8.
Petal
Pain exploded up her arm.
“OW!” she yelped, sitting upright and rubbing the tender area. “What was that?” The words came out in a half-snarl as she rounded on Lex.
Her eyes desperately searched in the dark for his face, trying to determine what sort of expression he had on. Smirking, probably. Did he think that was funny? Or flirtatious? That had hurt!
“Most people call it a pinch, I believe.”
If there had been any light, Petal was positive her vision would have been tinged with red. She wanted nothing more than to reach up and throttle his perfectly proportioned face. Just bam! with her fist, with a right cross. The three boxing lessons she’d taken as a rebellious fifteen-year-old would be perfect right then. He wouldn’t even know it was coming.
Her mind flashed back to the way he’d snagged her wrist in midair when she’d tried to hit him with the rock. The memory of how abruptly her arm had stopped came back to her. He hadn’t even trembled from the effort; his fingers simply closed around the smallest part of her wrist and held her there. Lex was stronger than she thought. Hitting him, if she could even make contact, probably wouldn’t do anything.
“Fine, I’ll play. What were your reasons for pinching me?”
Lex might have snorted. She wasn’t sure, the noise was too faint even in the cave.
“So that you don’t fall asleep.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn’t see the gesture. “Well why didn’t you just tell me you were afraid of the dark? I didn’t realize being the only one awake would scare you so badly.”
“Hah. You’ve got spirit, I like that. But believe it or not, that was for your own benefit.”
A flush of unexpected excitement at his compliment flowed through Petal. She wanted to figure out why that was, but the rest of his words caught and kept her attention. “For my benefit? What benefit does you inflicting pain on me give me?”
“You bumped your head. Rather hard at that. There’s a chance you may have a concussion. So, you need to stay awake for a while.”
“Oh.” Her anger faded instantly. The part of it that had been directed at him for pinching her at least. Now she was going to have to go sleepless for who knew how long. If there was one thing guaranteed to make her a complete and utter bitch—and not just the façade she maintained—it was to deprive her of sleep.
“Think you can do it?”
She didn’t quite snap at him. “I’m a human office worker that you’re expecting to be able to keep themselves awake. What do you think?”
“All right. Well, I guess I’ll have to do something to keep you awake.”
Petal froze. Was he insinuating that they should sleep together, just so that she wouldn’t fall asleep? Her brain played back several images of him from earlier in the day. Memories that showed off his muscle, or the agility he possessed to jump from the bucket on his truck to the ground. Then it decided to inject her with a feeling of gratefulness for saving her life. All of a sudden the concept of sleeping with Lex didn’t seem all that terrible.
“Uh, oh, okay,” she said, knowing her eyes were wide. How the hell had she gone from zero to one hundred in the span of perhaps four or five seconds? That was not the way she approached sexual relationships.
Could he be exerting some sort of subtle mental influence over her? Or was it her natural human response to a near-death experience? She’d been told that sexual arousal, the reaffirmation of life, was something that could overpower someone after a terrifying experience like the one she’d been through. Maybe that’s all it was. It would explain her sudden acceptance of the idea.
“Not like that, you pig,” Lex said dryly. “I meant I was going to have to keep talking to you, instead of falling asleep myself.”
“Okay.” Petal felt sheepish at the way she’d just assumed what he was going for. Maybe he had some more self-restraint than she’d assumed.
Or he’s just not interested in having sex with you.
She thanked her inner doubt politely for making her feel undesirable. It always seemed to pop up at the perfect time.
“Tell me something then,” she told him when he didn’t speak up again.
“Okay. What would you like to know?”
She could hear the bone-dead tiredness in his voice, now that she was listening for it. He sounded absolutely exhausted. Which, in hindsight, made complete sense. He’d hauled her out of the truck and then carried her who knew how far to the cave. Then he’d done his best to make them safe in the cave, all after already having worked a solid day and then making the long drive out here. She’d be done in as well.
“Tell me about you. Who are you, what’s your story? You seem pretty educated for a line-working grunt.”
Lex laughed through his nose, expelling air in bursts. “Ah-ha! The truth comes out.”
She was confused. “What truth?”
“The part where you have major preconceived notions that all us laborers must be muscular Neanderthals unable to carry on a conversation or form educated opinions about things and have discussions on said topics. It’s all very clear now.”
“I do not!” she exclaimed. It was a lie though, and they both knew it. Petal only had to think back to earlier when she’d feared dying in the cave with the “lowly line worker” for proof of the fact that she considered him beneath her.
“Yes, you do,” he said gently. “Which, to be fair, there are plenty of us who fit that stereotype. But you’d be surprised how many of us do it because we enjoy working with our hands, and being outside on a regular basis. We have folks with masters degrees and other fine pedigrees who work the lines with us.”
“Right, of course you do. My apologies for lumping everyone together into a stereotype. But, if you are smart, and educated, then why are you a line worker? For the reasons you just listed?”
“Mostly,” he agreed. “I like being active, I enjoy the work too. It helps the town, which lets me go home every day feeling good about myself. And it also gets me out into nature, instead of staying cramped up in an office.”
Petal made a noisy show of looking around the cave they were trapped in. “Oh yes. This nature business certainly beats my temperature-controlled office and plush chairs any day.”
They shared a laugh, Lex caving to her point.
“Present circumstances aside,” he said at last. “I enjoy the typical day’s work that I put in.”
“You’re big on nature then?”
“Very much. It’s so relaxing and elemental.” He paused, and when he continued she detected subtle undertones of humor. “I guess you could say I feel at home in it.”
Petal had no idea what he meant by that comment, but for whatever reason she decided not to press the issue. It felt like a personal thing, something he wasn’t ready to share with her. In time maybe he would, but now was not it. He’d already opened up far more than she’d ever expected him to. Her question had just been a sort of expected one. His answer hadn’t been.
“So, what about family then? Are they from here?”
This time there was a pause, and Petal wondered if she’d hit a nerve, if she’d perhaps dug too deep. Should she keep it to lighter topics? Like what was his favorite movie and color? She hadn’t meant to offend him, or open up old wounds.
“No family,” he said at last. “But I was raised not too far from here.” Lex didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t ask.
“I see. Do you and your wife like it here?”
The response was quick this time. “No wife.”
“Oh, sorry. Girlfriend?”
“No girlfriend.”
“Uh.” She paused. “Pet?”
“No pet,” Lex said, sounding amused.
“Wow. What an interesting life,” she remarked lightly, trying to make it clear she was teasing him.
“To some, I suppose. But I’m quite happy.”
Petal could almost see the small, condescending-like smile that he probably had plastered on his face as he talked down to her, as if she’d never understand. Ugh, men! Just as she’d thought they were opening up to each other, learning some things and perhaps getting past barriers, he went and did something like this.
Why should she care? It’s not like she was ever going to see him again after they got out of the cave. So who cares if she liked him, or if they could bond over their experience in the cave? It didn’t matter, not one iota.
Yeah, but he did save your life. So, you owe him politeness enough for that. Especially if you want him to hopefully find help and save your life again.
Gritting her teeth Petal forced herself to respond. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Thank you. What about yourself? Was it hard to leave the husband behind?”
Oh for fuck’s sake…
“I’m sure if he existed, he would have been sad, yes.”
“No husband then. Fiancé?”
“No.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Uh-uh.”
She knew exactly where this was going. Had since his very first question.
“Friend with benefits?”
“Excuse me?”
“Err, I mean, did you get anyone to look after your cat while you’re gone?”
“I don’t have a cat,” she said slowly. “Do I strike you as the crazy cat lady type?”
Lex coughed. “My mistake. Of course not. But it sounds like a rather boring life.”
Petal couldn’t help but laugh at the way the conversation had done a complete one-eighty to make her shine in the same light as Lex. It seemed they had more in common than either of them might have expected. Both obsessed with work, and little to no social life.
Maybe I should get a cat…
It wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed her mind. But she’d always resisted it, never quite feeling like the timing was right.
“Okay, enough of that. What do we do now?” she asked, trying to change the subject, and to get her mind off of cats.
“Let’s play a game,” Lex suggested.
Petal thought about it. “Okay, what game?”
“I have the perfect one for us right now,” he announced happily. “I think you’re going to love it.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Positive,” he replied.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What game should we play?”
“Do you remember I-Spy?”
Her groan echoed from the walls.