Heart Of Gold (27 page)

He tossed
the thing back down and thought of the way Carter's body felt. The way she
moved under his hands, how warm her skin was, how she breathed his name against
his neck as she climaxed. All of that seemed so much more important than the
business deals cluttering his desk.

As he pictured
the blue of her eyes, it suddenly dawned on him that maybe, all these years,
he'd been hungering after the wrong thing.

* * *

“Let's
go to Burlington,” Nick said to Carter the next morning. They were alone
at camp, the others having gone to the dig site.

“Now?”
she asked.

Nick
nodded as he sat down at the picnic table. The early morning was glorious on
the mountain, the golden light filtering through the pine trees, the sky a vast
clear expanse.

“What's
the rush?”

“It's
going to be hotter than hell today. You'll be miserable out under all this
sun.”

It was
only partially the truth. He wanted to spend the day with her and worried that
he was going to have to go down to the city soon. He didn't want to miss the
chance for them to be alone.

She came
up from behind and offered him a mug of coffee. Before she could turn away, he
grabbed her hand and tugged her down close for a lingering kiss. “Besides,
I want to be with you. Soon.”

He
watched as she blushed and pulled back slightly, looking around to make sure
they were alone.

“I
guess there's no reason we couldn't.”

“Then
it's a date,” Nick said with satisfaction.

When she
sat down beside him, he pulled her into his arms and took her lips in a searing
kiss. As he felt her indrawn breath, he thought that the day was full of
promise.

Down at
the garage, Ivan was cleaning a spark plug when Nick came in for the
four-wheeler. “Is the monster gassed up?”

Ivan
nodded. “Headed for the mountain?”

“I
am.” Nick didn't hide the pleasure in his voice. “We're going to be
gone all day. Taking the skeletons to UVM.”

A grunt
came back at him. “Been a lot of foot traffic on the access road
lately.”

Nick
halted. “More than usual?”

“Believe
so.”

“Since
when?”

“Pretty
recent. And there been no bears, either.”

The men
looked at each other.

“Could
the tracks just be from our archaeologists?” Nick went over to the machine
and straddled it, frowning.

“Nope.”

“So
we're talking tourists?”

“Tourist.”

In the
process of turning the key, Nick stopped. “Only one?” '

“Up
and down. Up and down.”

“How
often?”

“I’d
say two times this week.”

“Do
the tracks go to the site?” he asked darkly.

“Yup.
And they're the same ones I found when I went looking for her bear.”

Nick
tried to find a reason for Carter's lie. “I don't like this.”

“Can't
say I'm crazy for it myself considering who it is. I wish my aim had been
better back in May.”

“It's
the one you almost shot?”

Ivan
nodded.

“What
the hell's he doing up there?” Nick demanded.

“Question's
more, who's he seeing.”

Nick
started the four-wheeler with a roar. “Find that man and bring him down
for a little chat with me.”

“With
pleasure,” Ivan shouted.

As Nick
raced down his driveway, he couldn't make sense of the news. He was wondering
why Carter or Buddy would be spending time with a competitor, on a dig they'd
gotten at the man's expense.

When he
got to the main road, he traveled up a quarter mile and then took a hard left
onto the access road. Zooming up the single lane, he spent as much time
looking down as he did watching where he was going. Periodically, he slowed and
searched the ground, seeing the tracks Ivan had described.

The back
access road had always been a thorn in Nick's side because it made getting up Farrell Mountain so easy. Only a half mile away from it, there was a public parking lot off
the main road that serviced the state-owned mountain next to his. All
trespassers had to do was park there and take a short walk. If they knew what
they were looking for, they could jump off the shoulder at the right place and
have a clear shot up his property.

He'd
posted plenty of No Trespassing signs, but Ivan was the first and best line of
defense against the uninvited. The man took great personal enjoyment out of
tracking his prey, and most of them didn't come back. One brush with the
woodsman was usually enough to discourage subsequent visits.

But that
other archaeologist was damn brazen, Nick thought. Or had a driving purpose.

Fifteen
minutes later, he was close to the mountain top but far from a satisfying
resolution to his concerns. Moving past the circle of stones, he maneuvered the
four-wheeler as close to the camp as possible and turned it off.

When he
approached the tents, Carter looked up from where she was crouched by the fire
pit.

“That
was quick,” she said, flashing him a smile.

He
thought about the footprints and his instincts told him she was hiding
something.

“Nick,
is something wrong?”

He met
her eyes, seeing nothing but honest concern. Still, he had to wonder if she was
scamming him. He knew from friends in the art world that Lyst worked the black
market like a good QVC host. If she did find the gold, he'd be the perfect
conduit to turn it into cash, and money was usually a great motivator for
people. She was, after all, estranged from her father and the income of an
archaeology professor couldn't be that great.

And
besides, going by the way the camp was decked out in high-tech equipment and
supplies, she clearly knew how to spend a buck or two.

“Nick?”
Anxiety darkened her expression as she rose.

Maybe
Ivan had made a mistake, he thought, toying with the idea of letting the issue
drop. He wanted her so badly it hurt. Footprints or no footprints. And there
would be plenty of opportunities to talk about tracks and hypothetical bears
later. There was no reason to waste a moment of the precious little time they
had to spend alone.

“Everything's
fine,” he said smoothly. “You need help packing it all up?”

She gave
him a strange look and then shrugged. “I'm all set, thanks. Let's put the
skeletons on the back of the four-wheeler.”

* * *

When they
reconvened by Carter's Jeep, they loaded the skeletons side by side in the back
so the cargo wouldn't shift too much on the winding road to the ferry. Then
Nick took the four-wheeler over to the garage and Carter watched as he returned
across the lawn. In the bright sunlight, he was looking happy again and she
wondered what had been on his mind when he first got up to camp.

As he
neared the Jeep, she teased, “You're looking awfully cheerful.”

“Cheerful?”
His eyes glinted while he smiled at her.

“Yeah,
as in not dour.”

Nick shot
her a mocking look across the hood as they both got in the car. “I happen
to be looking forward to spending the day with you.”

Lightning
quick, he reached across the seat and took her hand.

“Come
here.” He pulled her over and kissed her mouth firmly. “Let's get
going.”

He didn't
have to ask twice. She turned the key, threw the car into gear, and took off
down the drive. As she headed onto the main road, she could feel his eyes on
her.

“What
are you looking at?”

“You.”
The word came out of his mouth long and slow.

Carter
blushed with happiness but held herself in check.

“Why
do you do that?” he asked her softly.

“Do
what?”

“Freeze
every time I compliment you.”

She
wasn't aware that she did but she knew the cause of it. She was perilously
close to falling in love with him and the feelings scared her.

“Let's
just enjoy the day,” Carter said. “Okay?”

She felt
his frustration from across the seat. “I don't understand you.”

Carter
took a deep breath. It was hard living in a netherworld, between what she
wanted and what she feared. She just didn't know how much she could give him of
herself. How much she should give him.

Nick
turned away, his face tightening.

Skirting
over the main road, Carter had to navigate tight curves and was grateful for
the concentration it required. The silence between them was awkward. She made
small talk but he barely responded, just stared out the side window while rolling
a quarter through the fingers of his right hand.

Twenty
minutes later they pulled into the ferry docks. On each side of the lake, there
were twin docks, paved parking lots, and identical restaurants. These eateries
were nothing special on the outside but they served the best damn soft ice
cream ever twisted into a cake cone.

Carter
paid the toll and obediently took a place in the line that was forming for the
next boat.

She
glanced over at Nick, feeling trapped. He was still playing with the coin, and
she wondered if he was ever going to say something.

When he
finally did speak, she was startled by the sound.

“You
want anything from the restaurant?” he asked, putting on his sunglasses.

“No,
I'm fine.”

He left
the car and strode across the hot pavement, an incredibly handsome man who
people turned and stared at. He returned with a leaning tower of vanilla on a
cake cone.

She
watched with aching distraction as he licked the ice cream with his tongue.
Heat pooled in her belly and she had to look away. In a halfhearted way, she
noticed that it was a spectacular summer day, full of sunshine and blue sky. In
contrast to the cheery weather, Carter felt ill, saddened by the silence with
Nick.

“We're
up,” he said, biting into the cone part.

Snapping
to, she started the Jeep and drove onto the ferry.

When they
were parked again, she watched him polish off the last of the cone and wipe his
fingers on a flimsy paper napkin. As soon as he was done, he looked at her.
Their eyes held.

“I
always did like vanilla best,” he said.

Carter
looked down at her hands. “The idea of you eating an ice cream cone would
have seemed unimaginable when I first met you.”

“Oh?”

“Much
too simple a pleasure.”

The ferry
sounded its tinny whistle and lurched free of the dock. Engines, deep and
throaty, churned propellers through the water.

Carter
opened her door, eager for some fresh air. When she walked over to the rail, he
joined her.

“So
you thought I'd eat only canapes or frilly pastries?”

“Something
like that.” She offered him a smile and was relieved when he returned it.

The
breezy quality of the conversation matched the wind coming across the lake, and
she was relieved as some of the tension between them dissipated.

When Nick
moved toward her, she was happy that he tucked her into his shoulder and put
his arm around her waist. He kissed the top of her head.

“You're
a piece of work, you know that?” he said against her hair. “Tough as
nails but tender, too. You confuse the hell out of me.”

“I
don't mean to.”

“I
know. And that's part of why you get to me like you do.”

His voice
was gruff and, against her cheek, she felt the sound rumble deep in his chest.
Under her rib cage, his hand was stroking her rhythmically. With the sun on her
back and the shimmering water all around, she felt herself relax.

She
craned her neck and looked up, seeing the cut of his jaw, the masculine planes
of his face. Looking under his dark sunglasses, she watched his eyes scan the
horizon, tracking the sailboats that dotted the lake.

“Now,
I get to ask,” he said, looking down with a smile. “What are you looking
at?”

“Nothing,”
she murmured, tucking her head back down against his chest.

He
chuckled.

When the
opposite shore grew dominant in the landscape, they went back to the car. With
another lurch and squeal of rubber bumpers, the ferry docked and they
disembarked, heading to the University of Vermont. With his help, they finished
unloading the finds in under fifteen minutes.

“Thanks,”
she said, checking her watch. “We've made good time. How about
lunch?”

He turned
and smiled with a sensual spark. “How about picking something up and
taking it back to your place?”

When they
pulled up in front of her house, she shut the engine off and was about to get
out of the car when Nick reached across the seat.

“Hold
up.” He removed his sunglasses. His eyes were somber and serious and his
mouth opened and then shut a few times.

Anxiety
curdled her appetite and she braced herself. He was a man who spoke his mind
clearly and cleanly. Always. And she doubted his hesitation was a good thing.

Finally,
he cleared his throat.

“I
love you,” he said gruffly.

In the
silence that followed, Carter was dumbfounded. “You love me?”

“Yes.
I do. I love you.” He reached for her hand and opened it, kissing her palm
softly and then placing it on his chest.

Carter
searched his face. There was tenderness and reverence in it, not a hint of
calculation. What stunned her, though, was the slightest hint of vulnerability
in his eyes.

“Oh,
Nick,” she murmured as she reached out and touched his face. “I think
I love you, too.”

He
gathered her in his arms and put his lips against hers softly, moving them
sensually over her mouth. When his tongue dipped inside, she sighed as pleasure
overwhelmed her.

“When
did you know?” she asked after they pulled apart for some air.