The Serpent in the Stone - By Nicki Greenwood Page 0,81
her face when she saw Faith. “You okay?”
“Fine.” Faith marshaled her features into an easygoing expression.
Luis passed them with a quick hello, then plowed straight into the water. Flintrop approached and laid a hand briefly on Sara’s shoulder. “Faith, I take it back. She’s worse than she was in Iceland. I think she’s on auto-pilot.” He took a closer look at Faith. Damn, had he seen the tearstains after all?
Ian shoved his hands in his pockets. “I was making her laugh.”
Faith warmed from the toes up, and officially named Ian her new best friend. He and Flintrop continued to hold each other’s gaze. Mutual dislike hummed in the air.
Time to return the favor. “Alan, I need to talk to you about one of the charts we printed out this afternoon,” she said. “Do you mind if I borrow you for a few minutes?”
He looked at her like she’d just given him a violent shake. She stifled a smug chuckle. Yeah, normally, I wouldn’t volunteer to chat with you, either. That’s because you’re a complete weasel. With her liveliest smile, she beckoned him away and headed off down the beach.
She didn’t really give a damn about the slight rise in electromagnetic readings that the charts had shown that afternoon. It could have been put down to the ley line itself—which she had no intention of pointing out, in any case. She’d have told him to come inspect one of the beach rocks, just for the satisfaction of getting him away from her sister and Ian.
With Flintrop in tow, she sat at the water’s edge on a flat rock. She glanced back over her shoulder to see Ian flash a grin in her direction. He bent his head toward Sara and murmured something that made her giggle. A split second later, she caught the glimmer of annoyance on Flintrop’s face. Go, Ian. She couldn’t suppress a broad smile.
“What are you so happy about?” Flintrop demanded. He plopped beside her on the sand.
“Nothing. About the chart... The electromagnetic readings came back a little on the high side. I wondered if we shouldn’t look into that.”
“I’ll take care of it. Probably just a false reading, or the equipment might need adjustments. Are we having a conversation, here? I was just getting used to your undying hatred.”
Touché, weasel. “Let me make it clear that the only reason I’m at this dig with you is because my firm is in control of it,” she said. “If it were up to me, I’d have scrimped and saved for every penny this project is costing, rather than involve you. Your being here was Lamb’s decision.”
“All right, all right.” He held up his hands.
Faith fumed at the way he laughed, and then at the way she let him annoy her. She caught him glancing over at Ian and Sara again. “What? He’s not at the dig site. You going to commandeer other parts of the island, too?”
Flintrop sighed. “I don’t know how long this is going to go on between you and me, but I’d like to get past it. You and I just didn’t work out together. It’s nothing you did.”
“Careful. That almost sounded like an apology.”
His cobalt stare bored into her. “Are we through?” he asked.
“There is no limit to how ‘through’ we are.”
He stood. She remembered she shouldn’t be antagonizing him, when her goal had been to guarantee Ian and Sara a few minutes free of Flintrop’s interference. She vaulted to her feet. “Don’t go getting into a pissing match with him. He’s got as much right to be here as you have.”
“Birds being more groundbreaking and crucial than a thousand-year-old ruin.”
“Listen to yourself. You’re jealous!”
“Are you?”
“Of you, wanting my sister? You’re just conceited enough to believe that, aren’t you?” She struggled to compose herself, when all she wanted was to punch him repeatedly in the nose for being the biggest jerk in the universe. “You know what? This is ridiculous. We have a job to do, and like it or not, we’re stuck together. After this project, I pray to God I won’t have to work with you ever again.” She shook her head and walked away to join Luis.
****
Ian watched Faith stalk into the water. Flintrop sat back down and withdrew a sheaf of folded papers from his coat pocket. He snapped them open with an aggravated flourish, and began to read. Ian wondered if the bastard had come just to chaperone Sara. “Does he have a talent for pissing people off, or something?”