You Never Know

Then she sat back down in my lap, and once I'd calmed down, asked "Are you okay Doug?"

I began to relax and then leaned back and replied "Yeah, I'm sorry for acting like that. I haven't done that in a very long time."

She smiled that earth shattering smile again and said "You don't ever have to be sorry. And just so you know, I'm here if you ever want to talk, alright?" I gently pulled her to me, and as tenderly as I knew how, I softly kissed her on the lips. She responded likewise and before I realized it; we were in the middle of a very passionate kiss. I felt my groin begin to stir to the point that, with her sitting in my lap the way she was; it wouldn't be too long before she would definitely be able to feel it. So, I slowly ended the kiss and gently held her at arm's length so I could look at her.

Her beautiful face was flushed and excited, and I'm sure I looked the same as well, but with great difficulty, I remained strong and replied, "Why don't we calm down a little and talk some more, alright?"

"Okay," she smirked, "But I'm still not going to get off your lap."

~~~~~~

Chapter Five

Later that morning; Jennifer was ready to make her first pool dive and take her underwater skills test. I had plans that included taking the crew out on the boat for some further training. However; that went to hell in a hand basket when, because of the nights previous activities, Sherry had unknowingly suffered a broken collar bone. She only thought she'd been roughed up a little. When she showed up for work wearing a tank top shirt; I immediately saw that what she called simple bruises, were more than they appeared to be. I sent her to the hospital, and to her protests as well as also making sure she went; I sent Chuck Bowers and Todd Jackson along with her. The job of certifying Jennifer on her pool dives now fell in my hands. I wasn't too upset about it though because, although I wasn't ready to admit it to myself yet; I was falling in love with her. And if the truth were to be known; I couldn't wait to spend more time with her that day.

~~~~~~

We went to the Florida Keys Community College Pool for this part of her training. I immediately saw an old friend of mine from the Navy whom I knew worked and taught there. His name was Dick Smith, and when he saw me walking into the pool house with Jennifer he said "Well hey Doug! How are ya, buddy?"

"I'm doing fine Dick, how are you?" I replied.

I should've known he was up to mischief when, as we got closer, he looked at Jennifer, and with a smirk, said "Well, she's a lot prettier than the last two students you drowned in here last month!"

Jennifer's eyes went wide as saucers as both Dick and I began to laugh, and to Jennifer, I replied, "Don't pay any attention to him. He's full of shit sometimes."

Her face melted into a smile as she said, "No wonder you two are friends then."

"What do you mean?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"Because; you're full of shit sometimes too," she smirked.

"Sounds like she knows you well, old friend," Dick laughed.

Knowing that I'd been had; I just grinned and said, "Both of you can kiss my ass ya know."

Shortly thereafter, I showed Jennifer how to rig her buoyancy control jacket (BCD) and regulator to her tank. Then I showed her how to suit up and prepare to enter the water. Once this was done I rigged my own gear and in a matter of seconds; we were both bobbing on the surface of the deep end of the pool. I gave her some final instructions right before we submerged, and then once we were beneath the surface; we began her underwater skills instructions and tests. She scored excellent, just like I knew she would. After all, she was a very intelligent woman to begin with and I found myself becoming fonder of her as time progressed.

~~~~~~

Upon completion of that phase of her training, it was time for her to take her final written exams, both the Open Water and Advanced Open Water. When we got back to the dive shop; I led Jennifer into the classroom, and as I handed her the test papers, said, "Okay, here are the exams. Your open water dives usually come before your written tests, but I'm gonna do it like this. And if anyone doesn't like it, that's just tough shit. Take your time on these tests and you'll be alright."

"You think so?" she asked nervously.

I patted her on the shoulder and replied, "Just remember your training and you'll do fine." She smiled at me and as I turned to leave the room, I winked and added, "Good luck, I'll be back in an hour or so."

~~~~~~

I retuned an hour later and she was just finishing up when I appeared in the doorway of the classroom. "Well how do you think you did?" I asked when she handed me her test papers.

She smiled widely, and with a cocky tone of voice that I'd not heard before, she arched her right eyebrow grinning, and said, "I aced these." I suddenly discovered I was looking into a mirror as I saw a side of myself in her, which I found to be absolutely adorable. This woman was beginning to affect me in ways I was not familiar with.

So, with my shoulders held back in teasing defiance, I smiled and cockily replied, "Well then, we'll just have to see about that, now, won't we?" and then laughed. I took the test paper into my office and sat down to grade it with Jennifer standing right beside me to be there when her point had been proven.

It took me all of five minutes to get done, and sure enough; she had aced both exams. When I turned to look at her, it was obvious by my facial expressions that her claim about the tests had come to fruition. She smiled very widely and said "See? I told you I aced them."

I simply laughed and replied, "Yeah, you did, and now I guess I have to take you out to dinner, huh?"

She put her hands on her hips and sweetly but sharply replied, "Not just dinner, dinner at The Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Sherry said that you promised to....."

"Sherry has a big mouth," I said, as I stood up smiling, "And yes, a promise is a promise, okay?"

"Really?" she asked, sounding like a girl instead of a woman. I nodded my head, and before I could move, she squealed and threw her arms tightly around my neck hugging me, while at the same time pressing her body fully against mine.

~~~~~~

I had a chopper fly us to the hotel in Miami that evening, calling ahead before we left so as to have an escort there to meet us at the small heliport atop the Fontainebleau. I wore the same suit I'd worn in Washington. Jennifer wore a very tasteful mini skirt made of black leather, with a cream colored blouse beneath a jacket that matched her skirt. Her feet were elegantly adorned in black leather heels that were not too tall, but tall enough to make her look even sexier than she already was, if that was even possible. As we took the elevator down the short distance to 'The Penthouse Restaurant', I looked at Jennifer and said, "In case I forgot to tell you, you look very beautiful tonight."

"Thank you," she replied, kissing me, "And so do you, you handsome thing!"

Once we had been seated, Jennifer looked out the window and received a breath taking view of the Miami skyline at night. "My God, Doug, this is beautiful," she gasped, and then smiling and taking my hand in both of hers, she caressed it and softly cooed, "Thank you for this evening. You really didn't have to do this ya know."

"If I remember right, someone told me that they wanted their steak served medium rare when they aced all their tests," I smiled.

"You sweet, sweet man," she replied, her eyes sparkling like two blue diamonds.

~~~~~~

We had spent the evening dining and dancing until the wee hours of the morning, before taking the helicopter back to Key West just as the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon. As we watched the rising sun from passenger bay of the Bell 427 helicopter, traveling home at 95 knots and at an altitude of 500 feet, I looked at Jennifer snuggled closely to me and asked, "Did you have a good time?"

"Oh my God, are you kidding? Yes, I had a wonderful time. Thank you, Doug," she replied, as she slowly she leaned over and gently brushed her lips against mine. Soon it turned more passionate, and the next thing I knew, she was practically sitting in my lap.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Jennifer, sweetie. I think we, I mean I, ought to slow things down a little," I said, gently pulling her away from me, but still holding her at less than arms length.

"I understand, Doug," she smirked, "But I know you won't be able to resist me forever."

"You're something else, gorgeous," I replied with a smile.

~~~~~~

It was just a little after noon when the phone rang, waking me up. I answered the extension sitting on my nightstand, to find out that it was Mike calling in to see how things were going.

"Hi Doug, how are things in sunny Key West?"

"Fine Mike, how are you?"

"I'm good; it sounds like you just woke up, late night, huh?"

"Kind of," I yawned.

Can I speak to Jennifer?" he laughed, "Or is she worn her out, too?"

"Jeez, Mike, gimme a break," I chuckled, "Hang on a minute, and I'll get her for you."

I walked down the hall and tapped on Jennifer's door, and called her name. After getting no response, I repeated the process. Finally, after three more attempts, I slowly opened her door, lightly tapping on it as I did. Still, no answer so, I walked on into her bedroom and when I saw her lying on the bed, I almost had a heart attack right there. She was laying on her stomach with her face turned away from me. However, not only was she still asleep and dead-to-the-world, but she had apparently kick off her cover in her sleep. The sheet lay at her knees, leaving her naked body exposed to my eyes. I was blessed with the sight of the most perfect ass I've ever seen on a woman. Two beautifully sculpted creamy white globes of flesh pressed together until flaring out exposing the wisp of blonde pubic hair that hid the soft sweet treasure beneath it. Long slender legs flowed from her ass all the way down, and then disappeared beneath the cover. As my eyes left her ass and went up the slope of her waist and onto her back, blonde strands of hair covered her back, but still slightly revealed the sides of her creamy breasts pressed into the matress. I would've loved to have been able to stare at her all day, but Mike wanted to talk to her on the phone. So, after pulling the sheets back over her body and covering her, I moved back to the door until just my head was inside the doorjamb, and loudly said, "JENNIFER!"

She snapped her head back around toward the door, then smiled and sleepily replied, "Good morning, Doug."

"Good morning to you, too," I smiled, "Mike Nelson is on the phone and he wants to talk to you. You can take it in my room. I'll be in the kitchen starting breakfast, okay."

"Okay, thanks, Doug, "she smiled, gathering the sheets around her naked body as she sat up in bed, "Tell him I'll be right there." I left her room, went back and told Mike what she'd said, and then headed to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee and start making breakfast.

The coffee had just finished brewing and I was getting ready to pour a cup for each of us, when Jennifer came walking into the kitchen wearing a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts and a plain white tee shirt. It was obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra, as she sat down at the table, and with a bright smile, leaned over and softly kissed me on the cheek as I sat down next to her, then cooed, "Mmm, good morning, handsome."

"Hi," I smiled, "Did you sleep well?"

"Gosh," she giggled, "I must've been really tired to have slept so soundly last night. I didn't hear you knock."

"Yeah, we had a pretty late night, last night, huh?"

"Oh yes," she swooned, "But I had such a good time last night, Doug, thank you again."

"Well, I was just trying to keep my word. After all, you passed all your tests ya know."

"Oh Doug," she smiled coyly, "You can't tell me that you weren't having a good time yourself."

"Oh, I don't know," I smiled, teasing her, "Maybe just a little."

"I thought so," she sweetly replied, reaching over the table and gently patting my hand.

~~~~~~

Chapter Six

That afternoon found us, us being, myself, Jennifer, David and Sherry, aboard Andromeda, and sitting in 75 feet of water while I prepared to take Jenny on her first open water dive. I made sure that she rigged her own gear, and after her doing so; I gave it the final inspection. Of course she did no less than perfect, which is what I expected from her. Once we were both rigged and suited, off Andromeda's stern we went.

As soon as she hit the water and was completely submerged, I gave her the signal to follow me. I watched her closely as we descended, making sure she was able to equalize properly. I wasn't surprised when she did exactly as she was trained to do. The really cool thing about it was, that Jennifer seemed to take to being under the water as if she had been born to it. Later on, we all teased her by saying that we thought she might be part fish. Of course, she took it all good naturedly.

As soon as we touched down on the ocean floor, she performed her underwater skills test with perfect precision. She was a natural, I knew it the moment she hit the water. After she passed her tests, I took her to a shallower reef that was filled with marine life. I could see her obvious delight in everything she saw. I showed her the antic's of the Yellow-Headed Jawfish. These are the little guys that build their homes by digging a narrow hole in the sand, and then putting small stones around its entrance. If another Jawfish builds its home too close to another one's, the other one will either try to steal stones from the new ones home, or will try to run him off all together. Also, if a stone accidentally gets knocked into a Jaw fish's hole, the little guy will swim out with the stone in his mouth, spit it out, and then do a little dance, before darting back into his home again. It's really neat to watch these little guys. All too soon though, we reached our no-decompression limits and the time to surface had come. We ascended at the same rate as our bubbles, no faster, and then once we reached the proper depth; we remained there for five minutes, allowing our bodies to decompress before we could ascend.

~~~~~~

The moment we broke the surface, and were back aboard Andromeda, I saw a wild, excited look in Jennifer's eyes the second she took off her mask. "Oh, wow, Doug," she exclaimed smiling," That was so cool. I can't wait to do it again."

"Let's eat some lunch first, "I chuckled, "That should give us more than enough time to off-gas, and then we'll do your second open water dive."

As we ate, Jennifer relived her first dive for David and Sherry, both of whom knew the excitement she was feeling. She was so precious to watch as she was very animated in her actions when describing what all she had seen. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair laughing, hell; we all did, when Jennifer showed us her version of the Jaw fish's dance.

~~~~~~

Her second dive was not too dissimilar from her first. The only difference was we were at a shallower depth than before, but still; she performed brilliantly and that was what counted the most. Jennifer had been a great student, possibly one of the best I'd had in long while, if not ever. I only had to show her how to do everything one time, and one time only, man, how refreshing.

~~~~~~

On the way back to port, Jennifer sat with Sherry on Andromeda's stern, enjoying a cold drink, and wore a self satisfied little smirk on her face as she looked out to sea. "How're you doing?" I asked, coming up behind her.

"Aw man," she replied smiling, "I'm pleased that everything went so well.

"That's good," I replied with a grin, "But you still have to do the mile-long swim before you're finished."

~~~~~~

That evening back at my house, I had taken some chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw before we left that morning, and by the time we made it back that evening; they were ready for the grill. I told Jennifer to go ahead and take her shower first so that I could get everything ready for dinner.

I walked out on my deck and fired up the grill. Then I went back into the kitchen and took the chicken out of the refrigerator. As I went back out onto the deck, my mind drifted back to the previous night in Miami, and how beautiful Jennifer had looked then. "Hell, she was still just as beautiful without being all dressed up," I silently said to myself. I knew she harbored feelings for me, that much was certain. As I began to lay the chicken breasts on the grill, I realized that the real question was whether I had feelings for her. Little did I realize, that my feelings for her were about to be revealed.

"Wow, that shower felt great, Doug," Jennifer said behind me, breaking me out of my reverie and making me turn around. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of white shorts and a form-fitting peach colored tank top, and although her hair was wet and she had a towel hanging around her shoulders, I found her to be even more stunning than ever before.

"Then, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," I smiled, feeling my groin stirring again.

She walked over to where I stood, then after looking down at the chicken roasting on the grill, she smiled and said, "I'm gonna have to take a rain-check on the swim tomorrow."

"Oh, no you don't," I laughed, "You're getting out of it that easy."

"I'm sorry, Doug," she softly replied, "But I've got to go back to D.C. tomorrow."

I wasn't prepared for that one, and the disappointment must've plainly shown on my face, because Jennifer laughed, and said, "Relax, Doug. I'll only be gone for a few days, a week at the very most."

"Oh well," I sullenly replied, "I guess that's okay then."

"Aw, Doug," she said, placing her arms around my waist, "What's wrong, sweetie, hmm?"

I decided to just say "What the hell" and tell how I really felt. "Jennifer," I began, "Ever since I first laid eyes on you in Washington, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And as I've gotten to know you a little better, I've found that I'm beginning to experience certain feelings where you're concerned. You're telling me that you're leaving tomorrow, and now I find myself standing on very unfamiliar territory."

"Doug," she smiled knowingly, running her fingernails through my hair on the back of my head, "What're you trying to tell me, sweetie?"

"Aw hell," I sighed, relenting, "I guess what I'm saying is that; I'm going to miss you....a lot," and then throwing all caution to the wind, I leaned in closely to her and softly kissed her sweet lips.

The kiss remained tender, but our arms snaked their way around one another's body, holding us firmly against one another. Her firm breasts were pillowed tightly against my chest as her groin found its way to mine, softly pushing, slowly grinding. Jennifer held herself there until I was rock hard, and then as she softly released me from the kiss; she blatantly pushed her pubic bone against my hardness, and while seductively smiling, purred, "Mmm, Doug, I'm gonna miss you, too, baby." Then she stepped away from me and looked down. When she saw my erection plainly visible in my swim trunks, her eyes went wide. A smile like none I'd yet seen from her began to spread across her face, remaining as she looked wantonly into my eyes and breathed, "I think you better go take your shower now. That way we both will have a chance to, uh...cool down." Then with her face blushing brightly, she turned to the grill and giggled, "I'll make sure the chicken doesn't burn while you're taming that monster in you pants."

"Smart ass woman," I laughed, walking back into the house.

That evening we ate our meal holding hands, and slowly reveling in just being together. I wanted to take things slowly, as did Jennifer. So, when bedtime came, I suddenly felt alone when I released her hand, bidding her goodnight at her bedroom door. As I lay in my bed that night, my heart soared at my feelings for Jennifer, while my arms ached from wanting to hold her next to me.