“We’ll keep it under an hour. The depth here ranges to eighty feet. That means the nitrogen in your air supply will be over three times denser than what your system’s accustomed to. In some people at some depths, this can cause temporary imbalances. If you begin to feel light-headed, signal to me right away. We’ll descend in stages to give your body time to get used to the changes in pressure. We ascend the same way in order to give the nitrogen time to expel. If you come up too quickly, you risk decompression sickness. It can be fatal.” As she spoke, she spread out the gear with the intention of explaining each piece. “Nothing is to be taken for granted in the water. It is not your milieu. You’re dependent on your equipment and your own good sense. It’s beautiful and it’s exciting, but it’s not an amusement park.”

“Is this the same lecture you give on the dive boat?”

“Basically.”

“You’re very good.”

“Thank you.” She picked up a gauge. “Now—”

“Can we get started?” he asked and reached for his wet suit.

“We are getting started. You can’t dive without a working knowledge of your equipment.”

“That’s a depth gauge.” He nodded toward her hand as he stripped down to black briefs. “A very sophisticated one. I wouldn’t think most dive shops would find it necessary to stock that quality.”

“This is mine,” she murmured. “But I keep a handful for rentals.”

“I don’t think I mentioned that you have the best-tended equipment I’ve ever seen. It isn’t in the same league with your personal gear, but it’s quality. Give me a hand, will you?”

Liz rose to help him into the tough, stretchy suit. “You’ve gone down before.”

“I’ve been diving since I was fifteen.” Jonas pulled up the zipper before bending over to check the tanks himself.

“Since you were fifteen.” Liz yanked off her shirt and tossed it aside. Fuming, she pulled off her shorts until she wore nothing but a string bikini and a scowl. “Then why did you let me go on that way?”

“I liked hearing you.” Jonas glanced up and felt his blood surge. “Almost as much as I like looking at you.”

She wasn’t in the mood to be flattered, less in the mood to be charmed. Without asking for assistance, she tugged herself into her wet suit. “You’re still paying for the lesson.”

Jonas grinned as he examined his flippers. “I never doubted it.”

She strapped on the rest of her gear in silence. It was difficult even for her to say if she were really angry. All she knew was the day, and dive, weren’t as simple as they had started out to be. Lifting the top of a bench, she reached into a compartment and took out two short metal sticks shaped like bats.