Page 49 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars
I shake my head.
“Can I ask why? Are you frightened it might happen again?”
“No… not really. But I know that if I meet a guy, it’s going to take a long time for me to trust him enough to let down my guard. And I can’t imagine any man will have the patience to wait for me. Plus, I am worried about what it’s going to be like.”
“Sex?” he asks. Everyone else—bar Zoe, and Hallie at times—shies away from the topic of sex with me, but Linc was always frank like this.
I nod. “Hallie’s boyfriend told her that if she was less boring in bed, he wouldn’t have cheated on her.”
“What?”
“That really upset her.”
“Jesus Christ. I’m not surprised. Fucking arsehole.”
I give a short laugh. “Funnily enough, that’s what Zoe called him. She said, ‘What does he expect you to do? Pin tassels on your tits and put on a show every night?”
He doesn’t laugh, though. He looks upset, if anything. “That’s awful. It should be the guy’s responsibility to make sure she’s having a good time, not the other way around.”
“Zoe said that most girls need the male to lead, that it’s the way of things, and I said that David Attenborough agreed, unless you’re a spotted hyena.”
He does smile at that. “That’s such a you comment.”
“I said that there are around 5,400 mammal species, and females outrank males during dominance contests in only a couple of dozen. So I know it’s natural for the guy to take charge. But it’s just… I don’t know how that would make me feel. It frightens me a little. I’m not saying I want to be a dominatrix or anything, but…”
“You’d look good in leather, though.”
“And those thigh-high boots are the shiz.”
That makes him laugh out loud. Then he inhales deeply and gives a big sigh. “Ahhh… I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry. My work is more than enough to keep me busy.”
“Aw, come on. You’ll meet someone one day. You’re too gorgeous to stay single. A guy will come along who’ll be patient and kind, and he’ll wait for you to be ready. You have to trust me.” His eyes twinkle. “Archaeologists are experts in dating methods.”
I trust you. The words hover on my lips like homing pigeons, but I don’t release them. Instead, I give a short laugh and pull a new box toward me. “Did you hear the one about the archaeologist who was found knapping on the job? Apparently he was stoned.”
He chuckles and gets up. “That was much better than my joke.” He kisses the top of my head, then leans over to ferret in the box.
I watch the T-shirt stretch across his chest and stifle a groan. My head burns where his lips touched it. Even after all these years, he still makes my blood sing.
But he’s only here for a short time, so nothing can come of it. And it’s best not to start what you can’t finish, right?
*
For the next two hours, Linc and I clean, identify, and draw the bird bones. After a while, he makes us a coffee from the machine in the corner, and then we get back to work. While we brush and sketch, I play music on my phone, and we sit and chat about advancements in archaeology since we’ve been apart, books we’ve read, and sites we’ve been to. Of course his stories are much more interesting than mine—one thing New Zealand doesn’t have is a vast trove of human history. The Stone Store in Kerikeri is about the best you’re going to get here, and that only dates back to 1820.
But I have read a lot, so when he tells me about the digs he’s taken part on, I’m able to respond, at least, with some modicum of knowledge, and it’s with some surprise when his phone goes that I realize it’s nearly midday.
“Hello?” he says, pressing it to his ear. His face lights up. “Oh, hi. Right. Oh, wow, that’s fantastic. Yes, of course. NZDNA? Yep, I’ll find it. That’ll be great.” He listens for a minute. While he’s waiting, Fraser comes in, spots him on the phone, and walks over to me.
“I think it’s Edmund Mansfield,” I mouth, and Fraser nods.
Linc’s eyes find mine, and he smiles. “Sure. Yep. Right, I’ll talk to you probably Monday sometime. Okay, bye.” He ends the call.
“Edmund?” I ask.
He nods. “He’s contacted a lab here in Wellington. I need to go and give a cheek swab, and he’ll do the same in Queenstown. Then they both get sent to Auckland to be compared. He said he’s fast tracked the results, and we should hear on Monday.”
