Dagger

“DREW, WHAT THE hell was that?” Jim barked, his face a red, blotchy mask.
She eyed her boss’s wet suit, hanging limply from his waist like a deflated tire. His sleeves flipped inside out, slapping his legs every time he pointed that long finger at her.
She didn’t care. Her teeth were chattering and her patience bank was on empty. She snapped at him, “That was me saving Michelle a trip to the morgue.” The air pack slipped from her cold fingers, hitting the deck. The solid thwack was muffled under the thick, angry air between them. “What was I supposed to do, watch? It saved your ungrateful behind.”
“I’m still your boss, Drew.”
No joke.
“Then cover your ears ’cause I’m not done.” Gripping the warm deck’s boards, she climbed out of the boat, wet suit slung over her shoulder.
“You take that off again and you’re on suspension.”
Mother Nature gave her the tools—no one said how she had to use them, and it saved their lives—case closed.
“Here, catch.” He tossed her the thick rope.
She caught it before it hit her in the mouth, her slowly tensing back muscles twitched along her spine as she secured the loop around the post. Jim’s tan, angular face puckered. Why was he so edgy lately? If she didn’t love him, she’d clock him over the head. Something was up. Something more than Michelle being eight months pregnant.
Jim motioned for a towel off the pier’s deck. “You never—ever—take that pack off,” he warned.
“Got a faster way to get the suit off?” She hurled the towel, aiming for his head.
“That’s your only protection down there.”
“And I was your only protection,” she said.
“Drew, you take too many risks.”
“This risk saved your life, Jim. Be grateful I wore the front zip or I’d still be struggling to get it off.” Snatching open her duffle bag, she dug out a peach T-shirt and slipped it over her head. “It distracted Bandit long enough.” Tugging the T-shirt past the wet bikini, she kept her eyes on Jim. He was pissed, but alive, and that was what mattered.
Never leave your partner.
“Drew.” He set the cooler on the deck then dragged a hand down his face in frustration. She could see it forming, the grand lecture. “You were half-naked down there,” he told her. Peeling the seal suit down his thighs, it puddled around his feet.
“It saved your life,” she returned. “What’s the big deal anyway? We live on the beach. You’ve seen my bikini a million times.” She wiped off the face of her watch—seven thirty. He must not have gotten enough sleep last night. It had to be why he was freaking out.
“It’s not the same.” Worry lines creased his wide forehead above deep-set, squinted eyes. His signature pissed-off stare was aimed right at her.
“What?” She didn’t have another answer for that look. In truth, she did, but he was still her boss and this wasn’t the right time.
In one long, lurid sweep, his gaze undressed her. She wanted to crawl back inside the wet suit. “Stop looking at me like that.” She gripped her towel. “It’s, ewww, creepy.”
“That’s how Bandit watched you, Drew. A glass of vodka, flashing lights, and he was in the club trying to get your seven digits.”
“Jim, that’s disgusting,” she argued. “You’re one to talk. It’s no different than the little dolphin that clung to your side. Was she a science groupie?”
Dropping the towel, she grabbed her khakis. Shoving her feet through the leg holes too fast, she caught her toes and about toppled over. Gaining her balance, she knew he was right—knew taking off the wet suit would work, but he didn’t need to know that. Heck, she wished she hadn’t known it would work. A quick glance out over the Atlantic gave her a glimpse of the dolphins, and she knew they wouldn’t come in with Jim on the pier. She had to hurry.
“You were able to get the mud samples, right?” She fumbled with the metal clasp. “And you’re welcome, by the way.” Sighing, she caught his frustrated face. “Jim, I’m fine. We’re just as odd-looking to them as they are to us. It’s curiosity, that’s all. Don’t make it such a big deal.”
“You’re my little sister, Drew—at least you feel like my sister.” He tipped his chin out over the water. “The big males… you’re just another female to them. Haven’t you noticed that? You need to stop swimming with them at night. Yesterday, I saw a second tiger shark hanging around.”
“Reflex,” she acknowledged.
“Reflex?”
She nodded. “He’s not as dark as T-Bone. And before you ask, he shows up like a reflex reaction, right after T-Bone.”
Jim towered over her at six-three. She watched him and accepted the travel mug of coffee he offered gratefully; he remembered the thermos that morning. Coffee on the boat was as important as the wet suits when diving so early.
“Forget about what’s-his-name.” He gulped his coffee. “I know you’re acting weird because of the dreams you’ve been having lately about that blue man, and if that strip tease you did down there was a part of a scene from the dreams, you’ve been subjecting me to far too many details, “ he said, gyrating his hips. “What’s going on with you lately?”
Not touching that question, or his hips, she tugged on her gym shoes. Dreams don’t leave you sore in places inaccessible from outside the body. Nor do bodiless voices call you from the beach. Hers had.