“And I think that you were afraid if he came and made an important discovery, he might steal some potential posthumous glory from your mom.”
Her cheeks darkened.
“So, you lied to my face, saying you had no control over the timing of this dig and had to cancel our plans.”
“Quint, Ididn’t—”
“Andduring that moment,” he continued, “while you were lying your ass off, your right shoulder twitched.”
She reached up and touched her shoulder. “Listen, Quint,” she started again.
But he wasn’t finished. Being lied to by her had cut deeper than he’d realized, and laying everything out on the table soothed his frustration with her and this damned jungle.
“It clearly twitched, Angélica. Not once, not twice, but three times. And when I talked to your boss about writing an article to promote this scouting trip, he inadvertently confirmed that you had pushed to get assigned to the site and cancelled our vacation without any prompting from him.”
At least she had the decency to look sheepish when called out on her lying.
“Thereis your example, Angélica.”
She opened her mouth, but then apparently changed her mind and bit her lower lip, staring down at her feet.
“Nothing to say, boss lady?” He sniffed, smelling Teodoro’s mosquito goop that they’d lathered on before heading out for the mound. “Fine. When you feel like talking about why you continue to lie to me while I’m standing here neck deep in sweat and ticks and monkeys—”
“There are no monkeys inside the walls.”
He glared down at her. “You know what, Angélica, it’s too hot for this shit.” He stepped past her and strode over to grab his pack.
She followed. “Where are you going?”
“Does it matter?” He hefted the pack. “You just told me I could trade places with Fernando for all you care.”
“That’s not what I said.” She stole his pack from him, hiding it behind her back. “I said that if you didn’t want to swing the machete anymore, you could take a break and switch with Fernando.”
“No, that’s not how it went.” He held out his hand. “Give me my bag.”
“No.” She jogged away, heading toward the cleared trail.
He chased after her, catching up with her on the path. “Angélica,” he said, grabbing her arm. “I’m going to stay and help. All right? Now give me my pack. You’re banging it around like there isn’t an expensive camera in there.”
“Not until you give me a chance to explain.” She tugged him along the path.
“Where are you going?” He glanced behind him. “We need to let the others know where we are. This is a big, mean jungle, you know, full of voracious mosquitoes.”
She stopped suddenly and turned, drawing him in closer. “I have something to tell you,” she whispered. “And I don’t wantanyoneto hear this but you.”
“If you’re going to tell me that you lied about cancelling the incredibly romantic vacation I’d planned for us because you are completely over the moon for me and didn’t want to hurt my feelings, then—”
“Shut up, Parker.”
“Wow. Okay. I mean, my feathers have been ruffled about this since your boss dropped that truth bomb on me. After all, I was planning to whisk you away and turn you into my sex slave.”
“You’re my sex slave, remember?”
“But then you lied to me,” he continued.
She growled. “Quit beating that dead horse.”
“It’s not fully dead yet.” When she just scowled up at him, he added, “You could at least say you’re sorry.”
