Heart of Fire Read online

  “Wish I’d been there.”

  She didn’t let the lazy comment distract her. “Rick asked me what I’d found, and like a fool I just blurted it out. He grabbed the papers from me, but he couldn’t read the instructions because they’re in code. He got a little sarcastic then, asking me what made me think this told how to find lost treasure when I couldn’t even read it. I told him I could read it, that Dad had taught me the code. I refused to tell him what it said, though.”

  “Bet that livened things up.”

  She smiled at the understatement. “I tried to interest several of my colleagues in the project. Everyone just laughed. I could tell what they were thinking; they were comparing me to Dad. An expedition like this takes a lot of money, and I couldn’t do it on my own, but I couldn’t find a backer. Not even the foundation I work for, and the Frost Archaeological Foundation is the biggest. Basically, they patted me on the head and told me to go away. I was so disappointed and depressed after being turned down by everyone I knew that I called Rick and told him there wouldn’t be any expedition. I don’t know why, except that I think he really loved Dad too, so he deserved to know. The next thing I knew, Kates was in on it and we were making plans to come down here.”

  “They didn’t try to talk you into giving them the map and instructions?”

  “Of course they did.” She gave him a cool glance that told him how successful that effort had been. Then she bit her lip. “I don’t know for certain, but I think someone searched my place.”

  “Kates, probably. Or someone he hired. He doesn’t like to do the work himself. Did he get the map?”

  “No. No one will find it where I put it.”

  “You don’t have it with you?”

  “Of course not! I’m not about to bring a four-hundred-year-old map along. I copied down the instructions, but as I said, they’re in code.”

  He muttered something under his breath.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “I said, ’You must think you’re Jane Bond.’ They can’t read the code and you won’t tell them what it says, so they’re forced to bring you along.”

  “Exactly. They would just loot the site rather than trying to preserve it, and Dad’s reputation would never be cleared.”

  Abruptly his lazy facade fell away and he sat up, glaring at her with narrowed eyes. “And just how in the hell do you plan on stopping them?”

  She braced her shoulders. “I don’t know. But I bought a pistol.”

  He swore viciously. “And you thought that would solve your problem? Jesus. You bought a pistol. What kind, a pearl-handled derringer?”

  “A .38 automatic.”

  “Do you even know how to use it?”

  “I do. I’m an archaeologist; my work isn’t in civilized places. I wasn’t lying about having to kill my own food a time or two, and I’ve had to scare off some unfriendly creatures, both the two-legged and four-legged varieties.”

  He looked suspiciously at her purse.

  “No, it isn’t in there,” she said, and smiled at him. “And I’m not buying your act. You found it when you searched my room, so you know I have a pistol, you know what kind it is, and you know where it is.”

  He smiled back at her, not denying the charge. Of course he had searched her room while he’d had the chance. “You have nice underwear.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Did you try it on?”

  “Nah. Just rubbed it against my face.”

  Damn him. He probably had, too. The picture flashed into her mind and her stomach tightened. She still didn’t want to show any reaction to him, but it was getting more and more difficult. He was wicked and blatant, and so damn masculine her nerve endings were tingling despite herself.

  He was watching her, still smiling a little as he picked up the way her eyes dilated. Some reactions couldn’t be hidden. Ben felt more than a little satisfaction at finally having gotten past her guard.

  But there were more important things to talk about than sex. “Considering the situation,” he said slowly, “why don’t you decipher this code for me and I’ll find this lost city, if it’s really there, while you stay here out of danger?”

  She laughed in his face. She didn’t try to be polite about it, either. She crossed her arms over her stomach and absolutely hooted at the ridiculousness of the proposition.

  “I take it that’s a no.”

  “I don’t know how you even said it with a straight face,” she replied, still snickering. “Do you think I trust you?”

  “You’ll learn,” he said cheerfully. “After all, since you insist on going along, we’ll be sharing a tent. Yep, you’ll learn real quick that you can trust me in a lot of ways. For one thing, I won’t ever leave you hanging, sweetcakes.”

  5

  She shot off the bed, control forgotten in the renewed surge of fury. “Share a tent!” she half yelled. “With you?”

  “Shhh.” He motioned toward the door. “Anyone out in the hallway can hear you.” He hid his satisfaction at her reaction, because if she saw it she would clamp down again. She sure had fooled him the night before with that iceberg image. The pure volcanic rage he’d seen on her face right before she’d begun walloping him with her purse had made his entire body tighten with excitement, just as it was doing now that he had breached her control again.

  “I don’t care if they can hear me down in the lounge.”

  “That’s a possibility. Settle down, sweetcakes.”

  She lowered her voice to a furious whisper. “We’re going to get something settled, and I’m not it. I’m not sharing a tent with anyone, and certainly not with you!”

  “I figure that’s the only way Dutra will leave you alone.”

  “I appreciate your gallantry, Mr. Lewis, but I’m not falling for this little gambit. Did you really think it would be that easy to line up your ’supply,’ as you so charmingly phrased it last night?”

  Damn, she wasn’t going for it. But these were the early stages, and he was enjoying the game. He grinned at her, totally unabashed. “It was worth a try.”

  “I’ll be sleeping with the pistol in my hand,” she informed him.

  “That’s good to know, because I really wasn’t kidding about Dutra. You may be safe enough on the trip in, because Kates won’t want Dutra to harm you, but as soon as we find this place, if find it, you’d better stay right with me. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He looked surprised at her ready agreement. “What? No arguments? You’d better watch it, or I might start thinking you like me.”

  Jillian gave him a mockingly sweet smile. “I think I can prevent that from happening. I wouldn’t want you going so far off track.”

  He gave a deep chuckle of appreciation and got to his feet. Instantly she felt a little overwhelmed by his nearness and tried to take a step back, but the bed was right behind her. He noticed the movement and sauntered even closer, so close that she could feel the intense heat of his muscled body.

  Her breasts brushed against the hard wall of his upper abdomen and a hot tingle shot through her nipples. She stopped breathing, because even that small movement was too potent.

  He wasn’t doing anything, just standing there so close that his body was touching hers. She could feel his gaze on her face but refused to look up, both because she didn’t want to see the sensuality of his expression and because she didn’t want him to see her own involuntary response. His heat was wrapping around her, beguiling her, sapping her strength. She hadn’t realized he was quite so big, but he had to be a couple of inches over six feet, and she already knew that he was all muscle. He would overwhelm a woman in bed—

  No. She halted the wayward thought, appalled that it had slipped into her mind. She didn’t want to think about him in bed.

  “Jillian.” He said her name in a softly cajoling tone. “Look up at me.”

  She swallowed. “No.”

  Another of those deep chuckles rumbled from his chest. “Stubborn.” He moved then, sl