Chapter 9

DYLAN

T he weather stats blink brightly from the iPad screen I'm holding. All blue skies and sunshine icons for today and tomorrow, with a high of thirty-two degrees Celsius. However, a quick glance at the rest of this week and next shows predicted storms. I hope that won't affect business too much.

I was running late today. Claire's unexpected visit this morning had thrown me out of routine. Then, after my shower, Chance had given me sad puppy dog eyes which lead to an extended game of beach fetch, which is why I'm surprised I beat everyone to the boat.

I close down the weather app and pull up the guest register. Two Tanked can only take out a maximum number of twelve passengers and a minimum of eight. Looks like we're at full capacity again today.

I hear Jade coming, her footsteps falling heavy on the dock.

"Hey, what's up amigo," she says as she climbs aboard the thirty-foot catamaran.

"Morning," I say, my eyes still on the iPad. "Just checking the register for today. We have another full tour."

"Third day in a row. Cool," she responds casually. "Cameron will be happy."

"Yeah," I agree. "Especially considering the storms predicted for later this week."

"Cameron will be happy about what?" Our boss is next to board, his usual tattered blue backpack hitched high over one shoulder.

"Full tour today," Jade informs him.

"Nice," Cameron replies, slapping her palm with a high five.

Cameron is our trip director and part owner of this boat. He only started up these dive tours about six months ago. Business hadn't boomed right away, but now Two Tanked is vying for the top spot in diving tours in Cliff Haven. I only joined the dive crew about four months ago, but it's been the best thing I've ever done.

For the most part, the weather has been on our side, having only needed to postpone a few tours here and there. Having these full capacity days helps make up for the loss of business on days when it's too risky to go out. And looking at the forecast, we may have a couple of cancelled trips later on this week.

My eyes are still trailing over the names on the guest register when one in particular stands out from all the rest. "Huh," I mumble, my gaze hovering at the bottom of the list. "What's this?"

Jade's head snaps up. There's a hint of mischief in her eyes as they slice to mine. "What's what?"

"Harper Conway and Mackenzie Riley?" I question her, my gaze narrowing in suspicion. "Did you tell them we work here?"

"Nope," she says slyly.

"Jade." I drag her name out cautiously. "Why do I sense a but coming on?"

"They don't know we work here." She shrugs before making her confession. "But I may have told them this snorkel tour was the best in town and that it would be a great way for them to blow off steam."

"Jade!" My eyes go wide with accusation as I follow her to the small storage area where the supplies are kept. "Are you serious?"

"What's the problem?" she asks as she digs through the refreshments. "I don't know why you're being so secretive about your second job."

"I'm not secretive," I retaliate. "I just like to keep all aspects of my life segregated."

"Right." Jade scoffs. "You work with Mackenzie nearly every day. She's bound to find out eventually. I don't get why this is such a big deal. Unless…" she pauses, her finger on her chin, her eyes wide in astonishment.

"Unless what?" I ask with my hands splayed out awaiting her response.

"You're harbouring an even bigger secret."

My posture stiffens as I contemplate the possibility that Jade knows more about me than she's let on. We haven't known each other long, but if she wanted to find information on me, it wouldn't be hard to find it.

"There's no secret," I say quickly.

"Oh my god!" she exclaims, her bright green eyes narrowing as they pierce mine. I hold my breath, awaiting her next words. "That's it. You have superpowers. Are you Clarke Kent? Wait…no. Aquaman!"

My shoulders slump, releasing the tension as I let out an irritated sigh. I stare back at her with dead eyes. "You are the literal worst."

She chuckles as she shoves a case of bottled water into my chest. "Come on. Help me load up the fridge." She leads the way, moving in front of me, but turns back when she senses my persistent apprehension. "You're not mad at me for this, are you?"

I relax my glare. "Of course not."

I realise I seem like the world's biggest overreactor right now. Jade and I have grown close since we started working together and she's way too sweet for me to ever be mad at. It's not like it really matters if Harper and Mackenzie know the reason I cut my shifts at the tavern.

It's the rest of the world I worry about.

And none of that is Jade's fault. In hindsight it wasn't fair of me to ask her not to tell the staff at the tavern that I also work on the dive boat. She has no idea the extent of the impact it could have if the wrong people discovered my whereabouts, the media storm it would unleash on my family. I know it's only a matter of time before I have to deal with it all though, because this is the life I chose.

"I guess I've just liked having this extra side job as mine. I have goals to accomplish, and I don't want anything getting in the way of that." It's technically not a lie.

"Well," Jade says, looking towards the pier. "You've got about ten seconds to jump overboard if you don't want them to know."

I roll my eyes at Jade and then follow her line of sight to where Mackenzie strolls casually down the dock, flipping her long, blonde curls behind her. A beach bag with rope handles is slung over her shoulder, the cropped, white, crochet top she wears revealing her midriff. I search the line of awaiting passengers for Harper, but there's no sign of her.

Cameron greets the first few passengers as they file onto the boat. "Morning guys," he says, his tone chipper as he rakes a hand through his sun-bleached hair. "You've picked a great day to come out. Weather's going to be crazy towards the end of the week."

He begins escorting them down the aisles, directing them to where they can sit. When Mackenzie steps aboard, the first thing she notices is Jade. She blinks in surprise as she recognises my co-worker. "Jade? Are you doing the tour too?"

"Sort of," Jade says, her hands finding their way to her hips. "I work here."

"Oh, wow. You should have said," Mackenzie replies, tucking an unruly blonde wave behind her ear. "That's really cool."

Jade shrugs and steps aside, unblocking her view of me. I'm still hovering near the fridge behind the bar area, the case of water suddenly heavy in my arms. I release it and it drops loudly on the countertop.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't affected by those grey-blue

irises and the way that crochet crop top she wears fits so perfectly around each curve. The tavern is mutual territory for us and it's weird to see her outside of it. Here, she isn't my employee. She's… different. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion as she takes another step toward me.

"Hey," I offer with an awkward wave of my hand.

"Um, h-hi," she stutters. Her gaze drops to the bottled water in front of me that I slowly start to unpack. "Is this your boat or something?"

"Ha! He wishes!" Cameron half shouts as he appears from nowhere, slapping a hand on my back. "It's my boat. Well, mine and my brother's, but he's off diving in the Galapagos."

"Uh, Cameron," I say, nervously scratching the back of my neck. "This is Mackenzie. We work together at the tavern."

"Oh, I see. So you know all about how much of a pain in the neck this one can be," he says slyly, throwing a thumb in my direction.

I try to hide my discomfort behind an awkward laugh, half expecting Mackenzie to come back with a smart-ass comment in agreeance with my boss here. But she just watches our interaction with curious eyes.

"I'm just kidding," Cameron continues. "This guy is one of the hardest workers I know. Nice to meet you, Mackenzie. Welcome aboard Two Tanked. If you need anything at all, I'm sure Dylan will be able to help you out."

Mackenzie nods, a small smile tugging at the edges of her mouth before her bottom lip disappears between her teeth. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't affected by that too. "So, this is what you get up to when you're not busting my ass at the tavern."

"Uh, yeah." I move out from behind the bar, realising too late that the space is too small. Despite the closeness of our bodies, she doesn't take a step back. "I think you have that the wrong way around, though. Aren't you the one busting my ass most of the time?"

That earns me another sly smile, her eyes glinting as they roam the length of my body. Any thoughts I have of whether that was her attempt at checking me out are cut short as Jade appears, slamming my wetsuit against my chest.

"Come on. Time to suit up," she declares, the seriousness in her demeanour dissolving with a wink as she adds, "Aquaman."

If looks could kill, the one I'm giving her right now would annihilate her right where she stands. Her wicked grin is wider than that of a cheshire cat, one hand perched on her hip, the other carrying a bunch of snorkel masks.

"Yeah. Okay. I should go… change," I stammer, aiming a thumb behind me to the back of the boat.

Mackenzie nods, but her eyes don't leave mine. I can still feel them on me, burning into the skin of my back as I turn.

And I'm not complaining.

"Come over and I'll get you some equipment," I hear Jade say as I'm walking away, then to the rest of the group forming behind Mackenzie she calls loudly. "If everyone would like to head over this way, I can hand out the snorkels and fins. If you will be scuba diving today, please see Dylan at the back there and he can get you fitted up with wetsuits and your dive equipment."

A young woman and two middle aged men trail me to the back of the boat. The snorkellers usually outnumber the scuba divers and today is no different.

"Hey guys," I say to the three people that have joined me. "I'll just get you to come over this way and we'll sort out what

you need. Are any of you first timers today?"

All three of them shake their heads, the men letting me know they're PADI certified divers. The young woman explains that one of them is her uncle and the other her dad, and that she has done a couple of dives before. The fact that the two men are certified makes my job a whole lot easier, which I'm thankful for, because as I steal a glance at Mackenzie down the other end of the boat, I realise I'm going to be struggling to keep my main focus on the job today. I watch as she walks to the back, taking a seat on the bench outside.

There's a sudden jerk as the boat glides away from the dock and we begin the journey out to the reef. I busy myself helping the divers find what they need. Then I give them a full debriefing, explaining how the tour will run and answering any of their questions along the way.

After I've pulled my own wetsuit on, I take the opportunity to find Mackenzie, knowing we still have ten minutes before we reach the dive location. She's still sitting on the bench at the back of the boat, her tanned legs stretching out in front of her. She looks up as I approach.

"Hey," she says.

"Hey." I take a seat beside her. "No Harper today? I saw her name on the register."

"No, unfortunately," she replies with a quick shake of her head. "It was her idea to come out on the tour, but she cancelled last minute. Noah got sick."

"Oh." My forehead pulls in a frown. "I hope he's okay."

"Yeah. Me too. She didn't seem to think it was anything too serious, but he had a fever," she explains. "I asked Kristen if she wanted to come instead but she had a thing."

"Well, I'm glad you still came."

She glances up at me, squinting in the sunlight, her hair glistening like strands of white gold. She looks away and then back down at her feet. "So do you have any other sneaky jobs I don't know about?"

"Ha. No. Just this one."

"How many tours do you do a week?" she asks.

"I work the morning dives for five days of the week, but every now and then I take on an afternoon one."

She nods. "So that's why you cut your hours at the tavern and had Steve hire Jesse?"

"Yeah." I rake a hand through my hair, then smooth my hands along my wetsuit covered thighs. "It was kind of always the plan. I still like working at the tavern though. Steve has been really good to me."

"Does he know about your side job? Why so secretive about it?"

"He doesn't know. He didn't ask." I suck in a deep breath as I contemplate the best way to answer the second part of her question. "My parents aren't exactly thrilled about my life choices. I guess that's kind of stopped me from shouting it from the roof tops."

"Ah. Hence the heated phone call at the tavern the other day," she assumes.

"Yeah. Sort of." There's a lot more to it than that, but I don't want to go into that right now. "Plus, it's nice to have something that's just mine, you know?"

She tucks her hands under her thighs and her shoulders jump up in a shrug. "Not really."

"No? You don't have a hobby? Or something that you do just for you? Something that you're so passionate about that you need it like you need air?"

She gives me a sideward glance. "Okay. Settle down there." She seems to ponder my question for a moment and then finally she says, "I don't know. I guess I have my art. I like to draw, but it's nothing special."

"Something tells me you're probably not giving yourself enough credit," I tell her. "Maybe you could show me sometime."

She gives me a sceptical look, like she can't understand why I would possibly want to see her work. But I do want to see it. There's something about Mackenzie that I'm drawn to. I just haven't figured out what it is yet.

"Yeah, maybe," she responds, then in true Mackenzie style, she deflects the attention back onto me. "So, why diving?"

My answer is automatic. "I love it. I love the ocean and everything in it."

"Everything?"

"Yeah. Everything. You'll see."

For a second I think she's going to make some smart-ass comment like she usually does, but instead the corners of her mouth twitch subtly with the smallest hint of a grin.

And I make it my mission, right here and now, to make this girl smile a real smile one day.