Page 10 of Secrets of the Dragon's Heart

“That’s the spirit,” she said, smiling at him, deciding this was her opening. “What exactly is it that you do in that lab, anyway?”

“A lot of things, but it all centers around DNA sequencing,” he said. “It’s a little complicated…but we work with medical professionals and research facilities running the tests they need.”

“Wow, I’ve never met anyone who works with DNA,” she said. “It must be really exciting. I guess I can see why what you do is so important.”

“Microbiology always intrigued me, even as a kid,” he said. “I don’t know how exciting what I do is, but I enjoy it, and I feel like I’m contributing something to science.”

She studied him for a second, sensing that he wasn’t telling her the entire story, but knew she was getting closer to what was happening behind the locked doors. “Okay, everyone,” Max called, interrupting them. “The sun has set, the crab pots are ready, now all we need are some clams. I want you to split up into teams, grab a bucket and get digging. The team that brings in the most clams gets the first pick of the crabs.”

There was a flurry of activity around them. “Come on, let’s go grab a couple of buckets,” she said, grabbing his hand, trying to ignore the bolt of electricity that traveled up her arm. “I’ve never been clam digging. This is going to be fun.”

Cameron started shaking his head. “No thanks, I think I’ll just watch,” he said, trying to pull his hand free, a weird look on his face. “I’m not much into digging.”

“That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you scared to get dirty or something?”

“I’m not scared to get dirty,” he said. “I just don’t want to crawl around digging in the sand like a little kid.”

“Oh, Cameron,” she said, shaking her head. “Try havingsome fun for a change; it will be like a game. Don’t be such a stick in the mud.”

“I’m not being a stick in the mud,” he said. “I just don’t want to…”

Before he could finish, Andy came rushing up. “Hey, Kennedy, do you want to be partners?” he asked. “I bet we could win.”

She looked over at Cameron, who had that same weird look on his face. “She’s my partner,” he said. “We were just going to get our buckets.”

It hit her then. Cameron was jealous, and a delicious thrill rushed through her at the thought, but then she got herself under control. “I thought you didn’t want to dig in the sand like a little kid,” she said. “Maybe I don’t want to be your partner.”

A frown appeared on Cameron’s face. “I changed my mind,” he said through clenched teeth. “But it’s your choice.”

She studied him for a second, hating the fact that she was enjoying herself so much, afraid that she was crossing a line but unable to stop. “Sorry, Andy, I asked Cameron to be my partner first,” she said. “I hope you understand.”

“Oh, sure, I get it,” he said, looking between the two of them. “Have a good night. Maybe we’ll see each other around the island.”

“Not if I can help it,” Cameron said under his breath, but she pretended not to notice even though it sent another thrill shooting through her.

When Andy was gone, she looked over at Cameron. “We should really get started if we want to win,” she said. “I’m glad you changed your mind. This is going to be fun, and when we’re done, we can stuff ourselves with crab.”

They grabbed their buckets and shovels, then walked over to the open stretch of beach lit up by the tiki torches. “I wondered why these were all over here,” Cameron said,looking around at the people already digging. “What do we do now?”

Just then, Sheila came over to them. “You look like you could use some help,” she said. “All you have to do is look for the little airholes in the sand. When you find one, start digging. The clams will be a few inches down. You may have to reach in and feel around for them.”

Kennedy looked at the sand around her feet. “Oh, look, there’s one,” she said, dropping to her knees and starting to dig. A few seconds later, her shovel came up with a big clam, and she let out a whoop of excitement. “I found a clam, and a huge one.”

“Now you’re an expert,” Sheila said, handing her the bucket. “Put a little water in with them to keep them alive until we want to eat them.”

She dropped the clam in, then got back to her feet and filled her bucket half full of water before carrying it back to where Cameron was standing. “Come on, start digging,” she urged him. “This is fun; it’s like a treasure hunt.”

Scanning the sand, she saw another depression in the sand and started digging again, but this time she was forced to reach into the hole to pull out the clam. After dropping it into the bucket with a splash, she looked up at Cameron, who was still watching her, with a look of amusement on his face.

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to dig?” she asked. “I thought you wanted to do this.”

“Not really,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just didn’t like that Andy guy. He wasn’t right for you, so I got rid of him. I’m happy just to watch.”

She could only stare at him for a second, then slowly got to her feet as anger slowly began to build inside her. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” she asked, a hard edge to her voice. “I don’t think I heard you correctly, at least I hope Ididn’t hear you correctly because you have no right to decide who I talk to or when. That is not your choice to make.”

“It was clear to me that he was bad news, I was just watching out for you,” Cameron defended himself. “You can’t be too careful, you know, guys like that… well, they only want one thing.”

“And what if I wanted that one thing?” she demanded. “You have no idea who I am or what I want. Maybe I wanted a vacation fling, maybe I wanted to have it with Andy.”

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