Hawaiian Masquerade (Destination Billionaire Romance) (11 page)

D
erek had endured
Pika’s teasing all afternoon yesterday about his new wahine, but Pika stopped when Derek asked him about Gracie.

“When you moving to the mainland to watch the ballerina?”

Pika shook his head. “I can’t leave the island or my makuahine.”

“You’re right. Your mother needs you,” Derek replied. “So you’ve thought about it, huh?” He’d been teasing, but the way Pika stared out toward the ocean spoke volumes about his feelings for Gracie. Derek cleared his throat, and Pika shrugged out of his trance.

“At least I’m thinking.” Pika tapped his head. “You’re a goner.”

Derek laughed as he recalled the conversation. He didn’t care how much Pika teased him, because today Derek was taking Lexi on a photo shoot. He’d be in his element, and he was excited to show her the results of his experiments on capturing light on the ocean water. Lexi had seemed genuinely interested—a lot of the women he’d dated in the past had faked interest, but their empty-headed questions exposed the truth.

He met Lexi early Thursday morning at Ha’ena State Park, and they walked along the shore to Derek’s favorite entry spot to the Tunnels of Kauai. “Are you ready for this?” Derek asked as he snapped the waterproof case around his camera.

“Yep, I even practiced this morning.” Lexi adjusted the rash guard that Derek had given her the first time they went snorkeling.

Seeing her in his shirt sent heat through his core, and he had to remind himself to concentrate on the ocean instead of the beautiful woman next to him. “Tunnels is like nothing you’ll see anywhere else on the island.” Derek pointed toward the reef in the distance. “They call it Tunnels because there are pathways through the rocks, filled with coral, deep caverns, and it reaches out to the reef.”

“It’s hard to imagine that so much is under the surface when I’m standing here in the sand,” Lexi said, grinning. “I’m excited.”

“Let’s go, then. This will rock your world.”

A few minutes later, Derek led her out past the first outcropping of rock, where the ocean dropped away from the shallow six-foot ledge below to a thirty-foot cavern. Lexi splashed in the water and grabbed on to his arm. She lifted her head out of the water.

“It’s so deep!” She turned her head as if to check that they were only a couple hundred yards from the shore.

“Yeah, it blew my mind the first time, too,” Derek said. “You okay? It just gets better from here. And don’t worry, you’ll float. Remember, it doesn’t matter how deep the water is; what matters is the current. We’ll be swimming along with it toward Ha’ena.”

Lexi nodded. “Stay close, okay?”

“I’ll hold your hand until I’m ready to take some pictures.” Derek’s camera hung from his neck, waiting to capture another unique shot to add to his portfolio.

“Let’s go.” Lexi gave him a thumbs-up and then put her face in the water.

They swam along the surface, with Derek guiding Lexi around more outcroppings of rocks. They passed several schools of fish that were familiar to him. He’d taken plenty of shots of the bandtail goatfish, the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse, and the teardrop butterflyfish, yet he still admired their unique shades of yellow, green, and deep purple.

Lexi tugged on his arm and grabbed for his camera strap. She pulled him forward until he saw what she was pointing at: a school of bluestripe butterflyfish skirting around a bunch of dark pink coral. It was a perfect shot. He squeezed Lexi’s hand and then let go to adjust his camera. Depressing the shutter button, he captured the fish as they whizzed through a hole in the rock to the other side. Derek followed, taking shot after shot of the fish sweeping in and out of the rocks studded with the jeweled coral.

Derek smiled and grabbed on to the edge of the rock, took a deep breath, and launched himself deeper into the water. He took a few more shots. As he rose to the surface, he bumped into the side of the rock ledge and cringed when his camera banged against the rock as well. There was a tug on his neck, and then the strap slid across his chest and floated in the water for a second. Derek reached out to grab the strap, shocked to see his camera sinking farther away. His fingers grazed it, but he missed. He blew out once to clear his tube and then sucked in a mouthful of air and pushed off the rock, diving as fast as his flippers could take him.

He kicked as hard as he could against the salt water pushing him back toward the surface gritting his teeth against the rising pressure on his ears as he fought to dive deeper. His camera was barely out of reach and sinking fast. A large school of fish darted around him, and he lost sight of the camera as he was propelled back toward the surface.

“No, no, no!” Derek dove back into the water; Lexi screamed when the water forced him upwards and his shoulder caught the edge of another rock. He gasped for breath and dove down again, but his efforts were futile. There were rocks and crevices everywhere. The tide would shift soon and his camera would move with it.

L
exi could hear
herself breathing hard through the tube by her ear, but she couldn’t calm down. She’d turned to see Derek’s frantic movements and watched helplessly as his camera sank down into the darkness below them. She tried to swim after him and she’d been shocked at how quickly the pressure increased in her ears, and the powerful force of the ocean kept her floating near the surface. Now she understood the significance of diving weights.

She racked her brain, wishing she knew what to do, hating the anguished look she saw on Derek’s face every time he came up for a breath. After probably twenty minutes of Derek’s frantic dives, Lexi saw something that brought a surge of hope to her chest: a diver had just emerged from the water and was checking his gear a hundred yards from the beach.

She grabbed Derek’s arm before he could go underwater again. “Wait, I think I see a diver. Don’t kill yourself, just wait here, and I’ll go ask him to dive for it.” Derek started to shake his head, but Lexi tugged on his arm. “Derek, you can’t dive down that far without equipment. It isn’t safe, and you’re going to pass out if you don’t stop.” It was strange telling him this, as if she were teaching him rather than the other way around.

He looked at the surface of the water, the torment apparent on every line of his face. Lexi didn’t know what else to say, so she kicked with a burst of energy toward the shore. She swam up right next to the guy and popped to a standing position.

The Asian man jumped back. “You scared me.” He was a head taller than Lexi and had short, straight black hair.

“Sorry, but I need your help. My friend is a photographer and his camera strap broke. He’s right over there, but the camera fell down a ledge and we can’t get to it. Please, do you have enough air left that you could help us search for a few minutes? I’ll pay to fill your tank.”

He furrowed his brow and turned to another diver floating in the water next to him. “We’ll both come. It’s not too deep right there.”

“Oh, thank you. It looks really deep, though. Derek said forty feet. We’d appreciate it so much.”

The diver next to him nodded and gave a thumbs-up. “Let’s go. And don’t worry about paying me. I’m here and ready; it’s the least I can do.” When he smiled, his features softened.

Lexi wanted to hug him even though he hadn’t even started searching yet. Instead she swam ahead of him, leading him directly to Derek. They pointed out where the camera had come loose, falling so quickly through the water, bouncing off the rock, and disappearing from view.

The man, who introduced himself as Ono and his diving buddy Charles dove for the next thirty minutes until his tank was on empty. Lexi was certain every time they searched around another rock or crevice that one of them would come up with Derek’s camera, but they didn’t find it.

“I’m sorry,” Charles said. “The current here is strange. It pushes and pulls against the tide and jets out sideways.”

“Me and Charles are coming back out here tomorrow,” Ono said. “I know it’s not a very good chance, but we’ll follow the current and maybe get lucky.”

Derek shook hands with Ono and Charles. “Thank you. I’d like to repay you for your time.”

Ono shook his head. “I’m retired and this is my hobby. I would’ve used up this air one way or another, so don’t worry.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you,” Derek said. “Let me get you my info.” His expression was pained, but he wasn’t completely defeated yet. Lexi waded through the water to the beach, where he exchanged numbers with Ono.

“You two be careful,” Ono said. “Tunnels is incredible, but beauty can be dangerous.” His eyes flicked to Lexi and then back to Derek.

“We’ll be careful,” Lexi said. “Thanks again for your help.”

Derek interlaced his fingers with Lexi’s, and warmth radiated from his hand to her heart. The worst scenario she could imagine for a photographer had just occurred, yet Derek was aware of her.

They walked away from Ono and Charles and packed up their snorkeling gear. Lexi wasn’t sure what to do. The despair hanging like a cloud over their heads threatened to rip open and drench them at any moment. Ono had offered a sliver of hope, but that’s all it was—a tiny sliver.

“That man was really nice. He seemed pretty skilled, too. Maybe they’ll be able to find your camera after all.”

Derek wiped his mouth, which was tightened into a thin line. “I’m worried about all the rocks the camera bounced off. That case is durable, but it can crack. With the pressure, the current, everything . . . there’s a chance that if they find it, it’d be ruined.”

“I’m so sorry. Do you have a backup camera?”

Derek scuffed his foot through the sand. “I sold it so that I could afford a new lens.”

Lexi tried to swallow, but her throat felt like it was clogged with the jagged rocks on the bottom of the ocean. There weren’t any words that would help. She felt like Derek’s camera, trapped between a rock and the pressure of the ocean pulsating with force that wouldn’t allow her to open her mouth.

Derek slumped into the sand, his head falling to his knees. She watched as his composure cracked. They’d started the day with so much promise and happiness. Then everything had unraveled. His breath came in short gasps, his chest heaving up and down. Lexi knelt down beside him, holding her hand above his back, trying to decide whether to touch him or not. She curled her fingers inward, her own chest aching from holding her breath. One, two, three breaths in succession, and Lexi put her hand, light as a feather, on Derek’s shoulder.

He looked up, and the despair in his eyes was like a punch to her gut. “I’m finished.” His voice was eerily quiet next to the sounds of people along the beach and the rolling waves.

“I’m so sorry.” Lexi’s eyes filled with tears. She put her arm around his broad shoulder and scooted next to him on the sand.

“I don’t even know what happened. That strap has never given me a problem. It has double locks.”

Lexi’s bottom lip trembled. It took every ounce of strength to keep her tears from falling. “It’s my fault. I didn’t mean to yank on the strap so hard earlier. I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But it was. I’m the one who saw those fish.”

“And I’m the idiot who went in after them and then ran into the rock,” Derek spat. “I’m the moron who just flushed my life down the drain. I just bought that lens six months ago!”

Lexi swallowed, but then she blurted out, “I’ll buy you a new camera. This is just a blip. You can’t give up, Derek. You have too much talent.”

“That camera is worth six thousand dollars with that new lens. That’s a car. You’re not going to buy me anything.”

Lexi flinched. She already knew his camera was worth a lot of money, but he was right. She couldn’t buy him a new one. The stubborn defiance in his eyes was evidence enough that a purchase of that magnitude would destroy their relationship. Lexi sat back on the sand and leaned her head forward to rest on her knees. She’d waited too long to tell him about her money. Especially now that she’d heard about his poor treatment from the wealthy and disdain for rich people like her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and her mind cleared. There was a reason she was sitting on this beach right now—next to Derek. It would take courage, but she needed to act. Her heart swelled with love for Derek. She loved him enough to give him up if that’s what it took to save his career. It was time to speak up and put things right. “Derek, I feel so bad . . . maybe I should go.”

She lifted her head and turned to Derek. If she could say good-bye now, buying Derek a new camera wouldn’t matter to their relationship. It would matter to him, though. He could continue his business, which was on the edge of becoming something great. Lexi closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath. With an exhale, she opened her eyes and looked out at the ocean. She dug her fingers into the sand and leaned forward, opening her mouth to say the hardest words.

Before she could speak, Derek turned to her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her close. The tension in his chest radiated out from his fingertips that spanned her back. He held her close and Lexi put her arms around him, tightening the embrace.

“Lexi,” he whispered. She leaned back, studying his face. His eyes were wet and he blinked rapidly. Her heart raced, and she could taste the salty sweetness of Derek’s lips on hers. She couldn’t leave him. She loved him, and now good-bye was the farthest thing from her mind.

“We’ll think of something,” Lexi said. She touched his cheek, moving her fingers across his jawline. She was tired of waiting to kiss him, tired of the interruptions. The whole mountain could fall on them, and it wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying this moment of closeness with Derek. She leaned forward, closing her eyes as her lips brushed his tentatively.

Derek caressed her neck, gently drawing her closer, kissing her until all of her thoughts were captured up in a tornado of desire. He paused, and her eyes flickered open. She smiled and kissed him again, her hands resting on his shoulder. He deepened the kiss, breathless as he held her tighter.