I almost confronted Hugh about it, wanting to know why he felt the need to distinguish between Millie’s job and his job, but I didn’t want him to know it bothered me. The last thing I need is for him to realise how much of my brain space he’s taking up.

‘Stinger suits on!’ barks Vanessa, bringing me back to the present moment. She gets more spirited and bossier with every passing hour, which I find to be a huge relief because the further we are from shore, the less confident I feel in myself. I hurry downstairs to put my brush away, my braids bouncing against my back as I go.

I’m barely back upstairs when Vanessa’s voice rings out again.

‘Miguel, you’re with me now,’ she yells in Miguel’s direction.

I pause with my stinger suit halfway up my torso. If Vanessa is with Miguel, then . . . I look around and see Hugh staring at me.

‘Pippa,’ I say in my sweetest voice. Her stinger suit was hung up next to mine and she has one hand on the railing and the other trying to yank her foot through the ankle hole. ‘Are you partnering with Andrew for this dive?’

Pippa laughs. ‘Unfortunately, yes. No one else wants to partner with the one person who can’t get their buoyancy figured out.’

‘Great!’ I say, false cheer emanating from my throat. I look in Hugh’s direction again, but he’s gone.

I scurry over to the scuba tanks as fast as I can. I catch the tail end of Hugh’s conversation with Vanessa, which I’m positive is him trying to convince her that they should be dive buddies. He is giving her a smouldering look that I’ve never seen before. His hands are gripping the railing, and his forearms are bulging. He smiles at her, flashing his straight square white teeth. There’s no denying it, he looks hot. Vanessa seems strong-willed, but this might break her.

‘Sorry!’ she trills in her sing-song Italian accent. ‘First dive was an exception. Instructors are usually paired with each other, it’s easier for us to keep an eye on the whole group when we’re not worried about our buddies.’

‘Dang it!’ I mutter under my breath. Both turn to look at me.

‘Millie! Perfect! You two, together,’ Vanessa commands, pointing at me and Hugh.

Miguel catches my eye and mouths something that looks like an apology, shrugging sheepishly in Vanessa’s direction.

Reluctantly, I sit next to Hugh on the bench and we strap ourselves into our life vests. His expression is serious, like he’s gone into work mode. We go through the motions, checking to make sure our air tanks are full and testing our regulators. Then, without speaking, we both turn towards each other to perform the buddy checks.