He nodded but looked nervous about something. I squeezed his hand. “Hey, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is great.”
“Why the questions about seeing things and sensing things?”
He laughed. “I’m just wondering if I’ll ever be able to pull off a surprise with you.”
Smiling, I replied, “Kristin threw me a surprise birthday party once, and I had no idea. Oh, and one time at work, they threw me an anniversary party, and I was totally clueless. I love surprises, so don’t let my weird sixth sense spoil any plans you want to make.”
Lucas kissed the back of my hand once again. “I’m glad to hear it, and I won’t. Now, can you tell me what I’m thinking right now?”
I closed my eyes tightly and giggled. “You want to pull over somewhere and have sex in your car!”
When he didn’t say anything, I sprung my eyes open. “Oh, my gosh, was that what you were thinking?”
He finally laughed. “No, I was thinking we don’t have a tree up in my house yet. Should we go get one and decorate it?”
Nearly jumping out of my skin with excitement, I yelled, “Yes! Can we go to Hobby Lobby?”
“Hobby Lobby? Hollie, that’s, like, forty minutes away if we go to the one in Seabrook.”
Giving him my best pouty look, I said, “Pwease!”
With a roll of his eyes, he answered, “Fine, but you owe me.”
I lifted my hand and placed it on his thigh before moving between his legs. “Public sex in the car is still on the table.”
Lucas turned and looked at me. “And if we got caught, I’d lose my job, and you’d never get work again.”
“How about sex in a random hotel where we check in, make love, then leave. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Putting on his turn signal, Lucas whipped the car into a parking lot. I looked to see where we were and then laughed my ass off when I saw it was the Marriott Peabody Hotel.
Lucas
“Are you going to say anything, Lucas?” my former college professor, Sam Martin, said as he smiled at me.
“Dr. Martin, I’m a little stunned.”
“That I want you to help me on a dig site?”
I blinked at him a few times. “Yes, why me?”
“You have experience in the field, you were one of my top students at Harvard, and I think this would be an amazing opportunity for you. We have stumbled upon a four-thousand-year-old Bronze Age burial site. The things we’ve already discovered are unbelievable. And there is so much more, Lucas. Isn’t this what you wanted when you went to school to become an archaeologist?”
“It was, but I’m happy where I am, Dr. Martin. This past fall, we unearthed a small town that was part of Salem. So far, we’ve discovered a tavern and lodge, and a small base of a structure we’re pretty sure was a church from a few of the recovered artifacts.”
Dr. Martin leaned back in his chair and gave me a hard look. “A tavern over a four-thousand-year-old Bronze Age burial site? Lucas, I know you want this. What is holding you back?”
A memory of making love to Hollie this morning popped into my head, and I cleared my throat.
“I see,” he said with a slight grin. “How long?”
“I’ve known her nearly my entire life, been in love with her, I think, for half of that, and it’s been official for two months.”
He nodded and rubbed his chin. “A new love. I can see why you would be hesitant.”
Laughing, I opened my arms and said, “And I have my dream job. I’ve always wanted this job. I can’t walk away from it.”
