Page 37 of Freedom Mine
No, he was saying more. He was afraid to get involved with her, but was that because of Ranth or her past?
“There’s nothing between Ranth and me.”
He stood straighter, as if she’d just said he was the smartest or bravest man in the Universe. Male pride no doubt, though Kayo wasn’t one to flaunt anything, including his position over others. He kept himself separate from the men, as an owner would, but not in a way that equated him to other owners. He treated the men fairly, worked as hard as they did, harder even, yet he kept his distance from them, emotionally.
Right now, he looked torn, as if he wanted more, but denied himself the opportunity. . . because of her? The dichotomy in this man standing before her was dizzying, yet strangely enthralling.
That delicious smile of his suddenly made him look like a lion that had scented its prey. She shivered. She was the prey, though she had no desire to run from him.
If she had the courage, she’d peel his shirt away and feel the hard muscles she’d been admiring every time he loaded equipment onto the harkifa or slid under the landglider to make repairs.
“I have to get going,” she said before she could act on any of her fantasies. “Ranth is showing me how to mix the feed for the harkifa before I head up to the shack.”
“Ranth.” The light in his rich brown eyes dimmed.
By Kerak’s Teeth, he did see Ranth as competition! She had no interest in Ranth, other than as a friend and someone who taught her how to care for the harkifa. Was Kayo holding back because of Ranth? She couldn’t imagine Kayo being scared of him or anyone for that matter. Maybe it was how cold she’d been to Kayo. . .
Each night there’d been a new gift on her dresser. Small gifts, but he’d put thought into each and every one. The most precious gift had been how he forced himself to enter the tight space each night to leave the gifts. And now he’d made a picnic for her. It was sweet, thoughtful. All of it, and she had refused.
Kayo headed back down the path and scooped up the blanket and food, the sadness in his eyes hard to miss.
“Kayo,” she called, waiting until his eyes met hers. “Thank you for the flowers. They’re really nice.”
A warm smile crossed his face, which made her smile in turn. It was odd how something as simple as a smile from Kayo lifted her spirits. But she needed more. She wanted to see that hunger in his eyes, that passion he held back.
“Maybe you can show me where you picked them. Later, after my shift?”
His smile spread to his eyes. “I’ll see you then.”
Her inside fluttered with excitement, and for the first time in years, Alli had something to look forward to.
* * *
ALLI
All day, Alli thought about meeting Kayo after her shift. The day would be a busy one, so she couldn’t get hung up on thinking about Kayo. After the miners took their first break and she refilled the water barrel, she gathered the supplies she needed for her project.
After her third day of hauling water, she decided she needed to find a better way to transport the water. She couldn’t exactly ask Kayo to pay for a water conveyor, not with the financial situation the way it was.
She had sifted through the inventory and found what she needed, mostly discarded pipes that the miners weren’t using. It had taken one full shift to lay out a path, clearing some shrubs and rocks along the way. Once she was satisfied with the path, she began placing the pipes, skirting around trees and the natural bend of the terrain as needed. She ran out of pipe ten feet shy of the mine entrance.
Fortunately, the river was higher than the mine’s entrance, or she wouldn’t have been able to fashion a working, albeit crude, aqueduct. The miners would now have a constant and clean water source, especially when no one had time to haul water. Thanks to a soldering laser she found in one of the crates, she finished soldering the pipes in only two days.
The water flowed nicely, though a bit too heavily. She had to shift the last pipe slightly to point away from the mine entrance and allow the runoff to flow downhill, at least until she could find or fashion a spigot to shut the flow. She needed to avoid sending water into the mine.
Alli headed back to the river, piled rocks onto the originating pipe to hold it in place, and crimped the opening to half of its diameter to reduce the flow to a respectable trickle. She could always pry it open again later if needed. Maybe she could dismantle a spigot in the house to see what she’d need to fashion one from scrap material.
As she approached the bottom of the hill that led to the mine entrance, she spotted Tieg and Bawson hanging out on the trail. She could go off trail, to sneak past them, but the mud covered the area and that section was particularly steep.
“Where you been, Blue?” Bawson noticed her before she could come up with another option.
“The river.”
“You ain’t carryin’ no water bucket. If you’re gonna lie, make it believable.”
“I’m not lying,” she said, forcing herself to meet Bawson’s eyes.
Bawson arched his neck, checking the trail behind her. “Who you doing back there? Ranth come all the way up here for some pussy?”
