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“Yes. We’re not supposed to spend too long examining every pile of Roman garbage.” She should have taken his words to heart, but she’d been too afraid of missing something.
“Right. You should take note of the pottery, but since most of that stuff has been churned up over the centuries, it doesn’t tell us much about settlement patterns. What we’re trying to do here is map out the big picture.”
His explanation made sense. When she used survey reports in her research, they weren’t micro-focused. Instead, they contained months of data and covered a broad swath of territory.
“You just need to pick up the pace,” he said. “Don’t rush too much, though. Brynn might have been fast, but she did a sloppy job. When I reviewed her notebook, she’d barely written anything down.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You’ll catch on soon, I promise.”
When she flinched in pain, he drew back his hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“My shoulders are killing me. Do you have any aloe?”
“Sure. Hang on a minute.” He leapt up from the bench.
She scanned the field again, looking for signs of movement. She didn’t want anyone to catch the two of them together. Even if she hadn’t done anything wrong, meeting up with Rick in the middle of the night hardly looked innocent. But the camp remained quiet. Everyone was probably dead asleep, wiped out from the first day of survey.
When Rick returned, he sat beside her and handed her a large bottle of aloe vera gel. “Take as much as you want. Grant asked me to buy a few bottles when I was out running errands.”
“For the students?” She squirted aloe onto her palm and kneaded the gel onto her arms.
“He’s not that thoughtful. It’s for him because he burns so easily. Normally, he uses SPF 100, otherwise he turns bright red, like a big, angry lobster.”
The image of Grant as a lobster made her laugh. She rubbed the gel onto her shoulders but strained to reach her back. Rick took the bottle from her. “I’ll do it.”
With gentle fingers, he massaged the aloe into her overheated skin. The cooling gel sent shivers down her spine, making her recall a long-dormant memory. He’d administered the same treatment when they’d been together at field school.
As if he knew what she was thinking, he chuckled. “I seem to remember doing this at Clear Lake. You got so fried during that first week of excavation.”
“It’s completely unfair. You’d think my Mexican heritage would come in handy. My father never burns. Neither does my sister. And my mom’s half-Italian, so she tans beautifully.”
“So do you—it just takes you a little longer.” He continued rubbing the aloe on her back and shoulders, his movements slow and gentle. “After a few weeks in the field, you had an incredible tan. I should know since I’m the one who saw those tan lines.”
Like the first time he’d seen her naked, when they’d gone skinny-dipping together. He’d stared at her in awe and told her she looked beautiful. No one had ever made her feel that way before.
Stop it. No more delving into the past.
But she couldn’t help it. Now that they’d grown closer, it wasn’t merely the memories that were returning but the powerful feelings as well. Not just affection, but stirrings of lust. She wanted him to keep touching her. To brush his lips against her bare shoulders until she quivered with delight.
What would happen if she turned and faced him? A rush of desire surged through her as she imagined claiming his lips and reigniting the sparks between them.
She needed to pull away before she melted into a puddle of longing.
But she couldn’t find the will to move.
Rick continued smoothing aloe over Olivia’s skin. The longer he touched her, the more he wanted to keep going. To caress her everywhere and make her whimper with pleasure. The more he thought about it, the more aroused he grew.
Hardly an ideal reaction, considering she was in pain. He was supposed to be comforting her, not giving in to inappropriate fantasies.
“Are you feeling any better?” he asked.
“Much better. Thanks.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
When she didn’t respond, he took that as a no. Good, because he didn’t want to. He lifted her ponytail, moving the thick mass of curls out of the way so he could touch her neck. Though her sunburn didn’t reach that far, he dabbed the gel on it anyway. It was all he could do not to bend down and kiss that sensitive patch of skin, just to hear her gasp.
She let out a groan of relief, then went rigid and pulled away. “Thanks. I’m good now.”
What the hell was he thinking? He set the bottle on the bench and adjusted himself. “Great. If you need more aloe tomorrow night, hit me up.”
