Her worst enemy is the one man she can't resist.
Maria Martinez thought it was a dream come true when Ritchie Perez - a sweet and sexy guy she met volunteering at a soup kitchen - took her delinquent little brother Joey under his wing. But her drea...
Right. It's a good thing to be nervous. Maria sat on the swim platform at the rear of the boat and watched as Joey pulled on fins and lowered into the water, adjusting his mask and snorkel just as Ritchie had instructed.
Despite the heat of the day, the water felt cool. Here goes nothing, she thought as she followed them in. Fascination replaced nerves as she watched a school of fish swim by, and then they went deeper to see colorful sea anemone clinging to the rocks, tentacles waving gently in the current like bright flowers swaying to a summer breeze. When she felt herself getting short of breath, she swam back up to the surface, cleared her snorkel with a quick puff of air, then took a few steadying breaths.
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She felt Ritchie beside her, moving through the water, his leg brushing her thigh. In the quiet of the undersea world there was a sense of unreality, and as their bodies touched a spark ran through her. Floating, weightless, the urge to press her body closer to Ritchie almost irresistible. He pointed ahead to the shipwreck, and signaled Joey to swim in that direction, then took Maria's hand and guided her down into the crystal waters. A majestic stingray glided across the sandy bottom beneath them, and schools of yellow fish swam in and out of the sides of a sunken ship that functioned as reef. She felt a quick panic when Joey disappeared through one of the gaping holes in the side of the ship. Ritchie gave her hand a squeeze then followed Joey, and Maria went back to the surface where she could float on her stomach and take short, shallow dives to watch the colorful world below her.
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She hadn't been sure it was a good idea to come along on this trip, but she had to admit she hadn't felt this relaxed and free from stress in a very long time. She raised her hand in the water, turning it from side to side, as a school of striped fish, their sides as round and flat as dinner plates swam leisurely past her, then suddenly picked up speed and flitted off in another direction. A long silver fish moved smoothly through the water, razor sharp teeth barred in its underbitten jaw, eyes small and round. Barracuda. It turned slowly, cruising like a silent stealth missile, its small smooth scales glinting in the sun-drenched water, then shot forward in a surprising burst of speed, snapping its prey cleanly in half. Maria swam back to the surface to get a few breaths of air through her suddenly dry throat, while keeping a careful eye on the whereabouts of the barracuda below. Ritchie had told her they typically didn't bother snorkelers or divers. Still. Seeing one up close was like coming face to face with a prehistoric predator.
