Joseph sipped his wine. “It is our history.”
“Indeed.” Emberton toasted his friend across the table.
Cam stood in the grand front hall with Evan, Atlas, and Omar Emberton. The other graduate students had puttered off on a Vespa, Gemini had excused herself, and Joseph had retired for the evening. Atlas opened the massive front doors and led Emberton to the waiting chauffeured car. Cam guided Evan after them at a slower pace.
Dinner had been hell. He sat there while Gemini finger-fed him like a toddler and ran her bare foot up his calf. The only sensation she managed to elicit was a mild feeling of nausea. Meanwhile, Evan chased a pea around her plate with her fork, and he was hard as a lead pipe. That little trick with hiding the olives on her plate? Why was that sexy? And when that other student bent his head next to hers to share a secret, Cam had broken his wine glass trying to keep himself in check.
“Did you enjoy your meal, little mouse?”
Ignoring the endearment, she replied, “Yes, everything was lovely. Thank you for asking.”
He leaned into her. “So formal,” he scolded. “This is our first time breaking bread at an actual table. Above ground. Just imagine the possibilities.”
“Oh, I am,” she deadpanned. “Although I imagine your girlfriend might not be too happy about your exploring them.”
He leaned down as they walked, their feet producing a rhythmic crunch on the gravel. “She's not my girlfriend, querida. She's not even my friend.”
Evan stopped and turned to him. “I don’t think she's aware of that fact.” Then she cast her eyes upward, and Cam turned to follow her line of sight. Gemini March stood on a balcony wearing a black silk robe. Her arms were crossed as she observed them.
Cam looked up at the Siren, then he leaned down and placed a kiss on Evan's cheek and whispered, “See you in a few hours.” She stepped back with her hand to her face.
“What about those men we heard?” she asked.
“We’re far enough away to be safe. We’ll meet just as the last shift is ending. I won’t let anything happen to you” Cam rested a hand on her back.
“I know that,” she said, the reply a simple statement of fact.
The three innocuous words fed a very hungry piece of his soul.
She turned without a word and hurried after her mentor, who was now waiting in the back of the car.
Cam shoved his hands in his pants pockets and turned back to Gemini. She had taken a step forward and now was leaning both arms onto the low wall that bordered the balcony. She looked like Juliet leaning down to her lover. Cam almost laughed. His current situation certainly had equal potential for tragedy. He looked up at her and grinned.
She smiled back. “Tell me, Miguel. Am I giving you that hard-on you’re trying to hide, or did the little archaeologist turn you on?”
He made no secret of adjusting himself. “I think you know.”
A look of sultry satisfaction crossed her face.”You like to tease me.”
He shrugged.
“Tit for tat, Miguel.” She stood upright and slipped the robe off, revealing her perfect nude form. She turned to walk back into her bedroom and tossed over her shoulder, “See you in the morning, lover.”
Cam masked his relief with an audible growl. Gemini turned again to close the glass-paned french doors and pull the curtains, her face smug upon discovering he was still staring up at her. Without expression, he returned to the house.
In the relative safety of his first-floor bedroom, Cam changed into jeans and a henley. He had enjoyed a delicious meal and dodged an intimate encounter with Gemini March. Well, he was almost positive she expected him to pound on her door later. And he would. He couldn’t behave in any manner inconsistent with Miguel Ramirez, and Miguel Ramirez would demand entry. To her chamber and her body.
Cam shook off his trepidation. He had another, much more pleasurable task to attend to first. The night wasn’t over yet.