He took off his protective headgear and said, “It’s seven o’clock, and we’ve been at it for hours. I think we should clean up and go celebrate.” He reached for her hand, helping her to her feet, and took off her headgear, kissing her softly. “Look at what you’ve done.” He placed the coins in her hand. “Once the loot is tied to the Pride, you’ll have made history for the second time this week.”
“What we did,” she corrected him, and ran her gloved finger over the coins. “Look how beautiful and clear the lions and castles are in the cross quadrants, and the dates—1710 and 1712!” Her eyes glittered with delight. “Based on the historical maps, and the dates, these have to be from the Pride.”
“I’m sure of it, but you know how this works. Once the vessel is arrested and people hear about the discovery, it’ll be disputed until we have irrefutable proof.”
“I know, but, Zev, these are more than three hundred years old, and you dredged them up from the sea. That’s amazing in and of itself! I don’t care what anyone says.”
“And you extracted them from the concretion. We make a good team.”
“We always did,” she said, holding his gaze for an extra beat. Her eyes widened. “We have to take pictures! Don’t you need to send a picture to your attorney and your dive team?”
He chuckled. Her excitement was contagious. “Absolutely.”
They took pictures of only the coins, then of them holding the coins. Then they took a number of selfies kissing, laughing, and making funny faces—and just like that, Zev did the impossible. He fell even deeper in love with her.
“Thank you for letting me be such a big part of this,” Carly said as they began cleaning up. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much this means to me.”
“You don’t have to. I already know.”
She looked at the concretions, the coins, and then she tipped her beautiful face up to him and said, “It’s surreal, isn’t it?”
“What’s surreal is that a week ago I was trying to figure out which of my siblings I could coerce into taking care of Beau’s animals. Now here I am making history with you”—my love—“the person I have the most history with. You and me together again, diving, hanging out, making chocolates”—he lowered his voice—“making love.” He kissed her and said, “And doing all of this, just like we always dreamed. That’s what’s surreal to me.”
She swallowed hard, as if she were considering her words carefully, and said, “It really is.”
“Let’s finish cleaning up. I want to celebrate with my girl. How does dinner and a bonfire at the inn sound?”
“Beyond perfect. What should we do with the coins? I feel like you need a vault.”
“I have one, actually. I’m renting one, along with a secure warehouse, on Silver Island.”
“That’s not going to help while you’re here. Does Beau have a safe at the inn? I suddenly feel paranoid that someone might steal them. Is that normal? Did you feel that way when you and Luis found all that treasure? Nobody knows about this but your family, right? Gosh, what is wrong with me?”
God, I love you. He laughed at her rambling and leaned in for a kiss. “Beau has a safe, and yes, it’s totally normal. As for what’s wrong with you, not a damn thing, other than I think you’ve caught the treasure-hunting bug.”
A spark of heat rose in her eyes and she said, “I blame your one-eyed snake.”
CARLY WAS STILL on cloud nine as they made their way up the mountain after cleaning the lab. But she was also in a quandary. Ever since she’d confessed her love for Zev to Birdie, she hadn’t been able to tamp down those feelings. She’d almost blurted out I love you when Zev had said that letting her extract the coins would make it even more memorable, and again when she’d pulled out the first coin. She’d literally had to clench her teeth to keep from saying it when he’d said they made a great team. She knew she needed to figure out how to start a conversation about their future, but they’d had such an incredible day, she didn’t want to take anything away from it.
She gazed out the window pondering those thoughts as they approached—and passed—the road to the inn. Was he just as lost in the excitement as she was? “You must be on cloud nine, too. You passed