Page 7 of In the Dark

CHAPTER 3

Karsia refused to admit the spark of electricity she’d felt the instant her skin touched his. Her old self—from before—believed in fairy tales and improbable miracles like love at first sight. She’d even believed in the instant recognition of one’s soul mate. In another life, she might have seen Morgan for the man, the god, he truly was. She might have recognized his place in her life and his position in her future.

She stared at the man holding her hand, his smoky-gray eyes crinkled in a smile and his mouth plump and pert. Inviting. He was attractive…in a scholarly way. His hair was sun-streaked brown and shot through with silver. A handsome man. An intelligent one, who saw through her charade.

“You know, you still haven’t offered me a seat,” she told Morgan, and wiped her suddenly sweaty palm on the leg of her jeans. “Or have your manners flown the coop with your collagen production?”

“Ah, a joke about my age. Very nice.” If only she knew the half of it. He shot her a smile and gestured. “And absolutely. Please, Miss Cavaldi, choose a chair and let’s talk.”

“It took you long enough.”

She couldn’t help the jab, making herself comfortable and tamping down the last embers of her temper. He can help you, she chastised. Play nice. Unfortunately, playing nice was no longer her forte. “You know, sir, you have a rusty sense of social graces.”

“Spoken by a woman who nearly blew a hole through my ceiling without the pleasure of a first date.”

Morgan and Karsia held eye contact and seconds passed in silence, each appraising the other and storing the information away for later inspection. He missed nothing. Duly noted. Karsia saw the instant he dropped his guard and drove in for the kill.

He shouldn’t have.

“I see what you’re trying to do.”

“What?” he asked innocently.

“Getting a read on me without really reading my mind. I feel you in there.” She clucked her tongue at him. “Tread carefully. You have no clue what I’m capable of doing.”

The appreciative glint in those eyes had Karsia putting her back up. There was no use for a man in her current situation. Not that Morgan Gauthier lacked good looks. He certainly turned a few heads in a nerdy, slightly awkward way.

“I’m serious,” she said. “Stop looking at me like you’re ready to gobble me whole. There are things about me that would make you cry like a little girl. And that’s why I need to know more about the script you helped translate.”

“We’re back to the tablet? Fine.” Morgan drew in a long breath and sat. “It was a historical recounting, by accounts, carbon-dated back to the end of the Dark Ages around 1200 AD. Much of the language on the tablet isn’t spoken anymore.” Which wasn’t to say he couldn’t figure it out if he wanted. With his parentage, he had only to say the word and the translation was clear.

Unfortunately, Morgan was stubborn. He preferred to do things the hard way. The old-fashioned way. The human way.

“Some of the scripts can’t be recovered without more research. I can’t be sure of anything, let alone how it will help you, although I do consider my own documentations some of the best available.”

Karsia sighed and roughly pushed her hair away from her face. “It doesn’t matter how it will help me. That’s none of your business. Tell me everything you know and try not to toot your own horn while you’re at it.”

Morgan drummed his fingers on the desk, unconsciously echoing her earlier melody. “Toot my own horn. Nice.” He’d rather she do it for him. Would it be rude to tell her that? “I’ll give you access to my considerable knowledge on the subject—”

“Finally.”

“—on one condition.”

Karsia scowled at him. “I don’t appreciate blackmail. And you’re not getting a bribe out of me.”

This meeting wasn’t going the way she’d anticipated. During the very long drive from Miami to Lake Michigan, she’d considered every possible way for getting him to talk. While Chinese water torture appealed greatly to her sadistic side, she decided to go with reason, determining it to be the better method. Or attempt to, at any rate. At the moment, despite her threats, she felt the balance of power shift slightly away from her.

It was enough to have her appraising Morgan a second time.

“I don’t consider this blackmail.” He chuckled. “Let’s talk over dinner sometime. Perhaps tomorrow? Are you free?”

Karsia started at the request. She should have seen it coming. There was heat in his gaze when he looked at her. Then he smiled, one of those smiles that reeked of eternal understanding. It spoke to something deep inside of her, buried so deep it was near nonexistent. His smile said he understood her the way she wanted to be understood. Believed in her when she couldn’t believe in herself anymore. And reassured her that she was in precisely the right place. Damn if she could hold out against it.

Her gut lurched.

No, there could be no dating. What was she thinking?

“Do you make a habit of asking out every random woman who barges into your office at night?” she asked.

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