“More likely about the book.”

“So your mom was relieved?” Linda pushed away from the steps and Marissa again watched her body sink in the clear water until her feet touched the bottom. Okay, if she was being honest, Linda was more graceful and elegant than most of the models pouting on the covers of magazines.

“She hadn’t heard about the shipwreck, so my call was a big surprise.” Marissa smoothed the cotton shorts she’d acquired from the hotel gift shop. “I was scolded for waking her up for the first few minutes then she seemed glad to hear I was okay. I had to hang up when we started on topic du jour.”

“Your mom does that too?” Linda’s arms windmilled in the water as she slowly pirouetted in place. “What was today’s topic?”

Marissa looked away. “Boring stuff.” She wasn’t about to unload her mother on Linda. Only Ocky had any clue about how narcissistic her mother was. “But she did want pictures to show her friends of the shipwreck.”

“Fodder for the social circle but in a good way?”

Marissa couldn’t help but arch her eyebrows. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it. How’d you know?”

Linda launched into a slow backstroke. “You’re not the only one with a mother.” The little smile of pleasure told Marissa how much Linda was enjoying the gentle kiss of the water. The smile, the way Linda let the water flow over her shoulders, the habit of touching surfaces with just the pads of her fingers all spoke of an appreciation for sensation.

I shouldn’t be thinking like that, Marissa told herself. She’s gorgeous, okay, but this is not real. She tipped her head back to study the incredible sky. Unmarred by clouds and with the sun finally approaching the western horizon, it was a rich, endless blue like nothing she’d ever seen before.

For a moment she heard the Abandon Ship announcement again. She fought off the little shiver that accompanied it. It could have been worse, so much worse, she told herself. They could have been in the lifeboats for days or capsized during the waning hours of the storm. There might have been people who didn’t get off the ship in time. She could have been stuck with people not nearly so pleasant as a brave, strong, attractive woman with a great sense of humor and a fantastic laugh. There was no point to wanting even more good to come from the bad.

“Come on in,” Linda called to Marissa.

“These are the only clothes I’ve got—I don’t want to get them wet.”

Linda’s lips twisted in a suggestive smile and Marissa found herself blushing. She was certain she could guess a few topics Linda could bring up at that moment.

“Flirting with you is fun,” Linda said, as she waded toward Marissa. Stopping a polite distance away, she added, “You rise to the occasion, even when you’re blushing.”

Feeling as if her ears were on fire, Marissa could only think that she wouldn’t mind being stuck here for several days. Weeks, even.