got.”
He leaned forward into the retinal scanner that sat next to the lab door, then pressed his palm to a small pad. The lock snicked softly, the red light sitting above it flashing to green. “After you.”
“Impressive security.”
“Necessary security.”
“No doubt.” She walked ahead of him and he couldn’t keep his gaze from skimming over her thin frame. The suit she wore fit her perfectly, and it was easy to see the lithe strength underneath the plum-colored silk. Her skirt fell to a tasteful length above her knee—a shame it wasn’t shorter, Finn couldn’t help thinking—before exposing spectacular calves that flowed into four-inch heels.
The entire package screamed competent businesswoman, but he also knew her reputation. That same backpack-carrying, boot-clad vision he kept of himself was an apt description for Rowan from all accounts. The reports of her exploits for the past decade indicated the woman was as comfortable in pearls and an evening gown as she was in a tank top, shorts and hiking boots.
And she switched effortlessly between both sides of her life.
A sharp intake of breath pulled his attention off her body as she swung around to look at him. “This is yours?”
“Yes.”
She danced backward on her heels, the excitement he’d sensed before amping up as she practically ran to the long steel counters that lined the perimeter of the room. “You can do carbon dating here?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have an electron microscope?”
“Off-site. While this building offers many wonderful advantages, it’s too high to realistically ground the equipment. We house the microscope off-site with another lab we have about twenty kilometers outside the city.”
“Wow.” That single word, full of reverence, had his body tightening in anticipation.
Had he ever seen a woman that excited about a piece of technology? Moreover, had he ever felt like a conquering hero simply because he owned one?
Fascinated, he watched as she worked her way down the rows, her smile broad and her questions pointed as she stopped to talk to a few of his researchers before she returned to his side.
“I realize you’re considered foremost in your field, but even you can’t possibly have enough work to keep the lab busy? There aren’t enough dig sites to keep a facility this size active.”
He led her toward another set of doors, her attention shifting toward him as they walked. “We take on work from museums, auction houses, educational facilities. It’s been a key piece of my business strategy, to provide a top-notch facility so they can outsource their lab needs.”
“Smart.”
“And highly lucrative. The investment in equipment has paid dividends several times over.”
Finn gestured toward a waiting elevator. “You ready to go up? I’d like to go over my plans for the trip.”
“You mean the trip where we may or may not steal several ancient artifacts?”
A vivid light twinkled in the depths of her blue gaze and Finn fought the urge to move toward her. “That’d be the one.”
“Perfect. I’ve got a few ideas of my own on that, starting with a way around that toady Baxter Monroe.”
He gestured her back off the elevator and toward his office. “You don’t like the intrepid leader of our dig? We will be working under him for the next few weeks.”
The light snort would have been clue enough, but it was the vitriol that dripped from Rowan’s words that had him taking real notice. “He couldn’t dig his way to anything but more dirt if it weren’t for all that family money he throws around. He’s useless, and I don’t speak that harshly about many people.”
“What has he done to get your back up?”
“He nearly destroyed a series of relics in Iran a few years ago. He claimed his experience in Egypt made him a natural for any work in the Middle East and handled several ancient Persian relics like a two-year-old on a sugar bender. The man is a menace and for the life of me I can’t understand why the museum keeps him on staff.”
Finn couldn’t hold back the smile as he opened his office door, standing back so she could walk in first. “So that means you have no interest in attending his launch party this evening?”
Rowan turned on her heel, the move as smooth as her near-pirouette in the lab. “Launch party?”
“He holds one before every major project starts.”
“You party with the man?”
“Hardly. I have about as much respect for him as you do, perhaps less since I was called in by the prime minister to mediate that little Iranian situation he created. But I’m a firm believer in that old adage.”
Her eyebrows arched over those fierce blue eyes, that sharp gaze sexy as hell. “Let me guess. ‘Keep your friends close’?”
Finn nodded, an image of Baxter Monroe firmly in his mind’s eye. “‘And your enemies closer.’”
* * *
Rowan glanced around her well-appointed hotel suite as the bellman made quick work of her bags. She had to give Finn Gallagher credit, the man did know how to impress. Her suite at the Savoy was subtly appointed, yet it spoke of wealth and influence. It was also eminently practical, since Monroe was holding his launch party here at the hotel.
She’d had the requisite twinges of guilt at not informing her grandparents she’d be in town, but had tamped down on them at the evidence Finn expected her time on the job to include evening events.
She tipped the bellman and ushered him out before turning her attention toward the evening’s events. The concept of a launch party stuck in her stomach like a ball of lead, but she willed it aside. The event had no bearing on the serious work that should be taking place in the Valley of the Queens, but it would do what Finn had suggested.
Allow her to size up her enemy.
The fact the event was a social one and on Baxter Monroe’s turf was a small side benefit, guaranteed to make him relaxed and approachable. The very daring neckline of the gown she’d brought with her was another plus and she knew she had another weapon in her arsenal.
The phone buzzed from the depths of her oversize purse and Rowan dug it out, pleased she caught it in time before the caller went to voice mail. “Hey, big sis. You checking up on me?”
“Of course.” Kensington’s tone was sharp and matter-of-fact. Rowan couldn’t keep the smile from blooming on her face as she imagined her sister seated behind her ruthlessly organized desk. “I wanted to see how your meeting went with Gallagher.”
“The man can do his own carbon dating. I practically had an orgasm in his lab just thinking about it.”
“Don’t you think you should save that until you know him a bit better?”
Rowan did laugh at her sister’s dry tone before she outlined all that she’d learned while visiting Gallagher International. “So tonight’s a party with the museum crew.”
“I won’t even ask your feelings on that. You may be three thousand miles away, but your voice drips with loathing and a scathing disdain I can only admire.”
“It’s an archaeological dig, for Pete’s sake, not a party. The fact Monroe’s even throwing one is further proof of what a world-class jerk he is.”
“Yes, but you will mingle and be charming.”
Rowan fought the urge to grit her teeth. “Am I anything but?”
“Did you bring a dress?”
“Yes, I