In Too Deep

IN TOO DEEP A Surprise Baby Romance LAYLA VALENTINE CONTENTS Copyright 1. Jade 2. Jade 3. Nick 4. Nick 5. Jade 6. Nick 7. Jade 8. Jade 9. Nick 10. Nick 11. Jade 12. Jade 13. Nick 14. Jade 15. Jade 16. Nick 17. Jade 18. Nick 19. Jade 20. Jade 21. Nick 22. Nick 23. Jade 24. Jade 25. Nick 26. Nick Epilogue Also by Layla Valentine Copyright 2023 by Layla Valentine All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit written permission of the author. All characters depicted in this fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely coincidental. CHAPTER 1 JADE “Hey, you’re the new coastie, aren’t you?” Jade hung her jacket in the locker that had been provided for her and turned to face the person speaking to her. It turned out to be a tall, fit-looking woman of about her own age — or maybe a little older, maybe closer to thirty — with sandy blond hair and green eyes. “That’s me,” she said. “Jade Lavelle. Nice to meet you.” “Dinah Sullivan.” The woman inclined her head. “Everyone’s been looking forward to this. It’s not often we get fresh blood on the team.” “I’ve been looking forward to it too,” Jade said. “Joining Sector Maui is a big deal.” That was true. Sector Maui Safety and Rescue was a small team, but they were well-known. The Maui Coast Guard had a lot to keep them busy — the ocean out here was a lot more tempestuous than it was back in Los Angeles, where Jade had earned her stripes. Only the cream of the crop qualified for this team, and Jade was excited to be a part of it. “I’m assigned to you for the first two days,” Dinah said. “You can shadow me while I work and get the lay of the land, and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team, too.” “That sounds great.” Jade smiled. “I really appreciate you taking the time, Dinah. I know you have plenty of your own work to do without worrying about me.” “Well, the new team member has to go through orientation, right?” Dinah grinned at her. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, this place is my baby. I love to show it off.” Jade nodded. “I can’t wait to see it.” “Are you ready?” She was dressed in her drysuit, which was different from the one she’d worn in Los Angeles — tailored, she assumed, for the different climate here on Maui, with zippered sleeves and legs that could be removed. Jade unzipped these and placed them in her locker. “All right,” she said. “Let’s go.” “You’ve already seen the locker room, obviously,” Dinah said, leading her through it and out onto the beach. “We share with the men, which is irritating sometimes, because they’re loud and fairly messy. But there’s the partition, at least, so we can keep our section of the room separate from theirs.” “How many women are on the team?” “It’s just you and me, actually,” Dinah said. “That’s another reason I was so excited for you to get here — this team has been a bit of a boys’ club. We did have one other woman, but she retired a few months ago after an incident with a stingray.” Dinah darted a glance at Jade, as if expecting that story to startle her. Jade wasn’t startled. You didn’t get into this line of work if you weren’t ready to confront marine life. She’d gone up against sharks before. After that, a stingray was nothing. Dinah didn’t comment on the fact that Jade hadn’t asked any follow-up questions about the ray, but Jade saw the expression on her face and knew that she was impressed. It was a good way to start things off, impressing her new coworker. She hoped she’d be as lucky with the rest of the team. “All right,” Dinah said. “Here’s the fleet.” They’d reached a little pier, where a few speedboats and jet skis were docked. Jade was a little surprised. “Is this the whole thing?” “This is it,” Dinah said. “Were you expecting more?” “Well, my team in Los Angeles had a much bigger fleet,” Jade explained. Dinah nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “The difference is that we’re such a small squad. We really don’t need that many watercraft. There’s enough here for every person on the team to take their own vehicle out at the same time — and that’s really more than we need, because in most cases you’d have more than one person on the same vehicle.” Jade nodded. “I guess I hadn’t realized how small the team really was.” “Sector Maui is elite,” Dinah said. “You know that, of course. But it’s really rare for anybody new to join the squad. The standard Maui Coast Guard is around to deal with the less urgent things we face. Sector Maui stays focused on more dire emergencies at sea.” “I’m excited to get my feet wet,” Jade said. “Hopefully it won’t happen anytime soon,” Dinah said. “A good day for Sector Maui is a day when we all stay on dry land!” “I’d imagine,” Jade agreed. “What’s the frequency of your missions, usually?” “We can count on two or three a week, because of the tourists,” Dinah said. “The locals are used to the ocean conditions around here and know how to make responsible choices to keep themselves safe, but the tourists tend to end up out to sea a lot. That’s usually who we end up having to rescue. And then there are the tour companies.” “The tour companies?” “There are a lot