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Water dripped from his hand, pooling on the newspaper. He placed the fragment in front of me and reached for the next one on the tray.
I looked down at the toothbrush I was holding. "Thanks," I managed to say.
I forced myself to focus on the task at hand, gently scrubbing away layers of mud to reveal the cream-colored ceramic beneath. I dipped it into the rinse bowl, giving it a little shake.
"Hey." Luca wiped his face.
"Sorry," I said, wincing.
That eyebrow quirk again. "It's a small price to pay for the company."
"I mean, I'm a lot less entertaining than Vanessa," I said to the ceramic fragment, feeling the blush return. "Or even Raheem."
"You are very boring," Luca said agreeably.
Something in my stomach seemed to flip upside-down. "So you really are just here out of the goodness of your heart," I said, trying for a playful tone.
"Not at all," Luca said, and the small smile on his lips turned into a grin. "It's only that I very much enjoy being bored." He reached over and ran the tip of his finger over the bristles of my toothbrush. "And you are good at brushing."
There were tiny gold flecks in the emerald-green of his eyes. I momentarily forgot how to breathe.
And yet, I somehow was able to reply. "I could teach you a thing or two.”
He laughed, low and enticing, and reached once more for his brush. "I look forward to it."
I tore my gaze away from him, looking instead at the six trays of finds that awaited processing. "Well," I said, shifting my tone slightly, "there will be plenty of opportunity to practice."
"No help from your accomplices?" Luca said lightly.
"Ah, no." I reached across him to place my fragment on the drying rack, careful to keep from touching him in the process. "They're going to Palia today. To the mass spec lab."
Luca went still. "What?"
I looked at him. His spine had straightened, and I could see a line of tension in his jaw. His shoulders were pulled tight.
I frowned. "Dr. Blanton decided to take the book for dating," I said.
His eyes flashed, his expression growing dark. "She did," he said.
"Well, a piece of it," I amended. I pushed the bowl of water away and turned to face him fully. "Is something wrong?"
He met my eyes, his gaze locking with mine, and for a moment I was transfixed by his sheer intensity. The gold flecks in his eyes seemed almost to glow with it.
A chill ran up my spine. "Luca?"
Abruptly, the foreboding expression vanished, melting into an easy smile. He ran a hand through his hair. "No, no, of course not," he said, shaking his head with a laugh. "I'm very curious to see what they say. What an interesting find, that book, you agree?"
"Yes," I said quietly. "I do."
He reached for his toothbrush. "After all this work," he said, winking, "I think we deserve something nice. I have a lamb shank from the market—you like osso buco?"
I blinked. "Um, I don't know," I confessed. "I've never had it." What had just happened? That look on his face, almost sinister—and now it was as though nothing had happened. Had I imagined it? First the book, then the mud on my feet, now this—was I losing my mind?
He placed a hand over his heart. "Inammissibile," he said, shaking his head. "Tonight, I will cook for you."
It was very strange, feeling simultaneously completely off-axis and irresistibly drawn toward the man sitting next to me. The beginning of a five o'clock shadow darkened the sharp angle of his jaw, and I imagined what it might feel like to kiss him there. The rough scrape of his beard over my lips, the astringent taste of aftershave. The puff of his breath against my neck.
I shivered and shook my head. "I promised to have dinner with Vanessa," I said, lying through my teeth.
