Page 13 of Reset

“Why do you carry all this crap around with you?” He tossed the unlit candles in with everything else and added the bottle of water. Then he used the long strap to sling it across his body.

“In case I need it. Why else?”

“I manage to get through the day without needing anything more than my wallet and army knife.” He pointed at the bag resting on his hip. “This is just extra weight.”

Sarah rolled her eyes and muttered something about men that he didn’t catch.

“Here.” He handed her the lit candle. “You go first. I can look over your shoulder.”

She frowned at him. It was cute. “Are you saying I’m short?”

“If it helps, you’re also perfectly formed.”

She blushed as she took the candle. The color looked good on her. The small flame barely lit up a foot or two in front of them and flickered wildly when they breathed anywhere near it.

Pausing in the doorway, she glanced at him. “Which direction?”

“Ladies get to pick.”

She turned left into the dark tunnel. “It’s wider than I thought it’d be.” Her voice trembled as she inched her way forward.

“Would have to be wide to allow them to carry us down here. Could use a little more height though.” His head skimmed the uneven rock above him, and every now and then, he had to duck to avoid a larger protrusion.

They’d only gone about ten paces when they hit a dead end. Literally. The way was blocked by a cave-in that’d resulted in a floor-to-ceiling mass of tightly packed rocks.

“Guess this is the wrong way.” Ryan moved aside to allow Sarah space to shimmy past in order to lead the way back up the tunnel.

But she didn’t move past him.

Instead, she stood there, staring at the wall of rocks barring their way. “This is really happening, isn’t it?” she said softly.

Gently, Ryan put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. You need to lead the way.”

With a nod, she took the lead again. “How far down do you think we are?”

“No way to tell. Could be twenty feet, could be hundreds.”

“The air is so dry and musty. I wonder how far it has to travel to get to us.”

“The main thing is that there’s more than enough to breathe.”

“Yeah, you’re right…” She trailed off as she kept stealing glances at the walls on either side of them. “Is this tunnel narrowing, or are the walls closing in on me?”

“It’s the lack of light. The shadows play tricks with the mind. Just focus on what you can see, not on what you can’t.”

She barked out a laugh. “I’ll get right on that. How do you stay so calm? I want to run screaming, and it’s taking every bit of my self-control not to. My brain keeps telling me I’d feel better if I screamed. It’s hard to resist.”

“Fight or flight response. It’s natural when you’re in a dangerous situation. I’m calm because I’m focused on what needs to be done, not on what might happen. Stick to the facts. You’re good at that, right? I mean, you were spouting statistics earlier. You must deal in facts all the time.”

“I am dealing with the facts. We’re trapped underground and don’t know where we are or how to get out of here. What else is there?” Panic edged into her voice.

It wasn’t the sound he wanted to hear. The last thing they needed was for either of them to panic. It was time to get Sarah’s mind off the danger and on to something else.

“Well, we could talk about our past,” he said. “I’ve been wondering about some things. We had sex on our first real date, right? It’s not fair that I can’t remember it, which is driving me crazy. You have to tell me—did I rock your world?”

Sarah tripped over the uneven surface. Ryan’s hand shot out to grab his jacket and steady her.

When she turned to glare at him, her cheeks were flushed a pretty shade of rose pink. “I don’t think this is an appropriate time to discuss that.”