Page 13 of The Billionaire's Teacher

Sunny embraced the woman. “Working. You know how it is.”

The woman laughed, deep and throaty. “Always said you work too much.”

“What else am I going to do?”

The woman’s face fell and she nodded once. “True enough. Been a while, though.”

Sunshine simply shrugged.

I hovered behind Sunshine, unsure of what I should do. I didn’t understand whatever had passed between the two women. And as much as I might like to, I got the distinct feeling that questions wouldn’t be welcome.

Sunshine cleared her throat and her voice came out overly bright. “Speaking of work, this is Wesley Allen.”

That was my cue. I scooted to the side and held out my hand.

“Wes, this is Corinna. If you ever need diving advice, she’s the one to look for.”

Corinna laughed again. Her grip of my hand was strong and cool. “Good to meet you. Come sit with the gang.”

Sunny had already dragged two more chairs over toward the table, and the group of people huddled there were shifting to absorb them into their ranks.

I hovered on the edge of the group as they took turns greeting Sunny, exchanging high fives and fist bumps, along with jokes—some more creatively risqué than others. She laughed, rolled her eyes, and outright dismissed some of them as she took her seat.

After a moment, she glanced back and met my gaze. Her eyebrows lifted and she patted the back of the empty chair. “Come on and sit, Wes. Everyone, this is Wes. He runs a dive shop outside DC and is looking for all the best places to bring groups to dive.”

“Nice. You’ll get the hookup with Sunny there. But if you’re staying near here, be sure to get in touch.” The kid—and I felt dumb thinking of him like that, but he looked like he was sixteen with his shoulder-length blond hair and scruffy, laid-back posture—flicked a business card across the table.

I picked it up, scanned the words, and nodded. I tucked it into my pocket. “Thanks.”

“You diving today, Sun?” The kid spoke again. “I’ve got a private, just two, in an hour or so. You could come along.”

“Where are you taking them, Joe?”

Joe. I filed his name away. The card had only had the company name on it and no one seemed excited to introduce themselves. Then again, I was the only newcomer here, so maybe it hadn’t occurred to them that it would be polite.

“Ceviche for two.” Corinna reappeared and set an enormous bowl of fragrant fish and citrus in front of Sunshine and me. She added a basket of tortilla chips to the table and went around to resume her seat. “Eat and talk. See if you can keep Joe from taking his newbie divers to the wreck.”

“Oh, Joe. You aren’t.” Sunshine frowned. She dipped a spoon into the ceviche and loaded a chip, then expertly popped it into her mouth without dripping the juice all over herself.

I wasn’t convinced I’d be able to eat as gracefully, but I could give it a try. I scooped a smaller portion than Sunny had and managed to catch the juice with my thumb as it dripped down my chin. The contrast of sweet and sour and salty flavors exploded in a happy contrast on my tongue.

“What? They want to see a wreck. They’ve got the advanced cert, so they should be fine.” Joe shrugged. “Not like there are sharks or anything.”

Corinna snorted.

Others in the group chuckled.

“Joe.” The quiet censure in Sunny’s voice stilled the group.

He sighed and looked away. “Fine. We’ll go to the glass-bottom instead. Happy?”

She nodded. “I am. And your divers will be, too. You know it’s a better excursion.”

“I guess.” Joe’s face was close to a pout. “At least it still qualifies as a wreck. But it’s not a treasure dive.”

“Did you promise them a treasure dive?” Corinna’s words held a warning that I didn’t understand.

I glanced between Joe, Corinna, and Sunny, obviously missing something.

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