For four hours, I stayed in the bathroom, sitting on a towel with the fluffy white hotel bathrobe wrapped around me. I'd only spoken once—to ask Adam to leave—but I hadn't heard the door. Mind you, I'd been sobbing so hard a volcano could have erupted without me noticing.

This was worse than after Bryce. When Bryce left me, my heart had been shattered. Right now, it had been torn out of my chest, stomped on by an elephant, barbecued for a couple of hours, and then frozen into a block of ice.

Eventually, when I'd run out of both tears and toilet paper to blot them with, I struggled to my feet. Pins and needles stabbed at my legs. Had Adam gone? I peeped through the tiny gap, and the light on the bedside table cast a dim glow over the room. Everything was still.

Of course he'd gone.

I climbed into bed and pulled the covers over my head, which might have insulated me from the world outside, but it couldn't save me from my thoughts.

Over and over again, the mess I'd made ran through my head. Why couldn't I have gone along with things? It might have been okay. Might, might, might. The devil on my shoulder spoke in Persephone's voice. Because you're just not good enough.

Of course I wasn't. I couldn't even manage to have a rebound fling properly.

At eight thirty, a knock on the door disturbed my misery. Oh, hurrah. Breakfast was here. Sent by Adam. More tears formed from somewhere and leaked out onto the pillow, leaving a streak of black as they mixed with what was left of my mascara.

The waiter didn't knock again for a whole hour. Were the catering team on Egyptian time too?

"I don't want any breakfast, thank you." My voice cracked on every word.

What was that metallic scraping sound? And how did Gabe get into my room?

He held up a bunch of keys, answering my unasked question. "I have a friend who works in hotel security, and I told him I was concerned about your welfare. Now, what's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

He burst out laughing. "Missy, you're crying in bed wearing yesterday's clothes when you should be at the dive centre. Adam's turned up, but he looks as pissed as a cobra in a frying pan. 'Nothing'..." Gabe made little air quotes. "Is not the answer I'm looking for."

I didn't know Gabe well enough to go into the sorry details of my sex life, or rather my lack of one. I'd save that for Kat later. Mental note: ask her to bring more tissues.

"Adam and I had a difference of opinion last night."

"That sounds like the understatement of the year."

"Well, it's as much as you're getting, so if you wouldn't mind leaving, I need to get some rest."

Why was I so much braver when I was upset and sleep-deprived?

"No can do. You've paid for the course, and you're damn well going to finish it. You've got thirty seconds to get out of bed and into the bathroom before I carry you to the dive centre as you are."

He stared down at me, biceps flexing as he folded his arms. I didn't doubt he could make good on his threat.

Or that he would.

Fine. Fine, fine, fine. I got up and stomped over to the bathroom.

"And don't even think about locking the door," he shouted through the wood. "I've got a screwdriver, and I'll take the hinge pins out."

Dammit! How did he know that was my plan?

I showered and brushed my teeth as slowly as I possibly could. Flossing was very important, so my dentist always told me. She'd have been proud of me that morning. I got dressed in the plainest one-piece I owned and covered it up with a shapeless black kaftan, then went back out to Gabe.

"Well, lookee at you, trying to blend in with the locals. Come on, the driver's been waiting for an hour."

"You should have gone without me."

"Not happening."

He took me by the arm and half carried me all the way to the dive centre, depositing me in front of Adam, who was sitting down with his head slumped over his knees.

He looked up at the noise, and the anger Gabe had mentioned morphed into concern.

"Thanks, buddy. Give us a minute, would you?" he asked.

I didn't know where to look. Adam stood up and gently turned my chin so I faced him.

"I've been so worried about you, sweetheart. I don't know what went wrong, but I'll do anything to fix it."

"You left."

"I thought that was what you wanted."

"I don't really know what I wanted."

"What happened? Why did you get upset?"

How could I tell him that Bryce had popped into my head at the most inopportune moment? I shouldn't have been thinking of one man while I was with another.

"I just... I just wasn't ready, I think."

"We can wait as long as you want. In case you haven't noticed, I'm crazy about you."

"But what if I'm never ready? Or worse, what if we try and I'm not good enough?"

Adam took my hands in his. "Baby, one day you will be ready. And I know, I absolutely know, that you'll be everything I've ever dreamed of." He pulled me closer, and his lips brushed my ear as he whispered into it. "I'm not him."

Didn't I know it? I burst into tears again.

"Sweetheart, baby, don't cry. Please."

Salty rivulets streamed down my face. What an attractive sight I must be. But Adam leaned his forehead on mine and used his thumbs to wipe my tears away.

"Can we try again?"

I tried to nod and ended up bumping his head with mine. Klutz.

"Leaving you there by yourself destroyed me."

"You promise we can take things slowly?"

"Anything you want, I swear. You can take the lead."

"That's part of the problem. I don't know how to take the lead."

"Then I'll help you. We'll do this together, okay?"

I nodded again, and he gave me a gentle kiss on my cheek.

"What do you want to do today? Do you want to dive? If you don't, I'll tell Gabe, and he'll have to live with it."

"I'm here now. I do want to complete the course."

"Let's learn about fish."

Adam fetched Gabe back, and he provided each of us with a copy of the Red Sea Reef Guide, which he assured us was the definitive reference for marine life in the area.

"We'll stop for drinks in the café before we dive, and we'll take a look at what we can expect to see. I've picked a great site for us to dive today: Shark Cave."

My eyes widened. "Does it really have sharks?"

"No, and it doesn't have a cave either. I have no idea why it's called that. What it does have is a great reef, a coral garden, and the best selection of fish in Fidda Hilal."

The café was close to the shore, and we set up the gear before we sat down for drinks. I wasn't hungry, so I settled for a smoothie that would give me some energy.

Gabe launched into his descriptions of the marine life we would see, finishing with, "Look out for the trunk boxfish. I'll point them out. If you wiggle your finger in the sand, they'll come and play with you. I've brought the camera so we can take photos."

He'd certainly picked the right place to bring us. The first thing we saw was an eel garden on a sandy slope. The eels anchored themselves in the sand, and as we swam close to them, they retracted back into tubes in slow motion. Sort of like lipstick.

Gabe pointed out things we'd seen in the book, like a tiny, colourful nudibranch clinging to a rock and a moray eel hiding in a gloomy hollow. It saw us coming and snapped its jaws together. Persephone's spirit animal.

A school of bluefin trevallies swam past. Gabe had described them as the Porsches of the ocean because of their speed and sleek shape. He also spotted a scorpionfish, almost hidden against the rock it blended into.

The trunk boxfish were my favourite, though, and I had to remember to breathe as one cautiously approached me, looking for food disturbed by my finger in the sand. Oh my gosh! It came near enough to peck at my fingertip, and I withdrew the digit quickly. Not food. Not food!

Adam snuck up on me, and I looked up to see him next to me, his eyes crinkled in a smile. I tried to smile back around my regulator, but some water went into my mouth and I quickly thought the better of it.

Although I hadn't been too fond of Gabe this morning, I was glad he'd fetched me. Things were still a bit uncomfortable with Adam, but at least they were heading in the right direction again.

When we got back to the dive centre, I thanked Gabe profusely, both for his intervention and for the dive lessons.

"It's not over, you know. You may have completed both courses, but I'm still expecting you back here over the next few weeks."

"Definitely. I'm hooked now."

"Both of us are," Adam added as he walked in after rinsing his wetsuit.

"Glad to hear it." Gabe looked from me to Adam and back again. "Now go and enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

He gave me a wink.

I was still nervous as I slipped my hand into Adam's, but he gave it a little squeeze.

"What do you want to do this afternoon?" he asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead. Could we just sit on the beach? Unless there's something else you'd prefer?"

"If that's what you want to do, then that's what we'll do."

We'd almost come full circle. Just a few days ago, we were lying on the beach like this, side by side, but so much had happened since then. I'd fallen for him, almost lost him, and then got him back.

I vowed not to screw things up again.

Which was exactly what Kat said too when I told her the whole sorry story later that evening. Mo was cooking again, which left us sitting on the sofa while he did the hard work.

"Are you crazy?" Kat asked. "He was offering it to you on a plate, and you knocked him back? I'd have been right in there." She paused for a second. "He's hot, right?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, I'd definitely have been right in there."

"I'm not you, though, Kat. I wish I could be so casual about the whole thing, but I really, really like him. More than I should. I want to go further, but what happens afterwards? I mean, he lives on a different continent."

"Just take each day as it comes. If things are meant to happen, they will."

"You sound like a philosopher."

"They do need school teachers in America, you know."

I threw a pink-tasselled cushion at her. Bullseye. "Kat! What happened to taking it slowly?"

"I can't believe I still haven't met this guy," she carried on, oblivious.

"I'll introduce you soon, I promise."

"Double date?"

"Maybe. If Adam agrees."

"He's smitten. He'll go anywhere you go."

She reached for the bottle of wine that was sitting on the table and topped up my glass. That would be my last drink. I was determined not to end up tipsy this evening, or worse, hungover in the morning.

"Mo and I are going diving tomorrow," Kat said. I'd forgotten she'd done her PADI course when she first came here. "We've got the day off. Why don't you join us?"

"I'll pass. My fingers are still wrinkled from being in the water so much. I'm looking forward to a few days chilling out on the beach before I get back into a wetsuit."

"How about dinner? Tomorrow evening? You can both come here and Mo can cook."

"He's cooking today."

"It's his hobby."

I wanted to spend more time with Adam, but having other people there would take some pressure off me. I was also curious as to what Kat thought of him. Hopefully, she'd have a higher opinion of him than she did of Bryce.

"I'd need to double-check with Adam, but I think that would be okay."

"Do you know what kind of food he likes?"

"He seems to eat everything. In quite large quantities."

"Got to keep his energy up, eh?" She winked at me.

"Shut up." I changed the subject. "Where are you going diving tomorrow? Anywhere I've been?"

"I don't think so. It's not a site the dive schools go to because the entry's difficult. You can only get in at high tide. It's just before Lionhouse Reef, but it doesn't have a name."

"I don't know where Lionhouse reef is."

"On the south side of town past the Happy Beach Hotel, about twenty minutes from here. It's one of the farthest sites you can drive to in that direction. The road ends, and you have to take camels after that, which is a bit out of our budget."

I'd never ridden a camel before. They always looked, well, slightly cheesed off. But I was supposed to be doing new things.

"Maybe we could do the camel thing before I go home? My treat."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, but I'd like to. As a thank you for putting up with me over the past few weeks. I don't know what I'd have done without you in my corner."

"You'd probably have been moping at home while Bryce begged you through the letterbox to give him his script back."

"Don't remind me."

Mo came in with homemade pizza, and talk turned to lighter subjects as we ate our meal. We just had time to watch a movie with Mason, Kat's latest celebrity crush, before I headed back to the hotel.

"Mason's better than Scott and Brett and Zac and Carl and Trent and Ben," Kat told me as the opening credits rolled.

My eyes rolled too. "In what way?"

"He's got a ten pack."

"Is that even possible?"

"See for yourself."

I did. In fact, I was so busy trying to count, I had no clue what the movie was about. And Kat? She was enraptured. I was thrilled to see her happy—with her movies, with Mo, with her new life in Egypt. I only hoped that one day, I would find that happiness too.