Page 47 of Luck Be a Genie

“I can’t believe this is an actual, functioning coral reef. This is really cool.”

I loved the ocean and water in general, and even though I wasn’t really looking forward to the shark part, I was excited about exploring the rest.

Nick took my hand and we explored, stopping in each section and looking through the glass windows at the different sections of the reef. There were three of them: the top reef, the mid reef, and the deep reef. We also read all the informational signs they had posted everywhere, which were fascinating. I loved learning, so we spent a lot of time on them, and Nick patiently let me take the lead and didn’t make me feel rushed.

“Did you know that microscopic coral polyps extract calcium carbonate to construct these massive reefs?”

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, as though he thought I was being adorable again. “I didn’t, but it’s really cool. It’s interesting that something so tiny can create a structure that’s so big.”

I nodded. It really was.

After we’d gone through the entire living reef area, we found ourselves outside again, and I had to shield my eyes from the bright sun. Nick immediately slid his sunglasses off and put them on my face, making me sigh in relief.

“Thanks,” I murmured. My eyes were super sensitive to light, but I’d forgotten my sunglasses in my room, again, which was a rookie mistake here in Maui where the sun was bright enough to practically be seen from space some days.

Eventually, the path led to the outdoor sea turtle area. There were large glass tanks along the walkway where we could see a few massive sea turtles swimming around. We watched them for a while. I couldn’t believe how big they were! One of the bigger ones would probably be close to my height if he was measured from nose to flipper.

“It says that these are actually juveniles that they raise here, and then they release them into the ocean when they’re big enough to survive. It’s part of the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle Educational Loan Program. Wow, that’s a mouthful.”

He chuckled. “I’ve always loved sea turtles. Did you know when they’re sleeping they can hold their breath for four to seven hours? When they’re moving around and active, I think it’s closer to forty-five minutes.”

When we moved on, I tripped on the stair, and Nick caught me before I took a header. My heart was racing from the near miss, but I wasn’t too bothered because it was pretty normal for me and Nick. “Thanks for that,” I said absently, then went back to turtles and their ability to hold their breath for a long time. “Yeah, I can maybe hold my breath for thirty seconds, and probably less underwater. There’s just something so... pressurizing about trying to hold your breath underwater.”

He gave me a crooked grin, squeezing my hand as he released my arm from his catch-my-girlfriend-before-she-faceplants grip. “I’m not sure pressurizing is a word, sunshine.”

“Of course it’s a word! It’s a word because I just said the word. Why would I say a word that doesn’t exist?”

His lips twitched with amusement as he gently tugged me over to another tank with more sea turtles. “I would just like to state for the record that you make up words all the time.”

He was referencing our Scrabble game the other day. “Kerfuffle is not a made-up word! It’s in the dictionary and everything!”

His eyebrows lifted as he gave me a skeptical look. “Okay, what’s the definition, then?”

I scowled. “If you’d release my hand, I’ll look it up on my phone. I don’t just know the definition off the top of my head.”

He laughed as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me thoroughly. “Being right isn’t worth you leaving my arms,” he whispered against my lips, making me shiver. “I guess I’ll just have to trust you.”

I nodded, but after that kiss, I completely forgot the point I had been trying to make, or even what I had been protesting in the first place. His kisses made me forget my own name sometimes.

“Wait, did I just agree to something?” My thoughts were a little fuzzy.

He laughed and pulled me into the dark shark tunnel. “You agreed to marry me soon.”

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t it. I would remember that.” Although, if he was kissing me at the time... maybe not?

In the dark atrium, just before the 360-degree tank, he turned back to me. “I’m going to ask you soon.”

And that was all the warning he gave me.

Soon?

What was soon?

“What’s soon?”

“Nick?”

He didn’t answer.