He frowned. ‘What is it?’
‘I just thought of a name for one of the rums.’
Watching her pupils flare, he felt his blood grow lighter. She was genuinely excited.
‘Diabolito—you know...?’
‘The pirate.’ He nodded slowly. ‘I like it.’
‘You do?’
‘Yes, I do—and, what’s more, I’ve just thought of a name for the other one.’ His stomach flipped with a rush of anticipation more intense than any skydive. ‘What do you think of Mariposa?’
Her smoky eyes widened and a flush of colour spread over her cheeks. ‘I think it’s beautiful,’ she said shakily.
For a moment they stared at one another, and then she glanced over his shoulder and frowned again.
‘Have we stopped?’
He grinned. ‘Spoken like a true sailor. It’s called dropping anchor—and, yes, we have. I thought maybe we could do a little snorkelling.’
The look of surprise on her face made his grin widen.
‘Boring fact—Cuba has the second largest reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef.’
And exploring it with Kitty would be fun. The fact that it would delay their return to Havana was of course just coincidental.
He could see the longing in her eyes, but she started to shake her head. ‘I don’t actually know how to.’
‘It’s easy.’ He took her hand. ‘I promise. All you have to do is breathe. You’ll be great.’
‘Will I?’
Her grey eyes looked almost silver in the sunlight, and her expression was so open and trusting that it hurt him to look at her.
‘Of course—and I’ll be right there beside you.’ He pointed across the deck. ‘All you need is a mask and a snorkel and some flippers. Try the orange ones—they’re a little smaller.’
His heart was thumping against his ribs. The idea had come to him while she was sleeping and now, watching her pick up a pair of flippers, he felt stupidly excited. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to be the one to introduce Kitty to the undersea world.
No, that wasn’t true. He did know why. She’d had such a terrible time. She’d known heartbreak and loss and he wanted to see her happy. He wanted to make her happy. And this would be something special just between them.
Turning, he walked over to where Kitty was standing. She had her back to him, her head tilted to one side, and the hem of his shirt was riding high on her thighs as she gazed abstractedly at a face mask.
He stood for a moment and admired the flaring curve of her bottom, and then his gaze stilled as she rotated her hand and he watched her small, delicate fingers cup and caress the mask. Her touch was light, almost reverent, and he felt his felt his body stir, the blood starting to pound hot and fast as he remembered how she had touched him in the same way but for another, more intimate reason just a few hours ago.
‘Ready?’ he called.
She turned and, smiling shyly, she nodded.
As they swam side by side he felt both incredibly protective and captivated by Kitty’s wide-eyed excitement. It had been such a long time since he’d allowed himself to be so open, but with her it was easy—not just to reveal his own pleasure but to enjoy hers. And there was a rainbow of reef life to enjoy in the warm, clear waters: yellow and blue angelfish, coral-coloured parrotfish and zebra-striped spadefish. It was as though the sea had decided to put on a cabaret.
And Kitty looked enchanted.
* * *
‘I never thought it would be like that,’ she said as they enjoyed lunch on deck. ‘I thought it would be dark and gloomy and that all the fish would be scared of us. But they’re not.’
He smiled. He couldn’t imagine anything being scared of Kitty. ‘It’s because they’re still not that used to divers. Probably because it’s on our doorstep, Cubans themselves don’t bother with diving that much.’