Seduced by the Sea Lord

Chapter 28

Leaving Torun was the hardest thing Lucy had ever done.

As she stood up on the deck of the yacht and shimmied into her old gear, minus her dive suit, rage at Blake burned in her chest.

Their relationship had ended painfully—for her—but she'd never once thought he was a criminal.

A jerk, yes. Cruel at the end. His increasingly chaotic moods hadn't just been from the stress and sadness of giving up the dream of parenthood. No, something was really wrong with him. Her love had been blind.

Torun's love had opened her eyes.

Blake ascended to the deck. This man was a complete stranger. That long-ago college grad with a dimpled smile and a cute butt had been eaten by a slick, smarmy investor. His gaze jerked, and his movements disjointed.

He set down his spear gun to check his gear.

Could she cross the deck and steal it from him? Low chance. On her old trawler, maybe, but the mega-yacht deck was wide and the gun remained within his arm's reach, and she didn't like the potential consequences.

No, she needed to face him where she had more of a chance.

In the water.

Blake brought her a tank. "I thought you wouldn't need this now that you were half fish."

"Do I look half fish?" She affixed the tank to the BCD. Shouldering it made her T-shirt bunch uncomfortably. "And anyway, there's no such thing. Did you actually see those guys with fins?"

He frowned, uncertain, and then insisted, "They found one off the coast of Indonesia. Caught on camera by tourists. Everyone's asking whether it's a hoax."

Her heart skipped.

She could get away from Blake in the water if he thought she was ordinary.

Lucy gave him her best scornful look. He always hated it when she knew more than he did. "Of course it's a hoax. What's wrong with you?"

"If it's not true, how come I could drop a mic in the water and make a couple announcements, and they came pouring out?"

"They're free divers with expanded lung capacity from a secretive island tribe," she lied. Stupid Ailan. "I've been staying with them. Their boat's on the other side of the atoll. This is a publicity stunt."

His eyes narrowed.

"You know what else? You can rent a merman to come to your party. A guy in a monofin sits in a tank. I'll tell your size-zero girlfriend to hire one for your birthday."

"Whatever. This doesn't matter. All that matters is a cave full of Sea Opals, and you're about to make like a mule and carry them out for me." He lifted an oversize tank and motioned for her to grab on. "You'll carry my backup tank."

He zip-tied the tank to her wrist.

What the heck?

"Who carries zip ties on a yacht?" she demanded. "Were you planning to kidnap someone?"

"Shut up and dive."

This was bad. She'd planned to lead Blake to the cave, steal his cage key, and strand him while she rescued Torun.

"I'm going to tip upside down."

"I'll take off your dive weights." He didn't sound like he cared. "I don't want to run out of air halfway through the cave."

"What about me running out of air halfway through the cave?"

"Women don't use up as much oxygen."

"This is ridiculous."