He emerged from the freezing water, coughing and spluttering after accidentally sucking in some water. As he shook the droplets from his hair all he could hear was the sound of laughter. ‘Got you!’ shouted Corrine.
He cleared his eyes and took a few strokes towards her. ‘You knew it was this cold?’
She nodded. ‘It’s always this cold.’
He shook his head. ‘Why?’
She floated on her back again. ‘I have no idea. There must be a scientific reason. I’m just too lazy to find out. I just think of this place as my own ice-cold plunge pool.’
He dived underneath her and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her under next to him. ‘Help!’ she squealed.
He pushed them both back to the surface and laughed. ‘Just wanted to make sure you got the whole experience.’
She shook her hair, splattering him with little droplets as she began to tread water next to him.
She arched her eyebrows at him. ‘What’s the whole experience, then?’
He laughed and swam closer, his hands skimming her waist again. ‘You have such a way with words, Dr Carter. You make them sound so dirty.’
She kept a straight face. ‘I think we should make a bet.’
He was surprised. ‘What’s the bet?’
She smiled. ‘Loser makes dinner. I might have all the ingredients, but I’m not the best cook. I can give you a personal guarantee that I’ll burn anything I attempt to make. So, let’s make a bet and the loser makes dinner.’
He’d never had any doubt they’d end up back at her house. It seemed like a given. But this was a direct invitation. And that felt a little different.
But Austin loved a challenge. ‘What’s the competition?’
Her smile was triumphant. ‘What we’re doing—treading water.’
He laughed out loud. ‘You think you can out tread me?’ She must be crazy. She’d watched him in the pool a few weeks ago. She knew how good he was. Ten minutes treading water in his flight suit and tennis shoes had been no problem. He could do this all night.
He started treading water next to her. ‘What else we going to do to pass the time?’
She was keeping pace with him, her head and shoulders easily above the water. ‘Will I tell you what I’ve got in my refrigerator and cupboards and you can decide what to make?’
He nodded. ‘Okay, cheeky. Impress me.’
‘I have chicken.’
There was silence. He turned in the water to face her. Her nose was wrinkled as she stared up at the sky.
‘Is that it?’
She was still concentrating. ‘I think I might have some green beans—and maybe some salad.’
‘You’ve got to have more than that.’
She shrugged her shoulders in the water, then her eyes lit up. ‘I have chocolate.’
‘Chocolate and chicken? Sounds like a disaster. What else? You must have some cans in the cupboard.’
She nodded. ‘I’m sure I do. Maybe some tomato soup? Some beans.’
He swam right over to her. ‘Don’t you eat? Who has so little in their cupboards?’
‘Rice!’ she squealed. ‘I’ve definitely got some rice.’ She gave him a wicked glance. ‘Getting tired yet? Are your muscles starting to burn?’
‘I haven’t even heated up yet,’ he shot back.
‘Want some help?’
‘I think, Dr Carter, you’re trying to distract me.’
She swam forward with one stroke and wound her arms around his neck. ‘Is it working?’
He pulled her under the water with him. ‘It might be,’ he whispered before the water covered them both.
* * *
Two hours later they were lying next to each other in Corrine’s bed. No food had been made but they’d made use of her takeaway menus.
She had a warm glow inside. It was foolish. This didn’t really mean anything. Austin had only been looking out for her today after how difficult things had been. And she appreciated it. Probably a little bit more than she should.
Austin was currently tracing one of his fingers down her spine. She giggled as the tiny tremors across her skin tickled. ‘Feeling better?’
She sighed and nodded. ‘I don’t want another day like today.’
He pressed his forehead against hers. ‘Me either.’
His fingers started to tangle through her hair. ‘Zero-gravity training tomorrow.’
She smiled and leaned towards him. ‘Oh, yes, the vomit comet.’
He frowned. ‘I’m not sure that I like that name.’
She laughed. ‘I’m not sure you’ll like the clean-up either.’
His hand started skimming its way across her skin again. ‘Wanna take bets on who’ll vomit first?’ His lips started teasing around her ear. ‘Or would that be considered unprofessional?’
She nudged a little closer. ‘Too late. Me and the other instructors placed our bets already.’
He pulled back. Surprise was written all over his face. ‘You’re joking?’
She shook her head. ‘Of course not. We always do it.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘You bet on me to win, didn’t you?’
She rolled over in the bed. ‘Now, that would be telling. And I don’t kiss and tell.’
He tugged at the cover she’d rolled herself in. ‘But you’ll tell me, won’t you?’
‘Never,’ she teased.
‘In that case, I’ll just have to make you,’ he said as they both rolled off
the bed and onto the floor.
CHAPTER TEN
SINCE THE DEPARTURE of Lisa it seemed as if the training instructors had upped the ante for the rest of the candidates. The contents of training manuals about the space station and all its functions were drilled into them. Their Russian language tutor worked them hard, conducting some classes and some experiments completely in Russian. Since the Russian Soyuz spacecraft was the only way to the space station it was essential that the astronauts could communicate clearly and effectively with their counterparts.
The vomit-comet trip had been eventful. The plane journey was designed to simulate microgravity by a number of parabolic climbs and descents to give its occupants the sensation of zero gravity. A bit like being on a giant roller coaster. Ultimately it meant that the candidates could experience periods of sustained weightlessness for around twenty-five seconds, interspersed with periods of acceleration as the aircraft pulled out of its dive and readied for the next run. That was why the plane got its name of the vomit comet. Few astronaut trainees came out unscathed. As usual, the clean-up hadn’t been fun. One trainee had even spent the next day in bed.
Today, they were somewhere entirely different. Today, they were preparing to be SCUBA qualified. It seemed odd—since they were going into space. But a large part of their training would be spent in the neutral buoyancy laboratory. This huge water tank was used to simulate space walks mimicking weightlessness in space, and had huge full-size mock-ups of the space station, parts of its modules and some of the vehicles used in space.
But, before they could set foot in the neutral buoyancy laboratory, they had to gain their SCUBA qualification—and there were more than one.
The first few sessions had been learned poolside. Today, they were at one of the lakes in Houston, Texas. It was specifically designed for people who loved diving, with numerous dive schools around the edges and a whole host of diving wrecks sunk in the lake for people to explore.
The early-morning sun was rising in the sky as the scuba instructor started giving them instructions.