“Maybe someday,” she said finally. “For now, I just want to do something. That’s actually why I’m going to Crestler’s Key. Well, to pick up some things for the kids, but also . . .” She trailed off and Nick stood up and walked around to her.
“Also what?”
“Since when are you so demanding?”
“Since birth. Since when are you so shady?”
Becca turned away from him, and he got the feeling he was missing something important, but he couldn’t figure out what. “I don’t know. I just . . .”
“Bec, tell me.”
“Ugh, fine. I signed up for scuba diving lessons. To get certified.”
Immediately, Nick burst into laughter. “Scuba diving? You?”
“Hey, I could do it.”
“Do you remember that time we were at the park and you tried to shoot a basketball into the hoop and hit Mayor Phillips in the face instead?”
Becca scowled. “He was sitting right under it!”
“He was sitting in a bench halfway across the park.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean a thing.”
Nick went back to soaping the car, a smile still on his face. He was methodical about it—too methodical, Becca would say—but he liked monotonous activities like this, activities where he didn’t need to think. Or see his brothers. “It means you’re the least athletic person on the planet, and if you go scuba diving, you’ll likely drown. I can’t allow that, now can I? Who would listen to me bitch about everything all the time?”
“Then you could just hire a shrink and sit on one of those fancy couches.”
“And explain how my corrupted childhood has turned me into an asshole?”
“And analyze why your favorite color is black.”
Nick straightened. “What’s wrong with black? It’s sophisticated.”
“It’s morbid. People choose
colors
for favorite colors.”
“Black is a color; ask Crayola.”
At that, Becca rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips in that sassy way she did when she was about to lecture him. He loved it and couldn’t help but grin. “Black is the opposite of color. It’s depressing, and besides, you look terrible in black.”
“Listen, woman, no need for insults.” Nick turned the hose on Becca, spraying her once, before holding the sprayer up like a gun. “Say you’re sorry.”
She glared at him with the intensity of a raging fire. “Hit me with that again and you’re dead, Hamilton. Dead.”
“You and what army? I’ve got a foot on you, plus all these muscles.” He tugged off his shirt and flexed dramatically, laughing, until he caught Becca’s expression as she took him in. Her eyes widened a touch and she swallowed, her clenched fists relaxing as a brief flicker of something that looked a lot like attraction crossed her face.
But then she cleared her throat and looked away, and before Nick could process what had just happened, she dashed for the soap bucket. “You spray me and I dump this on you.”
He grinned. “Then it’s a good thing I took off my shirt. I don’t have a change of clothes, so unless you want to see the full frontal, I suggest you not.” He knew she would redden at his words, but he didn’t expect her gaze to flicker down and then back up to his face, her eyes darkening. God, was it possible she’d had the same thoughts he’d had about them? Surely not. He flirted with her all the time, but she never hinted at anything more, never said anything to suggest she’d thought about him as more than her best friend. So what was with all these looks?
Sure he needed to do something or else they might not survive the tension building between them, he flashed her one more grin and said, “You can just call this lesson one of scuba diving: remember to breathe.”
“What the—?”
But before she could finish, he turned the sprayer on her, drenching her from head to toes and, good as her word, she tossed the bucket of soapy water at him, the suds hitting him square in the face and then sopping down his chest and shorts.
“I didn’t think you would do it!” Nick removed his glasses and shook out his hair.
“I told you I would. Dammit, I’m drenched.” She stomped her foot, but all she managed to do was splash herself from the puddle that had collected at her feet.
Nick cracked a smile and she pointed at him. “Don’t you dare.” Surrendering, he held up his hands, his eyes on her, covered in water, her hair hanging in drenched waves around her shoulders, and her hands on her hips in aggravation, and he thought she might just be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Hot shower?” he asked.
“With you? No, thanks; you’d probably turn the water to cold on me.”
“I didn’t say with me, but hey, if you’re offering, I’m not denying.”
Becca shook her head, but she was smiling at him now. “Let’s finish this. I have to leave in an hour.”
“For the scuba diving lesson?”
“Yes, Mr. Sarcastic. I can do this.”
Nick bit his lip and went to work on the side of her car, then resigned that he really couldn’t let her go into a giant ocean with some half-assed instructor who knew shit about diving, he said, “I’ll take the lessons with you. Are they on Saturdays, then? Six weeks or something?”
“Yes, but no, you’re not. You’re already certified.”
He shrugged. He and his brothers were all certified when they were teens, back when their father used to take them on dive trips and they used to act like a real family, instead of whatever disjointed bunch they were now. “So? They don’t have to know that.”
“You’ll start interjecting Nickisms.”
“What the hell is a Nickism?”
Walking around to the other side of the car, Becca bent down to scrub the tires with the same wash glove she’d used on the car. Nick cringed, but he knew better than to correct her, especially when he had new territory to cover and the last thing he wanted to do was piss her off to the point that she really wouldn’t let him join in the lessons.
“I’m waiting here.”
The sun had turned hot overhead, September proving every bit as hot as August, and Nick wondered if they were in for another overly warm fall. That would change things a bit for the fall festival, and he made a mental note to talk to Trip about it because he was on the board of trustees for Triple Run.
If he started talking to his brother again.
Becca stopped in front of him. “You know, that know-it-all thing you do. Whatever it is, you know something about it. There’s no way you can sit in a class, listen to some ‘half ass’ teach without you interjecting.”
Crossing his arms, Nick plucked the wash glove from her hands just as she started to press it back to the car. “You just washed the tires with that thing. You can’t touch the paint with it now.”
“Why?”
“It’ll scratch it.”
Becca pointed at him. “See? That right there. A Nickism in the wild, ladies and gentlemen.” She turned, her arms out, and then directed at him like he was part of a circus act. “You can’t do anything without spewing Nickisms all over it.”
“You know, that sounds a little dirty. What kind of Nickisms are we talking about here?”
She rolled her eyes and he tried to feign seriousness. “I take offense. I can sit in a class and keep my mouth shut.”
“Fine; prove it. You can go to the class today, but if you issue even one Nickism, you’re out of there.”
Nick held out his hand and Becca glanced down before pressing her small hand into his large one. Immediately, warmth spread from the point of contact, up his arm, settling in his core, and it took every bit of his willpower not to tug her toward him, drenched and all, his lips crashing against hers, that sunflower and sunshine smell of hers washing over him.
God, he was in trouble.
“Deal.”
Nick grinned. “Now about that hot shower . . .”
Chapter Five
“S
top it.” Becca pushed her friend’s shoulder and Nick scoffed.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
Nick spun around, his arms out. “Do you see where we are? It’s an elementary school. I’m supposed to master scuba diving surrounded by Elmo and Dora?”
“So what? I bet Elmo and Dora could teach you a thing or two. And besides, it’s just the classroom portion. We’ll move to the water in a few weeks.”
Nick stopped walking beside a statue of a Native American chief with a cheesy smile on his face. “Mr. Chief here wants to know how we’re supposed to learn to dive in a classroom.”
“How did you learn?”
“My dad threw me into our pool with a mask and snorkel on, threw a pair of fins at me, and ordered me to go underwater or drown.”
“Be serious.”
Nick laughed. “Fine. We had a private instructor.”
“Of course you did,” Becca grumbled. Then she found the right classroom and opened the door, only to close it again and point to her friend. “Remember your promise.”
Nick pretended to lock his lips and then passed the pretend key to Becca.
“And no mocking facial expressions.”
“Hey, now, we said nothing about mockery. The instructor could be an eighty-year-old man carrying around an oxygen tank. How am I supposed to keep from smiling at that?”
Unable to keep from smiling herself, Becca pushed into the room, only to stop short, causing Nick to run into her. “Holy hot.” Her gaze landed on the man at the front of the classroom, dressed in a fitted black T-shirt that showed every one of his perfectly cut arm and chest muscles. Dark brown hair shot off his head in spikes, and black ink climbed down from his biceps to his forearms.
“Hey there,” Mr. Unbelievably Hot said, but Becca could only manage to sigh in reply.
“Jesus. I didn’t know you were capable of drooling so much,” Nick said, walking around her and starting for the back.
“Let’s sit up front.” Becca motioned to the front row, and Nick glanced at the instructor.
“Seriously? That’s your thing?”
Becca took the middle seat and patted the desk beside her. “Honey,
that
is every woman on the planet’s thing.”
“I didn’t think you were so typical.”
“I’m typical when it comes to tattoos.”
She grinned at the instructor and he grinned back, and Becca thought scuba diving lessons might have been the best idea she’d ever had.
Once the instructor looked away, Becca glanced around the classroom. Immediately, her thoughts drifted back to her and Nick’s days in elementary school. They’d renovated over the years, but the feel of learning still hung in the air, ghosts of laughter from children running in the halls.
A memory popped up of Nick sitting in front of her and smiling wide as he attempted to pass her a stack of papers the teacher had handed to him as the row leader. Only the stack never made it into her hands. Their fingers hit as she reached for the stack and he tried to hand it off, and then they fell to the floor, white sheets scattering everywhere. It was that moment, him red and her laughing, that she knew they would be great friends.
“All right,” the instructor said, bringing her back to the present. “It’s three fifteen, so I think it’s safe to say this is our class. I’m Zac Littleton and I’ll be your instructor for the next six weeks.”
“Littleton?” Becca asked. “Are you related to Kate?”
At that Nick finally looked up and at the instructor, and Becca caught the recognition cross his face. “You’re one of Kate’s brothers, right? I’m Nick Hamilton, Alex’s brother.”
“Right, I recognize you from the wedding.” Zac walked over and shook Nick’s hand, but whereas most men stiffened or appeared in awe when meeting one of the insanely wealthy Hamiltons, Zac seemed undeterred. There was something more to the way they stared at each other, a story Becca couldn’t quite put together, and then she remembered the Hamiltons talking about another set of brothers in high school. Brothers from Crestler’s Key who played baseball, competitors of theirs. Becca wondered if those brothers were the Littletons, but before she could dwell on it, Zac bit his lip and turned to her, and she had to fight to keep from giggling like a little girl.
Clearly, it had been a long, long time.
“And you are?”
“Becca Stark. I’m a family friend.”
“Hmmm, too bad Kate hasn’t introduced us yet. I’m sure I would have remembered you.”
Becca grinned, and Nick cleared his throat loudly. “So, the class?”
“Right. Better get back to work.” Zac winked at Becca, and she grinned back, embarrassed but unable to rein in her response to him. It had been a long time since she was this attracted to someone.
Well, someone other than unattainable Nick.
There were no more than twelve to fifteen students in total in the class, and Becca surmised that meant she would get plenty of time with hottie Zac, and maybe she could test the whole flirting and dating thing again in an effort to forget the guy beside her, who by all accounts saw her as nothing more than the tomboy next door.
“All right, first let’s go over the basics. Scuba is actually an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, though people use it so frequently these days that
scuba
describes the sport without having to detail its meaning. And though you might worry about your athleticism, scuba diving is one of the easiest activities out there. Children as young as eight can be certified.”
“Ha, see that. I’m good to go,” Becca whispered, and Nick rolled his eyes.
“We’ll see.”
“What was that?” Zac’s gaze fell on Nick, and Becca grinned wide as Nick’s jaw ticked. It was so rare for Nick to openly dislike someone that she found it amusing. She’d like to test just how far that dislike could go, but she feared what Nick might say, and it was only the first day of class. Surely she could get in a few lessons before Nick got them kicked out.
“Did you have a question, Nick?”
“No, no question.”
“Excellent, then do you think you could join me up here?”
Becca was on the verge of hysterics now as Nick glanced at her with wide eyes and a frown on his face. He wanted to make fun of the class, dis Zac as a “half ass,” but it was all blowing up in his face.
“Go ahead, Nick,” she urged.
With a quick glare at her, Nick slid out of his desk and stepped up to the front of the class. Instantly, Becca caught sight of someone behind her leaning forward for a better view, and she turned to see a pretty blonde, eyes locked on Nick, and Becca thought her interest was less in the lesson and more in the only eligible Hamilton left.
Zac motioned to the table behind him and the scuba diving equipment. “I’ll go through each piece of equipment and the correct way to put it on using Nick as a dummy.”
“Nick as a dummy,” Becca mouthed and Nick’s grimace deepened, only causing her to laugh harder.
“The most important pieces of equipment to consider first are your mask, fins, and exposure protection. Now we won’t make Nick here change into a wet suit.”
“You can,” the blonde said. “We won’t mind.” She smiled and Nick grinned back, and suddenly Becca was the one frowning. What was she thinking, bringing Nick here where eventually they would all be in swimsuits? Was she trying to introduce him to his next date? Or maybe whoever his brothers had been hinting about had his attention fully occupied.
A sinking feeling worked through her.
“The most important thing about the mask is that it fits snuggly.” He handed over a bright pink mask to Nick, who was very likely to kill Becca after this. “Go ahead. Try it on.”
Nick held up the mask. “You’re joking, right? This is way too small. And pink.”
A smile played at Zac’s lips, and Becca propped her chin up on her hand, enjoying the view of the two handsome men before her, each attempting to show their manliness. “It’s an exercise, go with it,” Zac said. “Unless you’re not manly enough to wear pink.”
“I’m manly enough. I’ll own this pink.” He attempted to slide the mask over his head and into place, fighting and struggling and grunting, but all he managed to do was get the mask onto his forehead, resulting in laughter from the class.
Zac chuckled beside him, and Becca thought Nick might shove the mask at him. “Sorry, man, don’t be mad. That was to illustrate a poorly fitting mask. Now try this one.” Zac passed Nick a new mask and he easily slid it on, and hell if he didn’t look all the more adorable as he grinned over at Becca. “Now the fins.” Nick slipped on a pair, and then before long Zac had him completely dressed in scuba gear.
“Think this is funny, do you?” Nick asked around his snorkel mouthpiece, sending Becca into hysterics.
“Yes. Very. In fact . . .” She reached frantically for her bag and pulled out her phone. “Say cheese.”
“Don’t you—”
“Too late.” She snapped picture after picture, before he finally waddled over to her and snatched the phone.
“All right, you can take it all off,” Zac said.
“I can help him,” the blonde called, and Becca ground her teeth together. She turned to tell her that he had help, but the woman was already by Nick, helping him remove each piece of equipment like she was slowly undressing him for things completely inappropriate in an elementary school classroom.
“Let’s take a little break and then we’ll go through the beginning steps.”
Becca peered around to get a better look at the other people taking the class. It was half men and half women, all ages, and, like her, the women were all ogling their instructor and his assistant, Nick. She could only imagine how crazy they would go once they saw him in swim trunks or a wet suit.
Then her gaze turned to Zac, and she realized she’d get to see him in swim trunks or a wet suit, too. Maybe she could survive this after all.
Zac clapped at the front of the class, and everyone returned to their seats as he passed out various sheets of information on anything and everything related to diving. Finally, after half an hour of this and Becca’s mind fuzzy from a thousand details she felt sure she’d never remember, he said, “I think that’ll do it for today. Same time next week? We’ll let you all dress up like Nick here.” He patted Nick’s back and Nick stiffened.
“Stop it,” Becca mouthed, and he shook his head a little.
“The class after next, we’ll take to the pool. Remember, you have to complete the online training before that class or you can’t get in the water.”
Everyone thanked him, and Nick stopped in front of Becca’s desk, his mouth open to say something just as Zac stepped in front of them. “Sorry about that, man. Hope I wasn’t too rough on you.” He laughed, and Nick fake laughed back. Ah, the male ego at its finest.
“Nah, this isn’t my first rodeo.”
Zac’s eyebrows lifted. “You’re certified?”
Nick stood taller. “Certified at twelve. Been diving ever since, though it’s been a few years since my last dive.”
“So why are you taking the class?” Zac’s eyes drifted to Becca and back to Nick. “Oh. I didn’t realize you two were—”
“We’re not.” Becca stood quickly, narrowly bumping into Nick, which resulted in an annoyed head shake, but hey, she couldn’t have the only prospect she’d had in months thinking she was already taken.
But then Nick threw an arm around Becca territorially, and she thought she might kill him, friendship be damned. A woman had needs, and a man like Zac could absolutely meet those needs. “Nah, Bec’s my bestie, and I didn’t want her diving with an amateur.”
“She wouldn’t be with an amateur.”
Nick sized Zac up and down. “No offense, man; I’m sure you’re skilled. But I think I’ll go through the training with her all the same.”
“Even though you’re certified?”
“Even though I’m certified.” Nick’s gaze leveled on Zac. “Is that a problem?”
Zac’s eyes found Becca’s then, and she felt sure her face was a thousand and one shades of red. Two thousand and one. She. Was. Going. To. Kill. Nick! What the hell was he doing? “Money is money, right? You want to pay for it, I’m not complaining.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“All right, then. See you next week, Becca. Nick.” He nodded to the overly domineering, half-crazy man beside Becca and then left the classroom. As soon as he was out of earshot, Becca turned on Nick.
“What the hell was that?”
“He was making a move on you. The instructor. On a student. I couldn’t allow such morally depraved behavior.”
Becca’s head twitched. “Yet you let that blond chick flaunt her goods all over you.”
Nick tossed up a hand. “Hey, I’m not the instructor and she’s not my student. And besides, she just offered to help. I didn’t ask her to. Why didn’t you help? Oh, that’s right, you were too busy drooling over Instructor Z.”
“He’s Kate’s brother. Shouldn’t you be nicer?”
Nick considered it for a second, then shook his head. “Nah. Alex would’ve supported me on this.”
“Alex? Your brother Alex? Mr. All Over Anything That Walked before meeting Kate? Yeah, I don’t think so. Zac is his brother-in-law. I think he’d tell you that you were being an ass.”
They were outside now, rain pouring down in sheets, soaking everything and further clouding Becca’s thoughts and mood. “You can’t just bully every guy interested in me. And I don’t even think he was. He was just being nice.”
“First, I don’t bully
every
guy. And second, he wasn’t being nice. Guys aren’t nice. They only want one thing. Zac only wants one thing.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“It’s not. Every guy you’ve ever met wanted to get in your pants.”
Becca was fuming now, her hands in fists at her sides so she wouldn’t be tempted to deck him. How dare he? How dare he! “Really? Every guy? You’re a guy. You want to get in my pants?”