Page 66 of Reckless Kiss

She instantly thought about tan lines and hated herself for that being her initial reason for her decision.

“A full wetsuit if you have one in my size,” she said.

“Okay,” the shaggy-haired guy said and disappeared back into the shed. He popped his head back out and said, “what size feet are you?”

“Five.”

If he recognised Erica, he didn’t give any indication. Coming to the island was a genius idea of Yanny’s, and maybe she could risk going into the town if hardly anyone knew who she was.

“That’s Keith, my brother Jason’s best friend growing up. They fell out a while back, and I don’t think they’ve spoken for years. He runs the sports tours. Keith is an amazing surfer, but his day job is working the tourist boats.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” Erica asked.

“We’ll go out in the boat, and then when it’s safe, we’ll go in the sea. It’s a small lagoon around here. Keith will take us out, and we’ll snorkel back.”

“Oh cool, sounds great.”

“With the seals,” he added.

Erica’s mouth dropped open and then grinned hard at Archer. “Oh wow, that’s amazing.”

“I haven’t done it for a long time. Back when we were kids, we didn’t have any safety measures. There was no ringed area, to make sure we didn’t get swept out to sea or encounter a curious shark.”

“Sharks?”

Archer laughed. She put her hands to her cheeks in fright.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be in the lagoon the whole time. No sharks can get in there unless they can jump the rocks.”

Keith came out of the shack carrying a wetsuit on a hanger. The navy blue with a white stripe suit down the side had arms and legs.

“This should fit you fine. You can change in the shack. Just move the pebble to close the door. There’s a latch.”

Erica thanked Keith and went to change in the dark shack with no windows. She folded her dress and draped it over the back of the chair rammed up against a wooden table. The only things on the desk were an open laptop and half a mug of tea. She noticed there was no password protection screen, just an open tab for a social media site. The whole island seemed to be trusting.

Wedging the door back open, Erica headed back to where Archer and Keith looked to be in a heated discussion.

“I haven’t spoken to him for years, and I don’t plan to change that.” Erica heard Keith tell Archer.

“Okay, none of my business. You both seemed close when we were teenagers.”

“A lot of time has passed. We all grow up.”

Archer turned his attention to Erica, ending the friction and uneasy atmosphere.

“Let’s get you out on the water,” Keith said, heading back to the shack. He went inside and came straight out, kicking the pebble and closing the door. There was a padlock at the top, and he clipped it shut. Not so trusting, after all, Erica thought.

Archer and Erica followed Keith to the small boat with a motor at the back. In the time Erica had changed, so had Archer. His suit was short sleeves and ended at the knee, showcasing his muscular calves. They walked over the large pebbles and then onto the sand. The small blue boat washooked up to a small jetty. Archer got in after Keith and held out his hand for Erica to throw her leg over.

She fell into the boat unceremoniously in fits of giggles.

“Graceful,” Archer commented with a smirk, helping her up.

Erica sat on a bench seat opposite Archer and looked out into the lagoon. She hadn’t noticed on the sand, but the breeze picked up, making her hair fly about. She took the ends and held them while the boat bounced on the water. Archer sidled across, grabbed her hair at her nape, and then tucked the wayward strands into the back of her wet suit. She gave him a shy smile at his consideration. It wasn’t long before Keith slowed the boat and turned off the motor. The silence fell around them as they floated in the middle of the lagoon. Then from nowhere came the sound of seals. She spotted one on top of the rocks, and then more appeared.

“Let’s get in the water. I’ll fix your snorkel and mask first. Then I’ll put mine on.”

Erica let him do what he said. This was the first time she’d snorkelled, and she couldn’t wait to dip her head under the water. They sat on opposite sides of the boat and dropped into the water at the same time. Archer swam around to her side and took her hand as they swam using their free arm. It was something he’d made her practice in the pool for upper arm strength. For hours over the weeks, they swam up and down the pool switching sides every ten laps. Now she knew why he’d done it. The seals joined them once Keith had powered away, leaving them isolated.

---