In Dark Waters (2 page)

"I wasn't sure if you'd make it," he said, limping toward her. He gave her a big hug.

She melted into the strong embrace. Stu had written to her weekly for the last eight years. No matter where she was, his letters found her. He had always made her feel special. "I said I'd be here."

"You've been promising to come home for five years. I was beginning to think I'd never see you again."

Kelsey swallowed the tightness in her throat. Damn it, she wasn't going to cry. Sniffing, she glanced down at his bandaged foot. "What happened to you?"

He brushed her concern away with the wave of a hand. "Nothing. A stupid accident."

He was blowing her off and she was ready to call him on it when the driver's side of the Suburban opened. Mitch Garrett stepped out.

Broad shoulders stretched Mitch's faded blue T-shirt imprinted with the words Naval Academy on the front. Corded muscles strained beneath jeans that had seen better days. His black hair, cut regulation-style, accentuated a square, unshaven jaw.

A knot tightened in Kelsey's chest.

Mitch Garrett.

Damn her luck. He'd been her first lover. And he was the last man she never wanted to see again. This town was nothing but one bad memory after another.

Mitch shook his head as if he half expected her to vanish. He was just as shocked to see her as she him. Recovering, his gaze trailed slowly down her body and then back up to her face. He sized her up, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure he wasn't happy to see her.

"Kelsey Warren." The years had deepened his voice and made it rustier.

Every nerve in her body tensed. She itched to leave right now. Her palms felt damp. "I thought you went into the Navy." Damn. After all this time, that was the best she could come up with. He'd definitely rattled her.

"I'm out."

"And you're the sheriff?"
Brilliant
.

"Right."

In her daydreams, she'd always been clever and witty when she ran into Mitch Garrett again. Now, she could barely string two sentences together. "Stu, I'm unpacked and ready to go. Whenever you're ready, we can dive."

"Mitch didn't want me to chance a dive with the bad leg. He's gonna dive in my place."

"What?"

"Where's Chris?" Mitch demanded. "I thought
he
was diving with me today."

Stu shrugged, unmoved by their shocked expressions. "He's gone up to Atlantic City for a couple of days of gambling."

"He took off just like that?" Mitch said.

"The guy's a great diver but a pain in the ass at times. Sometimes he leaves for a few days without notice. Usually, it's not a problem. Today it was. I'd have been in a bind if Kelsey and you hadn't agreed to dive."

Mitch's jaw tightened and then released. "Stu, I could have called one of my buddies from the Reserves."

"I figured with Kelsey in town, it didn't make sense to call in another diver. Sorta like old times for you two."

Old times
. Kelsey nearly laughed. She and Mitch had met eight years ago when they'd both worked in Stu's dive shop. The job had been a way for Mitch to kill time during the summer months between college graduation and basic training. For her, it had been a lifeline that had kept her sane after her last year of high school. Mitch had been kind and respectful to her. She'd fallen in love with him. At the end of the summer, they'd ended up in bed.

Kelsey sighed. "You should have said something."

Unmoved, Stu wrapped his arm around Kelsey's tense shoulders. "Relax, you two. I'm just asking for a half-hour dive, not a trip down the aisle."

Kelsey tensed. "Stu, I don't think this is going to work. The sheriff doesn't want to dive with me, and frankly I'm not too fond of the idea myself."

A muscle pulsed in Mitch's jaw. Bull's-eye.

"I'll pack up my gear," she said. "He can call in another diver."

Stu sighed. "Kelsey, don't go."

"I didn't say I wouldn't dive with you," Mitch said tensely. He shook his head. "I'll get my gear."

Kelsey could cheerfully have strangled Stu right now. "You should have told me I was diving with Mitch," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"I didn't think it mattered."

"It matters."

Mitch unpacked his equipment and moved toward them, a large silver air tank in one hand and a black duffel in the other. His posture was military straight. Every step was deliberate, precise. Tension tightened his muscles as he moved toward her.

The years had been good to him. Dark hair, with rawboned features, whipcord body and ice-blue eyes that missed little. Very masculine.

He set down his equipment beside hers. "How many places you lived these last few years?"

If he could keep this impersonal and pretend they'd never been lovers, so could she. "Lost count."

"You plan on sticking around here long?" He sounded as if he were checking the questions off a list.

She smiled, but there was nothing humorous about his question. "I doubt it."

Mitch lifted a brow. "I figured you'd stay long enough to settle Ruth's estate. Her house is worth good money."

"I didn't come back for the money." More tension crept into her voice. "I'm pretty successful, despite predictions that I'd not amount to much."

An unnamed emotion flickered in his eyes. "That's right, you're some successful photographer—a real hot ticket."

It almost sounded as if he'd kept up with her. Unreasonable pleasure bubbled inside her before she tamped it down. "If this small talk is for my benefit, Sheriff, you can skip it. I just want to do the dive and be on my way."

Irritation flashed in Mitch's blue eyes. "How long has it been since you've flown?"

Now, he questioned her competence. "I never dive within twenty-four hours of flying." That kind of sloppy mistake could lead to a burst blood vessel in the brain, heart or lungs.

"How long?" he said tensely.

Male divers had underestimated Kelsey before, but she always took it in stride. However, Mitch's attitude struck a nerve. "
Thirty-six hours
."

Stu's gaze darted between the two. "Kelsey's logged over a thousand hours. She's one of the best divers around."

Mitch lifted an eyebrow. "The best among the rich and famous?"

She didn't have to justify herself to anyone and yet here she stood ready to recite her resume. She stopped herself. "
You
been in the water recently, Sheriff?" she asked tartly. "Not many dive opportunities in the mountains, I mean other than Stu's Dive Shop pool. I'll bet the fish Stu's painted on the bottom are very lifelike."

Mitch's gaze hardened. He had always hated a smart-ass, and he clearly hadn't changed. Once she'd watched him toss a guy out of the diner for mouthing off to a waitress. "I dove in the Atlantic three days ago."

"Mitch is in the Navy Reserves," Stu said. "Spent the last two weeks in the water off Norfolk."

Kelsey brushed back her hair with impatient fingers. Normally, she kept her emotions in check and it annoyed her that he'd gotten under her skin.

The annoyance in Mitch's eyes gave her a perverse sense of satisfaction. Good to know she could still worm under his skin, too. "Then suit up. We're already thirty minutes late."

He yanked off his T-shirt. Dark hair matted his hard, lean and well-muscled chest. When he reached for the snap of his jeans, she tore her gaze away and dropped it back to her gear. A frisson of desire shot through her limbs. From the corner of her eye, she saw he wore bathing trunks. Part of her was relieved, part disappointed.

Don't be dumb, Warren. Last time you got stupid with this man, you got burned.

Her mouth dry, she shifted her gaze to Stu. "Okay, Stu, why
are
we diving today?"

"I bought the quarry."

She lifted her brows. "Why?"

"I'm turning it into an open water dive training spot. There's a big demand for it. I plan to open next week."

She lifted a brow. "But?"

"We had the water filtered and Chris and I started surveying the spot last week. Two days ago, we found an old car perched on the lip of a ravine. If a tourist were to get tangled up in it, it would pull him down two hundred feet into the crevice."

She shrugged. "So you want Mitch and me to push it over into the ravine?"

"No." Mitch said. "I want to get the plates first and run them. If they're clean, I'll come back with Chris and take care of the car."

"You really think an old car is worth the trouble?" she said.

"I'm not fond of loose ends," Mitch said.

She shrugged. "Whatever."

She rechecked her tank and the camera's waterproof case as he slipped on his dive suit. She doubted there'd be much to photograph in the quarry, but she always took her camera out of habit. Her best shots had materialized when she'd least expected them.

He strapped a knife to his leg and a dive computer to his wrist. Effortlessly, he lifted his tank and, slipped it on.

Kelsey reached for her tank, ready to heft it onto her shoulders. But Mitch brushed her fingers aside and lifted her gear for her. For an instant, she was undecided. She didn't like receiving help, especially from this man. Still, to refuse would only delay this happy reunion longer. She quickly slipped her arms into the buoyancy compensator vest, which held air regulator hoses, air tank and dive computer in place.

"Thanks."

Mitch hovered behind her and his thigh brushed her leg. He supported the weight of her tank as she fastened her straps. For an instant, her Fingers fumbled with the straps she'd hooked a thousand times.

"Any time."

Stu handed Kelsey her yellow fins and pink mask. "All set?" he asked.

She rechecked her handheld dive computer. "Good to go," she said tightly.

On land the equipment was cumbersome, but once they entered the water, the thirty-pound tank would be weightless.

Stu followed them down the hill to the water. "Now remember, the large crevice is near the northwest corner of the quarry. That's where I saw the car."

"We'll find your car," Mitch said. His face held no hint of emotion.

Mitch walked into the water, and when it was waist deep, he rolled easily on his back and yanked on his fins. He secured his mask and double-checked the airflow in his regulator.

Even this late in May, the water was ice-cold. Kelsey sucked in a breath, determined not to say a word in front of Mitch. She slipped on her fins and pulled her hot pink mask in place. Placing her regulator in her mouth, she drew in a deep breath to test it.

Kelsey moved deeper into the water.

Mitch shot a glance her way. Her hot pink dive mask had him shaking his head. "Christ, Stu, my first day off in three weeks and you stick me with Scuba Barbie. You owe me, pal. You owe me big-time."

Mitch prayed for patience as he shoved the regulator into his mouth. Kelsey Warren hadn't lost her talent for getting under his skin.

The last time he'd seen Kelsey was eight years ago, when he'd had more hormones than sense. Back then, he hadn't seen past her wisecracks to the pain she hid so carefully. He had badly misjudged what he'd thought was an easygoing relationship.

They'd made love in the back room of Stu's Dive Shop. For him, it had been incredible until she'd told him that she was a virgin and that she'd loved him.