Read Online The Light of the Blue Pearl by K.C. HAWKE - Free Book Online

her.
She could see that it was Ian; once again smiling at her and once
again making her do the same.
    Ethne waved back, although extremely
exhausted, her exhilaration from the trip was keeping her from
collapsing.
    “Hi!” Ian said to her, looking a bit more
rested than she did, she figured.
    “Hi!” she said back, trying to have the same
enthusiasm, but fearing her exhaustion made that impossible.
    “How was your day out?” he asked.
    “It was amazing,” she replied. “How about
yours?”
    “Mine was amazing too,” he said, putting his
backpack over his shoulder and joining her on the walk back to the
hotel.
    “What did you end up doing?” he asked.
    “I went snorkeling at the Blue Hole and a
couple of other places,” she answered. “What about you?”
    “Oh wow! The Blue Hole?” he asked. “I hear
that place is amazing, I’m dying to dive there, but need some more
training first. I haven’t been yet. What was it like?”
    “It was…unbelievable,” she answered.
    “That’s so cool. I’m afraid I’m a bit
jealous now,” he said, looking over at her with a small but cute
grin.
    It was then she realized the sun was
setting. She stopped to enjoy it; he did the same.
    They stood in silence watching it descend
before completely disappearing into the night. After it had gone
down he offered to take her bag for her and she gladly
accepted.

CHAPTER
8
     
     
     
    W hen they continued
their walk back to the hotel he asked her if she was up for a bite
to eat. The truth was that she really wasn’t. She was shattered and
more ready for her bed than an intern on a 48 hour shift. But her
stay was going to be brief and honestly she had missed Ian a little
and was looking forward to spending a little more time with
him.
    “Sure,” she answered, smiling at him.
“Though I am a bit exhausted so I might not be much company.” A
fair warning that the conversation might lag a bit.
    “Oh I am too, but you must be hungry?” he
asked.
    “Absolutely famished.”
    They decided to go back to the restaurant
they had eaten at before; it was a great spot and neither of them
had enough energy to figure out somewhere new.
    While eating they exchanged stories from the
day and she laughed at his descriptions of his friends and their
less than professional diving techniques. She hadn’t told him
anything about finding the note obviously, but near the end of the
meal she had decided to show him the pearl.
    “I found this at the first location, the
Blue Hole,” she said, holding her hand out to show the small but
perfect pearl.
    “Are you serious?” he asked, looking at it
closely before asking if he could hold it.
    She reluctantly handed it to him and watched
as he inspected it.
    “That’s very rare; such a find is surely
once in a million, if that.”
    She grinned quite sure he was right. He
handed it back to her and she protectively put it back in the small
box Peter had given her to keep it from getting lost.
    After paying they made their way back
outside, feeling only slightly more energetic than they had on
their way in. The food had helped revive her a little, but she was
still utterly exhausted.
    She could tell he was too and that the
evening would be an early one, but still she was glad she had
gotten to share her day with him and hear about his as well.
    They slowly made their way back to the
hotel, talking some but sometimes just enjoying the peaceful night.
He was a gentleman and carried her bag again, which made her feel
silly as he had his own stuff to carry. But he had offered and had
taken it from her before she had even accepted.
    When she got back to her room he handed it
back to her, their hands touching briefly with the exchange which
made her heart skip. He leaned against the wall near her door,
obviously not quite wanting to call it a night despite their
exhaustion.
    “Can’t say I’m looking forward to going back
to my room this early, my friends are surely going to be up a while
and I’m