He raked his hand through his hair, then nodded. If he was disappointed, he didn't let it show. "And if I win I get the whole day to fix the engine and run some tests on my software before dropping you off." He held up one hand before she could object. "But don't worry. I'll get you to the airport in time for your flight, no matter what."
As long as she caught the flight, it didn't matter what time she got to the mainland. And this was her chance to prove she could be good at something. This time, she wasn't going to be second best.
Besides, the fish had to be right next to her bait. It could bite again at any second. She felt a nibble and tensed. Come on, fish, eat up.
"Deal," she agreed.
Now she had to catch a fish. But the nibbling stopped. Was the fish about to get hooked, or had it already eaten all her bait? If she pulled her line up to find out, she'd scare the fish away. Or worse, it might swim over to Nate's bait and chomp on that instead.
Dammit, she needed to win this bet.
10
Nate stared at the surface of the water, willing a fish onto his line. He had to win the bet. Losing wasn't an option.
Though he'd never admit it to Suzie, she'd been in his mind all these years. When he'd learned to fly a glider, gone rock climbing, and jumped from a plane, there'd always been a moment when he'd pictured her watching him. A moment when he'd silently said, "See? I'm not just a skinny geek with glasses. I'm nothing like Milhouse." She'd inspired him to push himself harder.
Nate frowned, wishing he could see deep enough to spot the fish that surely must be surrounding his bait. When he won, he'd get to see if her expression was anything like he'd imagined it would be.
"What if neither of us catch anything?" asked Suzie.
He tore his gaze away from the water. She was wearing the green bikini with a sarong tied around her waist. Her long hair fell in an unruly cascade down her back, the sun highlighting its glorious red strands. Her eyebrows were lifted in an expression of challenge that was so perfectly Suzie, it made him wish he could freeze this moment in time, to be able to see her like this anytime he wanted.
But she was waiting for his answer.
He cleared his throat. "These waters are teeming with sea life. If we can't catch a fish here, we'll need to hang our heads in shame. Even using hot dogs as bait, we should have no trouble reeling them in."
Suzie nodded. She turned her gaze back to the sea, her feet slightly apart, her posture braced as though she expected to hook a monster fish at any moment. Nate suppressed a smile. If guts and determination were what it took to catch a fish, he might not win their bet after all.
He moved his rod slightly, getting a feel for its weight and imagining his hook jerking a little in the depths. Hopefully the small movement would attract a fish, not dislodge his bait. But he felt nothing, not even the tiniest nibble.
After a while Suzie relaxed her posture. Nate sat on the deck, glancing over at the electronics. He should really get back to work. And if he were competing against anyone else, he'd put his rod in a holder, set it to make a noise when he got a strike, and go back to re-wiring the circuit board. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe he was crazy thinking he still had anything to prove after all these years, but he couldn't let Suzie win.
The minutes stretched by. First Suzie checked her bait, then Nate did. After a while, she asked him to hold her rod while she got a hat. Finally, she gave him a look which told him she was having second thoughts about their bet.
"Most of the fish will be hanging out on the edge of the reef," he said before she could call the whole thing off. He nodded to the dinghy strapped upside down on the deck over the aft cabin. "Let's launch the tender."
"What about fixing the engine?"
Good question. Was winning so important he was ready to give up running his tests?
Nate shook his head, cursing his own stubbornness. Stupid as it was, he couldn't just let this go. "It'll only take a few minutes, and where the reef drops off into blue water, it'll be teeming with fish. We've still got plenty of time."
"How would we get the boat in the water?" She eyed it doubtfully.
"I'll fasten the halyard to it and we can winch it over the side."
"In English?"
Nate put his rod in a holder so he could loosen the winch used to raise the mainsail from its boom furling. He went to the mast, unclipped the halyard, and clipped it to the front of the tender. "Now all we need to do is winch the tender up until it's off the deck. Then we can swing it over the water and drop it in."
The winch was electric, but he didn't want to waste any power. Besides, after spending so long bending over the electronics in the dashboard, he could do with a little exercise. Nate cranked the winch handle, throwing his weight into it and enjoying the feeling of working his muscles.
Suzie steadied the tender as it lifted off the deck. When it was high enough, they swung it over the edge.
"Have you got it?" he asked. When she nodded, he released the winch so the tender landed gracefully in the water.
"Easy as that," said Suzie with satisfaction.
"Great teamwork. Put it there." Nate held up his hand in a high five gesture.
Grinning, she smacked it with hers.
Even that small contact made him have to fight to keep from kissing her. Everything she did made him want her. The worst was when he'd peeked into her cabin this morning and saw her with her eyes scrunched shut and her curls falling over her face. He'd ached to wake her with his hands and mouth. To spend all day exploring her gorgeous body. To make her cry out with pleasure over and over again.
Only, she'd turned him down.
The sooner he dropped her off at Denarau, the better. He'd suffered enough.
He pulled the tender to the stern and muscled the outboard motor onto the small boat, then clambered into it with their rods and bait. The outboard motor started on the second pull, and once he saw the sea underneath them change from light blue to dark, he switched it off again. No need to tie up or drop an anchor. With no wind, they could drift and the tender wouldn't go far.
They baited their hooks and dropped them over the side. Almost at once, Suzie's line jerked.
"I've got something!" her voice rose with excitement.
"Gently," he warned. "Try not to yank the line as you reel it in."
He pulled in his own line to get it out of the way, then went to help Suzie. She stared intently at the surface as something pale shimmered into view.
"What is it?" she asked. "It doesn't look like a fish. Look, it has tentacles! An octopus?"
"A squid."
"What do I do?"
"You'll need to pull it right in so I can unhook it."
Shame he hadn't thought to throw a net into the tender. Nate scrambled in the tackle box for a knife. He hated to cut the line and lose Dalton's hook, but he might have to.
Suzie pulled the squid out of the water and swung it towards him, its tentacles waving. He reached for it, trying to get a secure grip on its fat body with one hand, the knife ready in the other. Slippery. He tightened his hold and yelped when a jet of black ink squirted over his chest and splashed into his face. He dropped both the knife and the squid. The knife clattered into the bottom of the tender. The squid hit his leg, then landed on his foot and its tentacles latched onto him.
"Watch out." Suzie laughed a little hysterically. Her arm and bikini top were splashed with ink and it streaked her hair like a bad dye job. "It's crawling up your ankle."
"Shit." Nate's voice rose. "It bit me." He pried its tentacles free. Empty of ink, it wasn't as fat and he found it easier to wrap his hand around its body. The hook was snagged in its flesh, as though it had been swimming past rather than going after the bait. With an effort, Nate twisted the hook out.
"What are you going to do with it?" asked Suzie.
"If I knew how to cook it, I'd slice it up for lunch." He held it out so she could take a look. "But unless you want to try making calamari, I'll throw it back and it should be fine."
She stared at its slippery body, her lips parted and her expression uncertain. Then her mouth firmed and she nodded. "I've cooked squid a couple of times, but it didn't look like that. It was a tube of white flesh I got in a plastic container." She grimaced at its tentacles. "I'm willing to try cooking it, if you'll kill it."
He blinked. Of all the sea creatures they could have pulled up, a squid rated high on the ugly scale. "You're sure?"
"Why not? I love calamari." When he hesitated, she added, "I don't want to be the kind of person who thinks nothing of ordering it in a restaurant, but can't deal with cutting one up. I like to know where my food comes from."