Digging Deep (Xcite Romance) (5 page)

The easy manner that had flowed between them crumbled with the mention of the night before, and Beth shifted uneasily in her chair. ‘I’m sorry you had to sort that out alone. If I hadn’t been so thrown by Candida’s lies I would have helped.’

‘It’s fine.’ Harrison had been hoping they wouldn’t have to discuss his hideous misjudgement of her again. He was furious with himself for thinking that Beth would have anything to do with Ryan beyond teaching him, but she obviously wanted the air cleared. ‘I’m sorry. I should never have believed Candida. Perhaps it would have been better not to tell you about it in the first place?’

Beth lifted the plans so she could examine them closer, and so Harrison wouldn’t be able to see the desire she was sure was flashing in neon lights across her face as she battled not to reach across the table and kiss him. ‘No, you had to tell me. It would have been far worse if I’d picked it up as rumour at the breakfast table. Anyway, it’s my fault for not telling you about Ryan and the mosaic in the first place. Although I can’t see what that has to do with Candida.’

‘Nor can I. Either way, I should have dismissed her conversation as the fabricated gossip of a nasty young lady straight away. Very unprofessional of me.’

Beth’s mouth fell open. It hadn’t occurred to her that Harrison might consider his behaviour as unprofessional as she considered her own. Putting a conciliatory hand on his, feeling his warmth against her freezing skin, trying not to remember how good his flesh had felt when they’d shared their fleeting moment of intimacy the previous day, she said, ‘You know we’re in serious danger of going around in circles and beating ourselves up because two of our students behaved badly!’

Harrison chuckled. ‘We are, aren’t we? Hell doll, it has to be lack of sleep.’ A wicked smile crept onto his lips, ‘How about we give ourselves a treat? Time off from our two nightmare charges. Let’s send Candida and Ryan on field-walking duty today. A few hours of them walking up and down olive grove fields, staring at the ground in the hope of spotting previously uncollected finds, should give them the day of tedium they deserve, you a break from the over-attention of Muscle Boy, and me a break from the trying charms of Miss Infection.’

Laughing properly as she downed the dregs of her coffee, Beth stood to go and confront the trauma of changing from yesterday’s dirty clothes into today’s soon to be dirty clothes. ‘You do realise that Ryan and Candida will be Muscle Boy and Miss Infection to us from now on! We’ll have to be really careful not to call them that in person.’

‘True.’ Harrison picked up his pen, ready to add more detail to his plans. ‘I’d never really considered Candida as a disease before, but as she has been a pain in my side for ages, I think the nickname suits her perfectly.’

‘Ages?’ Beth halted in her walk toward the stairs. ‘How come?’

‘Ever since the first lecture I gave her class in her first year, she’s had a thing about me. I don’t think there is anything she hasn’t tried to get extra attention. Arriving at my house uninvited, waiting for me in my car, making sure the world and his wife thinks we’ve slept together in many an inventive manner – which we haven’t! The girl is shameless.’ Without giving Beth the chance to respond, he added, ‘You’d better get ready for the day, doll; the others will be up soon. I’ll finish this.’

Feeling dismissed, Beth headed to her room, her head full of only one thought now. If Candida is such a pain in the butt, why did Harrison let her come on the dig in the first place?

Chapter Five

‘Is it me, or has this morning been refreshingly relaxing?’ Harrison held his hand out to Beth, helping to pull her from her knees to her feet.

Brushing the sand from her trousers, Beth grinned back at him. ‘Bliss.’ She almost added that it had been particularly nice to work without the knowledge that Ryan wasn’t eyeing up her backside, but decided not to. Whispering so the other students couldn’t hear her paranoia, she added, ‘Any additional gossip about what you overheard yesterday?’

‘Nothing. Apart from the odd chuckle about your dislike of snakes, today’s chatter has all been at the “how cute is Bruce Willis now he’s older and has shaved his head?” level.’

‘Honestly! As if that issue was ever in doubt. Willis has a twinkle in his eye. The amount of hair on top of his head is neither here nor there. The man may not be the best looker, but he is hot. End of story.’

Harrison shook his head, affection plastered over his face. ‘Did I tell you I think you’re nuts?’

‘Several times.’ Beth stored away her companion’s affectionate expression in her heart for consideration later on. Removing her hat, she gave her hair a few moments’ fresh air, unwittingly making Harrison clench his fists together so he didn’t reach out to caress one of the spiral tresses and bounce it through his fingers, before she rammed it back in place.

Signalling that it was time to break for lunch, and making sure the last student had disappeared from sight down the path towards the house before he spoke, Harrison said, ‘How about you and I risk an ear-bashing from Miss Infection, and go and see how she and Muscle Boy are doing?’

Popping the fine bristled paintbrush she’d been gliding over some newly uncovered bricks into her pocket, Beth groaned, ‘In this heat? It’s a quarter to 12 already. I thought it was just us Brits who were supposed to be mad enough to go out in the midday sun?’

He put his hands on his hips in mock indignation. ‘You wouldn’t be using the weather as an excuse not to go and see our favourite students, would you?’

‘Yes, I would. But I guess we ought to see how they’re doing.’ The smile was wiped from Beth’s lips. ‘Did you see Candida’s face when I told her she would be field-walking with Ryan?’

Harrison grimaced. ‘Sure did. I believe the word you’re searching for is “acidic”.’

Unscrewing the lid from the water bottle she’d had the pleasure of refilling for herself in Ryan’s absence, Beth asked, ‘I’m curious, did Candida ask you to alter the rota? I got the distinct impression that taking an instruction from me was tantamount to being forced to suck on a particularly bitter lemon.’

Harrison snorted as they walked; the description well suited Candida’s entire demeanour when she’d come to him demanding that she field-walk with him, not Ryan. ‘She did, doll.’ Delving one of his large hands into his backpack, Harrison passed Beth a portion of sandwiches. ‘Here, I didn’t think we’d get time for lunch at the house.’

‘Thanks, Harry. You’re very kind.’

Stopping to hook his rucksack back into place, he fixed Beth with an unwavering stare, which was as playful as it was challenging. ‘For the last time, my name
isn’t
Harry.’

Fighting the instinct to blink, feeling the sheen of his eyes reflect off her own, Beth, fully aware of the hopeful stiffening of her nipples beneath her bra, spoke with equal determination. ‘And my name
isn’t
doll. I’ve told
you
before. When you stop calling me doll, I will stop calling you Harry.’

As Harrison continued to peer into her eyes, Beth’s stomach knotted with desire, a desire she hoped he couldn’t read from the light of her gaze. His voice was laced with a heavy edge of exasperation, as if he didn’t really want to explain himself at all. ‘I call you doll because you look like a doll. You’re all china skin, cute features, and incredible hair. It’s a compliment, woman! I, on the other hand, do
not
look like a Harry!’

Beth opened her mouth to retort that he was quite like Dirty Harry in a certain light, especially when he wore his hat tilted back, but thought better of it.

Harrison almost elaborated on his feelings but, sensible of how close he’d already come to breaking his “no more relationships with work colleagues” rule, took a bite from his sandwich. ‘Oh for God’s sake; it’s fish again! I know we are lucky to have anything at all. But I swear Rosa can cook bread, couscous, fish, and nothing else.’

Beth took a mouthful of her own lunch, eyes sparkling as she chewed. ‘She’s a whizz with fish, all right.’

‘But it all tastes the same. I can’t even work out what sort of fish it is.’

‘Stop moaning. We are lucky to have a cook, or even food.’

‘True.’

Beth risked a glance at him as they reached the other side of the village and the olive groves came into view. ‘I got the impression you were going to say something else before you started eating?’

Harrison swallowed his mouthful of sandwich. ‘I know it’s given us a much-needed break, but I’ve been thinking that putting those two together alone for the day might not have been such a good idea.’

Beth, who’d reached the same conclusion only seconds after she’d seen Ryan and Candida walking off to the grove together, had been trying not to think about their potential mistake all morning. ‘You could be right, but they seem to be getting on well. I’m pretty sure Candida’s objections were because she doesn’t like taking orders from me, not because she doesn’t like Ryan. He obviously fancies her anyway. You only have to see the speculative way he looks at her. And anyway, for my sanity’s sake it was essential. If I see Ryan leer at my backside once more I’ll snap.’

‘Can’t really blame him for that, doll, you have a neat backside.’

Looking at Harrison in surprise as he delivered this additional compliment, Beth refrained from comment as they walked, wondering for the hundredth time if she should mention their kiss, but not wanting to be the one to bring the subject up in case he declared the whole episode a terrible mistake.

A few steps later, Harrison paused mid-stride. ‘I don’t think he fancies her. I’d lay money on Ryan having an agenda, though …’ Kicking at the dry soil with his walking boots, he added. ‘I thought Candida might show off to Ryan while they were alone, and perhaps tell him who was on the other end of that phone call. If there is someone who thinks you should have an eye kept on you, I’d like to know who they are, wouldn’t you?’

Backtracking over what he’d said, Beth frowned. It was all getting a bit surreal again. ‘Hang on. What do you mean by Ryan “having an agenda”? If he’s got a silly crush on me, I’m sure time with Candida will show him there are better, more available, things on offer in his own age bracket!’

Harrison couldn’t believe someone so clever could so easily miss the obvious. ‘You can’t lack that much common sense, can you, doll? He fancies the ass off you. And if Candida has added that fact to her arsenal against you, and has used it to her advantage …’

Again, he didn’t seem able to finish what he was saying. ‘Come off it. Ryan’s an adolescent with ideas about a bit of MILF. He’s only been acting up towards me because he feels bad about the mosaic. I’m sorry Candida is such a pain in the arse for you, but if she’s that awful, she shouldn’t even be here. Why is she here anyway?’

Harrison dug his hands into his pockets. It was no good. He was going to have to tell Beth the whole story. ‘Come into the shade a minute.’

Leading an apprehensive Beth into the shelter of a lone tree, Harrison glanced around to make sure that they weren’t being observed, and drew her close to his side.

Outwardly managing to appear completely unaffected by his looming physical presence, Beth’s heart rate tripled as the side of his body rubbed against her. The heady aroma from his leather hat mingled with the tinge of his workday sweat, taunting the inside her nostrils. Clasping her nails into her palms to sidetrack herself from the effect of her colleague’s proximity, Beth didn’t dare look at him; consequently, she missed the grave pallor across his cheeks.

Registering how closed off Beth’s body language had become, her eyes cast down, her arms ramrod straight at her sides, her feet planted next to each other, completely unmoving, Harrison felt as if he was side by side with a waxwork model. Scanning the landscape around them, he decided to get the worst of his revelation over with. ‘How well do you know Linda?’

‘Linda?’ Of all the things Harrison might have been about to say, that was a question Beth hadn’t seen coming. ‘Not at all beyond workday hellos, meetings, and stuff. She mostly travels abroad, lectures the Masters students, and supervises the PhD guys. Until now, I just tutored the undergraduates and worked UK excavations. I’ve never been taught by her. I only joined the University of Wales two years ago as a post doc. Why?’

Reluctant to share his humiliation, Harrison knew he’d left himself no choice. ‘Because I know Linda. Very well.’

The little amount of moisture in Beth’s throat dried to dust. She’d been right in the first place. Harrison probably had sex with every woman he worked with. How foolish to hope she was special to him in some way. His compliments were just his way of softening her up before he dropped another bombshell.

Failing to conceal how hurt she felt, Beth said, ‘Define “very well”.’

‘Shall we sit down? This could take a while.’

‘We don’t have “a while”.’ Beth spoke with pointed care. “We are here to work. The digging will restart soon, and we have a lot to do before then. We haven’t even reached Ryan and Candida yet, so I’ll remain standing if it’s all the same to you.’

‘As you like.’ Leaning back against the trunk of the tree, Harrison sighed heavily through his next words. ‘Linda first came to Tunisia with me two years ago.’

Wanting this conversation to be over with as quickly as possible, Beth interjected, ‘Yes, I know. She was brilliant at what she did. So good, in fact, that your account of her work here, along with consistently glowing reports of her research, got her speedily promoted. I was shipped in to replace her at the grassroots level.’

‘It wasn’t that straightforward.’

‘What the hell is?’

Harrison risked taking one of Beth’s hands, and took courage from the fact she didn’t immediately yank it away. ‘Linda is a clever woman. Far cleverer than I’ll ever be. We had a relationship while we were here, which continued as a highly flirty text and email relationship once we were back in our own countries.’

‘Lucky you.’ Beth could see it all very clearly. Linda’s corn yellow hair swinging in plaits on each side of her sweetheart face as she body-bounced her colleague.

‘Not so lucky, actually.’ Swallowing his pride, he carried on. ‘It was all a plan. A carefully worked out plot so that Linda could fast-track her way up the ladder. I was a convenient rung to assist her en route.’

Beth’s eyes narrowed. She really wanted to believe him, and she knew it was true that Linda was incredibly ambitious, but she forced herself to remain sceptical.

‘All the time I believed we had something, Linda was simply using my name and my connections to get on. When she asked for help, I gave it. But then I began to notice a pattern emerging. Papers I’d written that she had a junior authorship on slowly became papers that Linda had written herself, rather than pieces she’d merely contributed to. Digs I was advisor on suddenly became co-run affairs, or were taken over by Linda completely. I found out much later that she’d been contacting editors and grant bodies using my reference details, saying I was deferring to her time and time again.

‘Each time she elbowed her way above me, Linda would laugh it off, making it sound like she’d had some good luck. With hindsight, I can see that when she felt a fraction of guilt she’d be all over me like a rash, thanking me for helping her so much. As Linda rose higher, my position became less dominant in the field. With each paper I lost to her, my own academic research rating slumped. I was so stupid. I didn’t notice what she was doing at first.’

Harrison gaze landed on the small, fragile hand he was holding, distracting him from what he was saying. Beth was so slight. It was hard to believe she was as physically strong as he knew her to be, having seen her pushing a full wheelbarrow and wielding a pickaxe.

Noting the direction of his eyes, and not really understanding why she did it, Beth snaked her fingers through his, holding his palm properly. She found she was holding her breath, as she listened to her colleague.

‘You must think me a fool. A sap, as they say on my side of the pond. The level of Linda’s underhand manipulation astounds me as much as my own gullibility. Until I met her, all the archaeologists I’d ever met were kind, generous, and happy to share their knowledge. I was terribly naive. I made the mistake of thinking that just because she was young, pretty, and keen, she was a nice person.’

Edging a fraction closer to him – more, Beth told herself, to avoid the shafts of superheated light that were piercing her arm through the leaves of the tree and layers of her shirts as though she was being whipped with a well-aimed cat o’ nine tails than because it felt good – she asked, ‘Why are you telling me this? I’m sorry Linda screwed you over; but how is this relevant to our current situation? I came to Tunisia to do my dream job, and what I’m actually doing is being badmouthed by a girl with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement, and semi-stalked by one of my own students. Linda isn’t here.’

‘I’m telling you because I want you to understand that there is a reason why, despite the fact I desperately want to, I haven’t kissed you again, I haven’t told you that I find you fascinating, and would love to spend out of work time with you. I can’t risk another relationship with a colleague, no matter how much I want to. And the reason I am telling you this
right
now
is because Linda knows Candida.’

Beth threw his hand down and took a large step backwards as she tried to process the fact that he liked her. She wasn’t going to act on that instinct at the same time as having to cope with more revelations about the busty blonde student who was spreading malicious gossip about her. ‘Linda knows Candida?’