Page 35 of Visions of You

My knees buckled.

Gabe gripped my waist to keep me from falling as I leaned a palm against his chest.

A sexy grin stretched his mouth. “I think the lady likes the idea.”

“The lady definitely likes the idea.”

“Then I’ll pick you up at six on Saturday.”

“Okay.” I stared at him, feeling like my lungs could hardly function. “I’d better get back to work.”

He nodded, but instead of stepping back, he leaned down and kissed me. I closed my eyes, losing myself to the softness of his lips. There was none of the frantic passion of our goodnight kiss, but this one was still warm, welcoming, and delicious.

A promise of things to come.

As he broke the kiss, Gabe pressed something into my hand. Then he turned around and walked out the door. I opened my hand to look and smiled. The clip he’d removed from my hair last night lay snug in my palm.

The first divesite we visited was theBenson, a freighter that had naturally sunk. Storms over the years had pushed it farther to sea, gradually moving the ship deeper. Located twenty minutes from Calypso Key, the wreck was a popular dive. I’ddone it many times now, enough to be familiar with it and to view it with the respect it deserved. The ship sloped along the sandy bottom, with the stern at the deepest point, 150 feet down—well below recreational limits where we would take divers.

The Florida Keys were famous for their wreck dives, which made theBensona regularly scheduled trip, though it had never fallen on the days Gabe drove the boat. The shallowest part of theBenson’selevated bridge lay forty feet below the surface, making the site unsuitable for snorkeling. So, after the dive, we made a quick trip back to the resort to pick up Maia and her group of snorkelers for the second site.

When we were underway again, I smiled at Maia and Wyatt rubbing noses near the covered bow area. I approached and dried my hair with a towel. “Reunited at last, huh? It was a terribly long couple of hours, I’m sure.”

Maia stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed. I’d liked Wyatt since my first day, and he was a good husband, always attentive to her. He refused to let her do any heavy work now that her pregnancy was more pronounced.

Wyatt kissed her quickly on the lips. “I’ll get to work swapping tanks.”

“I’d better join you,” I said and had taken a step forward when Maia grasped my arm.

“Hold up a second. I want to chat a little.”

“Sure,” I said as we sat on the side bench. “Everything all right with you?”

She smiled and slid a hand over her belly. “Picture-perfect. I’m monitoring my blood pressure regularly and everything’s going by the book. Between Wyatt and my dad, I’m not sure a pregnancy has ever been watched so closely.”

Maia’s pregnancy had been a surprise. After she first found out, I’d helped her to sort out her feelings about it. “I’m glad you’re more optimistic about things now. More settled.”

“Being married, with Wyatt by my side, made a big difference. Now I’m looking forward to her arrival.”

I inhaled sharply, my lips stretching back into a grin. “Her? You found out the sex?”

Maia nodded and slid a hand over her abdomen again. “At my last ultrasound. Now we just need to figure out a name.”

“Oh, how exciting! I’m sure everything will go great.”

“I’m finally starting to believe that, even though you’ve been hammering it into my head for months now. I’m glad you moved up here. I miss having a woman to talk to.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand. Maia’s mother—and Gabe’s mother—had died giving birth to her. Maia had told me it was due to eclampsia, a high blood pressure emergency.

“I’m glad I’m here too.”

She sent me a shifty side-eye. “Yeah, I heard.”

My stomach dropped. “About what?”

She laughed and draped an arm around my shoulders. “April, the resort grapevine is faster than the speed of light. And when the owner’s son is seen dancing and making out inpublic, that’s way too tasty to keep to yourself. Good thing it was late. That might keep the gossip from getting around Dove Key.”

Flaming heat rushed over my face. Maia knew about my man failures and was sympathetic. But I didn’t know if that sympathy would extend to her beloved older brother. “I think we both forgot where we were. Are you mad at me?”

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