ass.
Whoa. This was beautiful. Erin was jealous.
His mood soared. He rubbed the sore spot on his ribs, grinning. 'Sorry, sweetheart.'
'You are vulgar and crass, and I am going to make you pay.'
He swooped down and landed a smacking kiss close to her mouth before she had a chance to jerk away. 'I can hardly wait, babe.'
If Tamara Julian and Nigel Dobbs overheard their whispered conversation, they made no sign. Connor groped around in his mind for the ephemeral, half-formed pattern, just for the hell of it, but it was long gone, and the space in his mind that it had risen up from was now shut up as tight as a clam. Damn. Nothing to be gained by pounding around for it and wrecking his focus now. He'd have better luck just letting go of it, waiting for it to pop up later in some distracted moment while merging on the freeway, or taking a shower.
It was maddening to have lost it, but almost worth it just to know that he was capable of making Erin Riggs jealous. What an ego rush.
Dobbs and Tamara stopped at a handsome carved door. Dobbs unlocked it and waved them in. They entered a room with a long gleaming wooden table upon which were arranged several swatches of black velvet. Each had an object lying on top of it.
'Ms. Julian laid out the folders with the provenance information for you already,' Dobbs said.
Connor felt the change in the quality of Erin's attention as he would have felt a dramatic shift of temperature. She pulled a tape recorder out of her purse, and walked the length of the table. In one swift, photographic glance, he took in a jewel-studded bronze shield, a big silver cauldron covered with relief panels, a bronze helm with a weird, stylistic bird perched on top of it, a bunch of shiny golden collars, bracelets, and brooches. 'Testing,' Erin said absently. 'Testing,' her sweet, low, recorded voice said back to her.
He was all alone in that room, with Dobbs and Tamara. Erin was elsewhere, all her energy focused down to a fine, cutting point.
He didn't like it. She'd forgotten that he existed. She was a thousand miles away, thousands of years away. Her eyes glowed with highly organized mental activity that he could not fathom. If he grabbed the redhead and French-kissed her, Erin would never even notice.
Detail oriented did not even begin to describe it.
Erin sank down onto a rolling chair and pulled herself close to the first object, the bronze shield. She flipped through the papers in the folder, and began to speak softly into the tape recorder. '… oblong bronze shield, first century B.C.E., decorated with red enamel, garnets and amethysts… vegetal style… British insular… arabesque motifs…'
He'd gotten accustomed to her full, undivided attention. Now he was the one who was jealous. Of a bunch of old artifacts. How pathetic.
The three of them watched her for a while. Dobbs shot him a sly look. 'She's quite something, no?. Such amazing focus. The rest of the world just doesn't even exist for her. It's like a trance.'
He gritted his teeth at the smug, proprietary tone of the guy's voice. So happy for himself, just because he had a handle on some part of Erin that Connor did not know. 'Impressive,' he grunted.
'Mr. Mueller was so looking forward to seeing her in action.'
'Poor bastard,' Connor said. 'Unlucky.'
Dobbs's eyes narrowed to pale, pinkish slits. 'I gather you've never had the opportunity to watch Ms. Riggs ply her trade.'
Connor gave him a toothy grin. 'First time for me. Big thrill.'
'A remarkable young woman. As you will discover.'
'Looking forward to a lifetime of it,' Connor said, teeth clenched.
'Indeed.' Dobbs sounded amused. 'I wish you luck.'
'It's fortunate that she can surprise you.' Tamara's voice was seductively husky. 'Or don't you like surprises, Mr. McCloud?'
'That depends on the surprise,' he told her.
'Surprise is the element that keeps passion fresh. Are you capable of surprising her, Mr. McCloud? Have you even attempted it?'
Nigel Dobbs made a shocked noise. 'Ms. Julian, if you please! Don't embarrass our guest with inappropriate personal comments!'
Tamara let out a throaty laugh. 'Something tells me that Mr. McCloud doesn't embarrass easily.'
He looked the taunting bitch straight in her tilted emerald eyes, and noticed two things. The first was that she didn't flinch, which was to her credit, and very unusual. Most people looked away very quickly, when he gave them the death-ray look.
Then they backed away.
The second thing was that her eye color was fake. He would give a great deal to know the original color. Something pale, like blue or gray, or the green wouldn't glow so bright and pure.
Silver fish, flashing by in the azure depths at the blinding speed of thought. Too swift to grasp and hold.
He thought of Erin's shock when he grabbed her in the airport. Of his own, when she jumped out of the bathroom at him buck naked.
Yeah, they knew how to surprise each other. No problems there.
'I don't embarrass easily,' he told her. 'But the way I surprise my girlfriend is nobody's goddamn business but mine.'
Her eyes widened, and then dropped. There was an awkward silence. 'I, ah… beg your pardon,' she murmured.
'It's OK.' He gave her his hard, impenetrable cop smile.
Her lashes fluttered winsomely. 'I didn't mean to offend you.'
'No offense,' he said. 'No embarrassment. Just the facts.'
She crossed her arms over her impressively stacked bosom, her composure firmly in place again. 'Such directness is startling.'
'I thought you liked surprises.'
Her mouth curved in an appreciative smile. 'Touche.'
Dobbs cleared his throat aggressively. 'Ms. Julian. If you please. Could you entertain Mr. McCloud while Ms. Riggs is occupied here?' Dobbs asked. 'Get him an espresso at the bar, or show him the view from the veranda. We don't want him to be bored and restless.'
'That sounds like an excellent idea,' Tamara said warmly. 'Ms. Riggs always takes quite some time to conduct her—'
'By all means, Connor,' Erin cut in.
They turned, startled. It was her ringing, intergalactic princess voice, the one that always sent a surge of raw heat to his groin. 'Go right ahead. I would hate to bore you with Iron Age Celtic grave goods. Let Ms. Julian get you an espresso. It's a perfect opportunity for the two of you to discuss all the places where you might have met.'
Erin's agate-brown eyes blazed. She wanted to rip his head off. Even in high-octane work mode, she was tracking him, recording everything he said. Which was a twisted compliment in and of itself.
A stupid grin was spreading all over his face. Everybody was looking at him, waiting for the next line in the vaudeville routine. He planted his ass in a chair and folded his arms over his chest. 'I can't imagine anything more fascinating than Iron Age Celtic grave goods, sweetheart,' he said. 'I'm not missing this show for any money.'
Chapter Twelve
The pieces were breathtaking, every single one of them. The most famous museums in the world would've fought to the death to acquire them, not only for their historical significance, but for their sheer beauty. There was a bronze shield in an exquisite slate of preservation, studded with gems and decorated in the swirling, sensual style that characterized the La Tene period, 500 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.
