Short Fuse: Elite Operators, Book 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

of him on the drive from August Town, coaxing him to open up about where he was from, his tenure in the UK, the catamaran sailboat he spent his weekends racing in False Bay. But he hadn’t said a word about growing up in one of South Africa’s most famous mining families.
    What other secrets did he have?
    Thankfully a slim, smiling black man chose that moment to emerge from the office, disrupting their uneasy tableau. He wore jeans and a button-down shirt and shook their hands eagerly.
    “I’m Cedric Kasula,” he greeted them in the slightly French-intoned accent of a northern Latadian. “I look after all our mining staff, liaise with relevant stakeholders in the local community, ensure the—”
    “Cedric’s our fixer,” Roger interrupted dismissively. “And he’s going to show you to your accommodation. Dinner is every night at seven, so you’ve got just enough time to clean up before we eat. I’ll see you both in half an hour. Great to have you here.”
    Roger disappeared through the door, and as it banged shut Cedric offered them both an apologetic smile. “Roger can be a bit gruff, I hope he didn’t—”
    “Let’s go.” Warren pulled the car keys from his pocket. “We can talk on the way.”
    Nicola could hear every step Warren took through the thin wall that divided the porta-cabin into two halves. She knew when he left his side and locked the door behind him, and she knew he hesitated in front of hers before deciding to knock. She paused before answering, offering him the illusion that she hadn’t been keeping track of his every move.
    His back was to the door when she opened it, and at the sound he turned, flashing one of his rare, fleeting smiles.
    “Ready?”
    She nodded, and they fell into step for the fifteen-minute walk from where their accommodation was situated near the edge of the site to the corporate building at the center. There was little light left in the sky this close to seven o’clock, and the absence of surrounding illumination from a town or a city meant each star stood out crisp and clear. Warren held a flashlight but he didn’t turn it on, and she wasn’t inclined to ask him to. The darkness felt private, permissive, and although she knew mining operations hissed and clanked twenty-four hours each day on the other side of the site, at the moment it seemed like they were the only people around for miles.
    An insect chirped in the grass, and when it stopped she realized how complete the silence was. Now that he was off the hollow flooring of the porta-cabin, Warren’s footsteps were inaudible, his movements disarmingly smooth and soundless for a man of his size.
    She thought of leopards and jaguars, and was compelled to interrupt the quiet. “What do you think of our luxury housing?”
    “It has a roof, which is good enough for me. How about you?”
    “It’s new, which is a bonus. That type of cabin doesn’t tend to age well.”
    “And the mine itself? What’s your impression so far?”
    “It looks normal, but it feels different. It feels like something’s wrong.”
    The too-honest response was out of her mouth and hovering uncertainly between them before she could stop it. A twig snapped somewhere behind them and an almighty shudder ran up her torso, jostling her joints and rattling her teeth until she wrapped her arms around herself and held on tight.
    “Are you cold?” Warren touched three fingertips to her lower back, so faintly it should’ve barely registered, but her response was as ferocious as if he’d plunged them between her legs. Her ears roared, her nipples hardened, and she was sure that she could orgasm right there on the spot if he so much as flattened his palm against her spine. She swallowed hard, and again, struggling to get her racing heart under control.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Are you sure? Do you want my jacket?”
    I want every sexy, scary inch of you on top of me right now. “We’re nearly there. I’m sure I can make it.”
    He said