Shannon glanced at their guide, rowing alongside them.
“It’s a curse, I’m afraid.”
They all laughed.
Since they were talking so candidly, Shannon risked a couple more questions. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why do you work so hard?”
He was silent as they rowed a few times.
Shannon glanced over her shoulder to see if he had heard her.
Victor was concentrating on the oar in his hands, his lips in a straight line.
“Never mind, you don’t have to answer that.”
“No, no . . . I’m trying to think of a quick answer.”
She turned back to the sea in front of her. “We’re going to be out here for a while. A long answer is fine.”
It was still a few breaths before he started to talk. “It’s my company. When I started it, I was only twenty. Granted, it was only me back then, but now I have employees and plants, and teams. I’m responsible for keeping this company going and the jobs it provides. People depend on Vic Corp to put food on their tables.”
His answer was unexpected. Not to mention completely selfless. The image of the self-centered all about me man she’d met on the plane dissipated with his explanation.
“That sounds like a lot of stress on one man’s shoulders,” she told him.
“Most days it is.”
Once again, she looked over her shoulder. Their eyes caught and he smiled.
“But not today,” she said.
“No. Today would be the opposite of stressful.”
“The word is relaxing,” she teased.
He pushed his oar deeper into the sea, let his muscles ripple as he put his back into the job of pushing them forward. “I have a feeling this relaxing might need a good massage once we’re done.”
Leo ended their conversation by stopping them by a buoy to tie up their kayaks. They left their life vests aside and donned their snorkeling gear. In the water, Shannon watched Victor working his way into his mask. “You’ve done this before, right?”
“In Hawaii.”
Good. She didn’t need Victor strutting to gain her attention only to drown in the Yucatán.
When he was twelve . . .
He’d snorkeled in Hawaii when he was twelve. How hard was that to say?
Apparently impossible, since the words never left Victor’s lips, and he followed Shannon’s example and put on his mask.
How hard could it be? Keep the water out of your eyes by tightening the mask, keep the pipe clear of the water, and breathe out of your mouth.
He sputtered the first time he stuck his face in the water. Lucky for him, Shannon had already kicked her fins up and was skimming the surface with her white bikini ass leading him into the deep.
The memory of mermaids and his thoughts of the night before surfaced as he attempted to rid his mask of water and put it on tight.
He kicked his feet and caught up with Leo and Shannon, who were several yards ahead of him, looking at the reef below. Once he was close, he placed the mouthpiece again and attempted to view the ocean floor.
Shannon’s long legs kicked out beside him, her arms helping her tread water.
Leo waved his hand and pointed to something moving below.
A stingray hid in the sand, their presence obviously disturbing its peace as it swam away. Victor didn’t mind seeing it go. He tried to remember the name of the wildlife expert that had recently died from a stingray, and he didn’t want to become part of that club.
Victor worked to keep his breathing normal and found it hard to concentrate on the beauty around him. All he really wanted to do was make it through their snorkeling part of the day without drowning.
He sputtered again and came to the surface to clear his mouth.
“You okay?” Shannon asked from a few yards away.
“I’m fine,” he lied. He put the mouthpiece in again.
You can do this, Vic. Thousands of people do this every day.
Once facedown, he didn’t even try to see the fish, the color of the reef, or the sea turtles below. All he did was follow Shannon and concentrate on breathing.
She either caught on to his plight and took pity or wanted to be by his side. Either way, she was there, catching his attention by tapping his shoulder and pointing at something below. Purple coral . . . fluorescent blue fish. Some of the rocks looked like someone had carved the image of brains into them.