“Okay, thenyouneed to not put them in danger like you did when you went after Vautour’s guys.”
“I didn’t mean for you, Felix, and Logan to follow me—” She tried to protest, but Rafa cut her off.
“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend like it would have been okay for us to leave you. I may not be one of your crew members, but this is a team. There was no way we were going to watch you sail off with those guys. You putting yourself in danger puts everyone in danger.”
“All right. I won’t put my team in danger.”
“Any other boundaries we need to establish?”
She bit her lip.Focus. Focus.
“Well, I…It bears repeating. We can’t let this…this thing between us go anywhere.”
“Right. Anything else?”
“And you should probably put some pants on because…it’s…it’s distracting,” she said with a slight smile.
Rafa hung his head and laughed, then lifted his hands overhis head, grabbing on to the top of the doorframe. Miri’s eyes shot in every direction, grazing over his physique.
“Okay, that isn’t helping,” she said.
“Sorry,” he said, bringing his hands back down to his sides. Though his smirk said otherwise. It was a dirty move. But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t like it.
“I should probably get going.”
“Yeah, and I should probably shower. Got to wash the booze off.”
Miri stared at him, not moving. Imagining her hand grazing the band of his boxer briefs along his smooth, taut abs. Picturing Rafa climbing into the shower. And envisioning her naked body pressed against him while he massaged shampoo into her hair from behind.
“Pringles?” he said.
With a quick shake of her head, she broke out of it. “Good. I’m glad we got all this settled,” she said.
“Definitely.”
“Well, I, uh…I need to check on the rest of the crew and make sure no one else has quit overnight.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you at the meetup spot in, how long?”
“In thirty minutes.”
“Right. See you there.”
Miri gave him a smile, then turned to walk away, when Rafa called out one more time.
“Oh, so you know, I’ll probably be taking lots of pictures today, what with finding that stone table and all. Don’t mind me if it looks like I’m staring. Pretend you don’t even see me.”
A tiny laugh escaped her. “Like that will ever be possible.” She smiled at him once more, and he was unable to stop thebeaming smile on his own face. “And, Rafa…please put some pants on.”
Three days.
They spent three days at the stone table with absolutely no further progress.
They’d arrived back at the stone table the day after the initial discovery, this time bringing with them some additional tools to start excavating the table and roping off the rest of the area in a grid so they could accurately mark any other finds.
Hour upon hour, they painstakingly removed the moss and grime from the rock, revealing a beautiful almost-blue stone underneath. But it took time and patience. So, day after day, they returned. Another twelve inches uncovered here. Another several pounds of dirt sifted there. And not a single find.
There was no evidence of human existence in the area. No pottery. No jewels. No clothing. No tools. While the slab itself was beautiful, it didn’t make up for the fact that nothing else about the spot gave any indication that this wasthemesa de pedra.
