“Kin—I’m okay with that.”
She finally smiled, then pulled her lower lip between her teeth and looked at him. “Me too.”
“Good. Because you’re stuck with me for a while.”
“I am?”
“Yeah, you are.”
Kinley leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. “I’m okay with that.”
CHAPTER16
“Ms. Dunn?”
Kinley looked up from the carving she was examining. “Kinley. You can call me Kinley.” She was never going to get used to the deference these grad students showed her. She wasn’t that much older than them.
The guy blushed. “Right. Uh, you wanted to know when they arrived. They just drove through the checkpoint.”
Kinley grinned and jumped up from the short stool she sat on. “Thanks!” She dashed through the tunnels and chambers, having to backtrack twice when she turned the wrong way. Bursting from the entrance, she ran across the space between the temple and the new campsite.
Two weeks. She hadn’t seen Shane in two weeks. Twice as long as the length of time she’d spent with him in Guatemala. It was honestly ridiculous. If any of her friends told her they’d fallen in love with a guy after only a few weeks, she’d tell them they were crazy. Especially when they’d been separated for most of that time. Angie, Leonidas’s IT specialist, hadn’t been able to get the network operating until five days ago, so they hadn’t even been able to video chat more than a few times.
A large black SUV came down the lane they’d cleared to ensure no ruins were destroyed. It stopped at the edge of the camp and Shane exited the passenger side. He closed the door and scanned the camp. Eduardo, one of the drivers, pointed in Kinley’s direction and Shane turned, breaking into a huge grin when he saw her running toward him.
At the last second prior to throwing herself at him, she remembered he was still recovering from being shot.
It didn’t stop him though. As soon as she was in front of him, he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her up against him, his mouth devouring hers.
Kinley wrapped her arms around his neck and lost herself in the kiss. It was like being home after a long absence—familiar and safe, but exciting to find out what had changed since she’d been gone.
“Ivers, put her down before you pull something and end up back in the hospital. I can’t afford to be here for another week.”
Shane broke their kiss. “Shit,” he muttered.
Kinley smiled and touched her forehead to his.
He put her down and loosened his hold around her waist. “Graham.”
The tall man approached and held out his hand, forcing Shane to let go of her. Aiden Graham had taken some getting used to. His gruff, no-nonsense, do-it-my-way-so-it’s-done-right attitude had made her nervous at first, but he was amusing when he wasn’t in work mode and he’d gone to bat for her on more than one occasion with the Foundation.
“Good to see you, boss,” Shane said.
“You too. I know you guys have some catching up to do, but I have a flight in a few hours and I need to bring you up to speed.”
Shane glanced at Kinley and looked as disappointed as she felt. Standing on her toes, she kissed him on the cheek. “Go. Work comes first. Eduardo can take your bags to our tent.”
He leaned close. “Ourtent?”
Kinley glanced at Graham and blushed when she realized there were two other people she didn’t recognize who had gotten out of the back of the SUV.
Shane smirked and kissed her quickly. “Students,” he said. “Eduardo said you’d take care of them.”
She sighed. As word had gotten out, they’d been getting half a dozen or so students every other day. These two would put them close to thirty. She needed to talk to Dr. Biert about putting up another dormitory tent.
“Okay,” she said. “Do what you need to and I’ll get them checked in. I’ll see you later.” It looked like her plan was going to be delayed.
She looked across the hood at the driver. “Eduardo, can you take Shane’s bags to our tent?”
