Deep Blue by Kat Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

figured marriage for him was still a few years away. But their whirlwind affair led straight to the altar and by then he didn’t care. He had always wanted a family and Kelly seemed like she would make the perfect wife.
    Two years later, she was bored with the whole idea of settling down. She didn’t like his job, didn’t like his traveling, though they had discussed the problem early on and she had sworn she could handle it. She didn’t want kids, she finally admitted—she never really had.
    What she wanted was the savings in his bank account, which, over the years, with his salary and hazardous-duty pay and not much time to spend it, had turned into a pretty good chunk.
    Six months later, they were divorced. Conn was single again and Kelly was gone from his life nearly as fast as she’d come into it—financially, a hell of lot better off than she had been before she had met him. She was nothing but a schemer, he’d found out far too late, like most of the women in his life, including his mother.
    His mother, his ex-wife, and marriage had left a bitter taste in his mouth, and though he had the same needs as every other male, he was a whole lot more cautious about the women he took to bed.
    He might like to spend a few hot nights with Hope Sinclair.
    But it wasn’t going to happen.

Chapter 4
    Hope watched the young photographer, Tommy Tyler, climb the ladder to the Conquest and drop his duffel bag on the deck. He looked exactly the same as he had a few years back—like an eighteen-year-old kid with freckles on his face and a flat-top haircut.
    Chalko handed him his camera equipment, stored in several padded green canvas bags, and Tommy waved as the young black man revved up the boat and powered it back toward shore.
    “Hey, Hope!” Tommy walked toward her in baggy khaki shorts, a tee shirt with a photo of a dolphin on the front, and a pair of flip-flops on his skinny feet.
    “Hey, Tommy!” She smiled as he enveloped her in a big bear hug.
    “Good to see ya, sweet thing.” He gave her a quick perusal, then wiggled his eyebrows. “Still lookin’ hot as ever.”
    She laughed. “Thanks.” She turned to Conner Reese and ignored the fact that he was frowning. “Conner Reese, meet Tommy Tyler.”
    “Pleasure,” Tommy said, extending a hand, which Reese shook.
    “Hope says you’re expecting to do some underwater photography.”
    “That’s right.”
    “You won’t have much to do, at least not yet. We haven’t found anything worth taking a picture of.”
    Tommy looked surprised. “I figured you’d be pulling stuff out of the water or they wouldn’t have sent me.”
    “Yeah, well, you might want to ask Brad Talbot about that.”
    “Or maybe Eddie Markham,” Hope said. “I think he’s more than eager to get publicity for Pleasure Island. Just the idea that people are out here hunting for treasure makes the place sound exciting.”
    Tommy glanced around the deck of the salvage boat. “We’ll take shots of the Conquest and all this equipment. Combined with photos of the island and surrounding reef, we’ll have plenty for the first article in the series. I’ll make it look good, and Hope will make it interesting.”
    Reese didn’t reply. He wasn’t keen on this project, and he didn’t seem to care who knew it.
    “Hope’s using the empty cabin,” he said. “You’ll have to bunk in with the crew.”
    “No problem. If someone will show me the way, I’ll stow my gear and get settled in.”
    A few feet away, Joe Ramirez set the oxygen tank he was working on down on the deck and started toward them.
    “I’ll take him down,” Joe volunteered. The two men introduced themselves, and Joe led Tommy off toward the crew’s quarters in the bow of the boat.
    Hope’s gaze returned to Conner Reese. She saw that he was watching her and there was a scowl on his face. Suddenly, it dawned on her exactly what he was thinking.
    “Tommy and I are just friends, for God’s sake! He’s six years younger than