Free Going Deep (Divemasters Book 2) by Jayne Rylon Page B

have been if she wasn’t attempting to focus on the job at hand. All three divemasters had complimented her proficiency after joining them beneath the surface at one time or another recently. She had nothing on them.
    In addition to his aptitude with the equipment, constant vigilance for safety issues, effortless buoyancy control, and eyes as sharp as a shark’s for spotting creatures or coral specimens she’d have zipped right past underwater, Miguel had stamina that would put that guy who had swum across the Adriatic Sea without flippers to shame.
    He dove with her every morning, leading two- or three-tank collecting expeditions that crisscrossed the reef inside the horseshoe of the Molokini Crater, leaving no stone or coral head unturned. It didn’t matter what the conditions were like, or how tired he might have been from swimming like a fish—a gorgeous, sleek, and powerful fish—assisting her in the lab every afternoon and evening, then fucking her damn near into a coma each night.
    Sabine had never been as exhausted, or as sated, as she was right then.
    If they had only made even a hint of progress toward locating Heinrich’s mysterious cure, she would be in heaven. Instead, guilt corroded her guts when her laptop made the triple-chirp associated with an incoming call on her video chat software.
    Only one person used it these days.
    And Sabine had been ducking those notifications for a while.
    “Want me to answer that for you?” Miguel asked as he spied her gloved hands and the latest concoction she was about to inject into a cancerous tissue specimen. If she introduced any contaminants during the process, she could invalidate her test, assuming that this one would be any more fruitful than the thousands of others she’d prepared over the past two weeks.
    “Nah. I’ll call her back some other time.” She looked at her hands, unable to meet his gaze.
    “Is this Heinrich’s wife?” He peered at the icon on her screen.
    Sabine nodded, unable to speak around the lump in her throat.
    “Are you dodging her?” he asked.
    She lifted a single shoulder.
    That was all it took. Miguel hit connect even as she cried out, “Don’t!”
    “I knew you were avoiding me.” Marta tsked , clearly having heard her shout. “Not like you. Especially since you’re the only family I have left in the world, girl.”
    Toss another guilt log on the fire, Sabine thought. Even worse, Banks had peeked into the laboratory, probably because he’d heard her holler, too.
    Miguel shocked her by coming to her defense. He disarmed Marta with a wave and one of the blinding full-on smiles he usually reserved for Sabine. “Hello Mrs. Geld. I’m so sorry for your loss. Please understand that our girl is hurting, too. Although we both know she shouldn’t, she feels like crap because we haven’t had any luck with her research yet.”
    Was it that obvious? She thought she’d given her best to Miguel, genuinely enjoying their time together, and feeling even shittier because of it. How could she find something to be so damn happy about when Marta’s world had fallen apart? It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right.
    “ Our girl? Ich glaub mein Schwein pfeift! Who is this handsome boy , Sabine?” Marta asked with a slightly harsher than normal German accent. The woman was direct, something Sabine usually appreciated. Right now, though, she wished she wasn’t such an open book. How could she explain when she didn’t know where she and Miguel stood herself?
    The sex was great. Like, better than Marta’s infamous black forest cake and four birthdays rolled into one. But when her time here was over, that would go away, too. They hadn’t made each other any promises. It would be pointless, as they each would go their own way to keep saving the world with the tools they had. Their paths had crossed temporarily. Eventually they would diverge again.
    Sabine opened her mouth but closed it again when Miguel responded for her. “My name is