Five minutes later, we pulled up to the entrance of the mine. Two construction trailers with the contractor’s name sat parallel to the road with various pieces of large equipment parked around them, blocking my view of the tunnel I knew lay beyond.

I hopped out of the Jeep and then helped Rose down. “Stay close, okay?”

“You got it,” she promised, already staring at the construction equipment.

“Your coat, my dear.” I handed Cam’s jacket over as we met in front of the Jeep.

“I like the sound of that,” he said quietly, taking it.

“My dear?”

He nodded, then slipped the jacket on and zipped it up. I noticed the label and laughed.

“What?” he asked, looking down like he’d spilled something.

“It’s silly.” I shoved my hands into my purple North Face.

“Oh, now I definitely want to know.” He adjusted his hat, pulling the stretchy material down to cover his ears.

I snuck a peek at Rose, who was already examining rocks about twenty feet away. “You call me Pika.”

“Right?” He reached over and tugged at my hat, then swept his hand down my unbound hair.

“You know how they like to live with other animals? Well, beneath other animals?” My cheeks heated, and I wished I’d kept it to myself.

His brow furrowed. “Yeah. Sometimes they make burrows under the homes of ones that will alert them to predators.”

I nodded and dropped my gaze to the label on his jacket, then ran my fingers over the embroidery. “Marmots.”

He looked down where my fingers traced those very letters and laughed. “Guess that’s pretty fitting.”

When I was sure my face couldn’t flush any hotter, he cupped my cheeks in his palms and kissed me with warm, closed lips.

“We have a chaperone,” I reminded him but reveled in the contact. It still floored me that I was allowed to kiss Cam whenever I wanted. That he was mine in every sense. Well, at least when we were alone. We hadn’t exactly gone outright public, both content to stay in our little happy space.

“A bad one at that,” he said with a smile. “Hey, Rose, what do you say we check out your namesake?”

“Can you bring the bag?” she asked, her arms already full of rocks.

“I’ll do you one better,” he replied. “Wait right there.”

A minute later, he returned from the first construction trailer with a canvas backpack. “What do you think?” he asked as he handed it to her.

“Cool! Can you unzip it?”

“You bet.” Once they had Rose’s rocks secure, he showed me the bag, which had the logo I’d designed for him embroidered across the back.

“Rose Rowan Mine,” I read.

“They just came in yesterday. I’ve also got sample batches of T-shirts, hats, and key chains in the trailer. Told you I loved the design.”