She gazed at the pottery, then at Dalton, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. “I don’t know. I’ll have to have it authenticated, and then there’ll be the disbelievers of course, but I think we’re close.” She didn’t even try to hold back her grin. Her cheeks were flushed as she breathed in deeply and exhaled.
“It seems such a small piece. Not too much to get excited about.”
She arched a brow. “Are you trying to burst my bubble?”
“Maybe just an attempt to keep you grounded. I don’t want you disappointed.”
“Awww, does that mean you care?”
He laughed. “I’m merely protecting my investment.”
She leaned back in the chair and raised her glass. “Which investment, Dalton? Me or the dive?”
“You, of course. You’re the biggest asset on this expedition. You’re the specialist. Without you, all of this fails.”
She stared, blinked, her lips parting as if she was surprised by his words. “Thank you. I wasn’t fishing for compliments, but that was nice. I don’t often get to feel special.”
He leaned forward, grasped a tendril of her hair. “You should be made to feel special all the time. I’m surprised you aren’t often showered with praise and attention.”
That garnered a snort.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.” She pulled away from him and stared down at her goblet.
“You don’t think you’re worthy of having attention lavished on you?”
“Let’s not go there.”
Was she playing a game, or did she have issues? He wanted to press this. “Oh, let’s do go there. I think you’re beautiful, Isabelle. And a skilled archaeologist. Driven and a hard worker.”
Her gaze lifted, her eyes liquid pools of emerald. “Now you’re making me blush. And I never blush. Stop it.”
He liked the heightened color in her cheeks. It brought out a sense of inexperience in her he found incredibly appealing. He’d like to think he was a pretty good judge of people, knew when they were playing him and when there were honest emotions involved. She was having a hard time taking this praise, almost as if she didn’t believe it of herself. This person across from him exuded warmth and innocence. And yet at other times she was supremely confident, driven, to the point of being cold and ruthless.
There really were two sides to Isabelle Deveraux.
“Maybe that’s why you work so hard to succeed.”
“Excuse me?”
“A lot of people look for approval in success.”
Her brows tilted in a slight frown. “Are you trying to psychoanalyze me now?”
He offered a slight laugh. “No. Believe me, I’d be no good at that. But I do enjoy trying to figure people out, what makes them do the things they do.”
“I wouldn’t even make an attempt to do that with me.”
“See? Now you’re being mysterious. And that intrigues me.”
The breeze blew tendrils of her hair across her cheek. She brushed them behind her ear. “There’s no mystery about me. I gave you my bio, my background. You know everything.”
He’d barely scratched the surface. And he found he wanted to know more. Much more than what this assignment called for. Isabelle was definitely a mystery. Beyond what she showed him on the surface was a pain that she couldn’t quite hide. It lingered just underneath her eyes, surfacing now and then.
She wasn’t as good at playing this game as she thought she was. And Dalton was a master at disguise.
He was going to enjoy putting together the pieces of this puzzle.
“You’re staring.”
He blinked. “Was I?”
“Yes.”
“Does that bother you?”
“It depends on the reason.”
“I was staring because the moonlight makes your hair shine like spun gold, because your eyes light up when you talk, and because that dress molds to you like a second skin. I can’t seem to help but stare.”
She inhaled, the swell of her breasts more pronounced as she did.
Dalton waved his hand and Dimitri reached under the bar and turned on the stereo. Music filled the deck and Isabelle tilted her head back and laughed.
Under the lights, her hair glistened. She’d left it down, and it spilled over her breasts. Tonight she wore a well-fitting sundress, low-cut and revealing a lot of cleavage.
Dalton tried to concentrate on her face, but his gaze kept dipping down. After too many drinks and not enough food today, he was in trouble, and his libido wanted to take over. And Isabelle wasn’t making him think like
