Unearthed Read online

  The knocking stopped. “You’re making a big mistake, Alex,” Beck shouted. “My friend wasn’t the guy your neighbor saw. My friend’s a big, big dude. Six feet four and two-hundred-and-fifty pounds in his birthday suit.”

  She relaxed her grip on the phone. Was this claim his way of talking her out of calling the police again?

  “Alex?”

  Should she trust him? True, he’d gone to all this trouble to help her. But was he interested in helping her, or protecting his friend?

  “The prowler wasn’t Ned. I’m positive of that. I had my doubts when my old man told me someone tinkered with your car.”

  A few seconds of silence passed.

  “Alex, please let me in.”

  She laid the phone on the desk and crossed the room. Her heart raced from a new fear. If he was telling the truth, then… She opened the door and walked straight into his open arms. The embrace was more solace than sensual, and it was just what she needed.

  Beck gave her back a few strokes before he set her away. “I almost wish Ned had been the prowler. But, weird as it seems, Ned’s the only guy I know who has never been interested in what’s under the hood of a car. He wouldn’t know an ignition wire from a battery cable. Add that to your neighbor’s description and…”

  She didn’t have to be a mind reader to see where he was headed. “If the prowler wasn’t your friend, then who could it have been?” She looked at Beck, expecting him to give her the answer.

  But he remained silent.

  Her stomach clenched. “Who would want to do this to me? How do we know this incident is all related?” She groped for something that might shed light on the bizarre happenings of the past week. Suddenly, something she didn’t want to think about surfaced. Something that in its own way was just as frightening as someone out to do her harm. Beck wouldn’t feel compelled to stay if he believed his friend wasn’t the culprit. Her heart plummeted. She wouldn’t be seeing him anymore. Soon, she would be getting her wish to be rid of him, and that wasn’t really what she wanted at all.

  “I don’t know, babe.” He massaged his forehead. “I wish I did. But maybe you do.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

  “Are you on anyone’s black list?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “What about some Native American who might be pissed because you’re digging around in what could be sacred ground?”

  She shook her head harder than before. “We’re working with the tribal representatives. As a matter of fact, one of the local representatives was at the site this morning. Once human remains are unearthed, the tribal council would much rather the archaeologists take over instead of leaving another unearthing to chance.”

  He leaned forward, eyes wide. “No angry boyfriends? Or a jealous ex-husband?”

  “Bill Spencer might be the biggest jerk to walk the earth, but even he wouldn’t sink this low.”

  “Bill Spencer?”

  “My ex.”

  His head jerked back. “Spencer?”

  The question was a familiar one. “You mean why Kingsley and not Spencer?”

  He nodded.

  “Because by the time I met Bill, I already had my PhD and had published extensively. Since Kingsley was my professional name, I decided to use it for all my professional work. After we divorced, I legally took back my maiden name.”

  Now, why did she have to tell him all of that? She wrapped her arms tightly around her middle to quell a shaky feeling in her stomach. Why now, after days of being free of bad memories, did she feel as if she were again on the edge of the abyss?

  Chapter Nine

  Beck had just about decided to take Alex into his arms when she gave him a long, searching look and stepped outside of reaching distance.

  “I suppose now I can stop insisting you leave.”

  His eyes widened. “How do you figure that?”

  “Because, now that you’re convinced your friend isn’t out to harm me, you have no reason to stay.”

  He lifted his brows. “That needs explaining.”

  “Well, you’re only here because you wanted to be sure your friend didn’t do anything really stupid, right? So, in case he did, I didn’t call the police and have him arrested.”

  “Is that what you think?” He breathed fast and hard.

  “What else would I think? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

  She acted like his friend being left off the hook was his fault. “No, that reason is not true. I’m here because I want to be.”

  She glanced away before turning back and looking him in the eye. “But you wouldn’t be here in the first place were it not for protecting your friend. You can’t deny that.”

  “I don’t deny I wanted to save his sorry ass, if that's what you mean. But that was only part of it. The other part is I’m worried about you.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds then looked directly into her eyes. “Worried about your safety. Even more so now since I’m sure Ned isn’t the culprit.” He shook his head. “Your opinion of me must really be low. On top of thinking me foul-mouthed and insensitive, now you think…”

  She shook her head. “I never said you were insensitive.”

  “You certainly must have thought so when we first met, after my comment about your digging up old bones.”

  “I only thought you were letting your frustration get the best of you.” A smile stole across her lips. “Sort of like a child building up to a temper tantrum.”

  Relieved at her softer tone, he grinned. “Well, I’m real glad to hear how you felt then, but if you don’t want to witness a real tantrum now, you’ll cool it.”

  Her smile faded and was replaced by arched brows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That means, babe, more talk of my leaving is liable to have me using more of that language you hate so much.” He shushed the retort he saw on its way with an index finger against her lips. “Take my word that short of throwing me out physically, you’re stuck with me until we find out what bag of shit”—he laughed—”and I do mean bag of shit—is responsible for what’s been happening.”

  She stared. “Then you’re not leaving?”

  “Not for a while, sweetheart. Besides, you still have a promise to keep.”

  Her eyes widened. “A promise?”

  “You promised to keep me updated on that Indian couple’s love story.”

  “I don’t remember telling you it was a love story.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  She arched her brows and slowly turned her head from side to side.

  He squinted and held up his hand. “Don’t look at me like that. Why else would two people break away from the safety of a group and brave the unknown on their own?”

  “Actually, according to the legend, it was a love story,” she admitted. “The couple refused to heed the warnings of their elders who claimed they were not properly matched and chose to break with their families rather than with each other.”

  “Must have been a mighty powerful love to cause them to do that.”

  She nodded and smiled.

  He wished she were close enough to kiss.

  “Don’t tell me you’re a romantic at heart,” she chided.

  “Never considered myself to be, but if I was, would it surprise you?” He smiled.

  “It might.”

  “Why would that be?”

  “You’ve done a very nice job of building a case against being one.”

  “GrammaU always told me I should have been a lawyer.”

  Her eyes widened. “Gramma what?”

  He chuckled. “U. Short for Eudora. My mother’s mother. Saint if ever there was one.”

  “Is she still alive?”

  “Alive and kicking. And I do mean kicking.” Grinning, eyes closed, he shook his head slowly from side to side. “Kicks my butt every chance she gets.”

  “For good reason I’m sure.”


  “There you go. Taking her side, and you don’t even know if she deserves it. You might find out, though, because I need to pay her a visit real soon. I’ll take you if you promise to pretend I don’t deserve the butt-whacking she’ll threaten to give me.”

  She huffed out a breath. “You’re doing it again. Talking around the real issue.”

  “The real issue, as you put it, Miss Alex, has already been settled. I’m staying.”

  Heaving a sigh, she stepped toward the door.

  Bad move. If she wanted to leave the room, she had to pass close, and he wasn’t letting her get away. Not yet. When they were side by side, he hooked an arm around her waist and scooped her against his chest. Her look of surprise barely registered before he crushed her so hard he feared he might bruise her. “Surely, babe, you’ve got to know I have at least one other reason for staying.” The thickness of his voice surprised him.

  She looked away. “No man has ever called me babe before.” She gave a short laugh. “And lived.”

  He gave her waist a gentle squeeze with the hope she’d take the cue and turn her face to his. She didn’t. “Makes us even then, because I’ve never called another woman babe before. The endearment is special.” He held his breath and wondered if she took his words as flattery the way he intended.

  Slowly, she turned her head.

  When their gazes met, he felt her body respond in a way that made his chest, as well as a more vulnerable area of his body, swell.

  She inched closer. “Never?”

  “Never, babe.” He looked into her eyes, determined to get across the message that he was paying her a compliment he’d never paid to another woman.

  She crooned a sound of pleasure and turned full body toward him, at the same time sliding her arms around his neck and offering her mouth for what his lips had been aching to do.

  They’d kissed before, and each of those times had been special, but not this kind of special. This time, she kissed him like they had no tomorrow. And, shit, there might not be if he gave in to his body’s demands.

  He hadn’t lied about being here to protect her. How in hell could he do that if he let this heat between them turn him into nothing but a hot dick looking for a place to roost? But he wasn’t here just to lay her. If making it with her was his top priority, he could throw her across the kitchen table or ram it to her while he held her against the wall and be done with it. From the way she inhaled his tongue and moved against him, he could take her any way he wanted to right then.

  He could take her now and then leave her to take care of her own problems.

  Problems he had nothing to do with. Problems that had created more than enough trouble for him and… He moved away just as she was about to suck the life out of him and broke the most wonderful, magical spell he had ever been woven into.

  “Stop, babe. This connection is going way faster than I planned.”

  She blinked a couple of times, swallowed once, and then again.

  A faint blush spread across her cheeks, pink and rosy at first, then deepening to red. He felt her embarrassment.

  “Oh, my God,” she moaned into a hand at her mouth. She untangled herself and left the room.

  ****

  Somehow, Alex made it up the stairs and into the bedroom without shedding a tear. As soon as the lock clicked in place though, she gave in to the crushing swell of emotion that almost choked off her breath. She sprawled across the bed, her sobs muffled by the feather pillow that was the solitary item she carried from her marriage to Bill. Then she let the scalding tears flow.

  All the years of rejection by Bill, all the times he had set her aside, spurned even the slightest overture of affection, surfaced like the first waves of an ocean storm. But those memories, those rejections, paled next to the tidal wave of emotions she now felt. Bill had never really wanted her. He had never really loved her. What he lusted after with such vigor were her name and her fortune until he finally won her over in marriage.

  She passed her hand lightly over the bed covering and drew in a shuddering breath. Beck was a different man with a different mission altogether. He couldn’t see her fortune, and no promise of marriage clouded his vision. But she had sensed his need and desire. His cravings had called out to hers as surely as if spoken aloud. He lusted for her, and she for him. When she allowed that lust to surface, he spurned her. Spurned her as surely as Bill had. As completely. As painfully. No. More so.

  She should have been prepared. She should have known that one day it would happen. Known she would meet someone who stirred the cold ashes in her heart, find a tiny ember, and set her body and soul on fire. Yes, desire was bound to happen. But why now? Why him?

  She cried herself dry then repaired with makeup the visible damage. When at last she unlocked the door and started down the stairs, she held herself proud like she had learned to do during her years with Bill. The past five years had taught her she could live through anything, even when she didn’t want to. And no sane person could believe a man’s rejection was worth dying for when she had lived through so much worse.

  She would meet this head on.

  She would take the blame.

  She would set his mind at ease.

  She took a deep breath to relax. “I’m sorry for what happened in there.” She stood in the doorway. “I don’t know what came over me.” There. She apologized. She held her breath for what seemed like a day out of her life, but by the tick of seconds was no more than two heartbeats.

  Beck jumped out of his chair. “What do you mean, you’re sorry? Sorry for what?” He pointed to his chest. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me, not you.”

  “I know you’re sorry things got a little out of hand. Well, so am I. But I’m glad you put a quick stop to it before I humiliated myself even more.”

  “Look at me,” Beck said softly as he touched her elbow and turned her toward him.

  She could have looked away or closed her eyes, but she didn’t—which made her angry with herself for not rebuffing him. She was so tired of the silly, superficial games men and women played. She’d tried to have an honest relationship with Charles and feel some passion for him. But her feelings were never like what she felt now, at this moment.

  The way Beck made her feel was like nothing she had ever known before. He had turned her away. That he explained why didn’t matter.

  “Are you listening, Alex? Did you hear a word I said? You look like you’re out on a star.” He held out his arms.

  But she wouldn’t fall for that again. “No, I, uh, no, I’m sorry Beck, I wasn’t really listening.”

  “Well, I’ll repeat it. What I said goes like this: Babe, I’m sorry I had to stop what was happening between us, but I can’t get involved right now.” He shook his head. “Not that way. If I did get involved, I couldn’t keep a straight head on my shoulders. I couldn’t protect you, and protecting you right now is my number-one priority.” He took a deep breath and exhaled quickly.

  Before she could stop herself, she giggled. “You said all that? I missed all that?”

  He sighed, laughed, and then pulled her close.

  And this time, she let him.

  “Not quite all that. But I meant to. Every word. If you hadn’t come downstairs in one more second, I was headed up to apologize. Cross my heart.”

  “And hope to die?”

  He held her away and chuckled. “That might be going just a little too far, don’t you think?”

  How could he make her want to laugh at a time like this? “Just a tad,” she agreed. Feeling lighthearted and not at all like she had just cried her heart out, she looked up into those liquid brown eyes of his and asked in mock sincerity, “Do I really have to repeat everything you said?”

  “Well,” he said, “maybe not every word. Only the important ones, like I only stopped us for your own good.”

  Here she was, getting ready to break out in laughter again like a silly teenager. How could he lift her spirits so quickly? Her laughter in check, sh
e was just about to suggest they put the whole thing behind them when the phone rang. She wasn’t aware she’d reacted so violently, until Beck tightened his hold.

  “Calm down. It’s just the phone.” He released her.

  She walked to her desk, sat on the edge, and lifted the receiver. As promised, Evelyn’s husband gave her information regarding the burial. At the sound of his voice, all the dark moments of her past spiraled inside. Not a bad dream after all. Her dear friend and mentor was gone. Gone before Alex had the chance to relay her research had borne out what she’d suspected was true. The legend of the lovers, though legend still, looked every day like a true love story.

  By the time the conversation ended and the connection was broken, Alex had forgotten Beck was in the room. All she could think of was what still lay ahead any day now and how difficult life would be without her friend to comfort her when the last blow finally fell.

  “Alex?”

  She looked up.

  Beck stood in front of her, his brows creased.

  “Yes?” She hardly recognized her own voice.

  “Are you all right? Was it more bad news?”

  Just more of the same bad news. “The caller was my friend’s husband letting me know the funeral arrangements haven’t been completed yet.” Tears begged again for release. Remembering the tender concern Beck had shown at her last outburst, she turned away. She couldn’t afford to get in a compromising situation again. “Beck?”

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “I don’t know how you hanging around me every minute will work. Especially now. Tomorrow, I have a lot of work to do.” She swallowed hard. “And a meeting to attend.”

  “What meeting? When and where?”

  She still felt a sense of unease talking about her alcoholism. “Tomorrow afternoon at a nearby church. It’s an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I go as often as I can when I’m in town.”

  ****

  Beck rolled over on his stomach and gave the pillow a choke-hold. He was just about ready to give up on sleep and sneak downstairs to spend the rest of the night with the television for company.