Page 47 of Obsession Under the Southern Stars

“I’ll fetch up the anchor,” Clive says, as he’s still in his wetsuit.

I accept a cup of coffee from Hori and sit beside Zoe.

“Can I get you anything else?” Emma asks.

“I’m okay,” Zoe says, although she’s still shivering. She cups her hands around the coffee and sips it. “Ah, that’s good.”

“It was very cold down there,” I acknowledge, having a mouthful of my own coffee. “I’m guessing your regulator froze up.”

“I didn’t check for moisture before we went down,” she says. “It was my fault.”

“It was nobody’s fault. It happens, Zoe.”

“I panicked,” she says, trembling. “I couldn’t think straight.”

“That’s very normal.”

“You didn’t panic,” she says.

“Well, first, you have no idea what I was feeling, and second, I do this for a living, remember? I’ve got the most dive hours out of anyone at MOANA.”

She looks at me, and her green eyes are glassy, brimming with tears she’s trying to hold back. “I was so scared. I really thought I was going to die down there for a minute.”

“I wouldn’t have let that happen. That’s what a dive buddy is for.”

She looks puzzled. “But you didn’t give me your octopus. You gave me your regulator immediately, without checking that your octopus was working.”

“I gave you the regulator I knew was functioning because I’d just been breathing through it. You were out of air—I wasn’t going to give you a regulator that might not have worked for whatever reason.”

“But if the octopus hadn’t worked, you’d have been out of air.”

“Then we could have shared the primary one while we surfaced. I had time to work it out. I can hold my breath for a long time if I have to, Zoe.”

“You saved my life.”

“No, I just did what anyone else would do.”

She holds my gaze. “You saved my life.”

I don’t know what to say to that, because for all intents and purposes, she’s right. But that’s what you do when you dive with someone. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was Manu or Emma or Hori or Clive—I’d have done exactly the same thing.

But deep inside me, something pokes me with a stick.Be honest, Joel.

It’s not the first time I’ve helped out a dive buddy, and I wouldn’t have done anything different with anyone else. But seeing Zoe’s alarm, her eyes wide with panic, and her regulator out of her mouth, sent an uncharacteristic shoot of terror through me. I’m known for being calm in a crisis, and I’m glad she obviously didn’t see my horror. But I felt it. And at that moment, I’d have done anything,anything, to ensure she made it to safety, even at the expense of my own life.

I’m not surprised by that realization. I’ve known I had feelings for her for some time. But it does feel as if the clouds have cleared, and the sun has come out.

I’m in love with her. There’s no doubt in my mind at all. And now all I need to do is convince her to fall in love with me.

I guess saving her life is a pretty good start.

She glances down for a moment. Then she looks back up at me, and her expression shows a touch of mischief. “That doesn’t mean I’m in your debt,” she says weakly.

“You’re totally in my debt,” I joke. “I’m going to be calling in favors for weeks.”

She chuckles. Then, to my surprise, she leans against me, her head on my shoulder. I want to give her a hug, but I’m holding the umbrella, so instead I tilt it to shield us both from the rain and kiss the top of her head.

Clive surfaces, and Hori and Manu stow the anchor. Manu takes the helm, cursing as the increasing waves bump us against the reef. Soon, though, we’re heading back to Opito Bay.

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