“Bah. It’s not guy trouble. He’s leaving as soon as he can.” I frowned. That bothered me more than it should. “So, tell me about the interview. Did you get it?”

“I did! They grilled me like a steak, but I got it in the end.” She sat up and turned to look at me. Her face was serious and I knew whatever she was about to say would probably make me sad. “But I have to leave early. They want me in Hawaii in ten days to meet with the head of the department.”

“You’re leaving? Ten days?” I sat up and looked at her. There was so much change happening, and I hadn’t even told her about the other mermaids yet.

“I know. It sucks, but it’s one of the stipulations.”

“It’s a good thing! You get more time in Hawaii!” I smiled and hoped it looked real. “By the time classes come around, you’ll know everyone. You’ll see, Vi!”

“I know.” She didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “I’m just really going to miss you.”

“Pfft. It’s the twenty-first century. We can talk every day.” I rolled out of bed and reached for some of the nail polish on my side table. I picked up a blue and a green. Violet grabbed the seafoam green and sat down on the floor. I flopped down in front of her so she could paint my toes while I painted my fingers. It was something we had done since I was little.

“So what did your parents say about Blake? Did they freak out when you told them he was on the beach while you were all fishy?” Her steady hands made quick work of my toes.

“Actually, I forgot to tell them. Something else happened last night.” I bit my lip. “While I was swimming I saw two mermaids.”

“Holy shit!” Violet jerked up to look at me and accidently knocked over the bottle of nail polish. “Shit!” She reached over and grabbed some tissues from the box on my dresser. “Sorry. Oh my God. What did you do? What did you say? What did they say? Do they speak human?”

I laughed and grabbed the nail-polish remover to help her clean the mess up from the wood floor. “I don’t know. I didn’t speak to them.”

“Why not? You’ve wanted to meet another mermaid your whole life!” Her hand stopped scrubbing and she looked up at me.

“Mitch made me hide. She was nervous.” I sighed, thinking about it.

“She was scared?”

“No. More like she didn’t know what to do, so she automatically went into protective mode.” I picked up the dirty tissues and tossed them in my trash can. Polish remover always stung my fingers, but it was a necessary evil.

“Meena! That could have been your one chance to talk to another mermaid!” Violet looked at me with big eyes.

“I don’t know. At least now I know that there are more of them. And it wasn’t just a mermaid. There was a merman, too.” I smiled when her mouth fell open.

“Logically, I know that if you exist there must be males, too. But holy crap! Was he as hot as I imagine?”

“He was hot, but not really my type. Honestly?” I looked toward my door to make sure no one was listening. “He looked familiar.”

“Familiar?” Violet’s eyes darted toward my door too. “Like you might’ve seen him walking around before?” She mimed walking with her fingers and I slapped her hands.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter right now. Mom and Dad want me to be careful, but if I see them again, I’m going to try to talk to them.”

“Hell yes, you are!” Violet stood up and put the nail polish back on my nightstand. “You can’t let this slip away, Meen. You need to know more about where you came from.” She turned back and narrowed her eyes at me. “Now, go put on something hot. I hear Blake’s motorcycle and I want to see him drool over you before I leave.”

I snickered. “You can’t even stay today?”

“I have to pack.” She hugged me and then pushed me toward my closet. “Cutoffs. Guys can’t help themselves when a sexy girl is wearing cutoffs. And the teal bikini.”

She left the room while I changed, and I could hear her in the kitchen talking to Mom. As much as I hated to admit it, I sort of did want to see Blake drool a little. Especially after last night. I threw on the bikini, shorts, and a large gray tank top that had once been a football jersey. It hung loosely, giving a peek at the bright top underneath. I hesitated in the mirror. I wore this tank top all the time, but I had never done it with the intention of teasing a guy. It felt daring, and it never had before.

Shrugging, I braided my hair and pulled my hat on. Just as I was leaving my room, I heard Blake’s voice join Violet and my mom’s. My heart stuttered for a minute. Stiffening my spine, I walked straight into the kitchen and headed for the fridge.

“Good morning.” I grabbed the orange juice from the fridge and then a glass from the counter. I kissed Mom on the cheek and then turned to look at everyone else. Blake had a piece of bacon in his hand but had stopped halfway to his mouth. He seemed to realize he was staring because he quickly popped it in his mouth and chewed. After swallowing, he narrowed his eyes a little and smiled. Flames erupted in the pit of my stomach and my skin itched.

“Morning.” His voice rumbled through the room and I wondered if anyone else could feel it the way I did. His eyes flicked down to my hands and I realized that I was scratching at the skin on my left wrist. I grabbed some bacon from the plate Mom had set on the counter and quickly stuck some in my mouth. His eyes focused on my lips as if transfixed by the simple act of chewing. Behind him, Violet flashed a big thumbs-up and heat crept up my checks.

Mom turned around and winked at me. I choked on my bacon and had to take a quick gulp of orange juice. Well, that spell was broken.

“What’s that?” I pointed to the bag he had slung over his shoulders.

“Brought my laptop. Thought we could work on finishing up the new logo.” He patted the bag.

“Cool.” I finished another piece of bacon and downed the rest of my orange juice. “I’ve got to check on Mitch and Jallia first.”

“Want some help?” He looked at me, a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth. Yes, I wanted his help. I wanted his help with several things that I shouldn’t be thinking about while standing next to my mother.

“Sure.” I kissed Mom’s cheek and hugged Violet. “When do you leave?”

“Ten days.” Violet squeezed me tighter. “I’ve got to pack, but I’ll see you before I go.”

“Good.” I didn’t trust myself to say anything else, so turned back to Blake. “You’d better leave your computer in here. Don’t want any of the hoodlums seeing it in the toolshed.”

Something crossed his face as he pulled the strap over his head. If I didn’t know better, I would think he looked guilty. It passed quickly though and he cocked his head to the side with a smile. “Should I go put it in your room?”

The thought of Blake in my room made my stomach do flips. Flip. Flop. “I’ll go put it up.” I snatched the strap out of his hand and practically ran down the hall. My bed was still unmade, there were clothes all over the place, and it stank of nail-polish remover. I deposited the laptop and pulled the door closed behind me. There was no way I was letting Blake Weathering in my bedroom.

Chapter Nine

- Meena -

Violet came with us as far as the path that led to the parking lot. Unable to help myself, I hugged her again and closed my eyes. I was going to miss her so much it hurt. She mimed calling me later and ran to the little car her parents had bought her last year.

I didn’t say anything after that, lost in my thoughts. Things were going to be so different without her around. She was my normal, my reality check. Without her it would be all work. Not that I didn’t love the sanctuary or that it bothered me to take care of the animals. It just meant no more movie nights or runs to our favorite taco stand in town.

“You guys are really close, huh?” Blake had been pretty quiet, just following along as I gathered up the dolphins’ food.

“Yeah.” I didn’t look up at him. I didn’t want him to see how upset I was. Instead I locked the fish shack back up and took the ramp down to the dolphin pen.

“I’m sorry she’s leaving, then.” He was leaving too. I heard it in his words and my heart sank even further.

“It’s okay. It’s a really great school and I’ll see her on the holidays.” I kicked my shoes off and took my seat on the floating dock. Mitch came to me immediately, sensing my emotions. I kissed the top of her head and cooed under my breath.

“Why don’t you go? I mean, I bet there are lots of people that would love to have someone with your experience at their school.” Blake grabbed a fish and fed it to Stormy.

“Nah.” I handed a fish to Mitch. She ate it, but quickly came back to comfort me. “I can’t leave.”

“Why not? Your mom and dad could hire someone to help out. Hell, you already have a really dedicated staff that would be fine.” His dark eyes traveled over my face and for the first time I wanted to tell someone just why I couldn’t leave. Why I had to stay on the island. I bit my lip and looked away.

“Mitch would be lost without me. Wouldn’t you, girl?” She clicked in agreement and pushed my hand toward the bucket of fish. “You hungry monster.”

We were quiet for a while, focusing on the dolphins and their empty bellies. I appreciated the chance to just be quiet for a while. I wasn’t big on over-sharing and the fact that I wanted to with Blake bothered me. He picked up the bucket once we were done and showed it to the dolphins.

“Sorry, guys! You’re all out.” Mitch huffed at him but wasn’t really upset. I looked from her to Blake and made up my mind.

“Do you really want to learn more about them?” I stood up and looked down at him. His eyes were wary when they met mine, and I remembered that I had pushed him in not that long ago.

“Yeah. I want to know more.”

A shiver ran down my back and I wondered if he was really talking about the dolphins. I pulled my hat off and tossed it out of the way before slipping my shirt off and wiggling out of my shorts. His eyes never left mine and, for some reason, that excited me. “Then come on.”

I dove into the water without a second thought, swimming from the dock with strong, sure strokes before surfacing almost twenty feet away. He was pulling his shirt off and I enjoyed the show. His muscles rippled as he twisted to throw the shirt behind him and my mouth watered. When he took a step off the edge of the dock and plummeted into the water, I waited where I was. He surfaced next to me, leaving very little space between our bodies.

“Nice bathing suit.” Water droplets clung to his eyelashes and ran down the sharp lines of his cheek bones. My left hand itched to reach up and brush them off his lips.

“Thanks.” Our voices were low, as if there was no one else in the world while we treaded water.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to wear anything I might like. I’m glad you didn’t opt for a muumuu or tent.” He picked up one of the ends on the tie around my neck. “This is much better.”

I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped my mouth. “It’s kind of hard to swim in a tent.”

“Oh, I agree. For safety purposes, you should wear the least amount of clothing possible. Hell, maybe we should revisit the skinny-dipping idea.” His fingers brushed my shoulder when he let the string go to float in the water. Warm sparks shot down my arm and my heart thumped. I really shouldn’t like the fact that he wanted to see me naked so much, but I did.

His eyebrows drew together, but he didn’t say anything. If I was crazy, I would think he had felt it, too. Mitch swam up to me and I caught her dorsal fin. She pulled me away, rushing through the water. I imagined that this was what flying would feel like. When we neared the opposite side of the pen, I looked back at Blake and started laughing uncontrollably.

He had tried to mimic what I had done with Mitch, but didn’t understand how to position his body. So instead of floating along as Stormy pulled, he was being buffeted against the strong dolphin’s body and sputtering water. When he got to me, I tried to stop laughing but it didn’t work. I covered my mouth and chewed on the inside of my cheek. He ran a hand across his eyes and coughed out a little water.

“That may have just been the most embarrassing moment of my life.” He looked at me sheepishly. There was something in that boyish expression that made my heart thump like a bowling ball rolling down a stairwell. “Think I can get you to forget you saw that?”

“Oh no. Not on your life.” I swam over to him, checking his face to make sure he really was okay and not scared. Some people shied away from animals if they had a bad experience. “I’ll show you how to do it properly.”

“Maybe I should try it with Mitch. I think Stormy is out to kill me.” He shot the dolphin a halfhearted glare.

“C’mon. It’s not that bad. You almost had it right.” Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his hand. I meant to tug him along with me but froze instead. Heat coursed up my arm and it felt like something was tightening around my wrist. I looked at our fingers in shock.

“What the hell was that?” Blake didn’t let go of my hand, but his eyes were wide.

“I…I don’t know. A jellyfish?” I looked around in the water, trying to spot the culprit. Blake moved next to me, his eyes searching too. Oddly enough, he didn’t let go of my hand, which made the butterflies in my stomach even more intense.

“It’s not jellyfish season.” Carefully he lifted our joined hands and examined them for markings.

“Tell that to the jellyfish.” My heart was beating a mile a minute and I could barely think straight. Touching him, looking into his warm eyes, was clouding my brain.

His eyes traced a path over my face before landing on my mouth. It was like I was standing in the middle of a fire rather than floating in the cool water. My lips burned with the need to touch his. Tenderly his right hand reached out to move some of the hair from my face before sliding around to the back of my neck. My body ached the closer we drifted together and my eyes fluttered closed. The warmth of his breath spread over my face and I bit my lip to keep from sighing.

“Way to go, Weathering!” A sharp whistle cut through the air and I pushed away from Blake. His fingers reluctantly let go of mine when I tugged. My eyes cut to where Devin was applauding from the walkway and my cheeks burned.