Page 25 of A Discovery: Love and Other Things

No one was in earshot of my bitching, and even if they had been, I probably wouldn’t have stopped. Dr. Campbell was an asshole.

“Fucking dickwad,” I seethed.Dickwadsounded so high school, but I wasn’t in the mood to be mature about the situation. I was a woman scorned.

How the hell could he kiss me like that—touchme like that—and then just turn away like I was the biggest mistake he had ever made? It was insulting, not to mention humiliating.

Of course, I knew we had both crossed a line. This kind of thing would have been frowned upon in the States, but here in Egypt, it would be a moral scandal. Two unmarried foreigners grinding on each other wouldn’t go over well with the conservatives at the Ministry of Antiquities. I couldn’t even tell Angela about it because if anyone overheard, I’d be expelled from the program and Dr. Campbell would be fired—not that I truly gave a shit about what happened to him now. He could fall off a pyramid for all I cared.

He had made it clear that he wasn’t concerned about my feelings this morning when I had arrived at the site. His reception of me had been icy; he hadn’t even offered me a “good morning” like he had to the rest of the team. And now he was off under the tent enjoying afternoon tea and engaging in small talk with everyone like he was “Mentor of the Year.” If that was how he treated the women whose mouths he shoved his tongue into, then so be it. I could be evenicierthan him and pretend it had never happened, too. Just put me in a slutty blue dress and call meQueen Elsa.

But God, his kiss! My lips still tingled from the memory. Never in my life had my mouth been assaulted that way. His taste. His touch. His rock-hard dick. Just thinking about it again almost melted away my newly adopted ice-queen exterior.Almost.

“Shit sucker,” I muttered as I tossed more pottery into my basket.

“Am I interrupting?” Felipe’s pleasant voice yanked me from my bubbling irritation.

I looked up at him to find the sun illuminating his head like a blinding halo. I used my hand as a shield and squinted my eyes. “Just talking to myself,” I said, trying to play it cool.

“You call yourself a ‘shit sucker’ when you’re alone? That sounds kind of emotionally abusive.” He crouched down next to me, sorting clay pieces into my nearly full basket.

“I was singing a song.” The lie sounded as stupid to my ears as it probably did to Felipe, judging by his raised brow, but it was all I could come up with.

Ever the gentleman, he went with it. “You’ll have to teach me that song sometime. I’d love to hear it.”

“Um...sure.”

“How about over dinner? On Friday?” The corners of his eyes creased as he flashed another award-winning smile.

And my eyes...they bulged out of their sockets. “Wait, what? Like a date?”

“Well, sure. If that’s what you want to call it.” His expectant eyes made my stomach drop.

Felipe wanted to go on a date with me?

He brushed a lock of dark hair that had fallen across his forehead into place, his nerves beginning to show. “I understand if you are not interested.”

My gut churned at having to turn him down. It made me feel so guilty because I should have liked him. He was so handsome with his dark features and bright complexion, kind of like that Disney Prince Eric with his pearly white teeth, white shirt, and fitted blue pants—or in this case, jeans. And his personality was so vibrant that it was impossible not to enjoy being with him.

Instead, I was hung up on the big oaf who was glaring at us from under the tent.

“I like you a lot,” I started.

Felipe’s forehead creased. “But...?”

My mind raced to find the right words. “But I’m just not looking to date right now.”Good save, Kitty!

His smile dimmed slightly. “How about just going out as friends, then?”

My eyes darted again to the dirty-blond asshole who looked about ready to strangle innocent Felipe.

He had no right to show any interest in my social life, but the idea that I still affected him after his rejection gave me a high. Could the mighty James Campbell be jealous of his own student?

I knew it was wrong of me to do, but I wasn’t above being petty. Not when I wanted to punish the asshole for pretending our kiss had never happened. Sanura “Kitty” Taha wasn’t so easily forgotten by any man!

I donned my brightest smile, one I was sure Dr. Campbell could see from a mile away, and looked Felipe straight in the eye. I placed my hand on his toned forearm, the motion highly exaggerated for show. “I’d love to go out with you,as friends.”

If I were a mummy, then the god Osiris would surely cast my soul to damnation for this, but at least I’d have had the momentary satisfaction of getting under Dr. Campbell’s skin.

Chapter 13

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