Why did the picture of her standing at his grandmother’s sink make a pang of desire shoot through him? The hair she’d worn down and around her shoulders yesterday was now confined in a ponytail. It wouldn’t take much to walk across the room and set it free. After doing that, he would proceed to do all kinds of naughty things to her. Gavin shifted in his seat to relieve the pressure against his zipper.
“Yeah, I’d love to have some,” he said in a deep, husky voice. And he knew Layla had figured out they weren’t talking about peach cobbler.
She didn’t say anything, just stared at him. He wished she didn’t look so damn sexy while she sized him up, trying to figure him out. There wasn’t much to find out on that score. He was a horny bastard and would remain so until he’d taken care of his sexual needs. That meant they needed to talk, and the sooner the better.
“We can talk while eating peach cobbler,” he said.
Layla seemed relieved to finally begin their discussion and returned to the table with two plates of peach cobbler. “Where do we start?” she asked, sliding one of the plates in front of him before sitting down.
He picked up his fork and looked over at her. “We can start by talking about us.”
Her expression clearly said that wasn’t what she thought they should be talking about. “We agreed to discuss the dig and not this thing between us.”
Gavin wondered if Layla knew that “this thing” actually had a name. It was called physical desire. “I think we should talk about us before discussing the dig.”
She gave him an annoyed look. “Why? I told you last night we needed to keep sex out of it.”
Yes, she had said that, but did she actually think they could keep sex out of it when there was so much chemistry between them? So much that even now he would have no problem taking her right here on this damn table? “You’re an intelligent woman, Layla. I’m sure you’re well aware of how the human body operates. All of us have needs.”
“Speak for yourself, Gavin.”
He watched her nervously gnaw on her lower lip and heated lust danced up his spine. He was trying like hell to figure her out. Was she denying she had needs, as well? He knew from last night’s kiss that that was a lie. Her denial made Gavin wonder about her experience level.
“Are you saying you don’t want to have sex with me?”
As if the question shot her to full awareness, she leaned over the table and glared at him. “I don’t want to have sex with you, Gavin. I don’t want to have sex with anybody. All I want is to do my job. A job you refuse to let me do.”
They weren’t getting anywhere. For some reason he didn’t want to talk to her about the dig until he found out why she kept certain emotions in check. So he tried another approach.
“Tell me about yourself, Layla.”
Layla lifted a brow. That was clearly not what she’d expected. “I graduated from high school at sixteen and immediately went to college. Graduated with my bachelor’s degree in history, then went on to get a master’s in archaeology. My doctorate is in both history and archaeology.”
“And you’re just twenty-six?”
“Yes. I went to college year-round. I’ve worked on dig sites as an undergrad and while working toward my PhD so this won’t be my first excavation.”
“But it will be the first one you’ve been in charge of, right?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
He leaned back in his chair, deciding to keep her talking about the dig for a while, after all. He doubted she realized that whenever she talked about her work she lowered her guard. “So you admit you’re inexperienced.”
Layla frowned. He could tell she wasn’t sure if they were still talking about the dig. “I don’t think of myself as inexperienced, Gavin, so you shouldn’t think that, either.”
“Then tell me what I should think.”
After several moments, she said, “You should focus on the fact that my being here is the result of several years of research. I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to do this. I’ve tracked each and every one of James’s bank robberies in this area. Mapped out every possible trail he could have taken, every single place he and the gang could have hidden out. Then I obtained records of this land and the surrounding properties. I had my team digitally re-create how this area would have looked back then.
“The Silver Spurs would have been the ideal place to stop over because of the low-hanging trees. And the lake between here and the Lotts’ spread would have allowed the gang time to wash away their scent and stay hidden from the sheriff’s posse. I could even see James’s gang being smart enough to use a decoy to send the posse racing in another direction. One away from here to give them time to bury their loot and lighten their load.”
Gavin was trying not to get caught up in the sound of her voice. He wanted to hear the words she was saying. She was excited about her work and discussing it energized her. He couldn’t help noticing the glow in her eyes, the confidence in her voice, the smile on her lips. The same lips he had tasted last night.
She was trying like hell to convince him that she was onto something, that she had researched her findings and believed in everything she was telling him. He knew there had to be a number of doubters...like himself.
When she stopped talking, he shifted his gaze from her lips to her eyes. “I take it you’ve already surveyed the area, used ground penetrating radar on the location already.”
She nodded. If she was surprised by his knowledge of her preliminary assessment, she didn’t show it. “I’ve gone further. I was able to get an infrared spectrum.”
He lifted a brow. “How?”
“One of my students is big into digital technology and created it for me. That’s the advantage I have over others working on this subject, I’m bringing this excavation into the digital age.”
The technological aspect was an area Gavin was somewhat familiar with. The military already used all sorts of futuristic developments. It was important whenever they were sent into enemy territory that they didn’t step on booby traps or buried explosives.
She looked at him expectantly, as if he would question what she said. He merely nodded. “I’m familiar with the use of high-tech digital to detect buried items.”
She smiled, obviously glad that he was following her. “All the equipment my team and I use is state-of-the-art, some have never before been used in an archaeological context and they were developed exclusively for this dig by students in my department,” she said proudly.
Because she was young he couldn’t imagine her getting others to rally behind her for the cause. Whether she knew it or not, that spoke volumes about her character as a leader. It would take a strong individual to coax others on board. He knew how that could be.
“It’s too late today but tomorrow I want to check out the area you’ve targeted.” What she would discover was that he also had a high-tech camera, one designed by Flipper for marine purposes. However, it had proven effective at detecting objects underground, as well.
“Alright.”
He heard the hope in her voice and figured that was because he’d shown interest in the dig site. She probably thought he was almost on board. That wasn’t the case. But he wouldn’t tell her that yet.
When he didn’t say anything else for a while, she lifted a brow and looked over at him. She even had a little smile on her face. That glow brightening her eyes almost undid him. “Any more questions, Gavin?”
There was something else; something he had to know. “Yes, but not about the dig. It’s