The pristine water, intricately laced with a network of coral formations, was teeming with marine life of all kinds. Sea grass waved serenely in the slight current while brilliantly colored and patterned fish dashed among the branches of coral like tropical birds flitting through the delicate limbs of stony trees.
Vivid pink and red sea anemones expanded like soft and brilliant flowers, their sinuous tentacles waving enticingly as they lured unsuspecting victims into their embrace. Black-banded triggerfish approached Donovan curiously, searching for handouts, while a conspicuously striped orange-and-blue clownfish nestled safely among the stinging tentacles of a cluster of anemones.
A spiny lobster, looking like a giant insect, approached along the sandy bottom, armored legs lifted as if prepared for battle.
Lani tapped him on the shoulder, interrupting his fanciful thoughts, as she pointed across the silent lagoon. Cruising toward them and ignoring the other fish with regal dignity was a large turquoise fish with bright purple and yellow markings. Schools of smaller fish obediently parted like a silver curtain as the parrotfish swam in an unwavering line toward Lani. In this underwater world, he was undeniably king.
Lani reached into a small bag, taking out a yellow high-impact plastic waterproof camera, which she handed to Donovan with a smile. Her eyes laughed behind the snorkeling mask she’d donned as the fish nudged her insistently. Impatiently. While Donovan snapped away on the digital camera, the parrotfish plucked frozen green peas from Lani’s outstretched hand with comical but precise bucktoothed jaws, never once grazing her skin.
When Lani pointed toward Donovan, appearing to introduce man and fish, Moby Dick’s shiny black eyes seemed to meet his in an almost human, oddly somber gaze. Then he blinked, giving Donovan the strange impression that perhaps, just maybe, something had registered on both sides. Before Donovan could dwell on the meaning of their silent exchange, a school of long-nose fish swam between them like a sunburst, shattering the fanciful interlude. Shaking his head bemusedly, he followed her as she swam back toward the beach.
“Well,” she demanded, pushing her mask up onto her forehead as they stood in the knee-deep water, “now you’ve met Moby Dick.”
Donovan took off his own mask. “He didn’t talk to me.”
Lani shrugged. “Didn’t I mention he uses telepathy?” Her teasing gaze turned suddenly serious. “What did you really think?”
He reached out, pushing back some clinging strands of wet hair from her face. “I think,” he answered slowly, “that this morning will go down as one of the most overwhelmingly beautiful experiences of my life. Thank you for it.”
“We were only snorkeling, Donovan, something I do nearly every day. It’s really not all that profound.”
He pondered that for a moment. “Perhaps not profound,” he agreed, “but vastly enjoyable. There was something almost otherworldly about it.”
Even as she experienced a rush of pleasure at his words, Lani was distressed by the fact that he had echoed her own thoughts so clearly. She’d been trying to remind herself of all the things she and Donovan Quinn did not have in common. All those reasons that whatever happened between them could never be anything but an enjoyable vacation fling.
The idea that they could share feelings other than sexual attraction would make things even more difficult.
“You don’t take much time out for enjoyment, do you, Donovan?” she asked, forcing herself to focus once again on the differences between them.
“I’ve been known to play a hole or two of golf.”
“With the mayor and the police commissioner,” she guessed as she retrieved a thigh-length cover-up emblazoned with a brilliant silk-screened rainbow from the backseat of the Jeep and pulled it over her head. “I’ll bet you’ve never gotten through a game without discussing your work. You know your lowest score on every course you’ve ever played, and unless you at least match it every time out, you spend the remainder of the day irritated by your performance.”
“There you go again, with that imagination.” Rather than admit how close she’d come to guessing the truth, he took out his phone and shot another photo. “And speaking of imaginations, I just thought of a wish.”
“A wish?”
Following his wicked gaze, Lani glanced down at her chest. “Oh. That doesn’t count; it has to be a real rainbow.”
“Since when are you such a stickler for rules?”
Her grin was quick and filled with sunshine, denying the mist that had started falling from the single cloud in the blindingly blue sky. “Since I had to start dealing with you.” She tossed him his clothing. “Get dressed, Donovan. I’m taking you to lunch.”
* * *
Five minutes later, Donovan found himself seated at a tapa-topped lacquered table, facing a wall of glass that provided a panoramic view of Mahini bay.