Diamond in the Desert

‘I’m going for a swim in the swimming hole—’

‘Then I’m coming with you—’

‘No need,’ she said quickly, needing space.

Too late. Emir was already standing and taking up every spare inch in the hut. Regret at her foolishness replaced the shock and faintness. They should have said goodbye in Skavanga. She could have sent a trusted employee to the mine.

Could you trust anyone else to do this deal but you?

Whatever. There had to be an easier way than this.

‘You can’t go swimming in an ice lake on your own,’ Emir said firmly, as if reading her.

‘I’ve been swimming in the lake since I was a child.’

‘When you were supervised, I imagine.’

‘I’m old enough to take care of myself now.’

‘Really?’

Emir’s mockery was getting to her. And what did he think he was looking at now?

Oh... She quickly crossed her arms over her chest.

‘I’m coming anyway,’ he said, still with a flare of amusement in his eyes.

So be it, she thought, firming her jaw. In fairness, the golden rule at the cabin was that no one ever went swimming in the frozen lake alone. But did Emir have to tower over her to make his point?

He grabbed a towel on his way out, which he flung around her shoulders. ‘You’ll need it afterwards,’ he said.

She gave him a look that said she didn’t need his help, especially not here, and then gritted her teeth as she thought about the icy shock to come.

Running to the lake, she tossed her towel away at the last minute and jumped in before she had chance to change her mind.

She might have screamed. Who knew what she did or said? Once the icy water claimed her, rational thought was impossible. She was in shock and knew better than to linger. She was soon clambering out again—only to find Emir standing waiting for her with a towel.

‘You didn’t need to do that.’

He tossed the towel her way without another word, and then dived into the lake before she could stop him. She ran to the edge, but there was no sign of him—just loose ice floating. Panic consumed her, but just as she was preparing to jump in after him he emerged. Laughing.

Laughing!

Emir had barely cracked a smile the whole time he’d been in Skavanga, and now he was laughing?

She repaid the favour by tossing him a clean towel, which he wrapped around his waist. She didn’t wait to see how securely he fixed it. She just pelted for the sauna and dived in. Emir was close behind and shut the door.

‘Amazing,’ he said, like a tiger that, finding itself in the Arctic, had played with polar bears and found it fun.

He shook his head, sending tiny rainbow droplets of glacier flying around the cabin like the diamonds they were both seeking.

‘You enjoyed it, I see?’ she said as the spray from him hissed on the hot stones.

‘Of course I enjoyed it,’ he exclaimed. ‘I can think of only one thing better—’

She could be excused for holding her breath.

‘Next you rub me down with ice—’

Before it melted? She doubted that was possible.

‘I definitely want more,’ he said, glancing through the window.

Oh, to be a frozen lake, she thought.

As Emir settled back on the wooden bench and closed his eyes she realised she was glad he had embraced her traditions, which led on naturally to wondering about his. She had to stop that before her thoughts took a turn for the seriously erotic.

‘You love this place, don’t you?’ he said.

‘It means a lot to me,’ she admitted, ‘as does the cabin.’

‘It’s what it represents,’ Emir observed.

Correct, she thought.

‘If I lived in Skavanga, I’d come here to recharge my batteries.’

Which was exactly what she did. She sometimes came to the cabin just for a change of pace. It helped her to relax and get back in the race.

And it was high time she stopped finding points of contact between them, Britt warned herself, or she’d be convincing herself that fate was giving her a sign. There was no sign. There was no Emir and Britt. It seemed they got on outside sex and business, but that was it.

‘What are you thinking?’ he said.

She was resting her chin on her knees when she realised Emir was staring at her.

‘Why don’t you take your underwear off?’ he suggested. ‘You can’t be comfortable in those soggy scraps.’

‘They’ll soon dry out,’ she said, keeping her head down.