She pulled back to suck in a breath. “Make love to me, Jeremy.”
IAN RINSED OFF ALL the oil from his body in Ava’s shower. He’d invited her in, but she’d shaken her head and given him a wink. That wink told him all he needed to know. Later. They’d be together later. Why did she want to wait?
He knew it’d be sensational. And that loincloth would play a large role in it. After last night’s episode on the phone, he’d tried to approach the work-time hours with at least some amount of detachment.
Ava had blown that intention right out of the water.
Hell, he even grew hard thinking about sex with Ava, and he’d only just come by her hand. She had something with that sending-off stuff. Right now, he could battle anything. Conquer anything. Maybe even write that book.
If rolling around in the oil with Ava wasn’t inspirational, he didn’t know what was.
He found her snuffing out the candles, the smoke rising above her head. She hadn’t yet realized he’d returned, so he stepped back and did what any good reporter did.
He observed.
Her skin still glistened with the oil. He almost hated the idea of Ava stepping below the spray of the water and rinsing all of that away. She’d put her beaded top back on, and was now stuffing the used bags into the trash can. She was grace and beauty, and any man of any era would want her for his own.
Except him.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that, buddy. You don’t want her for your own.
Ava looked up and smiled, surprised to see him.
“Shower’s free,” he said.
As Ian waited for her, he brainstormed a few possible titles, but gladly put away his pad and pen when he heard her return. He searched her freshly scrubbed face with his gaze. Ava was uncomplicated. Beautiful. No hang-ups.
Who didn’t have hang-ups?
“What kind of childhood did you have?” he asked.
“I’ll show you.” She pivoted on her bare feet and ambled to one of several large bookcases. Her hips rolling slightly as she walked.
He crossed the room to join her at the bookcase. She pulled a photo album from the shelf and flipped through pages until she found a picture of two children with a man and woman in pith hats carrying picks.
“Those are my parents.”
“The famous archaeologists.”
“The very ones.”
“I’m guessing the little blonde in pigtails is you.”
She nodded. “And that’s my little brother, Thad.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Thad?”
“Short for Thaddeus. It means praise, and believe me, he’s never let us forget it. Our parents named us from the ancient Greek lands where they concentrated their studies.”
“And Ava?”
“Like a bird.”
His eyes narrowed, as if he were examining her more closely. “I don’t think I see that.”
She laughed. “It’s more in the vein of soaring to greatness.”
He smiled. “Ah, I see. How old were you in this picture?”
“Six. That’s a site right outside of Athens. Up until I was seven, I didn’t know anyplace else but an archaeological dig. The summer I turned twelve, I came here, to Oklahoma, to visit my grandma.”
“She teach you how to knit? That kind of thing?”
Ava made a snorting sound. “Hardly. Grandma was an actress. In fact, I think an old lover must have left her this place. No, we’d have long drawn-out tea parties, dress up in feather boas and put on elaborate shows.”
Ian laughed, imagining the girl she’d been. Then the idea of the woman she was now, prancing in front of him wearing nothing but a boa, chased away everything else.
If it were in the name of research, she’d do it. “Ever think you’re still doing pretty much the same thing?”
Now it was Ava’s turn to laugh. “You’re right. Performing all these rituals is a lot like acting. She must have passed down those interests along with her DNA.”
“So, you mentioned a lover.”
“Just one of many. She was married four times.”
Ian jerked. The lady had his mother beat out by one. But give Janice Cole time.
“Quite scandalous in the 1950s I assure you. Actually, what were my parents thinking? She was no kind of a role model for marital bliss.”
Silence stretched between them.
“I was just kidding. She was a great role model. Every one of the men in her life left with a smile.”
“I can imagine,” Ian said, mentally shrugging off the gloomy thoughts his mother always provoked. “And yet your parents managed to make everything work out long-term.”
“Yes, they did. And they were determined to make life a family affair. Despite their obvious displeasure with my chosen career, my parents are wonderful, supportive, but sometimes I wonder, especially after spending so much time with you…”
“Wonder about what?” He’d be happy to indulge her no matter what she had questions about.
She casually lifted a shoulder, but he wasn’t fooled. Whatever she planned to reveal was important to her. “On what I may have missed. I want this book to speak to the women of today, but if I’m missing some of those universal experiences, how can we relate? My twenty-first-century dating skills are pretty much worthless. I didn’t even know what phone sex was. And sometimes I don’t understand the slang you use. We’re contemporaries. We’re supposed to connect.”
“I’d say we connect.”
Ava gave him a small shove. “Ian.”
“And, it’s true, you’re far from normal.”
She stood to her full height of five foot two. “Now wait a minute, I have done a normal thing or two—”
But Ian gave her a quizzical look. “Never went to a prom. Never cruised. Never hung out at the food court.”
“Well—”
“How about a football game? Cheered your team in the rain even though they were losing, because your friends were out there getting their asses handed to them?”
Ava shook her head, closing the picture album and returning it to the bookcase.
“Stayed up past your curfew and gotten grounded?”
Ava folded her arms in front of her chest.
Ian made a tsking sound, his fingers stroking her cheek. “Like I said, you’ve missed so much.” He met her gaze, then snapped his fingers. “Let’s make a deal. By day we work on the book, by night, I’ll work on expanding your education.”
“Didn’t we do that at Club Escape?”
“We’re going back to the beginning. First-date kind of stuff. Ava, I’m taking you to high school. Hang on.”
In three long strides, Ian was at his laptop and punching something into a search engine.
Then he turned and smiled at her, a smile filled with the kind of excitement that made her yearn to be part of whatever he suggested. She almost gasped. Like he was about to steal her away on an adventure she couldn’t wait to take.
“You’re in luck. The Pirates are playing their arch rivals the Panthers on the court tonight. And you’re going as my date.”
She pretended to consider his offer, though she could hardly keep from dancing. “So, is that how boys usually ask for a girl’s time?”
Ian winked. “No. I have a lot more finesse now. Be ready in an hour.”
THE ROARING NOISE GRABBED her attention first. From the moment Ian held open the glass door leading into the gymnasium, sounds of every kind assailed Ava.
The pounding rhythm from the drums echoed her footsteps, the beat only tempered by the tinny blast of the horns from the high-school band clad in orange T-shirts and jeans. Teenage girls lined the court wielding large ornamental balls of fluff. The bleachers were filled with cheering crowds clad in orange and black on one side, and patrons sporting the colors of mustard and ketchup on the other. The battle lines were drawn. Tension permeated the scene.
Some version of this scenario played out in cultures around the world and across time. Turf wars or bragging rights, it was all the same. And she couldn’t be more excited to be there.