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as he mentally sifted through the roots of the many languages he’d
studied, searching for a match.
    “It’s not from a
language you’ve ever studied.”
    Her voice
startled him. “What, are you a mind-reader now?”
    She laughed and
her golden-brown eyes glimmered. “You’re one of the world’s foremost experts on
archaic languages. I’d expect you to pick apart an unfamiliar word and trace it
back to its origins.”
    He slid back on
the stool, nonplussed. “Am I that easy to read?”
    “Your occupation
is. If you weren’t curious about word origins, I doubt you’d be such a success
in your chosen field.”
    He lifted his
glass in a simple salute. “You’ve got me there.”
    “Speaking of
which.” Maya scooted around on her stool, facing him. “Were you serious about
researching at the IECS?”
    “Absolutely.”
    Her eyes met
his, and his heart jumped in his chest. Damn attraction.
    “Dr. Lindberg
will probably release the artifacts from the burial to the IECS for
conservation. We have facilities there that can’t be matched in Sweden.”
    “To deal with
the writing fragments?” The noise in the bar escalated. Without thinking, he
leaned closer to Maya. “Will they be allowed out of the country?”
    “We’ll
eventually be returning them to Sweden, so yes, I believe so.”
    “What if they’re
not released to the IECS?”
    “Then we’ll find
another way to handle the matter.”
    He studied her,
admiring her steady gaze and calm composure. “Do I want to know how?”
    “Only if you
want a detailed account of wrangling with politicians.”
    James mulled
that over. If politicians were involved, he really didn’t want to know. Her,
though, he wanted to know more about, and he damn sure wanted to figure out how
to get a crack at the IECS’ Archives. “What does my interest in the Archives
have to do with the Sandby borg artifacts?”
    “We want you to come
work for the IECS on a temporary basis, deciphering and translating the
documents found in the anomalous burial. If you have time after that to work
with our other collections, all the better.” She tilted her head to one side
and her lips twitched into a knowing smile. “Of course, you’ll have plenty of
free time to work on any special projects you might bring with you.”
    What an offer.
The very thing he’d been working toward on his own, handed to him on a silver
platter. It couldn’t be that easy. “What’s the catch?”
    “No catch. You’ll
receive on-site housing and a salary while you’re there. We won’t claim any of
your work product other than any translations you make for items held in our
possession. It’s a beautiful work environment.”
    “It feels like
there should be a catch.”
    “No catch,” she
insisted. “You’ll have your own office and a separate laboratory, full access
to a library, the dining hall, and the gym. The campus is lovely and has miles
of running, biking, and horse-riding trails, camping and picnic areas. We do
have schools on-site, so teachers, students, and even other staff members may
drop by on occasion to chat with you.”
    “I knew there
was a catch.”
    She laughed,
full-throated, beautiful, and a wave of heat washed over him. Damn attraction.
    “Set office
hours and you’ll be fine,” she assured him.
    “It sounds
idyllic.”
    “In a lot of
ways, it is, but not all. Summer in Georgia makes Sweden feel like Antarctica.
Humidity is always a problem and the mosquitoes are relentless.”
    “Another catch.”
    “I’ll make sure
you have plenty of bug repellent.”
    He grinned. When
was the last time he’d had a conversation this interesting? Hell, when was the
last time he’d had anything close to an interesting conversation with a woman?
    His grin faded.
That woman was giving him an opportunity to follow a dream, of going to the
IECS and working with those artifacts, of having the chance to pursue his own
research in the archives there. Either opportunity alone was worth the