Chapter Eight

AFTER diving in the afternoon with a group of three newbies who wandered off several times and chattered in French once everyone was safely back aboard the dive boat, Jonah had been thrilled to be partnered with Adam again the next morning. A British couple dove with them, but since Adam was the odd man out, Jonah paired with Adam.

“Ready to get some lunch?” Jonah asked after Adam had rinsed his wetsuit.

“I was ready on the boat a half hour ago when my stomach started rumbling.” Adam hung the wetsuit and followed Jonah to the restaurant by the beach.

“How’d you like the dive?”

“Perfect. I never expected to see dolphins.”

“We have a lot around here,” Jonah said as they walked up to the buffet. “But we rarely get to see them underwater.”

“They’re incredibly graceful. And the calf swimming with its mother… that makes my top ten, maybe top three dives.”

Jonah filled his plate with an assortment of cheeses, meats, and a hunk of baguette and joined Adam at a table near the edge of the open-air pavilion. Staff rarely ate with guests. But Jonah wasn’t in a mood to conform. After the unexpected kiss two nights before, he figured he could handle the pressure. He hadn’t ended up in Adam’s room, had he? Lunch and some pleasant conversation wouldn’t be too challenging.

“Something to drink?” Carlotta, one of the waitresses, asked them.

“Water with lemon, please,” Adam replied.

“I’ll take the same, Carlotta.” Jonah never drank when he was working.

“I enjoyed the dive this morning,” Adam said after Carlotta filled their glasses.

“Parque Nacional del Este is one of my favorites. But nearly all of them are amazing.” Jonah had explored most of the country’s dive spots, but he’d settled here in part because the best dives were only a few minutes from the resort.

“I expected more of a crowd this morning.”

“Pretty typical for this time of year. The weather’s usually perfect, but it’s too late for winter vacations and a little early for spring break. It’ll start to pick up at the beginning of March.” Jonah liked this time of year best, although when there were no divers to take out, staff weren’t allowed to use the boat. He missed diving on those occasions, even if the dry spell was only for a day.

“So you’ve been diving a while, I guess.”

“Forever.” It was Jonah’s stock answer. Not a lie. At least, Jonah didn’t think it was. “I can’t imagine not being in the water. I’d probably lose my mind.” When he’d woken up in Punta Cana nearly ten years ago with no memory of how he’d gotten there, diving had saved him. It had given him something to focus on.

“My dad and I got our open water together,” Adam told him. “Most of the diving I’ve done has been in colder water.”

“Kelp forests.” Jonah was quite sure he’d dived those areas too, although he couldn’t recall when.

Adam nodded and chewed thoughtfully on a bit of cheese. “Our favorite spot was near the Channel Islands. But after my dad passed….”

The powerful wave of regret and grief that slammed into Jonah took him by surprise. His eyes burned and he realized he was about to cry. He coughed to cover his reaction.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked.

Jonah nodded. “Went down the wrong pipe,” he said between coughs. After another minute, he excused himself and quickly made his way to the nearest bathroom.

“Is everything all right?” one of the servers, Tatiana, asked as he reached for the bathroom door. “Do you need me to get you some water?”

Jonah shook his head. “I’m fine. Just inhaled my drink.” He offered her a reassuring smile and pushed open the door. Once safely ensconced in a stall, Jonah gulped in air and fought the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

Sure, he’d sensed Adam’s loss. Sure, he cared. But to react the way he had?

Breathe. Just breathe.

A minute, then another passed. His breathing slowed and the world seemed to come back into focus. He leaned against the stall door and pulled himself together.

ONE of the female servers said something to Jonah. Jonah shook his head. At least Jonah had stopped coughing, or Adam would have gone after him to make sure he was all right.

The server watched Jonah make his way to the men’s room, then picked up two pitchers of water and headed over to the tables.

“You sure he’s all right?” Adam heard Carlotta ask the other woman.

“Inhaled his drink,” the woman said with a quick glance back at the bathroom.

“You too?”

“Me?” The woman pressed her lips together and smiled tightly.

“I’ve seen you, Tatiana,” Carlotta teased as she took one of the pitchers from her. “You’ve had your eye on him since he arrived last month.”

“I just showed him around a bit,” Tatiana answered. “Made him feel at home.”

“I guess it isn’t just the dive shop that’s hoping he’ll stay longer than Carlos did.”

Tatiana made a huffing sound and turned on her heel.

Interesting. So Jonah was relatively new at the resort. Adam had gotten the impression he’d been around a lot longer. Not to mention this dive instructor knows a lot. And Jonah’s reluctance to talk about himself raised more questions. He was an interesting puzzle.

“More water?” Carlotta asked as she stopped at Adam’s table.

“Thank you.”

“May I bring you anything else?”

“No. Thanks, though. I appreciate it.” He watched as she walked away, his thoughts still on Jonah.

“Sorry about that.” Jonah’s voice startled Adam. “I drank too quickly.”

“All better?”

“Better, thanks.” Jonah took a long drink.

Adam ran his finger over the rim of his glass and stifled a chuckle. Stop worrying. He didn’t need to know everything about Jonah. Whatever Jonah was, he was a good guy and Adam was enjoying himself for a change. This was vacation. He needed to relax and let go of the bullshit. Have fun.

“Something wrong?” Jonah asked.

“I…. Nothing.”

“Good. You’re supposed to be having a great time.”

“I am.” It was true. He was.

“Glad to hear it.” Jonah chewed thoughtfully on a bit of cheese, then said, “The dive shop’s closed on Sunday. Do you have any plans?”

“No.” Adam had forgotten there were no dives on Sundays. He figured he’d spend the day at the beach relaxing. He’d never liked resort tourist excursions much. Maybe he’d look into renting one of the small sailboats by the beach.

“I’m headed into town. Colorful houses. Lots of chickens wandering the streets. A small fish market where the locals sell their catches. It’s small, but there’s a great Caribbean restaurant, and the tchotchkes are cheaper than in the gift shop.”

“Sounds great.” The town sounded quaint, but mostly Adam just wanted to spend another day with Jonah.

Jonah smiled, his blue eyes bright with pleasure. “Terrific.” He leaned over the table, put his hand on top of Adam’s, and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m not supposed to take guests off the property, so how about we meet behind your building after breakfast?” Jonah leaned back but didn’t remove his hand.

“You got it. I was hoping to pick up gifts for my family anyhow.”

Jonah’s watch beeped. “Time to get set up for this afternoon’s dive. Dinner afterward? By the water?” He let go of Adam’s hand and stood. Adam silently cursed the interruption.

“You’re on.”

“GOOD?” Jonah raised his glass of wine. The waves licked at their toes as they sat side by side in his favorite spot on the coral cliffs with the spray tickling their bare feet and a nearly empty bottle between them.

Jonah had sweet-talked one of the cooks into boxing up two seafood dinners, and he and Adam had eaten them and watched a spectacular sunset. Jonah asked the sommelier to recommend a bottle of white to accompany the dinner, and he’d spent nearly half his paycheck on it.

“Amazing. But you shouldn’t have sprung for a premium bottle.” Adam’s cheeks were flushed, but whether from the wine or something else, Jonah wasn’t sure.

Adam was an odd mix of earnest and sweet. Not geeky but endearingly awkward. Jonah enjoyed setting Adam a bit off-balance. He clearly wasn’t used to the sort of dates where his partner doted on him. Jonah didn’t have a lot of money, but he had enough that he could afford it.

“I don’t usually have anything to spend my money on,” Jonah said truthfully. “It’s actually kind of nice to splurge for a change.” Better than nice. Wonderful. The wine, the food. The company.

This seemed to reassure Adam, because he set his glass in the sand and leaned back on his elbows. “I think all meetings should be held on the beach,” he said with a grin. “Everyone would be too relaxed to get pissed off.”

“I’m in.” Jonah raised his glass, then finished what remained in it.

“More wine?”

“Nah. I’m good.”

“I’m guessing not all your clients follow that particular rule.”

Jonah shrugged. “We carry a bucket on the boat. It’s gotten plenty of use. If we’re diving on one of the deep wrecks, I won’t take them if they look bad. Too dangerous.”

“Have you been working here long?” Adam asked this offhandedly, but Jonah got the sense it was anything but a casual question.

“About two weeks. I came from another resort about five miles from here. I wasn’t happy with the quality of the equipment. The pay’s better here too.” He’d caught one of the instructors smoking weed behind the building before a dive. He’d reported the guy. After that, things hadn’t gone so smoothly.

“Oh.” Adam appeared relieved, but Jonah sensed he was curious as well.

“I was there about three years,” Jonah explained. “I guess I’ve got a bit of wanderlust.”

Adam gazed at the waves, the pleasant smile he wore fading into something like wistful longing.

“Wandering isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

Adam’s eyes widened. “How did you…?”

“Just a feeling. Lorene calls it my sixth sense.”

“Lorene?”

“A friend,” he said. “She makes the best tostones.”

“Tostones?”

“They’re a bit like corn fritters, only made with plantains,” Jonah explained, happy to have successfully navigated the conversation away from more problematic topics. “There’s a great place in town that makes them.” He didn’t add that those weren’t as good as Lorene’s—he didn’t want to invite the topic of how he knew her.

“Sounds delicious.”

“You like Dominican food?”

“Any kind of food,” Adam explained. “The more exotic the better. When we were kids, my mom and dad would pile us in the minivan and take us into San Francisco once a month. My favorite restaurant was this little Vietnamese place in the Castro.”

The thought of pho made Jonah’s mouth water. He hadn’t been to a Vietnamese place in…. The familiar blank when he tried to recall just how long it had been felt like a concrete wall. He dodged it, as he always did. He’d gotten good at letting the question mark linger. It was okay not knowing.

“I love a good bowl of pho,” he said.

He sighed and stretched his arms, his shoulder accidently brushing Adam’s. He turned and saw Adam was watching him with the hint of a smile. The contact felt so good. Simple. Sweet. Undemanding. Like coming home to something Jonah had never known he needed.

“It’s getting late,” Adam said after a prolonged silence.

“Yeah.” Jonah had never spent this long talking to anyone except Lorene. And instead of getting the usual urge to make excuses and spend the rest of his evening with a good book, he wanted to stay longer, even when he knew he should be getting to bed. “Are you diving in the morning?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

Adam got to his feet and offered Jonah a hand up. They walked in silence back to Adam’s building, then stopped and faced each other. They were entirely alone. With no one to see them. No one to hear them.

It would have been so easy to ask Adam to come back to his room, but something made Jonah hold back.

“Good night, Adam.”

“Night.” Adam leaned in and kissed him.

Jonah waited for Adam to press his tongue into his mouth. He wanted to taste Adam. Feel the press of their bodies together.

Adam withdrew.

It wasn’t as though they hadn’t tasted each other before, but Jonah had the sense that Adam too was hesitating. As though he understood that the kiss might be a prelude to something neither of them was entirely prepared for.

Adam touched Jonah’s cheek and smiled before turning and disappearing into the courtyard. Jonah remained where he was for a minute longer, glanced up at the building, then turned and headed back to his own room.