Page 40 of Teach Me Your Ways

I straightened it out, careful not to touch anything unnecessary. She was already flushed. Not from the heat.

“Thanks,” she said, fluttering her lashes like a weirdo. “Where did Dean Carver go?”

“She had to take care of something,” I answered.

“Are you going to get in with us?” she asked.

She reached up and unzipped the wet suit. My eyes flicked to the zipper before I looked away. Thankfully, she didn’t drop it as low as it had been when she first walked out.

Cece was pretending to be busy, but I had a feeling she was listening. She had her full mask on, flippers on her feet, checking her gauges like she was born with a regulator in her mouth. I could’ve watched her all damn day. That’s what it was. Confidence. Cece was confident in everything she did. She didn’t have to try hard. She just did her thing and didn’t care what anyone thought. It was sexy as hell.

She looked over and caught me watching her. “Everything good?” I asked.

She popped her mask off her forehead. “Perfect.” Her grin was full of challenge. “You coming in, or you just gonna stand there flexing?”

I smirked. “Thought I’d supervise from the edge. Make sure no one drowns.”

“Aw. I thought you were gonna show off your dive form.” She leaned back, arms on the surface like she was basking in sunshine.

My mouth dried instantly. I forced a glance toward Lina. Not because I wanted to, but Lina drowning would not be good for my career. Plus, she wasn’t all bad. I had zero interest in her beyond her role as my teaching assistant, but I didn’t hate her just because she had a crush on me.

“Professor Stone,” Lina pouted. “I can’t get this.”

“Better go help her,” Cece murmured. “I’ll just be over here floating and waiting.”

I walked over to Lina, who was fumbling with her weight belt like it was rocket science. She’d managed to get it tangled around her tank somehow, which should have been physically impossible.

“How did you even—” I started, then stopped myself. “Never mind. Here.”

I reached around to untangle the mess, trying to keep my hands strictly professional. Lina, however, had other ideas. She leaned into me, pressing her chest against my arm.

“I’m so clumsy.” She giggled. “Good thing I have such a strong teacher to help me.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Cece roll her eyes so hard I was surprised they didn’t fall out of her head. She dove under the water, probably to keep from saying something that would get us all in trouble.

“There,” I said, stepping back quickly. “All set.”

Lina pouted. “Don’t you need to check my equipment? Make sure everything’s secure?”

“Your equipment looks fine, Lina. And that’s what your dive buddy is for.”

Cece surfaced near the deep end, pulling off her mask. “Are we actually going to dive or what?”

I shot Cece a grateful look. She was giving me an out, and I was going to take it.

“Right. Let’s get started.” I walked to the edge of the pool. “I want to see your basic skills first. Mask clearing, regulator recovery, that sort of thing.”

Lina jumped into the water with all the grace of a falling rock, splashing half the pool deck in the process. Cece, meanwhile, looked like she was born in the ocean—smooth, controlled, barely disturbing the surface as she moved.

“Okay, ladies. Descend to about eight feet and show me your neutral buoyancy.”

They both submerged. I crouched at the pool’s edge to observe. Cece hung motionless in the water like she was weightless, every movement deliberate and efficient. Lina, on the other hand, was ping-ponging between the bottom and surface like a yo-yo, her arms flailing as she tried to control her depth.

When they surfaced, Lina immediately swam over to where I was kneeling.

“How was that?” she asked, treading water directly in front of me.

The zipper on her wet suit had somehow fallen down a couple more inches. And I knew there was no way it had just happened. She had managed to unzip the damn thing while doing whatever it was she was doing in the pool. Water droplets sat on top of her boobs that were pushed up and forming perfect globes. The eyelashes she wore, because I knew those things weren’t real, had more water clinging to them. Any other man would be hard as a rock looking at her.