Crossed Wires Read Free

freedom
encouraged them to behave playfully. The whole experience was
blissfully freeing, almost spiritual.
    As they communicated with hand signals while
observing blue gills, carp, bass, and a spare tire or two caught in
the red granite bottom of the lake, Hank had no trouble
understanding everything Melanie was trying to say. It was as
though he could read her mind. They had such a strong
connection.
    When they came to the surface at the end of
their second dive, Melanie was laughing with pleasure. She dropped
her regulator into the water and lifted her mask to the top of her
head. “Did you see that huge catfish? I’ve never seen one so big!
It must have been five feet long!”
    “Of course, I saw it,” Hank said, after he’d
lifted his mask and removed the regulator from his mouth. “I
thought for a moment it was going to eat me!”
    She laughed harder, and Hank swam next to
her. “I have to admit, he was a little scary looking.”
    “He was at that.” Hank reached toward her.
“Let me take your tank. I’ll put it on the platform.”
    Melanie slipped off her backpack and handed
it to him. “Thanks.”
    Hank went to the platform at the back of the
boat and placed her air tank on it. He then deposited his tank,
setting it next to hers.
    When he swam back to Melanie, she splashed
him and giggled at what she’d done.
    He splashed her back.
    She sent a wave of water in his
direction.
    “Hey, what’s going on here?” he said as he
wiped his face and smiled at her.
    “I’ve been thinking about doing this all
afternoon.”
    “Splashing me like a mischievous little girl
in the town pool?” he asked.
    “Yup. It’s one of the things I thought about
doing together with you.” The grin she sent him had sexuality
written all over it.
    “It was, huh?” He moved closer to her and
took hold of her as he continued to tread water. He swam toward the
boat, taking Melanie with him. He took off her mask which was
resting above her forehead, and put it in the boat. He did the same
with his own mask. He placed her between himself and the boat,
hanging onto molding on either side of her. “And this is what I’ve
been thinking of doing all afternoon with you.”
    He leaned closer to her and kissed her
sweetly.
    She received him even more eagerly than he’d
hoped she would.
    He kissed her once more before he pulled
back. When he looked into her eyes, he saw innocence and trust
surfacing from her depths.
    “I guess we’re on the same wave length,
Hank.” She pressed her lips to his and coaxed him into a
mind-blowing kiss.
    As much as he enjoyed her seduction, he
couldn’t ignore the guilt gnawing at his gut. He pulled back
abruptly, ordering himself not to go one step further until he came
clean with this lovely, trusting woman.
    “What’s wrong?” Melanie asked. She looked
confused, and he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t normal for a man to
back away when a goddess was offering him what Melanie had been
offering--not for a straight man, anyway.
    “Nothing,” he said, trying to squelch his
remorse for lying to her. “I think we should get into the boat.” He
took her to the ladder and helped her remove her fins. He tossed
them into the boat and assisted her as she climbed the ladder.
    When she was safely on board, he took off his
fins and placed them in the boat before going up the ladder.
    “I’m going to the rear of the boat to change
into my clothes,” he said when he was on board. “You can change up
front, if you’d like.”
    He knew he’d be a lot more successful at
telling her the truth if they were dressed. Melanie began to remove
her dive vest, and Hank decided he’d better move quickly to the
rear of the boat. If he saw her wearing nothing but her yellow
bikini again, he’d never tell her the truth. Heck, he’d forget his
own name the second he saw her clad in nothing but strings and
spandex. She was completely irresistible in her provocative
bikini.
    She pushed back the sides of her vest.