by Olivia West
“Great. We’ll head out once the dig is over. Might be a bit late when we get back in, if that is okay,” he told her.
“Sounds good. I’ll get cleaned up and changed after we close the dig,” she told him, trying to sound casual though her heart was racing wildly.
“Guess we better get some work done then,” he replied, picking up his lunch tray and waiting while she did the same.
They dumped their empty containers and excess into a nearby receptacle and set their trays on top for the dining tent staff to clean before heading back out to the dig site. She watched as Pete made his way over to where a potential new grid was being marked off and began to take some measurements. Turning back to her own work, she continued to dig, coming up empty-handed and finally calling it a day once it began to get dark outside. As the security lights kicked on around the site, she dusted herself off and made her way to her cabin to get cleaned up.
Jana felt like a giddy schoolgirl as she took a quick shower and got changed, making fast work of drying her hair and brushing it out. She hadn’t really brought any dress clothes since it was a dig, but managed to find a decent pair of khaki pants and a dark green shirt that would bring out her eyes. Not wanting to look like she was overdoing it, she settled for a little mascara and tinted lip gloss before stepping back outside to look for Pete.
“Over here, Jana. I’ll be ready to leave in about two minutes,” he called out from where he stood talking to Hank. After a moment, they both walked over to where she stood on the steps to her cabin.
“Have a good time in the city,” Hank told her with a knowing wink. “Just make sure you kids are home before daylight so that I can leave.”
He headed off to his trailer before she could say anything to correct his assumptions. Instead, she turned her attention toward Pete, asking if he was ready to go now.
“I sure am. Let’s go,” he replied. “My truck is right over there.”
Jana walked with him to a large white crew-cab truck with large black letters that read “AGS” and “Abernathy Geology Services” in smaller letters below. Apparently, he wasn’t just an employee of the company hired to set up the grid. She could only assume he was the owner, unless it was a family business. He opened the passenger door and held it open for her with a huge smile on his face.
“Thank you very much,” she replied, climbing into the vehicle and snapping on her seatbelt as he walked around to get into the driver’s side. In moments, they were headed down the long gravel road that led off the property and onto the highway that ran into San Diego.
“I didn’t hear any more exciting news today, so I’m guessing you didn’t strike gold again this afternoon,” he told her.
“Unfortunately, no. No signs of a second statue yet, but it is only the first day. I never expected to find the first one so quickly,” she told him.
“How much do you think one of those things might be worth?” he asked.
“I am not sure. It was a sizeable statue. I’d place its weight around twenty-five pounds or more. I don’t know how much of that is the alloy overlay, but if that is just a thin layer and the inside is solid gold, then they are worth somewhere in the neighborhood of a half million dollars each,” she said.
“Are you kidding me? A half million dollars?” Pete exclaimed.
“Yep. Now, you know why Hank was all over this. He’s been looking for those statues for years. It has been a hobby of his for ages trying to track down where they ended up,” she replied.
“And there are twenty of them?” Pete asked.
“That’s the story. Remains to be seen if it is true or if we find them. If we don’t, this guy’s property value just shot off the charts. Someone will pay him plenty just for a chance to find the rest. Of course, I doubt that he will be in any hurry to sell now that he knows Hank found what he was looking for. His share of the find will be enough for him to be very comfortable if we find even a quarter of them,” she said.
“Amazing,” he replied, seeming pensive. They chatted lightly as they continued into San Diego, pulling into the harbor area. Jana recognized the location as an upscale steakhouse that overlooked the water.
“I haven’t been here in ages. They have fantastic food,” she told him.
“I sure hope so. I’ve never been. A friend recommended it,” he replied.
“You are going to love it. Though I’m not sure we are properly dressed,” she replied, looking at his jeans and then down at her own khakis.
“I didn’t really consider that,” he laughed. “Well, we are here. I don’t suppose we need to impress anyone.”
The hostess seated them right away, followed closely by a waiter who got their drink orders and returned to the table with them before excusing himself so that they could study the menu. Instead, they were engrossed in chatting with one another.
“How is your employee that got hit with the pole?” Jana asked, suddenly realizing she hadn’t seen him.
“He is fine, already back at work. A real trouper, that guy. I hate that I had to fire someone on the first day, but it could have been a lot worse. There is no excuse for that sort of inattention to safety,” he said, frowning into his glass of water.
“He seemed pretty angry about it,” she offered.
“He was, but he brought it on himself,” he replied. “Hey, let’s not talk about that. Tell me how you got into this business.”
“Sort of a fluke really. I was in college and not really sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. I took an elective course in archaeology just because I knew they took some short trips for practice digs during the semester. Our first dig was in some old caves on a military base upstate and I just fell in love with being able to retrieve things from the ground that had been there for years,” she told him.
“What was your first find?” he asked, bringing a little laugh from her before they were interrupted by the waiter taking their order.
“It was a Pepsi can, circa 1987,” she said with a slow smile.
“You’re kidding?” He laughed.
“Nope. I’m not. It was about learning the technique of excising something from the ground without doing it further harm. I salvaged a rusty Pepsi can and I was very proud of it,” she said.
“That is a fantastic story,” he told her.
“I know. You can’t make this stuff up, right?” she joked.
After continuing to chat lightly throughout dinner, they agreed they needed to get going. Stepping outside, they headed toward the truck, but Pete reached for her hand, pulling her in another direction instead.
“Hey, let’s walk down to the harbor for a moment,” he said. “We can enjoy the moonlight on the water.”
“Do we have time?” she asked, thrilled, but trying to sound casual about it.
“We’ll make time,” he replied, still holding her hand as he led her toward the nearby pier. They stood there looking over the water hand in hand. Jana felt positively giddy with him holding her hand.
“It’s beautiful,” she replied, watching the cool glow of the moon caressing the dark waters below.
“So are you,” he replied, pulling her closer to him.
“Pete, I don’t know if we should get involved. We are working together,” she told him.
“I don’t think we have a choice. I’m drawn to you. I have been since the moment I saw you at the dig site,” he said.
“It is just not very professional,” she replied, her voice trailing off.
“Neither is this,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her. His lips were soft but powerful on hers, his tongue slipping softly into a heated dance with her own. They seemed to be suspended in the moment, kissing softly while the world stood still around them. Their bodies lingered against one another briefly before they pulled apart and looked into one another’s eyes.
“We need to get going,” Jana told him, a noticeable quiver in her voice.
“I suppose we do,” he replied.
They rode in silence for a whil
e, heading to a nearby shopping plaza so that Jana could buy a few personal things. Pete let her make her away alone around the store while he went to look for some items of his own. When she arrived at the register, he had already had his purchase rung up and was waiting for her with a couple of bags in his hands. In another hour, they were back at the dig site. Pete opened the truck door for her and walked her to her cabin, carrying her bags from the store.
“Thank you so much,” she told him, reaching for her bags, but he pulled them away, offering to carry them inside.
“Do you mind if I come in for just a bit? I picked up a little something special for us at the store,” he said.
“I don’t know, Pete,” she began, not wanting to move things along too fast.
“I will behave, I promise. I won’t stay long,” he told her, flashing his brilliant smile at her once again.
“Okay, I guess a little while won’t hurt,” she told him, unlocking the door and allowing him to follow her in with the bags. She watched as he set the bags down and began removing glasses, a corkscrew and a bottle of merlot from one of them.
“I thought we could have a glass of wine and chat a bit more,” he told her, hesitating before opening the bottle.
“That sounds great,” she told him, letting him uncork the wine while she put away her own things. “Thank you so much, by the way, for dinner and for taking me into town with you.”
“You are welcome. It was truly all my pleasure,” he said.
Kicking back with their wine, they chatted a bit more about plans for tomorrow’s dig. One glass turned into two and before either of them knew it, it was getting very late. Pete took the wineglasses toward the small kitchen area of the cabin and began rinsing them out.
“Don’t worry about those, Pete. I’ll take care of them tomorrow,” she told him.
“I don’t mind,” he replied.
“I appreciate it, but I have no idea where the detergent is and I didn’t think to pick any up at the store. I may have to borrow some from the dining tent,” she told him.
“Very well then. I’ve rinsed them off so they won’t be too messy for you,” he told her.
“Thank you,” she replied, crossing the room to open the front door for him. He stopped and looked at her before he left, brushing a single hair away from her face before leaning in to kiss her again. It felt even more amazing than it had the first time and she didn’t want it to end, but knew it must. Pulling away from him, she stood smiling at him a bit sheepishly as she opened the cabin door for his departure.
“Yes, I have to go. I know,” he said, smiling back at her for a moment before stepping out the front door and making his way down the few steps leading up to the small porch of her cabin. “Goodnight, Jana,” he called out behind him as he disappeared into the darkness on the outskirts of the brightly lit dig site that stood not far away. She marveled at it for a moment before shutting the door and leaning against it, bringing her fingers gingerly up to her lips.
Chapter 4
Everything had seemed like a whirlwind since that first night out together, since that first kiss. While the dig slowed, with no new statues being found for days, Pete found himself spending every available free moment with Jana. The truth was that he could be elsewhere getting another job done unless called back to this dig, but he found himself wanting to stay and be close to her. Of course, his workers weren’t opposed, spending most of their time in the cooler confines of their tents reading or playing cards with one another until they were needed. Hank was still stuck in the city, so at least he wasn’t skulking around over her shoulder while she worked.
It was, however, getting to the point where Pete was going to have to send some of the workers home or possibly all if there continued to be nothing to do. They would all just have to be on call for when Jana moved beyond the current grids he had already laid out for her. He fully intended to make that call only when it became absolutely necessary as he was enjoying spending his evenings in her cabin, getting to know her better and curling up with one another like kittens on the small sofa it had to offer them. His thoughts drifted to the way she smelled and the softness of her skin as he stood looking out over the distance toward the nearby mountains. Suddenly, his thoughts were disrupted as the workers’ voices grew more excited where they were working.
“I found one more,” Jana said loudly to whoever was listening in the vicinity. Those who weren’t already gathered, quickly congregated around her as she finished clearing the dirt away from the figure with a large brush designed to do no harm but simply remove debris. It was slow work getting the two-foot statue out of the ground, but Jana worked diligently until it was free. She finally pulled it out and cradled it as if it were a newborn.
Instructing one of the workers to continue moving topsoil in what she apparently felt was the correct location of the grid for the next statue, she attempted to stand with the large statue, struggling under its weight. Pete hurried over and took it from her carefully, allowing her to get to her feet. Hank wasn’t back yet, so they would have to secure it immediately. She motioned him toward Hank’s trailer and he helped her retrieve the spare keys from her pocket so that they could put it in the large safe that made up one end of his trailer. Jana placed it inside with the cloth still wrapped around it.
“I think this calls for a celebration,” he told her, kissing her once she had relocked the safe.
“Well, my boss frowns on my showing up for work drunk,” she laughed.
“Your boss is quite adorable. I wouldn’t want to mess with her plan,” he replied, aware that she was referring to herself and not Hank.
“Then I will see you a bit later this evening, after dinner,” she told him as they exited Hank’s trailer.
“You most certainly will,” he replied playfully.
Chapter 5
The end of the day couldn’t come soon enough for Jana. She felt exhausted from a long day at the dig site. Her thoughts shifted to Pete. He had gone into town to run some errands and would be back in a bit. Hank would be back in the morning. He had called earlier to give her the findings on the statue he had taken into San Diego. It was the real thing and now he was anxious to find the remaining ones before news got out and the camp became a security nightmare. He had already alerted her that he would be bringing additional security back to the site with him just in case there were any issues with intruders looking to usurp his find.
“I think we’ve exhausted most of this grid and need to move on to the next section. Let’s go ahead and call it a day and get some rest,” she told the workers around her. There were no complaints as they gathered up their tools and filed away to relax a bit before dinner. She made her way to her cabin, surprised to see that Pete’s truck was already parked outside. When had he made it back and why hadn’t he told her? Perhaps he had just gotten in and hadn’t had a chance to yet.
Dismissing it, she made her way into her cabin and got ready to shower. Something seemed out of place, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. She felt a bit anxious for reasons she couldn’t quite put her finger on as she undressed and stepped beneath the stream of water. Moments after stepping out, she heard a knock on the door and dressed quickly in a pair of jeans and a tank top before answering it. She opened the door to find Pete standing there, a large bouquet of summer flowers in one hand and a smile on his face.
“Did you miss me?” he asked.
“I might have, but can’t just go around admitting stuff like that,” she replied, waving him into the cabin and shutting the door behind him.
“These are for you. I thought you might like something a little more colorful for around here than just dirt and wood,” he told her, holding the flowers out in her direction.
“They are gorgeous!” she exclaimed, taking them over to the small kitchen area. There wasn’t a vase to be had, so she had to settle for an old quart jar she found under the sink.
“Nice touch,” he teased, stepping in behind her and putt
ing his arms around her. She could feel his breath in her hair as he swept it away from her neck and kissed her along one side, maintaining his firm grip around her waist as she leaned back against him.
“That was an even nicer touch,” she remarked, her voice almost a whisper.
She slowly turned to him, letting herself go and not worrying about what any of this meant or whether it would affect their work together. Pete Abernathy was the sort that none of that mattered with. She suspected that if things continued between them, he would be a dynamic partner both professionally and personally. Though she had held back on previous nights together, she decided she wanted him more than she wanted to maintain appearances for onlookers who might not like them getting involved outside their work.
Their kiss heated rapidly as they did a slow dance toward the bed in her sleeping area. Pete took his time with her, planting deliberate kisses on her exposed skin as he removed each piece of her clothing. It felt like thousands of eruptions taking place behind every inch of flesh he touched. Her moans filled the small cabin as he moved slowly downward, his hands caressing her breasts as he kissed along her sides and murmured her name against her alabaster skin.
