colonel asked.
Tariq nodded and waited for Colonel Fitzgerald to follow him from the room.
‘Alone again,’ Seb murmured.
Emma cleared her throat and ignored his comment.
‘I need a good guide, the best, to take me into rural Egypt.’
Seb looked at her for almost a minute. It was a strange request. Certainly he’d acted as a guide for archaeological expeditions before, but never had he had a lone woman ask him to guide her through the wilds of Egypt.
‘There are sightseeing trips,’ he said. ‘Groups of like-minded people who see the main sights Egypt has to offer.’
Emma shook her head. ‘I don’t want to see the main sights.’ She paused and corrected herself. ‘At least, I do want to see the main sights, but that’s not why I’m here.’
Seb waited for her to continue.
‘I have a specific destination in mind.’
‘Where?’
‘I can’t tell you, at least not yet.’
‘So you want me to be your guide to a specific destination but you won’t tell me where?’
She nodded.
‘I would find it rather difficult to guide you if I didn’t know where we were going.’
‘I would tell you, but only when we had got underway.’
Miss Knight was becoming more and more intriguing.
‘Perhaps if you have a map I could indicate a general area,’ Emma suggested.
Seb got to his feet and crossed to a set of drawers. He opened one, pulled out a map of Egypt and set it on his desk.
He watched as Emma smoothed down the edges and started to trace the familiar places with her fingertips. Despite her only having arrived in Cairo the day before Seb could tell she loved Egypt. A feather-light smile graced her lips as she ran her finger over Luxor and Alexandria and the great empty space of the desert.
‘We would start by heading down towards Luxor,’ Emma said.
‘The best way to reach Luxor is by boat.’
She shook her head.
‘We would need to go via the desert.’
When she didn’t elaborate any further Seb placed a finger on Cairo and then traced a route through the desert.
‘The desert is harsh and unforgiving. It would take a week to travel from Cairo to Luxor, if you hire good quality horses and have the stamina to stay in the saddle all day.’
‘So you’ll do it?’ Emma asked, her face lighting up.
Seb shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Knight, but I don’t take on jobs like this.’
‘Jobs like what?’
‘Mystery jobs. I need to know what I’m getting myself into.’
Emma sighed and stood. ‘I’m sorry to waste your time,’ she said. ‘Could you recommend anyone else who might be interested?’
Seb felt the blood drain from his face. He knew plenty of reprobates who would jump at the chance of luring a pretty young woman out into the desert.
‘The people of Egypt are kind and welcoming,’ he said slowly, ‘but unfortunately here, as in the rest of the world, there are criminals. People who will agree to do something only to abandon you in the middle of the desert with no money and no means of transport.’
Emma’s eyes widened, but in indignation, not shock. ‘I might look inexperienced and naive, Mr Oakfield, but I can assure you I know what dark streaks can run through people.’
He hoped not. A sheltered young woman shouldn’t have to know of the underbelly of society.
‘I just urge you to be careful in selecting a guide.’
‘I was. I came to you.’
He couldn’t argue with her logic.
She stood and started to cross over to the door. Seb could just picture her paying some sleazy man to guide her into the desert, only for him to take advantage of her and leave her for dead.
He ran a hand through his hair. It was none of his business; he hardly knew her. It wasn’t his job to protect her. Surely the Fitzgeralds would screen out the most unsuitable of guides.
Cursing silently, he strode over to the door and placed a hand on the wood just as Emma was turning the handle. He hated not being in control, and right now Emma was forcing his hand.
‘Why don’t you tell me a little more about your proposed route?’ he asked through gritted teeth.
The smile she gave him was almost worth it in itself. Seb could feel the tendrils of desire start to creep from somewhere deep inside him and wanted nothing more than to reach out and brush his fingers across her silky cheeks.
Emma broke the spell by bounding back across the room and flopping down into her chair. With a grimace Seb followed.
‘I would like to travel down through the desert about twenty miles west of the Nile.’ She traced her fingers along the map. ‘There are a few landmarks we would need to pass before I could tell you the rest of the directions.’
Slowly Seb realised what this was all about. She had a map, or at least a description of a route. That was why she was playing things close to her chest.
He shifted, wondering how to break it to her that most of the maps and scrolls circulating were fakes or forgeries. They promised tombs filled with untold riches, undiscovered since ancient times. In reality the scrolls had been produced en masse by a wily entrepreneur with dubious morals, eager to con an unsuspecting customer.
‘Emma,’ he started, then quickly corrected himself, ‘Miss Knight, it would be extremely difficult to plan a trip without knowing the final destination you had in mind.’
She shook her head as if it were impossible to tell him any more.
‘I would at least need to know a few more details. Perhaps you are working off a map or something that you might wish to share with me?’
Again another shake of her head. She wasn’t as naive as all that.
‘Would you step outside for a minute, Mr Oakfield?’ Emma asked.
Trying not to show his amusement at being banished from his own office, Seb graciously stepped outside and closed the door. He’d give her a minute and no more. No doubt she was retrieving the scroll from wherever it was hidden on her person. He closed his eyes and leant his head back against the wall; he could almost picture her rolling up the hem of her skirt, exposing the creamy white skin of her legs.
He
