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I cleared my throat and forced myself to behave like a normal human. "River Shih," I said. "I'm one of Alicia Blanton's postdocs."
"Ah yes," he said with a smile. "I believe there are three of you, no?"
Apparently, he was willing to ignore the fact that I'd just made a total ass of myself. I smiled back. "That's right. Vanessa and Raheem are over there." I gestured at the other tent. "We're supposed to be moving everything down by where you'll be working, but if you need anything, just, um. Ask."
"Here," he said, bending to lift a stack of sifting screens. The movement afforded me an excellent view of his denim-clad backside in the process, and I momentarily forgot how to breathe.
"Why don't I help you carry a load down, and you can show me where exactly I will be working." He faced me again, giving me a small, knowing smile that made my heart skip.
I chose not to inform him that I had only arrived the day before and knew even less about the site than he probably did, just grabbed my own armload of screens and followed him out of the tent.
"So, uh." I racked my brain for something halfway intelligent to say. "Are you staying in the dorms, too?"
He looked over his shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow, and I wanted to sink straight into the ground, deep enough that not even the GPR would be able to find me. I shut my eyes in mortification.
There was a moment of silence, and then a strong hand wrapped around my upper arm, steering me deftly around a large rock. "Eyes open," Luca advised.
My face felt as though I had gone bobbing for apples in a live volcano. "Right," I mumbled, pulling my arm out of his grasp. "This way."
Luca's legs were considerably longer than mine, so it took a lot of effort to keep even three or four paces ahead of him, and I was determined to avoid eye contact for at least the next decade. By the time we arrived at the new location, I was slightly out of breath.
"This is the spot?" he asked, turning in a slow circle on the grass.
"Yep." I set down the screens and lifted my sweaty hair away from the back of my neck.
He dropped to one knee, reached into the pocket of his jeans, and drew out a small folded knife. He snapped it open and thrust it into the dirt, neatly carving out a wedge of soil. "Not bad," he said. He rolled the soil into a ball, then let it crumble between the pads of his fingers. "You ran an analysis already, true?"
The inside of my mouth had gone dry. "True. I mean, yes."
He stood, folding the knife and sliding it back into his pocket. I tried not to stare. "I will start now," he proclaimed, brushing his hands together. "You'll be here?"
I blinked. "Um, yeah. All summer."
His smile was dazzling. "Great."
5
"She thinks my GPR's sexy…” Raheem sang quietly, through a mouthful of pita.
"Think he'll take his shirt off?" Vanessa reached for an olive and popped it in her mouth without taking her eyes off the distant figure of Luca, a hundred meters away, pushing the GPR like a glorified lawnmower.
I groaned. "You guys."
"I'm not objectifying him." Vanessa chewed slowly, her gaze intent. "Much."
"He's only got eyes for River," Raheem said. "He spent more time watching her than the radar."
"If you make another pun about penetrating, Raheem, I swear to God—" I jabbed my fork in his direction.
"It's low hanging fruit at this point," he replied, chuckling.
"Wonder what else is hung," Vanessa said dreamily, propping her chin on her hand.
I smacked her shoulder. "Vanessa."
She opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment, my phone chirped. All three of our gazes went to the screen, and before I could react, Vanessa screeched. "He already has your number?"
I tried to snag the phone, but my hand closed on empty air. Vanessa held it aloft, out of my reach. "What's your passcode?"
