The day on the Atoll was an amazing experience—as everyone said it would be—and it was more than anything I could have imagined in my wildest dreams. There were species of fish and sea creatures on that rock you could only hope to see once. It was teeming with life, and we took so many photos it wasn't even funny. It would take days, maybe weeks, to catalog it all.

Once we finished, we would send the images to head office. The company took on the survey for a university in the states, and my excitement was like that of a small child caught in a wonderland.

We returned the next day and the next and then dove in the waters around the Atoll. It was even more amazing, and I was enchanted with the possibilities until I finally realized we had taken over ten thousand photographs.

The big boat was almost ready, and the company fetched the research crew one by one by helicopter to give them a chance to familiarize themselves with the new equipment until only Cap, the deckhands, and I remained.

I was cataloging the photos, and Cap did more research in the area. Once or twice, he took me out on the boat to assist him in taking water samples or diving in specific areas of interest.

Every time we did, the dolphins were there. They swam just off the hull, and I knew they would come to me if I put my hand in the water. They would love to bridge the safe distance they kept at all times, but I didn't dare, not with Cap right there.

He glanced at them often and fondly, which was a point in his favor. Not that he needed any more points in his favor, and I was already way too interested in him for my own good. I wasn't a nun and had two serious relationships, but when push came to shove, I could not tell them my secret or trust them with my burden.

Cap's broad shoulders, that muscular body, and the lithe way he moved coupled with that strong face could drive a woman nuts.

When his eyes were like they were just then... full of laughter as the dolphins did tricks in the water—riding the swell, twisting and turning in the air, lifting themselves out of the water, and running backward on the surface—it was as much as I could do not to forget myself and touch him.

They were vying for my attention and wanted me to play with them again, but that would not happen anytime soon. Every time I tried to sneak out at night, there Cap would be or someone else.

It was so restful being out on the water, doing little chores with him, and diving with him as if we were the only two people on the planet. He didn't feel like the boss in those moments. He was just a fascinating guy who was very serious about the ocean he loved and his work.

This wasn't all about finding treasure and getting rich for him. It was about the past and the untold stories, and it was about seeing history being brought to the surface and learning about it.

I have to admit, though, even standing there with his wet suit half off, his upper body bare, and his muscles flexing as he moved, it was challenging to concentrate on my job and not just sit there staring at him. Typically, I was not like this.

Cap might even have a girlfriend or a wife, and I tried to keep my mind off him. I was aware of him as I had never been of any other man or person before.

It was as if there was some connection between us, but only I seemed conscious of it. So I did what I always did and used my internal walls to create a divide between us. I was here to work and learn, not get hurt.

My mind slipped to the dream I had the night before, and I was glad he wasn't looking at me right then as my cheeks heated with embarrassment.

It had been an exceptionally vivid dream, and even now, I didn't know where exactly my mind got the details. I had never been in such a situation before.

I dreamed I snuck outside to go to the dolphins. The light in the corridor went out, but my night vision wasn't working for some reason. I crept slowly forward, feeling my way along the wall, and almost walked into somebody.

"It's just me, Brit,"′ Cap said from the darkness, and my brain wondered how he knew it was me? Not why he would suddenly start calling me Brit.

Cap usually called me Sheridan. He stepped closer until barely any space remained between us, and I sensed him towering over me. It was a novel experience, having someone be that much taller than me.

"I know your secret," he claimed from the dark as I panicked and grew still, "I have always known," he assured me, leaning down until his lips were near my ear and I could feel his heated breath feather my skin.

"Mermaid," he whispered so only I could hear, and my heart stilled while I forgot how to breathe. "I want you," he challenged, his voice sexily husky with need as he leaned further forward and nipped my ear, "now." Even though I knew it was just a dream, it seemed so vividly real, and I even had goosebumps.

Cap kissed my neck and shoulder, and his wet, hot kisses spiraled sensations through my body, unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Attraction sparked like electricity between us, and it was unbelievable. It clouded my mind so fast that it was absurd. One moment we were standing separated only by the barest breath of air, and then he folded me in his arms, and I didn't resist him. Where had my good sense gone? But this was just a dream, a little voice insisted. Did dreams feel like this? No dream had ever been more real than reality.

His hands roamed all over me as he kissed my shoulder, then the column of my neck. He nipped at my skin in small bites before claiming my mouth. The heat in my veins grew hotter and spiked desire down to my abdomen, swirling lust through me with a power more entrancing than I thought possible.

I wanted Cap to take me in the corridor, even though the lights could go on at any moment, and someone could walk in on them. Where had my inhibitions gone?

~It's a dream, moron,~ my baser self reminded me more firmly.

~It didn't feel like a dream,~ I insisted as my nipples pebbled.

The night air sent shivers down my spine at the cool, wet trail left after the heat of his tongue as he shifted his attention from one breast to the other.

My hands were all over his back, running over the muscled expanse of it, even cheekily slipping to his butt and cupping those tense, solid muscles. Just the thought of those memories made me uncomfortably aware of my body and needs.

I needed to distract myself and keep my thoughts on my work, but I couldn't. My mind kept picturing Cap's mouth making its way down my ribs to my stomach.

I recalled the instant his mouth came in contact with my navel and the shard of lust that struck through to my core like lightning. The same thing happened at the mere memory, and I almost moaned, only just succeeding in turning the sound into a weak cough.

Cap handed me a bottle of water without glancing away from the sample of water he tested, and I took it without looking at him—I couldn't bear to even glance at him. It was so vivid that it should have startled me out of my daydream. My face colored at the recollection of what happened next, and with him right there, I shied away from the intimate reminder of an act of love I had never shared with a man. The memory of his lips... there... brought me back to reality with a crash.

The tips of my ears felt like glowing neon signs, but my baseball cap hid them. I always tucked them under the cap when we were on the open water because the tips of my ears easily got sunburned. The high red of my cheeks hid in the shadow of the bill.

Indulging my idiocy didn't do me any favors, especially being this near the object of my lust: stupid dream and stupid bloody man.

"You can take a swim, Sheridan; no one's nearby. They won't see your tail, and maybe you can take some pictures of the reef for me after cavorting with your little friends."

I blinked up at him like an owl suddenly caught in daylight. I definitely needed a shrink if I now started hearing things, too. X-rated dreams and hallucinations. Was it a mermaid thing or a human thing? I avoided his eyes. What would he think of me if he knew how my body reacted to an imaginary version of him?

He seemed too manly to do what some perverted version of my libido had him doing and nothing else. Guys were very self-minded, and no red-blooded man would have refrained from taking his pleasure. Why couldn't she control her thoughts? What magic was this?

~Hormones.~ Her inner voice snickered.

~More important issues at hand!~ I almost yelled. I only had to talk to myself out loud to convince him he was right about me.