Taken By The Shark

Chelsea felt her face begin to color as she realized he was flirting with her. Had she not suggested before that he was Poseidon, and now he was trying to give her his wife’s name? How much more obvious could a guy get than that? Heat suffused more than just her face as her mind explored the further implications if she decided to let him use the name.

“What did you call yourself?” she asked, trying not to laugh.

“I’m sure you already know,” he chuckled. “You hit the nail right on the head just the other day.”

“If you’re Poseidon on here, do you think it would be a good idea to name me that?” she asked him. “It might give the others ideas about us or something.”

“So what if it does?” he said in her ear.

“Hey, come on,” Erik called impatiently. “I thought we were dividing and getting into these things.”

Mark looked up over Chelsea’s shoulder. “Keep your shirt on, Erik. The boat isn’t quite in position to drop these into the drink just yet. Just go play with your new toy or something and keep occupied for about half an hour more.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied, his tone clearly annoyed.

“I think that guy really likes you,” Mark said in a voice only Chelsea could hear as he dismissed the others yet again.

“I think you’re right,” Chelsea agreed. “But I sure as hell don’t like him.”

“Is there anybody that you do like?” he asked, and the tension between them thickened exponentially as their eyes met.

“Call me Nereid,” she told him. “Maybe it’d be less obvious that way.”

Mark laughed. “If we keep standing like this, it won’t take them long to figure out there’s a definite attraction either way. I suppose I ought to go make the coffee.”

“I could do that if you want,” she offered. “I used to do it back home.”

“All right,” he agreed. “I’ll go and get people onto the boats then, shall I?”

“Good idea,” she chuckled.

The two of them each went to do what they’d agreed on. Chelsea made several good, strong pots of coffee and poured each of them into thermal mugs while Mark decided which sets of five people would be paired up in each of the pods. It was no great surprise that the best team would be going down along with him.

“Erik, Dan, Angel, Ross,” he listed. “You’re all with me.”

“And Chelsea too?” Erik clarified.

“Yeah, but she already knows that,” he replied. “I’ve got her making coffee.”

“No favoritism in this group, I see,” Ross chuckled.

“Shut up, Clemens,” Erik grumbled.

“Settle down already,” Mark said. “Why would the top dog in the class not get any favoritism? Don’t you know how the real world works, kid?”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” he smirked.

“Then stow that sh*t or the next time I’ll group you on the other team,” he said. “Not something you want me to do, right?”

“No, sir!” he agreed. “I promise I’ll be good. You can count on me.”

“Good,” he said. “Now I need to go help Jill sort out her team. You guys get everyone onto the boat while I’m gone. And leave Chelsea to me, we’ll be distributing that coffee before we join you.”

A little while later, both groups were in their designated boats and each boat had begun the long journey to their destinations. Since the starting point was a small island a few miles off the California coast, and they were headed toward deeper waters, it would take a little time to get there, so most of the team laid out on lawn chairs to enjoy the sun during the wait.

“Aren’t you people going to put on your wet suits sometime today?” Mark asked them with a smirk.

“Do we have to?” Angel complained.

“No, Angel, you can take all the time you need,” he smirked. The guys laughed about this as they took in the sleek figure and darker complexion of the girl in question, but Chelsea cast Mark a disgruntled look, to which he replied, “And you can take even longer.”

Ross and Dan gave each other a high five, and Erik looked disgruntled. Chelsea scowled in his general direction and stepped over to drink some of the coffee she had made earlier. Mark held up his cup, and with a laugh she grabbed it and filled it for him. “You want anything in it?”

“Black’s fine,” he said. “You get used to it that way when you’re rationing the food.”

“Hm,” she answered with a nod as she set the cup in his hands. “These keep it pretty hot, don’t they?”

“Yeah they do,” he agreed. “It’ll stay that way for hours.”

Unlike Mark, Chelsea preferred her coffee with cream and sugar, though she was perfectly capable of drinking it black if she had to. However, she mentally added as she put in four packets of sugar and two of creamer, right now she didn’t need to. She caught Mark smirking about her choice of additives and took a big sip, then licked at her lips as if she was really enjoying herself.

“Is that the only liquid you like so much?” he asked in her ear as he glanced over and saw that nobody else was watching.

“Maybe,” she smirked.

Mark turned around and said in a loud voice, “Okay, people, listen up. We are now ready to get these beasts out into the water. Now ladies, I know you won’t like me to say it, but the guys should probably be the ones to drop the submersibles. They’re really heavy, and I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”

The four women on the boat sneered at this pronouncement and then all banded together toward the front to stay out of the way. Angel cast Chelsea a curious look as they waited.

“So, what’s going on with you and Mark, girl?” she asked, and both Nancy and Melissa, the fourth girl who shared their cabin, snickered.

“What do you mean?” she asked, playing like she had no idea what the other woman meant.

“Oh, come on,” Angel scoffed. “You two are so into each other it’s almost disgusting.”