“And no one is to make suggestive comments, watch, smile or otherwise interact with her unless you can put your hand over your heart and say it was work. Am I clear?”
I get an assortment of grumbled agreements.
We’re stuck here, hours from the nearest town, with nothing to do to burn off tension except work out, play cards or drink. I would love nothing more than a fuck.
I want Ashley, even if it means sharing her with these guys.
And from some drunk comments, they feel much the same.
What we don’t know is how she feels. She’s probably too smart to get mixed up with the likes of us.
A few fat drops of rain hit my back. The dark clouds are hugging the mountain. Once the rain sets in, the storm will follow and then there’ll be no reprieve until it passes. “You’d better haul ass unless you want to get wet.”
Reed opens his mouth.
I lift one hand. “Don’t even. The next time someone wants off site, you’re doing the babysitting.”
He groans. On one hand, getting off site is great, shakes up the routine and all of that. On the other hand, it means being on alert for bandits, gangs, militia, and anyone else who doesn’t like foreigners in their country.
I’ve been in too many places as a soldier and as security where it doesn’t matter what good we do, schools, jobs, healthcare and such, people still hate us.
Here it’s a little different in that the more mines go legitimate, and buy the licenses from the government, sell the emeralds legally and pay tax, the more it puts pressure on those who are digging without permits and selling on the black market to do the right thing.
People who’ve been getting away with doing the wrong thing for years, decades even, don’t like it when people play by the rules. Maybe that’s what gets under my skin about Reed.
He’ll get the job done, and do it well, but it means breaking a few rules, then he doesn’t seem to care.
The rain goes from drops to persistent. “You’ve got half an hour before your shift starts. Don’t be late.”
“Throw me some soap…I’ll scrub up here.” Reed grins even though his hair is already plastered to his head.
I have no doubt that if I did, he would.
I walk away, not wanting to be late myself. “Not everyone wants to see your hairy ass.”
“But some do, right?” He calls after me.
CHAPTER3
Ashley
Water sheetsoff the side of the mountain in impromptu waterfalls. It is beautiful and terrifying, because those waterfalls then wash over the road and down the other side of the rocky embankment and end up in the river.
This is normal rain…the actual storm is expected to hit sometime in the next day.
Next to me, Reed sits in silence, rifle across his lap, extra ammunition and at least one pistol and knife attached to his body armor. Face grim. No sign of the smiling, joking man from this morning. I don’t know how to say I didn’t mind being included without it sounding as though I’m giving permission for them to do something like that again.
And how long until something else happens?
Looking is safe. But every time we joke, or is it flirting, the lines become blurred, and I don’t want to be that woman on site. It’s hard enough to be taken seriously without people know that I’m sleeping around.
The car slows and Reed leans forward. “What’s the problem?”
The driver jerks his chin ahead. “Half the road is gone. We have to take it slow.”
Reed presses his lips together and sits back, but his gaze remains on the road, unless it’s darting to the mountainside as though he expects an ambush.
He isn’t admiring the waterfalls or the jungle that scales the mountains.
