Free Cracking the Dating Code by Kelly Hunter

against her ribcage as she let go of his hand and breaststroked her way towards the coral. Smooth strokes; she
liked
the act of swimming. In a pool.
    Seb stayed beside her, matching his speed to hers, his snorkelling gear looped around his arm. Twenty metres. Twenty metres to the first coral cluster, and she couldn’t touch bottom but Seb was there saying, ‘Grab my shoulders,’ and, ‘Now get your head wet,’ and then handing her the mask and snorkel. ‘Ever snorkelled before?’
    ‘No. I—’
    ‘Let me know if you don’t like it, but you have to give it a try. If you stay on the surface you’ll be able to breathe normally through the mouth piece. If you dive you’ll have to clear the snorkel of water when you surface. You clear it by pushing air through it, short and sharp. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. I’ll hold your waist while you put it on.’
    ‘Seb, I—’
    ‘C’mon, Poppy. In the grand scheme of risk-taking ventures, this isn’t one.’
    Maybe not for
him.
But she took the mask and snorkel and put it on and that took care of any talking on her part.
    ‘Head in the water, Poppy, while I adjust the angle of the snorkel for you. That’s got it. Keep hold of my shoulder if you want to. Grab me whenever you feel the need—I won’t mind. And let me show you why I bought this island in the first place.’
    The coral came in colours and the colours were green, purple and blue. The fish came in colours too. Bright, daffodil-yellow fish no longer than her finger, black-and-white-striped fish with tiny snub noses. Fish that looked like goldfish, darting in and out of the coral. Silver fish with lilac tails. Poppy jerkedher head out of the water, spat the snorkel from her mouth and gasped for air.
    ‘Close, but not quite,’ said Seb dryly. ‘Now put the snorkel back in and breathe through it—I guarantee you’ll get air.’ He waited until she had the mouthpiece back in. ‘Just close your lips around it. Is it working?’
    Poppy nodded.
    ‘Now look again. And this time don’t forget to breathe.’
    They looked again and this time Seb grabbed her hand and propelled Poppy forward.
    He pointed to a rock on the sandy surface, but it was just a rock, not nearly as colourful as the fish. He squeezed her hand and let it go and dived down to touch the rock, only it wasn’t a rock at all but a turtle, who went on its way with a grace and offended dignity that made Poppy want to smile.
    Seb showed her sea urchins and sea cucumbers, the rolling pattern of clam-lips and the delicacy of orange coral fans.
    They went from coral bombie to coral bombie and each one held a secret beauty and the water around it played a clear and vivid blue.
    Poppy grew braver in the face of Seb’s expert tutelage. She dived down with himand held her breath while they explored. He touched her often and his touch worked magic and when finally they surfaced for a proper breather Poppy didn’t realise at first that they were well into the outer waters of the cove.
    The moment she did, she was in Seb’s arms, clinging limpet-like to whatever sun-bronzed surface she could find.
    ‘I don’t suppose this is a thank-you for showing you the reef?’ he asked mildly.
    ‘No.’ A shudder ripped through her and Seb’s arms came around her, holding her close.
    ‘Didn’t think so. Have we got a shark problem?’
    Who knew? But he was going to have a terrified Poppy problem on his hands very soon if they didn’t reach the shore soon. ‘It’s mostly a Poppy problem at the moment,’ she said politely, and increased her stranglehold around his neck.
    ‘Ah.’ Thank heaven he remained calm. ‘You ready to go back?’
    Past ready. Poppy nodded.
    ‘Is distracting you with coral going to work again this time?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘How about kissing you? Dragging you against me?’
    ‘You could, and I’d let you. It’s not my biggest problem at the moment.’
    ‘Good to know.’ Seb’s smile was reassuring rather than