Page 25 of Troy Story
She popped them in her mouth and coughed. After washing them down with a swig of beer, she glared at Dusty. “What did you put on those? They’re so spicy.”
“Salt, pepper, paprika, cumin. And a dash of cayenne. Sorry.”
Emilia grabbed another handful. “No, they’re good. I just wasn’t expecting that kick. Just like I wasn’t expecting today’s shitty rejection. If that wasn’t bad enough, TJ’s paper was accepted. He was bragging about it during our lab session this afternoon. There was no way I could deal with him tonight.”
“I totally get it. At least we have tomorrow off. That’ll be a nice break. Plus, we get to spend the day on Kerim’s boat.”
Emilia grinned. “I bet that’ll bring back some sweet memories.”
Dusty rolled her eyes. “I told you before, we didn’t have sex on his boat. We’re just friends. No, we’recolleagues.”
“Colleagues,” Emilia snorted. “You know damn well you could take things further. I’ve seen the way he checks out your ass when you’re bent down in your trench.”
“Not going to happen. He’s hot and all, but he’s not the one I want.” This unrequited love business was frustrating as hell. Here she was, turning down a potential hookup with a sexy Turkish archaeologist, all because she was so fixated on Stuart. But even after three weeks together at Troy, nothing had changed between them.
“Are you still lusting after Stuart? You need to stop messing around and tell him before—” Emilia paused as Mort’s car pulled onto the gravel driveway. Dr. Hughes emerged from the front passenger side, followed by Clarissa, who got out of the back. She stood and waved as her father drove off.
As Dr. Hughes leaned in to talk to Clarissa, Dusty tensed up, worried he was saying something inappropriate. But he only spoke to her for a few seconds before going inside the field house. When Clarissa didn’t follow him, Dusty called out to her.
“Hey, Clarissa. Come join us.”
She looked as beautiful as ever, clad in a pale pink sundress and sandals, her long blond hair cascading around her shoulders. But her hands trembled as she lowered herself into one of the patio chairs.
“Are you okay?” Dusty asked.
Clarissa shook her head. With a shuddering breath, she spoke softly. “I’m not. Um…I’m kind of freaking out, actually.”
“What happened?” Emilia said. “Weren’t you just at dinner with your dad?”
“And Dr. Hughes. Dad invited him to join us.”
“You want a beer?” Dusty asked. “I can get you one from the fridge.”
“No, I’m good. I had a lot of wine. It was the only way to get through dinner. Dr. Hughes was awful. He kept making lewd remarks about our waitress, even though she was my age.”
Dusty recoiled. Didn’t he realize how messed up his behavior was? Back in the day, he might have had a way with women, but now he was just a creepy old guy leering at someone young enough to be his daughter.
Emilia made a face. “What a dick. Sorry you had to put up with him.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Clarissa said. “He wouldn’t stop talking about the German archaeologists. Like, he’s totally obsessed with them. I’m not sure where he got his information, but he found out that half their team started excavating in a different part of Troy. He’s dying to know what they’re after, but he can’t risk poking his nose around again.”
Emilia grunted in frustration. “What does he think he’s going to find? Even if they make an incredible discovery, they won’t leave it at the site. They’ll take it back to their field house or to the lab at the Troy Museum.”
“He’s aware of that,” Clarissa said. “He just wants to make sure they’re not going to one-up him. Have either of you heard of the Troy symposium in Amsterdam?”
“Stu told me about it,” Dusty said. “It’s taking place in November. A big symposium with scholars from all over the world.”
“Dr. Hughes is giving a talk there. Trying to restore his former glory or whatever. But he doesn’t want to be blindsided if Dr. Wagner’s team makes a better find than us, so…he asked me to spy on them.”
“No!” Emilia said. “That’s a terrible idea. What did your dad say?”
Clarissa twisted her hands together. “He went along with it. You have to understand—he idolizes Dr. Hughes. He’s read all his books and watched that documentary three times. Now Hughes is acting like they’re best friends, and my dad’s eating it up.”
Dusty clenched her fists, fighting off a wave of fury. Her earlier suspicion had been right. Dr. Hughes hadn’t befriended Mort because he enjoyed the older man’s company. Instead, he was taking advantage of his trusting nature. What an asshole.
“What does Hughes want you to do?” Emilia asked.
“He suggested I show up at the Germans’ new dig site dressed like a tourist and ask a few questions,” Clarissa said. “He told me to use my ‘feminine wiles’ to win them over.”
