As soon as she stepped away his gaze returned to the woman sitting at the bar. She was gone. The bartender cleared her empty glass and another woman claimed the chair.
Rob glanced around but didn’t see the redhead. She’d probably left with the guy who’d been talking to her. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if Rob would’ve tried to pick her up. That wasn’t his style.
Nevertheless, he took another cursory glance around the room and came up empty. He checked his watch. She was one minute late. He muttered a curse as he reached into his pocket to check once again for the slip of paper with her name on it. He was supposed to be a bright guy with a high IQ. One would think he could remember a name for more than three minutes.
K.A. It should have been enough of a reminder to give him the whole name, but it didn’t. He had no clue.
Taking a sip of his wine, he glanced in the direction of the hostess stand. Two couples hovered, waiting for her attention. Rob rolled a shoulder, curious at the tension cramping his muscles and making him inexplicably edgy.
This meeting wasn’t going to be a big deal. Just a formality. He didn’t expect them to turn down his request. They’d already given every indication that there’d be no problem with the dig. Although why they didn’t simply send him approval in writing he didn’t understand.
Maybe it was his guilty conscience making him uneasy. He hadn’t been totally forthcoming about his reason for selecting that particular site. Still, it shouldn’t matter to Sanax. The land was virtually useless. At least to them.
He took another sip of wine, and as he set down the glass, he saw her. The redhead was coming from the other side of the restaurant. He tried not to stare but the snug fit of her blouse and the way her breasts jiggled slightly reduced his resolve. She had a small waist, too, with a nice flare to her hips. Nothing emaciated or boyish about her.
As she got closer he forced himself to look away, hoping his appointment showed up before he got stupid enough to ask the redhead to have a drink.
“Dr. Philips?”
He turned. She stood in front of him, a tentative smile curving her lips. “Yes,” he said slowly, pleased yet disappointed that she obviously knew him. He’d really hate if she turned out to be a student, after all. But now that she was up close, she really looked familiar.
Her smile faltered. “You probably don’t remember me.”
Frowning, he studied her more closely, and when her tongue slipped out to touch the corner of her mouth, recognition instantly dawned. “Karrie?”
Slowly she nodded.
That name he hadn’t forgotten. What amazed him was how he could have forgotten that face for a single instant. She’d been the one student, the only one, who’d nearly been his undoing. He struggled for composure. “It’s been a long time. Five, six years?”
“Something like that.” She pulled out a chair and sat down. “How have you been?”
He glanced over his shoulder, surprised at her pushiness in inviting herself to his table. He remembered her as being a little on the shy side. Certainly not like some of the other more brazen female students.
Not that he didn’t want to talk with her, catch up on what she’d been doing, but he still had to meet with the Sanax watchdog. Besides, just seeing her again had knocked the wind out of him, and he needed to be on his toes. She wasn’t his student anymore. No more boundaries. And he was definitely interested. But first, business.
“Dr. Philips? Is anything wrong?”
He met her puzzled eyes. Hazel. More golden than green. And lashes that were naturally long and thick. He’d never been this close to her before. He’d made it a point not to.
“No, not exactly. I, um…”
She sucked in her lower lip, making the tiny dimple at one corner of her mouth more pronounced. It looked as if she’d pulled her hair back tighter since she’d been sitting at the bar, but escaped tendrils curled around her face, a mass of golden highlights picked up by the flickering light from the candle on the table.
“Good evening. May I get you something to drink?” The waitress said, making him jump. He hadn’t even seen her approach. “A glass of wine while you look at the menu maybe?”
“Just some iced tea, please.” Karrie smiled at the other woman and then looked back at him. “I got here early and had something at the bar already.”
Damn. How was he going to do this tactfully?
“Look, Karrie,” he said as soon as the waitress left. “I’d really like to hear about what you’ve been doing. Maybe you could give me your number and—”
She looked affronted.
This was precisely the type of situation he tried to avoid. Small talk, especially with women, was not his strong suit. He always managed to say the wrong thing. “The truth is, I’m here to meet someone. It’s business.”
Her confused frown deepened, her lush full lips parting provocatively. It threw him off balance and he fumbled for the right words that wouldn’t sound as if he were blowing her off.
He pushed a hand through his hair, then checked his watch. “Do you have plans later?”
Her eyebrows rose. “I don’t think so.”
“This meeting I have. It shouldn’t take long.” He gave her one of those grins his secretary described as devilishly boyish and shrugged. “I’m trying to sweet-talk some corporation rep into letting me use the company’s land for a dig. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Probably just want to make me jump through a few hoops before they agree.”
Her eyes briefly widened and then a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Well, start jumping and sweet-talking. I’m the Sanax rep.”
2
ROB STARED AT HER, hoping like hell she was kidding. Finally, he laughed. “You have a wicked sense of humor.”
She pressed her lips together, looking entirely too serious. “I really am from Sanax.”
“You’re here from New York?’
Lifting a shoulder, she nodded.
“Damn.”
She smiled again. “It’s not as if you said anything bad. I mean, you could’ve described how you were gonna suck up to me and all that. Which I would’ve enjoyed, actually.”
He grunted.
Karrie laughed. “Okay, I should have introduced myself right away, but I figured since you had my name and knew who I was…”
The name hadn’t registered. Even after he recognized her. Karrie, herself, was another story. That hair, those lips… He cleared his throat. “Sorry. I hope you didn’t think I was hitting on you.”
“I’m flattered.”
At a loss for words, he studied her for a moment. She’d changed. She seemed more sophisticated. More confident. Not that he’d ever really known her, but there was something about the way she looked him directly in the eyes…
“Okay,” he said, anxious to get back to business, an area in which he was more comfortable. “Do you want to talk about the site or should we order dinner first?”
“Dinner. I haven’t eaten since I left New York this morning.” She picked up the menu and peered down at it, while nibbling at her lower lip.
Instead of perusing his own menu, he watched her study the list of items with the concentration of a student preparing for a quiz. The thought occurred to him that gaining access to the land might not be as easy as he’d thought. Dealing with someone from the urban East wasn’t the same as trying to sidestep a local.
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