And then a simple, “No.”
“Then let’s talk about something.” She turned over to her other side so she faced Ford’s back.
“Now you want to talk?” He flipped onto his back, her breasts now barely a hair from brushing against his arm, and then he looked at her. “Again, you realize you want to talk now that it’s on your terms, right? When I wanted to talk, you blew me off.”
Why did he have to call her out like that?
“Fine. Then go ahead. What do you want to talk about?”
“What’s the deal with you never accepting help? Why do you always have to be the doer?”
Hmm. Maybe she didn’t want to talk. She bit her lip and stared at him, even though she could barely see him in the darkness of the storm.
“Mm-hmm,” he mumbled, straightening his head and closing his eyes, “That’s what I thought.”
He folded his hands atop his stomach as if he weren’t bothered one bit by the fact that they were sleeping together. Could he seriously close his eyes and doze off?
Ugh. He was winning. He might not have been trying to win, but it didn’t matter. He was getting what he wanted—silence. Well, Corrie didn’t want silence. She wanted to talk. And if that meant she needed to be the one doing the talking, then so be it.
“I don’t want people to think I’m weak. Like I’m some featherbrained, helpless chick. I want people to respect me.”
“I’m sure people respect you,” he said with his eyes still closed.
“Not in the same way they respect you. I’m the real-life archaeologist with the tits.”
His eyes opened and he tilted his head toward her, one brow raised. Now she’d gotten his attention. Tits usually did. And that was the problem.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m sure you’ve heard it before.”
“What, you mean because of that magazine article?” he asked.
Case in point.
“Like I said. I’m sure you’ve heard it before.”
“I mean, not that exact phrase, but . . .”
“Then what have you heard? Let me guess. ‘I know a bone she can search for.’ ‘I’d like to uncover her temples at Lake Titicaca.’ ‘Dr. Socorro Mejía, PH Double Ds.’ I know what men say about me, Ford. I’m not oblivious.”
“Hadn’t heard the Lake Titicaca one. Gotta admit, that one’s pretty clever.”
“Oh my God, you’re such an asshole,” she said, shooting up and searching for her shoes.
He sat up, though, and pulled her back. “Hey, hey, I was kidding. You’re always making sex jokes and I thought . . . I thought maybe that would take the edge off. But that was in poor taste. I’m sorry.”
“I make sex jokes because I’m comfortable with my sexuality. Or, I don’t know. Maybe I do it as a defense mechanism. And I talk like that with you and Ethan because we know each other. But I don’t talk about sex or make jokes around other people. I’m not some sex-addled hornball. I do have a brain.”
“I know you do.”
“Really? Well, that’s good to know, because sometimes I don’t think other people do.”
“Corrie, I didn’t ask you to come here because of your tits. I wanted you here because you’re the smartest person I know.”
She paused, letting the atmosphere in the tent reset.
“Do you mean that?” she asked, quietly. She wasn’t looking for feigned compliments. She truly wanted to know—did he . . . did he respect her?
“Of course I do. Honestly, Corrie, the only reason I did well in school is because I had you as my competition, always keeping me on my toes. I had to work a hell of a lot harder because of you. It was kind of annoying, to be honest,” he said, finishing with humor in his tone.
“And yet you still came out on top,” she said, looking away, “And no one recognizes that I was right behind you. People genuinely act surprised when I tell them I have a PhD. Do you know how insulting that is?”
It was one of the main reasons Corrie didn’t like going on dates with new people. When she did, she often didn’t tell them what she did for a living. The surprised looks and claims that You don’t look like a doctor had gotten old long ago. Besides, they didn’t need to know about her career if all they were going to do was grab a drink and bang.
“I’m sure plenty of people recognize how brilliant you are.”
“Really? Then why wasn’t I selected as lead for this dig? I mean, no offense, Ford, but this is my life’s work. I’ve written articles and papers on it. Hell, it was the subject of my dissertation, the dissertation you’re using as a guide.”
Ford wrinkled his brow, as if uncomfortable with her comments. She hadn’t intended to make him feel bad. But he’d asked why she didn’t like receiving help, and this was the answer.
Because deep down, she knew she’d never earn the same respect as someone without a pair of double Ds. Not in this industry. And, unfortunately, not in many others, either.
“And so earlier today,” she continued, “when you made those comments about being in charge, it hit me hard. I was actually starting to think that maybe you weren’t the asshole I’d thought you were, but when you said that? Well, I changed my mind.”
Ford winced and rubbed his face. “Corrie . . . I’m really sorry about that. It was a shitty thing to say and the minute I did, I regretted it. I was pissed about that not being the spot and pissed at myself for making the impulsive decision to come all the way here for nothing, wasting our time. Then you said we needed to tell Jon and Memo I was wrong. Between that and you pointing out that in the three months we’ve been here, I haven’t taken the time to get to know anyone, well, it felt like you were egging me on again. Which, after I started thinking that maybe you weren’t so bad, kind of hurt. So I pulled a dick move. But I’m sorry. I know I’m not better, smarter, or more qualified than you. I’m where I’m at right now, and you’re not, simply because I dated the right woman at the right time. That’s it.”
Wow. Maybe she was wrong about Ford. Again.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“Well, it’s the truth. And you know how hard it is for me to admit when I’m wrong.”
“So what you’re saying is all I had to do was date Addison and I’d be a professor at Yale leading high-profile digs all over the world?” She waggled her brows and he laughed, lowering and shaking his head.
“Honestly, you would have been the better fit for her.”
Corrie’s curiosity piqued. “Oh yeah? Is she into ladies?”
“First of all, Corrie, you’re no lady,” he joked. “But no. She . . . I . . . I wasn’t exciting enough for her.”
Exciting enough? Well, this just got a helluva lot more interesting.
Their conversation had made its way full circle. Corrie stared at Ford as if saying, Explain, and he groaned, lying back on the ground. She lay next to him on her side, propping her head up in her hand. Waiting for more.
“Do tell, Dr. Matthews,” Corrie said. “You can’t lead with that and then leave me hanging.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to tell you this,” he said, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.