Page 28 of Viper

“Follow me. We’ve got a bit of a walk, but that’s what makes this place so special.” She spun around and scooped up her bag from where she’d dropped it in the sand moments earlier.

Paige fell into step next to Troy and for the first time, she wanted to cover Chantal’s full ass, which looked great in the Brazilian-cut bottoms.

“Have you been here before?” Troy asked, his tone nonchalant and his gaze on the sand rather than a few inches north.

“Nope. But Chantal always finds the best sites.”

They walked a good fifteen minutes along the beach and ducked through a grove of palms and other plants then reemerged at a deserted shore with no more than fifty feet of waterfront.

Large rocks sat in the crystalline sand. Palm trees danced in the breeze, their leaves offering shade from the blazing sun.

“This is really pretty, Chan,” Paige said.

“Isn’t it?”

Paige lowered her bag to a dry rock and dug for her snorkeling gear. After fitting her mask over her head, she sat to pull on her flippers. Troy followed her lead. Chantal was already wading into the water.

He stood and pulled his snorkeling gear over his head. His abs rippled above his black swim trunks, and his flat nipples were hard little nubs in his broad chest.

“Okay, so what I usually do is snorkel around the top of the water first. That way we can see what’s below and where we want to get a better look.” She beamed. “Then we freedive.”

She held up the little mouthpiece that led to the tube that would stick out of the water. “Make sure and pop this out of your mouth before you try diving down. It’s not fun when it fills with water.”

“Don’t inhale water. Got it.”

She gave him a satisfied, challenging look then grinned. “Ready?”

He shook his head, a bemused look on his face. “I’ve got a feeling you’re gonna get a good laugh out of this.”

She chuckled. “You don’t have to come, you know.”

He shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve never gone freediving before, and it’ll probably be cool if I can manage to make it to the top when I’m done.”

She let out a hoot of laughter. Everything about Troy was sexy. She loved that he was willingly jumping into something new. He didn’t care if he sucked at it, didn’t care if he couldn’t keep up with Chantal and her. He was just here.

If that wasn’t Troy in a nutshell, she didn’t know what was.

“I’ll make sure that happens. Besides, you swam pretty darn good last night if I recall.”

“Yeah, all it took was a bucket of chum in the water for me to swim like an Olympic athlete.”

She would’ve giggled at his mocking tone if the whole situation didn’t make her sick to her stomach. But for right now, she was going to forget Craig and just be with Troy. And Chantal, of course, because she wouldn’t attempt any new spot—easy or not—without someone more experienced than she was.

“You two lovebirds coming?” Chantal called impatiently. Her head bobbed above the waves.

Paige extended her fingers and Troy accepted. They waddled hand in hand over the sand, wobbling awkwardly in the flippers. The cool, rippling water wrapped around her ankles.

Troy’s strides took him deeper, and he pulled her after him toward Chantal. “By the way, I don’t think this counts as our first date.”

“Why not? I can’t think of a more perfect way to spend time together.”

He pulled her closer and they treaded water. “It’d be perfect if it were just the two of us. No offense. Your friend seems nice and all, but when we have a real date, there’ll be no tagalongs.”

He brushed a wet strand of hair from her cheek and kissed her mouth. “I want you all to myself.”

She licked her lips, reveling in his primal taste left from just one kiss.

“Good grief, you two. Get a room later, will ya?”