Page 46 of A Girl and HER Prince
His eyes twinkled at Livvy. “Nai, let me know if you need anything else!”
Not that Bris was about to let him loose again. She’d dressed in a skimpy suit to trap him in her clutches, but it was sweet of him to break away, for even a moment.
Now there was someone she could call a friend. And the instant she’d kissed Venice, the sparks she’d felt with Turner had been snuffed clean out. Livvy’s heart might as well be dead inside her for all the good it did anyone else. Darn the guy!
Venice’s lips curled and he shot her a challenging look. “Your brothers taught you to handle yourself, did they?”
She nodded.
He was at least a foot taller, and he watched her like he had when he’d kissed her last night. “Let’s see it,” he said.
Fighting against her instincts to rush away, she stepped closer so that she could strap Venice into his vest like he’d done for her, and then streamline his breathing apparatus and other tubes.
Livvy was having a hard time controlling how loudly her pulse was thrashing against her ears, though luckily there was no way he could hear, orfeelhow much she was reacting to being so close to him. Her face grew hot when she remembered how little she’d been able to hide from him last night.
Why did everything remind her of them kissing?
His hand caught hers. “How’s the breathing apparatus?
She stilled, resisting every urge to smile back at him. Couldn’t anyone see why this was the reason she was so protective of her heart? She was a romantic, and she hated how it turned her into an ooey gooey puddle.
Pretending to still have her good sense intact, she broke his hold on her wrist and breathed into his air gauge, taking three equally slow breaths. She was lucky enough to be able to do that. The needle didn’t budge.
So far, he checked out.
“Hmm.” He studied the air gauge. “It doesn’t seem to be doing too well.”
“No, it’s good!” She tapped the yellow face on the second stage.
Venice grinned. “Notthatbreathing apparatus.” He swiped his hand over his neck to show the diver’s sign that he was low on air.
Livvy couldn’t help it now. She laughed at his lame attempt at flirting and nudged him before she thought better of it. “I don’t know what to do with you!”
He captured her arm seconds before she tried to pull away. “You can do anything you want,” he said under his breath.
That sounded awfully like he wanted to play with her, not the serious suitor he pretended to be earlier. Once again, she’d called it. She tried to laugh off her sudden unease. “I don’t know about that.” She put her fist out for the sign of danger.
His low grumble of mirth showed that he enjoyed their back and forth.
To the side of them, Deedee and Achilles were already suited up. They were definitely going out on their dive together. And it went without saying that Turner would be paired up with Bris. That left only one man standing.
Her heart began to hammer in her chest again. Was Deedee really going to do this to her?
“Deedee?” she called over to her friend.
Deedee was busy trying to keep Achilles out of her video while she giggled and played around with her mask. Her shoulder made a dull thud against his bare chest when she bumped him flirtatiously. “Knock it off!”
Achilles ignored her, taking over her camera phone. “Hi, Deedee’s followers,” he said. “Sorry, you’re stuck with me today. In case you didn’t know, I’m about to become the villain in Deedee’s next hit piece.”
She shoved him out of the way with her hip. “Don’t listen to him. He’s never starring in any of these ever. You have my word on it.”
In other words, he’d have at least five videos dedicated to their adventures, and ten more if they broke up. Achilles leaned down and pulled off his sandals. There were tattoos on his heel.
Are those ants? Odd.
Deedee’s new boy toy pulled on his fins and covered the strange markings. He glanced over at Turner. “Hey, if we get caught in those caverns for too long, we’ll swim over to the lagoon over there where someone can pick us up.” He pointed to the crags in the distance concealing the entrance.
Overhead, the dark clouds that had only hovered over the horizon were now drifting closer. Turner was the only one with enough sense to look worried. “Seriously guys, all jokes aside. Did any of you check on the weather?” he asked.
