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Why was her face so flipping transparent? Olivia’s cheeks prickled with heat. “What? No. I’m not going after him. That would be unprofessional.”
“Oh, please. Nothing unprofessional about a little late-night action once the workday ends. Grant’s fooling himself if he thinks he can stop it. I’ve been going on digs my whole life, and this shit happens.”
“But not between you and Rick?” Olivia cringed at the blatant neediness in her voice.
“Nope. Despite his obvious hotness, he doesn’t do it for me. But if Stu ever pulled me aside and wanted to take things to the next level, well…”
“I thought you guys were just friends. Isn’t he dating someone?” In all the years Olivia had known Stuart, he’d never mentioned Dusty in a romantic way.
Dusty let out a deep sigh. “Shelby. I’m sure he’ll propose once he gets his PhD. But idiot that I am, I’ve been crushing on him for years.” She cast a furtive glance around the room, as if she suspected someone might be listening in. “No telling, okay? You keep this quiet, and I won’t rat you out if you want to get with Rick.”
“But I don’t…”
Who was she kidding? Though she hadn’t been alone with him since the night he’d soothed her sunburn, he’d been on her mind a lot. Not that she wanted to fry her skin again, but she longed for an excuse to bask in his touch. To feel his warm hands, massaging her shoulders. The powerful memory made shivers dance along her spine.
Stuart poked his head into the classroom. “Hey, ladies. What are you up to?”
Now it was Dusty’s turn to flush. She cleared her throat. “Ah…nothing. Just talking.”
“About the survey,” Olivia said. “How it’s been kind of slow. No big discoveries yet.”
“Yeah, my team’s disappointed about that.” Stuart wandered over to their table and glanced at Dusty’s sketch. “Nice drawing. I hope we find something half as good.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I think we need a break. Later tonight, you two want to walk into town and get a drink at Spyros?”
Now that Olivia knew Dusty liked Stuart, she couldn’t miss the way her friend reacted to his touch. Her hand trembled as she fiddled with her pencil.
“Shouldn’t someone stay here with the students?” Olivia asked.
Stuart gave a casual shrug. “They’re adults. I can’t imagine they’ll get into too much trouble. Grant said he’ll be working in the lab tonight, so he’ll be around.” When Olivia hesitated, he flashed her an affable grin. “Come on. One drink. Maybe two. Juno said she’d be up for it. Same with TJ, though I told him to limit himself to two stories, max.”
“I’ll go,” Dusty said. “Did you ask Rick?”
Stuart nodded. “He’s in.”
“I’m in, too.” Olivia replied so quickly that Dusty shot her a side-eye. She sprang to her feet, wanting to leave before she started blushing again. She’d already revealed far too much about her feelings for Rick. “I’d better go help Marisol with her presentation.”
She found Marisol in the research library, a classroom outfitted with bookshelves and study tables. Along one wall was a shelf holding four computers and two printers. Marisol had covered an entire table with printed articles, books, and pages of scrawled notes.
“Thanks for coming,” Marisol said. “My talk’s kind of a mess right now. I have too much source material.”
“We can go through it together if you want. What site were you assigned?” Dr. Roth had given Olivia a list of all the assignments, but she couldn’t remember them offhand. Once the survey unit ended, the undergrads would spend a few days visiting the archaeological sites in the area. Each student was responsible for preparing a talk on one of them.
“Kition. The site was occupied from the late Bronze Age through the Roman era, so there’s a ton of history. How can I possibly cover it all in twenty minutes?” Marisol placed her head in her hands. “Why is Dr. Roth making us do this? I suck at public speaking.”
“It can be hard if you’re not used to it. Even if you’re a dynamic speaker, some people still won’t pay attention. You can’t take it personally.” Olivia cast her mind back to her first year as a teaching assistant, when she’d learned not every student was going to be as passionate about ancient history as she was.
“I know that in my head. But in here”—Marisol placed her hand across her heart—“it still stresses me out.”
“Most of the others will probably be as nervous as you. My advice would be to keep your talk short, hit the highlights, and infuse some excitement into your voice.”
Basically, be the exact opposite of Grant.
“You’ve taught before, right? Was it hard when you first started?”
The memory coaxed a laugh out of Olivia. “It was so hard. The week before I started teaching, my sister let me practice on her. Not only did she call me out whenever I was too boring, she insisted on recording me. You can’t imagine how painful it was to watch all those videos.”
“But now you’re confident?”
Though Olivia wanted to encourage Marisol, she didn’t want to lie, either. Not after her humbling experience with surveying. “Sometimes. Other times, not so much. But it helps when I know the material well or if I’m excited about it.”
She scanned through the articles Marisol had printed out and set two aside. “I’d start with these to get a basic overview. For your talk, you only need to hit the high points in Kition’s history. Why don’t I help you figure out what to include? Once you’ve drafted an outline, you can expand it. When you’re done, you can practice on me anytime you like.”
“Thanks. That would be great.”
As they worked together, Olivia’s spirits lifted. Even if she was still struggling on the survey, she needed to be as patient with herself as she was with the students.
Hadn’t Rick told her she’d catch on soon?
If he could have faith in her, then she could, too.
