Page 24 of Field Rules

ChapterEight

Have you lost your damn mind?

What happened to the Rick who was trying to stay out of trouble?

Questions Rick asked himself as he considered what he’d offered. To have Olivia by his side rather than keep her at a distance. To work with her constantly over the next three weeks. To place temptation right in his fucking path.

Idiot that he was, he couldn’t stay away from her.

As much as her confession had gutted him, he now understood why she’d ghosted him. In his opinion, her dad sounded like an unreasonable hard-ass, but Olivia was close to her family and cared what they thought. He couldn’t fault her for that.

“Let’s get started.” He took a GPS unit out of a box and passed it to her. “Most people use GPS technology to get places, like when they’re driving or hiking. But when you’re surveying, you don’t just use the map feature. You need to record your finds and mark them. This way, if you discover a major site, one of us can go back to the area and investigate it further.

“Each GPS unit contains topographic maps of the area. That’s what I was doing this morning—uploading these maps to everyone’s units. They come in handy when we survey in the mountains. There aren’t many buildings or roads to serve as markers.”

“Are we talking actual mountains?”

“Not like the Sierras or anything. More like hilly areas, but they’re tricky to navigate. Sometimes we have to rely on goat paths.”

“Aww. I love goats. My sister dragged me to a goat yoga class once, and they were so adorable.”

Goat yoga? He snorted with laughter. “Mountain goats aren’t that docile. Neither are the mouflon—the wild mountain sheep native to Cyprus. Even though they’re shy around humans, you don’t want to mess with the males.” He pulled up a photo on his phone and passed it to her.

She stared at the image in horror. “Fuck me. Those are serious horns.”

Maybe he’d gone too far. He took the phone back. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“The hell you didn’t.” But the teasing glint in her eyes hinted at amusement rather than anger. “You wanted to play up your prowess as a fearless mountain man.”

“Maybe so, but most of the time, surveying isn’t that treacherous. It’s a great skill to have in your back pocket. Most field schools focus on excavation, but this course also teaches students how to conduct a ground survey. A lot of people don’t realize it’s a fundamental part of archaeology.”

She offered up a playful grin. “Look at you, being all teacher-y and everything. But you’re right. Surveying is like a real treasure hunt. There’s no telling what you could find.”

“I love working on digs, but when you excavate, you’re usually stuck in one location. When you survey, you get to explore places off the beaten track.”

Though there were a lot of high-tech ways to survey, like using drones and aerial footage, he loved hiking in the hills and finding the sites for himself.

Rather than make her wait until the students came out to join them, he reviewed the basic instructions and let her practice on the soccer field. After a half hour of baking in the hot sun, he led her back to the picnic table. The shade of the olive trees made the heat a little more bearable.

“That’s enough for now.” He sat and gestured for her to join him. “Let’s take a break.”

She plopped down beside him. “But I don’t know all the features yet.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll review everything once the students come out for their lesson.”

She pulled off her hair tie and ran her fingers through her dark-chocolate curls. He watched her with barely disguised longing. During their nights at the lake, he’d spent a lot of time tangling his hands through those wonderfully messy curls.

When she caught him staring, he broke his gaze, ashamed he’d been ogling her. What was wrong with him? Last night, she’d left him feeling frustrated and angry, but now that he wasn’t mad at her, he could barely keep his eyes off her.

From day one, you’ve never been able to resist her. Why should now be any different?

It should be. The stakes were higher this time. Neither of them could afford to mess up. But he still couldn’t deny how strongly she affected him.

“You’re staring,” she said. “It’s my hair, isn’t it? I know it’s a giant mess. Sometimes wearing it up gives me a headache.”

“Why don’t you leave it down?” For my sake.

“It’s too damn hot.” She gathered it back up and secured it with the hair tie. “Any chance I could steal a drink? I left my water bottle in the classroom.”

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