He cocked his head. “First off, this morning I was simply enjoying a cup of coffee when you decided to audition forBrazilian Ninja Warrioracross the street from me. And second, I wasn’t spying. If I was spying, you wouldn’t have seen me. Trust me, Miri, I know how to conceal myself. If I didn’t want you to see me, you wouldn’t have.”
“You should have announced your presence,” she said.
“You’re right. But candid shots are more impactful.”
“You can’t use those!” she protested, letting go of the vine and walking toward him.
“Why not?” he asked, ticking his head to the side.
“Because I probably look ridiculous. I don’t want you putting a photo of me face down in the dirt inGloGeo,” she said, reaching for the camera.
He stepped back, pulling the camera tighter to his chest. “Why would you assume that’s the photo I’d choose?”
“Because…because I’m a joke.” She hung her head. “It’s only day two…and you heard Dr. Quinn. I’ve already fucked everything up.”
Rafa’s heart ached for her. Sure, he wanted to convince her to scrap this whole thing and pack up the team. But he didn’t want her to blame herself. It wasn’t her fault this expedition was a flaming fiasco.
“I wouldn’t put too much credence into what Quinn thinks,” Rafa said, rolling his eyes at the thought of Quinn. “That man is a grade-A asshole—”
“Who happens to be a well-respected archaeologist. Once he gets better and tells people about what’s happened out here, I’ll be a laughingstock. And those pictures will only solidify that fact. I can already see your article now. ‘Failure in the Amazon: How Dr. Miriam Jacobs Fucked It All Up,’ ” she said, waving her hands in the air like reading a movie marquee.
Rafa burst out laughing. “That’s a terrible title,” he said, covering his mouth. “And it would never pass copyedits.”
“See? I’m not even good at describing how colossally bad my botch jobs are!” she said.
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” he said with a smile. But the worried look on her face didn’t seem to buy it. He softened his eyes at her. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened to Quinn. No one asked him to try to be a hero. You didn’t put his hand under the wheel.”
“But I put us out here—”
“No,Idid. If anyone’s responsible for our current situation, Pringles, it’s me.”
Miri shouldering the guilt didn’t sit right with him.
“Had I not changed course, though—” she started.
“And what if you’re right?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.The words came out so quickly without a second thought. What was he doing? Was hehelpingher?
She looked up at him, her pretty sapphire eyes sparkling from behind the lenses of her glasses. “You mean that?” she asked.
A tingling sensation fluttered in his stomach as he stared at her. Her eyes were hopeful—someone believed in her, even if she didn’t believe in herself.
He wouldn’t—no, hecouldn’t—be the one to break her down.
“Of course I do. Hey, it’s a lost city. No matter which direction you take, it can’t be any worse than the last person who tried, right?” he said, trying to deflect. “And if you’re worried about the article, think of it this way—I promise, if this ends up a bust, I’ll make sure you get a title worth bragging about.”
She smiled, sending another wave of warmth over his skin. “Thank you,” she said.
His resolve faded as he gazed at her mouth. She shifted her stance into a beam of light poking its way through the tree canopy, casting a glimmering sheen across her lips like a beacon calling his name. The call from a paradise tanager stole his attention as it flitted through the trees, and he cleared his throat.
“Look, if you’re bothered by the photos, I’ll delete them,” he said, bringing the camera up and turning it back on. “It’s not like we were doing expedition-type stuff anyway.”
“Can I see them first?”
“What? The pictures?”
She nodded.
