’ll only be three hundred metres offshore. Even if she starts taking on water we can be back here long before things get critical.’ Honor knew that was not the case further out to sea. From experience.
‘What will I have to do?’ She shifted uncomfortably on the reef, a large rock in her stomach.
‘Just monitor the tug-rope and the air gauges, and second-check the dive-time.’ He looked at her as though he expected her to turn and swim off in panic. She would not panic.
‘Okay.’
There was no way he could have heard her tiny assent, but he must have got the message loud and clear from her body language. A delighted smile broke across his face and he exploded into action.
‘Stay there,’ he called, moving to the wheel. ‘I’ll get closer.’
He started the motor, hauled in both anchorsand motored closer to the coral edge, countering the swell as it came and went.
Honor knew the routine. It had been a long time, but she and boats used to have a good relationship. Some things you just didn’t forget. As Rob swung
The Player’s
stern towards her, she leaped lightly onto its drop ladder and then nimbly stepped into the boat.
If he was surprised at her boat sense, he didn’t show it. He shoved
The Player
into gear and roared out to sea before she could change her mind.
She sank onto a padded seat and gripped the rail behind her where he couldn’t see. She fixed a smile to her face like rigor mortis but she was determined he wouldn’t see anything but her teeth each time he looked at her. She’d faked it for four seasons of drop-offs and pickups with the supply vessel; she could fake it now.
He did look at her a couple of times, but just briefly, and Honor saw how changed he was at the helm of his boat. He looked so much more comfortable in his skin there, focused on the waters ahead, accurately reading the surface indicators. This was his element. Where he belonged. Yet another reason he was bad news for her.
Rob
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