her hand free. A condom rested on her open palm.
Chloe felt color flare on her cheeks. “I didn’t know that you and Joel had been intimate.”
“Oh, we haven’t been,” Cassie said easily. “But I do like to be prepared in case we ever decide we’re ready. So, do you think one is enough for you and Arizona, or do you want to pack the whole box?”
Chloe stared at the protection and didn’t know what to say. It was absurd to assume she and Arizona would become lovers. They hadn’t known each other that long. But like her sister, she had been raised to be prepared.
“Nothing’s going to happen,” she told her sister firmly, even as she took the condom and stuck it in her small cosmetic bag.
Cassie grinned. “If you’re very lucky, you just might prove yourself wrong!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“YOU READY?” Arizona asked.
Chloe glanced back at the four-wheel-drive Explorer heading down the mountain. Then she looked at him. Her expression was two parts apprehension, one part honest-to-God fear.
But she didn’t answer him right away. Instead she squared her shoulders, then adjusted her backpack, raised her chin and smiled. “Sure. This is going to be fun.”
“Liar,” he told her.
Her smile broadened. “Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. I confess, I do wish there was another way into the site or the dig, or whatever you call it, but I’ll survive. I appreciate the opportunity to see what you actually do with your day.” She paused. “Also, we’ll be able to continue our interview while we’re hiking. At least until I’m so out of breath I can’t ask questions. But your lecture series starts in three days. Will we be back in time?”
“That’s not a problem,” Arizona told her while he ignored the flicker of guilt. There was an easier way into the valley, but he wanted them to hike in. There was something going on between them—something he’d never experienced before—and he wanted time to explore that. His visit to Bradley was limited already. There were so many drains on his time.
If he were going to be completely rational, he knew there was no point in pursuing whatever attraction might flare between them. There was no way to make a relationship work. He’d sworn off casual affairs and even if he hadn’t, Chloe didn’t strike him as the type to give herself easily. Logic dictated that he should just answer her questions and ignore the rest of it. However, he’d never been one for logic. The unexplained caught his attention time after time. He wanted to know the whys. He couldn’t pass up a good mystery. In this case, there was something between him and Chloe and he was determined to find out what. These couple days alone might be his only chance.
She pulled a small tape recorder out of her jeans pocket. “I’m ready if you are,” she said.
“Then let’s go.”
He checked the placement of the sun and figured they had about six hours of daylight. Chloe wouldn’t be able to hike much more than that anyway. Not that she wasn’t in great shape. But she wasn’t conditioned for long hours on the trail.
There had been a surprisingly long stretch of relatively dry weather, so the ground was only damp underfoot. Towering trees lined the trail. The low-lying plants were bright green. Wildflowers and berry bushes were in full bloom. The air smelled clean and crisp. It was a perfect afternoon.
He started walking nearly due east.
“Where are we going?” Chloe asked as she kept pace with him. At this point the trail was wide enough for them to walk side by side.
“There’s a valley on the other side of this low range,” he said, pointing ahead. “We’ll reach the top of the rise tonight. That will be where we camp. Tomorrow we’ll head into the valley. The site is there. Just curious—was that information for you or the article?”
Her brown eyes twinkled. “Both. I have so many questions, I’m not sure where to start.”
“Does it matter?”
“I suppose not.” One corner of her mouth turned up slightly. “So, Arizona Smith, why don’t you wear a hat?”
Involuntarily, he reached up and touched his bare head. “I don’t need one here. There’s no need to protect myself from the sun.”
“I see. I thought all bush types wore hats. They do in the movies.” Her voice was teasing.
He shook his head. “That’s part of my problem. I wore one nearly all the time. Before.” He grimaced. “That movie. It changed everything. After that my lecture series became more popular. I appreciated that, but I hated the billing. A few places advertised me as a ‘real-life Indiana Jones.’”
“Did your audiences expect you to show up with a bullwhip?”
“You’d be surprised.” He thought about the women who would come to his lectures and sit in the front row. Their adoring gazes had nothing to do with him—who he really was. They were only interested in the persona.
Not like Chloe. He glanced at her. Her stride was long, her posture straight. She was gorgeous. Today she wore her curly red hair pulled back in a braid. She was tall and lean and he wished they were lovers so that he could suggest they stop for an hour or so and make love right here...out in the open.
“Do you have anything in common with Indiana Jones?” she asked.
“Sure. We’re both men. His finds are more spectacular. How can anyone compete with the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail? I think I had better luck with women. We’re both teachers, although none of my students have ever fallen for me.”
“I doubt that,” she said. “I would guess more than three-quarters of your students are female and almost none of them are there because they need the class for their major.”
He opened his mouth to protest, then realized she was right. His classes were predominantly female. “None of them have come on to me.” He held up a hand before she could protest again. “Trust me, I would have noticed that.”
“I’m sure they were working up to it.”
“I hope not. They’re a little young.”
“You’re not all that old.”
“Old enough.”
Old enough to know what he wanted, he thought. It wasn’t just that Chloe was pretty. His attraction to her was as much about the way she made him laugh and her intelligence as it was about her body.
“I assume you know you have a fan club on the Internet,” she said.
He groaned. “I might have known you would find that.”
“You’re not proud?” she teased.
“Of course not. It’s humiliating. These people—”
“Women,” she interrupted. “They’re women, Arizona. I checked the membership directory. We’re talking at least ninety-five
