With no luggage except the bag of duty-free Jack Daniel’s Mercer had bought for his depleted bar, they were through Customs quickly. Ira had sent a government car to take them home. They’d agreed earlier they would drop Cali at her condo first. It had been a grueling couple of days and the promise of a budding relationship couldn’t overcome two exhausted, worn-out bodies. Mercer saw her to her door, and together they checked out her cozy two-bedroom to ensure no one had been there in her absence. He felt like a teenager on a first date as they kissed under the porch light. It was their first since the mine. Without the bulky contamination suit, her long-limbed body was all bone and hard angles but fit perfectly in his arms. Their eyes were at almost the same level and neither closed them. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” Cali asked. “And the day after that,” Mercer promised. “I have to report in to NEST in the morning, then I’m taking a couple of days off.” “And I don’t have any contracts lined up for two weeks.”
