Free Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) by C. M. Lance Page B

invite her. After a loss like she's had, being alone is probably not a good thing."
    "I'll do it." Sig said with a smile.
    "Call me if she wants to come over tonight."
    Sig showed her his cellphone. "Will do."
    †††
     
    He pulled into the parking lot next to Madeline's BMW convertible. She swung her bare legs out and paused before she stood up with a grin. Sig smiled in appreciation. She wore gray short shorts and tight, long sleeved pink T-shirt. It was nice that the weather had turned warm. The reminders of the last snow were almost gone.
    He pressed a button to roll down his passenger side window. "I know with this crazy weather that it seems like spring is rolling in, but won't you be a little chilly inside a cave?"
    She flashed him a moue. "It's such a gorgeous day." She raised both arms toward the blue arc of sky, showing off her trim waist and belly button as the T-shirt rose above the low cut shorts. "I miss the sun on my skin. I am a California girl after all. I have sweat pants, a parka, and a blanket in the trunk along with the lunch I packed. I'm prepared for anything," she said with a crooked smile.
    He got out of his truck and walked around the back. "Put the top up. I'll grab your stuff and put in the back of the truck. Hop in."
    "I thought we'd take my car," she said with a frown. "I told you I need to soak up the sun. Besides, I know how to get there. Or is it not considered masculine to let a woman drive?"
    Sig shrugged. "Okay. I don't want to be called a chauvinist." He grabbed a small cooler from the pickup bed and held it up. "Sodas." Next he hefted a gym bag from the truck bed. "I've got a flashlight, a high intensity torch, and 600 feet of rope. I hope you brought breadcrumbs so we can find our way out it that's not long enough."
    "I don't think that will be a problem," she said with a smile.
    On the passenger side of the BMW, he dropped his gear into the back seat and swung his legs over the door and slid into the seat. "I've always wanted to try that, but convertibles are scarce in Minnesota."
    "I can understand why not, most of the time, but today is the perfect day." She giggled.
    Sig leaned his head back on the headrest, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "The sun does feel good. This is a good idea."
    "I'm glad you like it." She started her car and pulled out of the lot.
    †††
     
    She drove for about an hour. The roads grew smaller, the terrain more hilly, and vegetation thickened. Finally she pulled off a paved road onto a gravel road.
    "Do you think we should stop and put the top up to keep the dust out?" Sig asked.
    "Naw, if we drive fast enough we should leave the dust behind."
    Sig laughed. "Go for it California girl."
    She mashed down on the accelerator and the car leapt forward trailing a towering plume of dust.
    Sig looked back. "It's okay as long as you keep moving but when you stop, it's going to fill up your car."
    She shrugged, pushed her Foster Grants up on her cute little nose and kept motoring. She slowed for stop signs but didn't stop. The dust never quite caught up, before she accelerated again.
    Sig relaxed and drummed on the door and dashboard to the music blaring from her stereo system. He let her control the music and watched her golden red hair float around her face as she drove. Her skin seemed to glow and take on a bronze tone as they travelled. It was going to be the best geology lab he ever could imagine. So what if the caves were a flop?
    Trees on each side of the road grew thicker and she had to slow to steer around wash outs that had been worn by runnels crossing the road. The trailing dust plume grew smaller, but still never caught her car. Her smile grew wider as they crested hills and dropped toward narrow points in the road where it passed over small creeks and streams.
    She never consulted a map while she drove; surely negotiating turns even though street signs grew scarce.
    "Have you been this way before? You seem to know where you're going." Sig