‘When we get to the top, pretend you feel sick.’
‘Okay. Why?’
‘Trust me. I have a plan.’
I let out a huge sigh of relief. ‘You do? I can’t believe you’d come all this way down here for me.’
‘I’d do anything for you,’ he says quietly as we reach the entrance to the shaft. His eyes are twinkling in the torchlight.
My heart soars. That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. ‘I can’t let you risk your job for me. What if you get caught?’ I whisper back.
‘You’re worth the risk.’
He is looking so intensely at me it’s all I can do not to tell him that I love him. That I’ve fallen head-over-heels madly in love with him. He’s so kind. So thoughtful. So funny. So heroic. So great to be with. I can’t imagine being with anyone as perfect for me as he is. He gently strokes my cheek, and he looks about to say something when, suddenly, a gust of stale air whistles through the tunnel, causing an ethereal shrieking sound.
‘Ghosts! I can see the ghosts!’ Mimi screams.
She’s right. I can make out figures swirling around us. Huge twirls of something catching the light and disappearing.
‘Oh my God!’ Carlton is yelling. ‘Ghosts!’
I almost leap into Cam’s arms. He clutches me to him as I hide my head in his solid chest.
‘C’est de la poussière.Du calme! Du calme!’ Henri is yelling.
‘It’s dust!’ translates Cam, much to everyone’s relief. ‘It’s just dust.’
Dust clouds swish around us, forming shapes in the darkness. It is very, very scary. When we all take a moment to process, I lift my head from Cam’s chest. I am still enclosed in his tight grip and my heart is thumping wildly. I inhale his scent. The lemon and woody aroma is a welcome distraction as I rest my face against him. I close my eyes to hear the beat of his heart. I feel the heat of his body.
‘Two questions,’ I whisper. ‘One. Are you wearing body armour? And two. How many languages can you speak?’
His cleverness and unexpected talents are an enormous aphrodisiac, and I am inappropriately aroused, considering our unique and terrifying circumstances thirty feet below the Mexican jungle in an abandoned mineshaft.
Cam tries not to giggle and tells me with his eyes that we are still trying to maintain a professional distance for the sake of the rescue mission.
‘Put these on,’ instructs the guide once we are safely at the base of the shaft. ‘We will lift you up one by one. Check each other like at the beginning.’
‘But I can barely see,’ moans Mimi. ‘What am I supposed to be checking?’
The instructor rolls his eyes and points to his metal carabiner loops and yanks on one of them. ‘You no check properly, you die. Very simple.’
‘I’ll buddy On-ree,’ says Carlton quickly. ‘Mimi, might be best if the instructor checks your harness.’
While everyone gets busy pulling at flaps and checking buckles are tight and secure, Cam turns to me. ‘Let’s get you checked over.’
In the darkness, my senses are awfully heightened because Cam is very much like a heroic action figure. His eyes meet mine and in slow motion he reaches for me, gently pulling each fastening. With each tug I find myself inching closer to him until we are only a few inches apart. The last buckle is by my pelvis. He gives it a strong tug. I feel that sexual chemistry swirling up from inside me. It’s all I can do to keep a straight face. It is essential we do not draw any unwanted attention.
‘It’s not as fun as zip-lining into the cenote,’ he murmurs. It causes me to think back to the image of Cam getting out of the water like a Greek god, water dripping over his every muscle. I wonder if he is picturing me in my tiny two-shoelaces bikini.
When it’s my turn, I linger on Cam’s shoulders as I reach up to check the buckles. He reaches out to steady me, placing his hands gently on my waist. It causes electric sparks to shoot through me. Without taking my eyes from his, I slide my fingers lightly down his arms to check his body harness and clips. I hear him take a sharp intake of breath as I deliberately run my fingers slowly over his stomach and round to his lower back.
I want him. I want him real bad. My breathing is all over the place. It doesn’t help that the air is so thin down here and making me feel woozy and light-headed.
‘Are you okay?’ he asks. ‘The air is so thin down here.’
The moment we lock eyes I realise it isn’t the air. It’s him. It’s all him. He has such a dizzying effect on me.
Giovanni flicks me a quick confused look. I am instantly reminded that discretion is key. I step quickly back from Cam. ‘So, erm, right. That’s you checked and ready to go.’
