Read Online Perfect Specimen: Brietta by Kate Donovan - Free Book Online

then? Had she said something during the lecture that had soured him on her?
    “Brie?” Melody said with concern. “Does your head hurt again? You don’t have to tell a story if you don’t want to.”
    “I guess I’m a little tired,” Brietta admitted. “And it’s time to take my medicine again anyway, so . . .” She stood up and forced herself to smile. “See you in the morning.”
    “We’ll be up earlier, I promise,” Vince told her.
    “Go ahead and sleep in. You earned it today.” Avoiding Taggert’s gaze, she wished them all good night and headed quickly to her tent, hoping he wouldn’t follow, but fairly certain that he would.
     
    * * * *
     
    “Do you think she’s okay?” Vince asked as Brietta disappeared into her tent.
    “I’ll go check on her,” Melody offered.
    “No.” Taggert shrugged to his feet. “I’ll do it. I’m the one who pissed her off again.”
    “Be nice.”
    He quirked an annoyed eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
    The grad student blushed but held her ground. “She was really worried about you today. We all were. So just be nice, please?”
    “Yeah,” Vince said, wrapping his arm around Melody’s shoulder as he spoke. “Brie worked hard today, and taught us a lot. And she was hecka disappointed when we sifted through the dirt you dug up and didn’t find any artifacts. You should definitely go easy on her.”
    Taggert wasn’t sure whether to laugh or growl. “Remember when I said you work for her? As of now, you’re mine again, so back off.”
    Melody giggled, clearly relieved, and Taggert chuckled too. “Get some rest, all of you. And don’t sleep in. I won’t be as understanding about that as she is.”
    Striding over to Brietta’s tent, he paused outside the flap and braced himself for the worst. He had been an idiot to mention the stupid goat story, but it was so hilarious, and he honestly had forgotten that he’d heard it under surreptitious conditions. Now she had caught him in a lie, and was probably unnerved about his infiltration of her lecture.
    “Knock, knock,” he said, trying for a casual tone. “Okay if I come in?” Without waiting for a reply—especially because he was sure she was going to say no—he pushed open the screen and saw that she had been waiting for him, her dark blue eyes cool and filled with questions.
    He decided to get right to it. “I caught one of your lectures recently. I should have mentioned that.”
    “One of my lectures? You mean last Saturday? After you offered me the job, and right before you withdrew it?” Her voice cracked, and she turned away from him as though embarrassed by the weakness.
    He walked over and rested his hands on her waist. “Why does that bother you so much?”
    She didn’t turn around, but also didn’t pull away. “Just tell me what I did wrong. For future reference. I can’t afford to lose jobs because of my lecturing style, obviously.”
    “You’re kidding, right? Your lecturing style is amazing. That was the problem.” He turned her to face him, then smiled in apology. “I knew you were pretty. From the book jacket. But you were so amazing—funny and animated and irresistible. I crushed on you, big-time. And believe it or not, I’ve got a policy against that kind of fraternizing on digs. Except between the potheads, obviously. And apparently except with us .”
    “Wow.”
    He nodded solemnly. “I figured you’d be so distracting I wouldn’t get any work done. And it’s true, but I don’t care.” Pulling her close, he kissed her mouth and was encouraged by her response. Still, he didn’t want to overdo it, so he hugged her close and massaged the top of her head. “How bad is the headache?”
    “God, that feels good,” she murmured. Then she raised her face to his and kissed him again. “Thanks for telling me the truth. It makes me feel better about being second choice.”
    “You were always my first choice. I just didn’t trust myself with you. For obvious reasons. But if we