Operation: Endeavor (When The Mission Ends) (6 page)

Damon chuckled. “No, I’m fine.” He looked speculatively at Colton. “You said you just moved in, so are you and Penelope an item?”

Colton shook his head. “No, we’re just roommates.”

“So, she’s single?”

“As far as I know she is.”

He gave a friendly grin. “That’s good to hear. I don’t want to horn in on some other guy’s territory and I don’t get to the States very often…” He let the sentence trail off as Penelope walked into the room and said under his breath, “Oh yeah, that’s really good to hear.”

Colton glared at the guy. Pretty boy was not the man Penelope needed in her life. Colton froze as that inexplicable surge of possessiveness tore through him and he worked to tamp down the sudden anger. Where the hell had that thought come from?

* * *

As Penelope walked into the living room, her heart gave a little stutter of shock. Talk about testosterone overload. Just look at the beefcake she had in her living room tonight. Her nerves were already strumming after looking at beds all day with the incredibly built Colton. Now he stood there with another seriously hot guy. Tall, dark, and beautifully fit times two.

The difference between the two guys was marked, but they were both very nice in their own way. Where Colton was intimidating in his pure bulk and height, Dr. Lopez was long and lean. Colton was casual in his t-shirt, jeans, and those oh-so-sexy bare feet, while Dr. Lopez wore a suit that fitted his lean physique perfectly. They both had dark hair. Colton’s was military short, while Dr. Lopez’s style was a little longer and more careless. Dr. Lopez had a face which was completely open and friendly, while Colton was more guarded with his expressions. Right now he looked downright pissed. Had she missed something?  She glanced between the two of them, but didn’t see any other signs of trouble. Curious. Dr. Lopez eyed her as she approached and his eyes showed his approval. She smiled at him and offered her hand. “Hi, you must be Dr. Lopez.”

He flashed a bright smile at her, but instead of shaking her hand, he lifted it slowly to his lips. He murmured, “Please call me Damon. You’re even more beautiful than your mother described, Penelope.” Then he brushed his lips lightly over the back of her hand. She got caught up in the depths of his chocolate eyes before Colton cleared his throat.

He frowned at her as he said, “So you two are headed to the campus?”

Damon grimaced. “Unfortunately. This is not my idea of an ideal first date when I want to impress a beauty like this.” He looked over at Penelope. “It’s a University function where a lot of stuffed shirts are going to schmooze me so they can intrude upon my archeological dig.”

“Hey, those stuffed shirts are my parents.” She appeared contemplative for a moment. “Oh never mind, you’re completely correct. Maybe we can hit a jazz bar afterwards for some real fun.” She looked at him speculatively.

He gave her another easy smile. “I think that sounds like a plan, but we probably should be off so that we can get the boring part of the evening out of the way.”

“No worries. They can’t schmooze without you there, so they can’t possibly complain about you being late.” She looked over at Colton. “Don’t have too much fun unpacking.”

Colton groaned. “Don’t remind me. Although I’m not sure which is worse…the unpacking I need to deal with or the stuffed shirts you’ll have to deal with. Maybe I’ll just settle into the couch with one of your books.” He looked speculatively toward her erotica shelf and a shiver of awareness skated through her body. Yep, way too much testosterone in this room.

“Goodnight Colton.” She dragged Damon out the front door. She needed to get away from her way-too-sexy new roommate.

Penelope watched Damon as they rode in the luxurious chauffeured town car. He really was very good looking. He had a casual sense about him and an easy smile which was especially appealing. “The University must think really highly of you to offer this kind of service.” She gestured toward their driver.

He shrugged. “I have something they want, so they plan to keep me happy however they can. I have to admit I’m surprised by you, though. This is the first time I’ve had such an interesting and beautiful date provided.”

She gave a self-deprecating little laugh. “That sounds like flattery, but unfortunately I know what the typical anthropologist looks like.” She paused to examine him. He was so different from Colton, but she wasn’t going to start comparing her dates to her new roommate. He was a roommate. Only a roommate. “I’m the one who should be surprised. You’re neither old nor crusty.” She winked at him. “How did you get into archaeology and anthropology?”

“Through my uncle, who does happen to be old and crusty. I grew up going on digs with him and fell in love with the life and mystery of it all. I was fortunate to make some good contacts early in life. That and a little bit of luck thrown in and now I find myself working for National Explorer on one of the most prestigious digs happening this decade.”

“What’s so special about this dig?”

“El Regalo.”

“The Gift?”

He looked at her in surprise. “You speak Spanish?”

“I’ve picked up a little over the years, but I’m nowhere close to fluent. And that still doesn’t explain what makes this dig so important.”

“First, let me tell you a story. There’s a legend in the Mayan culture about the God of Rain, Chac. It’s said he was a benevolent God who fell in love with a human woman. She didn’t return his love and instead she fell in love with a farmer. She bore that farmer two sons. When Chac found out, he was enraged and sent a flood which killed her sons while they were working in the fields. Immediately, Chac regretted his actions and sent the woman a gift to try to make up for her sons’ deaths. The gift was a golden garden… full of flowers and plants made from pure gold, but it was too late. The woman committed suicide because her grief over the loss of her sons was so great. When the farmer saw the gift Chac sent, he spent the next twenty years burying the golden garden under layer upon layer of dirt.”

“But it’s just a legend, right?”

“Correct, but as we study archaeology and anthropology more and more, we’ve come to realize that all legends are based loosely upon some grain of truth. We’re seeing signs this new site could very well be El Regalo, the Golden Garden from the legend. The site is a building which was obviously buried on purpose. The first artifacts out of it have been golden flowers.” She could see his passion about his work glimmering in his eyes.

“Oh wow. That sounds amazing.”

“It is and I’m hoping, as we dig, we’ll be able to figure out the true story behind the legend.” His chocolate brown eyes sparkled with excitement. “It’s all about figuring out the mystery and finding the treasure.”

“So you’re just an adult treasure hunter,” she teased him.

“You got it, darling. The hard part is finding the ‘X’ and I’ve got it this time.” He gave her a cocky smile and grabbed her hand. “I think we’ve arrived.” He nodded toward the building where they’d parked. “Are you ready to go accept the schmoozing?”

“They want to schmooze you, not me.”

“Aw, but that’s the perk of being my date. You get schmoozed purely by happenstance. That and you’re on the arm of the best-looking guy in the place.”

“Modest, too, aren’t you?” She smiled at him as he pulled her out of the car.

“Modesty has nothing to do with it, darling. I’m simply stating fact.” He winked at her as he smiled, flashing his very sexy dimples.

Guys with dimples were her favorite type, so why did her thoughts keep straying to the roommate she’d left at home who hadn’t flashed a dimple yet? She worried at her lip with her teeth. She may just have a problem here.

Penelope let herself into the bookstore bright and early Sunday morning. The store would open for a few hours in the afternoon, but Sunday mornings were her time to catch-up on all the managerial tasks which needed to be done, from scheduling to bookkeeping.

As she sat down to her desk, she mused over the previous night’s date with Damon. After they’d left the party, she’d taken him to a cozy little bar where they could sit at a table in front of the stone fireplace. They’d had a wonderful time chatting and getting to know each other. They got along famously and she’d been excited for the distraction from Colton. Damon was the type of guy she normally dated. They hadn’t lacked for topics of discussion the entire night, but when it came to the end of the evening, the kiss between them fell flat.

Oh, there’d been nothing wrong with the kiss. Damon was an excellent kisser, but the zing just wasn’t there for her. She’d gotten more turned on when Colton zipped up her dress at the beginning of the night. That was the problem. She couldn’t get involved with Colton. He was everything she didn’t want in a guy. He was too serious, too by-the-book, too straight-laced. Plus he was her best friend’s brother and Cassie wouldn’t take it lightly if things ended badly between them. No, she was looking for someone exactly like Damon, someone who knew how to have fun. 

Maybe she’d just had an off night. Luckily Damon was in town for the next week, and they’d made plans to get together again. He was supposed to call her this afternoon to finalize things, which gave her an idea.

She picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn’t called enough lately.

“Hello, Rocking M Ranch,” the masculine voice answered.

She smiled. She loved all the guys out on the Martin Ranch, but Thomas was still her favorite. Even though things didn’t work out for them when they dated, they’d stayed friends in the years since. “Well, hey there sexy.”

“Penny! What are you doing calling me this early on a Sunday morning? Are you coming out to visit us soon?”

“I am. That’s actually why I called. I have a friend in town who I thought might enjoy a true Texas ranching experience.”

“So he’s not from around here?”

“No, he’s an archeologist here negotiating a deal with Texas Tech to get some students to come work with him on his dig.”

“An archeologist? Really? That doesn’t sound like your normal fare. Where’s his dig located?”

She laughed. “You know me well, but he’s a nice guy. The dig is on the Mexico/Belize border.”

“Does he ride?”

“I have no clue. It was just a spur of the moment idea, so I thought I’d run it by you.”

“Penny, you’re always welcome to bring anyone out you want. We appreciate all you do for the ranch and want to keep you coming out as much as possible.”

“Thanks, Thomas. I’ll let you know when we head that way. Regardless of whether he comes out with me or not, I’ll be out sometime this week to exercise some of the horses.”

“Sounds good, Penny. I look forward to seeing you.”

“Bye, Thomas.” She disconnected the call.

A few years back, when she’d been doing the research on ranching for her Celeste DeMarco series, she’d discovered the Rocking M Ranch. Owned by Michael Martin and run by him and his four sons, she’d come to love the family and the ranch.

But now she had work to do with her other passion, the bookstore. She sat down at her desk to sort through the piles of paperwork Alix left for her. One whole pile pertained to her writing as Celeste DeMarco. It included current contract negotiations, income statements, and the trickling of fan mail that came in. In this day and age, most people resorted to the internet for those sorts of things, but there were still fans who appreciated the written word of a letter. Unfortunately, the majority of those who still wrote physical letters happened to fall under the category of crazy… religious zealots and old-fashioned conservatives who viewed her writing as glorified pornography or worse.

This pile definitely had a few of those in it, but there were also a few fan letters. There were a couple from women who thanked her for spicing up their married lives. She always liked those. One letter from a prison librarian who stated her books were always among the most popular among the inmates. She had to chuckle at that one.

When she turned she noticed another pile of ARC’s waiting for Hannah. They seemed to be receiving more books than normal lately. She hoped Hannah had the time to handle them all, but it had been a while since she’d done one of the reviews. Maybe she would take something home to read and distract her from her new roommate.

The night before, thoughts of Colton sleeping just a few yards away had kept her awake for hours. She wondered if he slept in the nude, whether he slept on one side of the bed, or whether he sprawled over the entire space. She needed a diversion.

As she thumbed through them, one book caught her eye,
The Gift of Serendipity.
The cover was shades of dark purple and grey. In silhouette, there was an outline of a couple in a deep embrace. She flipped the book over to read the back copy.

 
Serendipity had come into her parents’ lives very late and unexpectedly. That wasn’t the only thing unexpected about Serendipity. She had a very special gift. Unfortunately before she learned how to control it, that gift killed her parents.

 
Now she’s just trying to protect the world.  And Blake is just trying to protect her.  In a world that doesn’t understand magic, they’re both fighting against the odds.