Who knew?
“What about the whole necklace thing, then? The one where you allegedly stolebackthat jade necklace that had been stolen from the auction?”
“I mean, that one’ssort oftrue. Though, in all fairness, you can’t really steal what’s already been stolen. And besides, I didn’t take it, anyway. I still maintain that Bernard Sardoni gave it to me.”
“Gave it to you? I thought I’d heard you got it from his bedroom?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
He cocked his head. “And? How did you even get in that situation in the first place?”
“Well, I’d gone to that auction with a friend of mine who’d been the one responsible for the necklace, and when the necklace went missing, they blamed him. So I did some digging, learned Sardoni was the likely culprit, snuck my way into a party he was having a few days later, and during the party he invited me to his room. And while we were in there... he put the necklace on me.”
She nonchalantly glanced at Ford, who was hanging on to her every word. This was fun. And, admittedly, the time she fooled mob boss Bernard Sardoniwasone of her favorite stories, even though, at the time, she had been terrified. But shecouldn’t let her friend take the heat for the necklace’s disappearance.
“Wait... did you...” Although he didn’t finish his question, it was obvious what he wanted to ask. The same question everyone asked: whether she’d had sex with Sardoni.
“Ew, of course not, Ford. Idohave standards, thank you very much.”
“But youdiduse your sex appeal to get in his bedroom,” he said, more like a fact than a question.
Hmm... was Ford admitting that he found her sexy? She fought her smile back.
“Well, how else was I going to get up there? I mean, how the heck do you think I got into that party, anyway?”
Though, thatwasthe reason Sardoni brought her to his room. Thankfully, she’d gone in with an exit plan.
“And that’s it? He put the necklace on you and said, ‘Here you go’?”
“No. About a minute later, his wife came bursting into the room, with the maid I’d paid a hundred bucks to snitch, and then I snuck out during the commotion. Seeing as he stole the necklace in the first place, it wasn’t like he was going to report me to the police.”
Ford covered his mouth to hide his shock. “No way. I can’t believe you did that. That’s so dangerous, Corrie. And ballsy. Maybe youarea badass.”
She smiled and had to turn her head to keep him from being able to see her blush. For some reason, his acknowledgment felt like confirmation that all her outrageous antics had been worth it. They at least made for decent fodder at dig-side dinners.
“What about you? What’s the wildest thing that’s happened to you since you became Dr. Ford Matthews?”
“I don’t do wild,” he said, wiping the last of the droplets off the makeshift counter.
“Oh, come on. No Holy Grails? Or chasing Nazis through the desert?”
He snickered. “Nope.”
“What about sword fights and snakes?” she jested.
“Certainly not.”
“Don’t you have any fun?” she asked, playfully tugging on his arm.
And accidentally brushing her breasts against his bicep. They both froze, each glancing at the place where their bodies connected, but neither making any effort to break apart. They hadn’t been this close since... since that night in the library.
Dammit... it felt good being this close to him. Warmth rippled through her body, and her nipples hardened. Could he feel it? Did shewanthim to feel it? The pace of his breathing picked up, matching hers one to one.
A roar of thunder cracked through the sky, snapping them out of whatever daze they’d been in and forcing their bodies apart as if lightning had sliced between them. And with that one rolling boom came an onslaught of rain. The once-calm camp was now in an all-out flurry with people running for shelter and grabbing their things.
“The Jeep,” Ford said.
“My things!” Corrie followed up. Within seconds, her bags, sitting on the backseat of the topless Jeep, would be soaked. Dammit.
