“Riley?”
She heard the voice whispering in her ear, but she didn’t want to move. Her bed was comfy, and she deserved this, deserved to finally be on vacation and to sleep-in for a change. That’s what Caribbean islands were made for.
“Riley, we should get up now.”
She snuggled in closer. The man she held was warm and strong and smelled like warm earth after a summer rain shower. “I don’t want to.”
A chuckle reverberated in the chest beneath her cheek.
“I’m okay with that, but I don’t think I can hold off Copper much longer.”
Copper? Who was Copper? She didn’t have any men in her unit with that last name. Confused, she opened her eyes to ask and found it pitch black. What the hell?
A wet tongue on her right arm had her quickly rolling to the side and sitting up. “Eck.”
The man next to her laughed. “I think Copper is going to make for a great alarm clock.”
Garrett. The mine. His voice along with the darkness and the dog’s wake-up call brought her present reality back in a rush. Shit, had she been sleeping on Garrett? He must think her completely crazy. She ignored the flush in her face and focused on the dog. It was easier. “Glad he won’t be wakingmeup.”
Obviously clueless to what she’d said, Copper jumped on her, his target her face. “Seriously, dude?” She kept him away from her face with one hand while she petted him with the other. “I’m happy to see you too, or rather feel you, but you don’t see me slobbering all over you.”
That brought another laugh from Garrett. “I think he’d be happy if you did.”
His voice rose as he spoke, cluing her in to the fact he’d risen. “My guess is Copper is looking for two things.”
She stood as much to keep the dog from her as to get up for the day, such as it was. “Myguess is he wants food and to pee, not necessarily in that order.”
The light came on, showing Garrett found the whole situation amusing. Did the man not realize they were still trapped in the mine?
He moved toward her. “How are your hands?”
She held them up, having completely forgotten she’d scraped the hell out of them during the night. “As for manicures, you probably need practice, but my fingers are nicely scabbed.”
He took one hand in his and held the light close. “They’re okay for now, but you can’t dig. You’ll rip them open.”
“Garrett, I did that every day for eleven days last time and came out alive.” She’d been dehydrated, had a fever, and dysentery as well, but he didn’t have to know that.
His brows lowered. “This isn’t Afghanistan, and you are not alone. You can talk to me while I dig. I doubt there’s far to go.”
If he thought she would sit on her hands while he did all the work, he was in for a surprise. But first things first. “I think we should all take a trip to the bathroom before we contemplate anything else.” She nodded in the direction of the tunnel before glancing at the dirt they had pulled away from the cave-in yesterday. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“What?” Garrett turned. “Well, fuck me. We can’t catch a damn break.” He strode to where the gravel had quietly filled in the area they had cleared, making it look as if they’d done nothing but laze around all day yesterday.
Her heart sank. It was just like back in Afghanistan. She’d half-expected it, but had hoped the different type of soil and the shape of the mountain would be in their favor. So much for hope. “We’re still better off than I was overseas, so let’s take care of the necessities first,” She pointedly looked at Copper who had moved down the tunnel as far the light beam went and stood there looking back at them. “Then we can come up with another plan.”
Garrett strolled closer to the dirt pile moving the light so Copper was no longer visible.
Though sure the dog hadn’t moved, it still made her uneasy. It made no sense when she’d slept the whole night not knowing where Copper was. Actually, she’d slept soundly once her hands were treated, oblivious to everything, even the fact she’d jumped the rail with her body to lay with Garrett. What did he think about that? Irrationally irritated, she called him. “We can look at that later. Copper has left without us.”
At her tone, Garrett swung around. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
He didn’t say another word as he led the way. As soon as the light lit on Copper, she relaxed. This time she’d count steps back. She could return without him in the dark and he could have some privacy. At five hundred, he stopped.
“Here you go.” He held out her phone. “I’ll wait here.”
The man was a gentleman through and through. She wanted to say she’d shared a head with men before, but didn’t mind not having to. Some of them were pigs. “Thanks.” She took the phone and angled it so it revealed the ore cart he had set on the rails the day before. It was about a hundred more steps away. “Come on, Copper.”
As if the dog knew his new name, he followed her. When she stepped into the small room, she brought Copper to the far wall. “Okay, you can pee now.”
