Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,266

on her credit card.

Here there was just beauty and peace and tranquility that Harper felt certain she would never have again for the rest of her life.

Waves lapped at the posts and the sun shone brightly, reflecting off the water and making everything a dazzling blue color. The hurricane hadn’t even come close to Tahiti, but it had made the ocean choppier than it had been which eliminated any snorkeling she’d planned on doing the past two days.

In the distance she could see a man on a paddleboard, but aside from him, there was no one else around. No one to bother her at all. This was exactly what she needed. Out of the media, away from pushy reporters and their questions.

No, she didn’t know what he father had been doing, but none of them believed it.

Once more, she pushed away the anxiety that had started to build. She had promised herself one whole week of not thinking about everything going on back in Boston.

Right now all she wanted to do was immerse herself in the warm ocean water. There was something about being under the surface, about seeing nature at it’s purest that made things a little better. Too bad she couldn’t turn into a mermaid and live under there permanently.

She only had two more days of her vacation and she wasn’t going to sit around moping over her life. There was a stunning coral reef on the horizon and it was calling her name. She grabbed the mask and fins that Carl had left for her and shrugged out of her serape. Today’s bikini was a pale yellow set that looked amazing against her tanned skin.

Almost a week in the sun gave her wavy chestnut hair highlights that would cost a fortune at the salon.

She sat on the beach and pulled the fins over her feet. It had taken her four tries to stand up the first time she had put them on and even then Carl had to practically lift her. After their lesson she spent an hour putting them on, standing up and taking them off until she was able to do it without help.

Warm water swirled around her ankles as she penguin walked into the ocean. It was so clear that she could see the sparkling white sand kicking up as she took each step. Carl had walked her through the steps several times so Harper knew what to do. Spitting into her mask was still pretty gross but she did it anyway.

The waves rocked against her stomach, causing her to sway more than she had the first few times. It took her a minute to center herself, then she tucked the snorkel between her lips, puffed out a few breaths to make sure it was clear, then sank to her shoulders and pushed her feet against the sand.

Face down she floated, kicking her feet slowly as her gaze moved over the ocean floor. It really was incredible; the colors, the fish. Three days ago she’d actually seen a small shark. Waves rocked her body as she swam lazily, following the curve of the pink and yellow coral. As the water got deeper, Harper took a deep breath in and pushed down, closer to the ocean floor. She surfaced, puffed out a breath to clear the snorkel and went under again.

Her legs ached in a good way after over an hour of following the coral barrier.

It wasn’t until a cloud of kicked up sand rolled over her that she realized something was wrong. The next waved bumped into her side, sending her rolling before she pushed upright. Above the surface she saw that she’d actually swam quite far from the beach and had almost reached the larger banks of coral at the cove’s mouth.

The waves had grown choppier out here, and she lifted and lowered as each swell passed her by, causing the beach to dip in and out of her sight. Beneath the surface, the undertow dragged against her fins. She didn’t have the strength to keep upright. The undertow pulled her under. She spun around in a somersault, unable to pull herself out of the spin. Water clogged her snorkel and she sucked it in before she realized.

Her head broke the surface and she spit the snorkel out, gasping for air. Another strong current caught her fins and flipped her under again. When she resurfaced, she was even further out. She tried to reach down; to unhook the snaps keeping the fins on