Sandra Hill - [Jinx] by Pearl Jinx Page A

once they get back.”
    “Didn’t you already know this about the cavern? I saw your maps last night.”
    “We knew the logistics, except Abbie and Mark have now decided that they might want to develop Spruce Creek Cavern as a tourist attraction, and that means minimal or no damage to the formations. They’re demanding extra-special care. That’s not the worst thing, though. That boulder has got to be chipped away, bit by bit, and the pieces removed carefully from the cavern. Again, to preserve the natural state. Which I can appreciate. LeDeux is trying to rent some tools from the archaeology department over at Juniata College so we can chip away at the boulder, granule by friggin’ granule.
    “And we need way more lighting and longer extension cords. And, by the way, you never mentioned that you’d been semi-engaged until recently.”
    “It appears that Adam has a big mouth,” she said. The question was why. Why would Adam consider her personal relationships important enough to mention to Caleb? “When I was studying the maps last night, I pointed out some of the unusual rock formations to Adam. The only reason I know about that kind of technical data is that my friend Del Finley, a geologist from Penns Valley, has studied caverns in the region. We’re just friends.” Actually, she might have hinted to Adam, when he pressed her for a date, that she had something going with Del. But semi-engaged? She’d never used that term.
    Was Adam goading Caleb?
    Why would Caleb care?
    “Friends with benefits?”
    Whoa!
“What gives you the right to ask that?”
    “When you ask a guy for a sperm donation, that gives him rights. Why didn’t you get Del to be your sperm donor?”
    “I didn’t want his sperm.”
    “Should I be flattered?”
    “I’m thinking seriously about pushing you over this rail and into the creek.”
    His lips twitched with suppressed laughter. “Hey, I’m sorry. I was being an ass.”
    “Yes, you were.”
The question is why?
“Del is a friend. Adam was yanking your chain.”
    “Oh, great! That makes me feel better.”
    “Del’s a nice guy, though, and I don’t rule out a connection in the future.” She had to add that to get the last word in, even though it was a lie.
    Unfortunately, the ass wasn’t about to let that happen. “Just out of curiosity, how many men have you mentioned that ticking-clock business to?”
    Just you.
“Dozens.”
    He scowled at her.
    And Claire was oddly pleased.
    Caleb glanced around at the serene setting with absolutely no human activity taking place. He exhaled on a loud whoosh. “Holy hell, we’re gonna be here a month at this rate.”
    The conversation they’d been engaged in the last ten minutes contained more words put together at one time by this usually taciturn man than usual, so she just let him keep talking.
Would a month here be so bad?
she wanted to ask, but she knew it would set off alarm bells in Caleb’s already red-alert system where she was concerned.
    “I heard John on the phone before he left. Sounded to me like he was making a date.”
    “Hah! No surprise there. LeDeux could work as a garbage collector and manage to attract chicks. In fact, Famosa came crawling into my room about two A.M. last night. Don’t think that didn’t give me the creeps. But he only wanted to sleep in the other bed. LeDeux brought some babe to the room he was sharing with Famosa. How could the kid have possibly hooked up so soon out here in the boondocks?” He paused. “I talk too much when I’m around you. Dammit.”
    “Do I fluster you?”
    “Fluster? Now, there’s a new word. Not my favorite F-word, but it’ll do.” He winked at her. “Yeah, you fluster me.”
    That wink went straight to unmentionable places in Claire’s body.
    She decided to get back to the subject at hand. “I can help with the walkway and with the rock. Mark could help, too, if we manage to get him up to the ledge, which I think would be a good idea,