Victoria Dahl - Crazy For Love

“Another?” Chloe asked, holding out the bag of marshmallows. Max shook his head, and she set the bag back on the cooler before licking the last of the sticky mess from her fingers. He watched her mouth carefully. Her tongue glinted sparks of firelight when she licked.

They’d pulled chairs down to the sand, so he was separated from her by the wide wood armrests of the old beach chairs, but that was probably a good thing. As attractive as he found her, Max still didn’t plan on getting involved. But she kept licking melted sugar from her fingers, eyes closed as if she enjoyed the task…

“Castellan,” he heard the other woman saying to Elliott. “Jenn Castellan.”

Max made his eyes give up their vigil on Chloe’s fingers and turned toward the blonde. “That’s a Spanish name, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Her smile looked more relaxed, too. As if they’d all fallen under a drugged spell. “I know I don’t look it. But my grandfather came straight from Spain to America. We’re all blond and blue-eyed Spaniards.”

“Funny,” he said, “Chloe’s the one who looks like she could have Spanish blood. What’s your last name?”

Her gaze shifted for a moment, fingers folding together for a brief squeeze before she picked up a stick and started poking at the fire. “It’s Turner.”

“Turner. That sounds perfectly English.”

She took a deep breath, as if she were waiting for something, but after a few seconds, she melted back into her seat. “It is. Nearly 100 percent. Embarrassingly boring.”

“We’re all Irish. Sullivans on one side, McKillops on the other.”

“So how’d a nice Irish boy like you get into treasure hunting? No work at the police station?”

Elliott laughed, raising his beer toward Max in a mini-toast. “Max was always out there getting into some sort of trouble. He likes to be in the middle of everything. I’m just happy he found a way to turn it into a job.”

Her knee bumped into Max’s, drawing his attention back. “You were a troublemaker, hmm? Somehow I’m not surprised.”

“That’s me,” Max said as if it were true, smiling as Elliott launched into a tale about Max volunteering to lead an illicit weekend trip to a beach during his senior year of high school.

“He made up some story about helping out a youth group and talked our neighbor into giving up his van for the weekend. Max fit ten people into that van, six of them girls, of course. And they all camped out on the beach for three nights. I was green with envy, always a little too young to tag along.”

Lifting his own bottle up, Max offered the expected self-satisfied smile. Though it really had been a good weekend. There’d been ten seat belts in the van, and Max had scoped out a legitimate seaside campground with running water and bathrooms. Then he’d conveniently forgotten to bring the hard liquor he’d promised to score. Everyone had made it home safe and sound, and Max hadn’t gotten his girlfriend pregnant, though he’d worried about that for weeks afterward, due to the warnings on the condom labels about storing them in the heat. The van had definitely been hot as hell.

“Six girls?” Chloe asked. “And four guys?”

“Hey, we were in high school. It was all innocent fun.”

“God, you are so full of shit.”

He laughed because it was true, and felt even better when he saw his brother laughing with Jenn. “So are you girls just hanging out on the beach for the week?”

“Mostly,” Chloe said. “But the wind’s supposed to be calm tomorrow afternoon, so we’re going to try diving.”

Max’s heart lurched as if it had been hit with a stick. “Diving?” he croaked.

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s nothing out here that rivals what you see overseas, but we’ve never tried it before, so we’re going to do the pool certification before lunch. What the heck? The seas are supposed to be calm, and we’ll probably be the only ones on the boat. It should be fun.”

Fun? Good God, no one seemed to regard diving as what it really was: a journey into an environment utterly hostile to human life. “Who’s the dive instructor?”

She shrugged. “We found a brochure at the grocery store.”

His heart lurched again, slamming into his chest wall as if it wanted him to do something about this ridiculousness. A grocery store. Unbelievable. His skin prickled with icy sweat, but Max tried to talk himself down.

You don’t even know this girl. If she’s dumb enough to sign up for a dive with a stranger, it’s none of your business. This is not your responsibility.

But she was so sweet and peaceful. A good soul. And how was she supposed to know how dangerous diving could be?

“You know,” Max heard himself say, “Elliott’s only been diving a couple of times. Would it be weird if we signed up? I don’t want to crowd you or anything, but you’re right. Forecasts call for calm seas tomorrow, but God knows what the weather will be like later.”

She shrugged. “It’s not a private dive. If you two want to come along, feel free. But surely there’s nothing out here that would interest someone with your experience.”

“Diving is addictive,” he lied. “I can’t live without it. It’ll feel good to get the gear on.”

Chloe set her beer down and leaned forward, a sparkle in her eye that could’ve been a reflection of the fire, but looked more like mischief. As if she knew a secret. Max held his breath. She got close enough to whisper.

“Fishing is just too darn boring for you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” He sighed on a rush of air. “Yeah, it’s hard to stay awake in that little boat.”

She laughed, stirring the air against his ear. “I’m not a big fan of excitement, but I probably shouldn’t tell you that.”

No. No, she shouldn’t tell him that, because Max felt himself leaning toward her, an unwilling shift of his muscles. She didn’t like adventure. Despite that welcome news, he wasn’t going to kiss her, not in front of his brother and her friend, but his body wanted closer to that oasis of calm.

Her eyes sparkled again. She glanced down, her gaze touching his lips. Firelight danced over the soft skin of her cheek, as if it were mocking him, touching her where Max couldn’t.

Aw, damn. In public or not, he was about to kiss her. And he was already too involved, inserting himself into her life for no good reason at all.

No. He wouldn’t do it. One dive trip, and then he’d cut the unwelcome threads he’d already tied between them.

Max grabbed the bag of marshmallows as if that had been his goal all along. “Honestly,” he said, popping a sugary puff into his mouth. “I’m a pretty boring guy.”

Her eyes flashed suspicion. She didn’t think he was telling the truth, but for once in his life, he was.

JENN WATCHED ELLIOTT SULLIVAN’S EYES as he spoke about his work. He dismissed it as boring, something she wouldn’t want to hear about, but she found it fascinating. He’d done an internship at the CDC labs in Atlanta during college, and he’d gone to work as one of their scientists as soon as he’d graduated from medical school. Just that would have widened Jenn’s eyes with amazement, but he hadn’t stopped there.

After working for five years on studying flu vaccines and antiviral drugs, Elliott had moved up to the D.C. offices to work with the CDC branch of Health and Human Services, preparing for and fighting global outbreaks of the disease. He was like a modern-day superhero, working every day to save lives.

He paused as if he’d finished a point, and Jenn realized she’d been too busy staring to hear what he’d said. A blush rose up her face. He was waiting for an answer and she didn’t know what to say.

Elliott’s face fell. “But enough of that—”