Fireworks: Riley by Liliana Hart Page B

in time to call Maggie before she left for work. She was Director of the Museum of Antiquities and was staying at their Seattle home while he was away.
    “Umm…Dr. MacKenzie?”
    Riley grunted and started making his way toward the equipment table. There was only another hour of daylight and then they’d have to shut things down until the next day. It wasn’t safe navigating the tomb in the dark. And there were too many superstitions floating around to convince anyone that it was a good idea.
    She followed behind him, her bun bobbing with every step. “It’s just that Walker and I are finishing up quadrant four, and I was wondering if it would be okay to take a little break. It’s pretty hot today, and we’ve made a lot of progress.”
    Her eyes widened as he unbuckled the gun belt from around his waist and laid it on the table. The desert wasn’t a place to go unarmed. There were too many deadly snakes or other poisonous creatures. And the occasional thief as well.
    “Umm…and you see, it’s almost dark anyway, and we’ve been working non-stop since we got here. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to make it an early night for a little fun. There’s that little bar in Cairo.” She smiled and fluttered her eyelashes again. “We could grab a drink.”
    Riley refrained from rolling his eyes and instead looked over her shoulder to where Walker—who was finishing up his doctoral studies and had worked with Riley on digs for almost four years—worked diligently at cataloging the objects they’d found inside the tomb. Walker looked up and shook his head, clearly aggravated with Rachel—or Rebecca—whatever her name was.
    Ten years ago he would’ve given the girl a dressing down that would either shame her back to work or send her packing. Both options most likely resulting in tears. But he was a different man now. Marriage had mellowed him—a little.
    “Listen, Rachel,” he said.
    “It’s actually Roxanne, Dr. MacKenzie.” Her lips pursed in aggravation and she crossed her arms over her ample chest.
    Riley sighed and felt every bit of his thirty-six years. He reminded himself how difficult it was to find interns and that it didn’t matter that the only reason she was probably there was to pad her dating resume. At least ninety percent of his female interns had been looking for Indiana Jones to take home with them. And a hundred percent of them had gone home disappointed every time.
    The movies were one thing, but this was reality. Archaeology was a competitive field and growing smaller, as major discoveries were few and far between. It wasn’t non-stop adventure and danger lurking around every corner. It was hours of research and lab time.
    Roxanne hadn’t been there two days before she’d been sharing one of the other interns’ sleeping bags. Riley looked over to the other quadrant where the intern in question—Jay Dexter—was working. His head was down and he was going through the pictures of the hieroglyphs they’d discovered, sketching them into a notebook for Riley to go through later. But Jay’s cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment, meaning he’d overheard her not so subtle proposition. It looked like she’d have to find another sleeping bag to sleep in.
    Romantic entanglements were always a pain in the ass. Why couldn’t people leave their raging hormones at home?
    “Right. Roxanne.” Riley didn’t make eye contact with the girl, and he almost grinned as he saw her irritation was growing rapidly. He crossed his arms over his chest, making sure she saw the glint of the gold ring on his left hand.
    A cloud of dust plumed up in the distance—several miles away—catching his attention out of the corner of his eye. He watched in curiosity as it drew closer. With any luck it was the supplies they needed for the rest of the week. That was best case scenario. Worst case scenario, the government had pulled their clearance and planned on escorting them out of the country at gunpoint. It