Page 16 of Deep Blue Sea

His mood had soured, which took her by surprise. Liam was always so laid-back, nothing seemed to get to him, but right now he looked decidedly irritated with her.

‘I didn’t like her,’ said Rachel defensively. ‘She was a bit too full of herself, a bit wobbly on the technical questions too.’

‘As if she really needs to know the distance in sea miles between Ko Tao and Ko Pha Ngan.’

‘I happen to think that’s an important question. What if the boat got stuck out there with no fuel and we had to swim back?’

‘Perhaps we could float back on a raft made from your empty beer bottles,’ said Liam crisply. ‘How many have you had anyway?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Rachel, holding her bottle to her chest defensively. ‘This is only my second.’

‘Second? Rach, you don’t drink.’

‘And tonight I’m drinking,’ she replied with petulance.

‘Why?’

He looked at her with concern, but she glanced away.

‘Why not. And you’re not my babysitter, or my AA buddy, so please, just leave it.’

‘Have it your way,’ he said, raising a hand.

Rachel shook her head. ‘If you’re going to be like this, then I’m going home,’ she said, standing up.

‘All right.’

She wanted him to plead with her to stay, but clearly he wasn’t going to. She imagined Super Sheryl waiting outside, ready to slip in as soon as she had gone, and hesitated.

‘I should walk you back,’ said Liam, downing his beer. ‘Don’t want you falling over, do we?’

But as they stepped out into the evening air, their moods seemed to soften. It was impossible to stay annoyed in this part of the world, at this time of day, when the lights from the cafés and restaurants were glowing like fireflies in the dusk and the dying light of the day cast everything in a flattering bronze blush.

‘Sorry,’ she said after a few moments. ‘I didn’t mean to . . . I’ve just had a lot on my mind over the past few days.’

‘I know. And you don’t have to deal with it alone. You know that. You definitely shouldn’t be dealing with it with booze.’

‘It’s just tonight,’ she said quietly.

He knocked his hip into hers playfully.

‘Good.’

They walked to the beachfront. Rachel strained her ears to listen to the hypnotic swoosh-swoosh sound of the tide, her favourite noise in the world, the best part of living so close to the sea.

‘So what did you think of Sheryl?’ she asked cautiously.

‘She was great. I think her marketing experience could be useful too.’

‘You mean she’s pretty,’ replied Rachel, not wanting to admit to either Liam or herself that Sheryl was the perfect candidate.

He gave a low, slow laugh.

‘Yes, she’s good-looking, but that’s great for business. You’ve shown that.’

‘So you think I’m pretty?’ she teased, suddenly feeling self-conscious that she had said it.

‘Who do you want to hire?’ he said, avoiding the question.