Page 23 of Bound By Earth (The Nature Hunters Academy 1)

“You know, getting out in the field, collectingsamples.”

Shelly’s face scrunched up. “Samples ofrock?”

Jax nodded. “Rocks, minerals, crystals, gems, you name it. Anything that can be found beneath the earth’ssurface.”

“How much does it pay?” askedShelly.

“I’m not exactly at liberty to discuss salaries at this stage of the recruitment process, but I assure you, our employees are well taken careof.”

“So minimum wage?” saidTara.

Jax chuckled again. He seemed to do that a lot. Even when he was simply talking it felt like everything was amusing tohim.

“No, I’m serious. The pay is more thanadequate.”

“And I wouldn’t have to go to college?” asked Tara with narrowed eyes. What this man was saying was too good to betrue.

“Do you have some aversion to continuededucation?”

“I have some aversion to paying for it,” Tarasaid.

“This I can understand. I assure you, I myself come from modest circumstances. I was not even allowed to attend high school. My parents were killed when I was young, and I was forced into work in the barley fields. Yet, through hard work, I managed to rise from my humblebeginnings.”

Tara’s heart jumped into her throat when the man said his parents were killed when he was young. She stared long and hard at him. There was something unspoken in his eyes, a shared understanding there. Somehow, she knew that he knew more about her than he was lettingon.

“No, college is not necessary,” he continued. “Would you like to start the applicationprocess?”

“Hmm.” Shelly tapped her chin, as she was prone to do even when she was simply pretending to give something thought. “Spend all day outside in the mud digging up a bunch of dumb rocks? Thanks, pal, but no thanks. We’re gonnapass.”

Before Tara could stop her mouth from opening she’d blurted out, “Yes. I’ll do it.” She didn’t know what was going on, but somewhere deep inside Tara felt she had to find out more about this Jax person. If that meant applying for a job at this weird geological place, then so beit.

“What? Tara, are you kidding me?” asked Shelly. “No way, uh-huh. Not doing it. I’m Riversidebound.”

“It’s not exactly an application, Tara,” said the man. “It’s more of an aptitude test. Something like a personality test, if you’ve ever taken one ofthose.”

“Oh, you mean like ‘Do you prefer the color green over the color red? Do you like fluffy clouds instead of storm clouds?’ That type of thing?” askedShelly.

Again came the chuckle. “Yep, exactly that type ofthing.”

It’s like the guy had a secret and found everything Shelly said amusing because of how it related to something only heknew.

“That’s fine,” said Tara. “I’d still like to fill itout.”

Shelly huffed next to her. The whine that followed would make a four-year-old proud. “Tara, c’mon. This isnotmy scene. Let’sgo.”

“You had your say over at the military table, sergeant,” Tara reminded her. “I humoredyou.”

“Actually, I think I was the one doing the humoring. You were being asourpuss.”

Jax handed Tara a pen and said, “One of our interns, Elias, has gone down to the teacher’s lounge to make some copies of the test. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute. Oh, here he comes now.” Jax pointed across the gym to a young man walking toward them carrying a stack of papers under hisarm.

The air whooshed out of Tara as her eyes met aquamarine ones so intense she felt as if staring at them too long might burn herretinas.

“I think I just got pregnant,” Shelly whispered as she took a step closer to Tara. “He’s that hot. He literally impregnated me simply by existing in the same square footage asme.”

When his eyes darted to Shelly, Tara knew he’d heard her. Dammit all, could the earth just open up and swallow her? Just at the end of that thought, the floor beneath her feet began to shake. It was slight, like a tremor, but the room went silent as everyone there began looking around at eachother.

She could feel Jax’s eyes boring a hole into the side of her head, but Tara couldn’t tear her eyes from the newcomer. His presence sucked all the oxygen from her lungs and demanded her attention. He hadn’t even spoken a word, and yet she couldn’t stop staring. Maybe Shelly’s stalking tendency was a contagious illness and Tara had finally caughtit.

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