‘We’ve still got plenty of time to decide,’ she assured him. ‘Like you told him, we’re not that old.’
He didn’t seem convinced. ‘I dunno. I’m past forty now, you’re coming up on thirty-five… I mean, Christ, my mum and dad were only twenty-one when they had me.’
‘Times change, though. People had kids when they were younger back then. My parents were in their mid twenties when I was born.’
‘I suppose.’
Realising that the matter was still bothering him, she put down her book and joined him on the sofa. ‘Hey,’ she said, putting her arms around him, ‘do you want to have kids?’
Another pause. ‘I don’t know. I really don’t,’ he said, closing a hand around hers. ‘I mean, it’s not like we haven’t talked about it before, and it’s one of those things you just sort of assume’ll happen after you get married. But… there’ve been things that got in the way. Like mad cults and lost cities and psychos trying to start World War Three.’
She grinned. ‘Minor distractions, then.’
‘Yeah. Most people just worry about how it’s going to affect their careers. We keep having the weight of the bloody world dumped on us.’
‘It’s not really something you want to make a child deal with, is it? Probably a good thing we haven’t had one after all.’
Nina had meant the comment light-heartedly, but a sudden downcast twinge to his expression — which he hurriedly tried to hide — warned her that Eddie had taken it more seriously. ‘Hey, hey,’ she said apologetically, ‘I was joking. I’m not ruling it out, not at all. But our lives have been, well… complicated.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ He intertwined his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand, then kissed her cheek. ‘Although…’
‘What?’
‘Well, things are a bit less complicated at the moment, aren’t they? All the IHA’s operations are ticking along without any trouble—’
‘Don’t jinx it!’
He laughed. ‘I’m right, though, aren’t I? The Atlantis dig’s back up to speed after what happened last year; the Egyptians asked us to help with the tomb of Alexander the Great—’
‘If that’s what it really is,’ Nina cut in. Even the top experts in the field were not entirely certain whether the new excavations in Alexandria would bear fruit.
‘Whatever, we’ve still got our hand in. And the Indian government’s working with us on the Vault of Shiva, and even the Peruvians are letting the IHA get involved with what’s happening at El Dorado.’
‘Grudgingly,’ she said, with a flash of professional annoyance.
‘The point is, they’ve still asked for our help. So we’ve got all these digs going on at once, and you know what? They’re all going smoothly.’
‘You are so jinxing it!’
Eddie grinned. ‘They’re going smoothly,’ he insisted, ‘and you know why? Because you put people in charge of each of ’em who know what they’re doing. So that means you don’t have to micromanage everything any more.’
She treated him to a particularly sulky scowl. ‘What do you mean, any more?’
‘No, you never once looked over anyone’s shoulder and told them to dig six inches to the left, did you?’ he said, kissing her again. ‘But the IHA’s in a quiet patch at the moment. We’ve been talking about taking a break for a while — maybe now’s the time. And there’s the book thing too.’
‘Right, the book thing,’ Nina echoed. It was her turn to become thoughtful. ‘I still don’t know what I want to do about that.’
‘What’s to think about? For fuck’s sake, love, they’re offering you six figures to write about all the stuff you’ve discovered! I know it’s not like we desperately need the money or anything,’ he waved a hand to encompass their Upper East Side apartment, ‘but you’ve got to admit it’d be a hell of a bonus. Christ, if you want I’ll write everything up for you. Although I can’t type, so I’ll have to scribble it all down in biro.’
‘Just make sure you leave out all the things that are top secret,’ she reminded him, amused. ‘Oh, and the part where you were wanted for murder by Interpol.’
‘And the part where you got a faceful of crap while you were crawling through a sewer pipe.’
She grimaced at the memory. ‘It’s all glamour being a famous archaeologist, isn’t it?’
Eddie sniffed her cheek. ‘You got most of it off. This book, though — it might be the perfect time to take a bit of a break and write it, while things are quiet at work. And we could also do some,’ a lascivious smirk crept across his square face, ‘other stuff.’
Nina feigned innocence. ‘What kind of stuff, Mr Chase?’
‘Oh, you know. Shagging like rabbits.’
She laughed, swatting his hand off hers. ‘There’s that subtle charm I fell in love with.’
‘Yeah, it’s irresistible, innit? I’m serious, though, and not just about a non-stop fuck-fest.’ Nina giggled. ‘I mean about the book, and having a break from work. We could take a really long holiday, somewhere we haven’t been before — and with absolutely nothing to do with archaeology.’
Now she feigned horror. ‘Oh, let’s not do anything crazy…’
‘Grant invited us out to Hollywood, remember? We could do that as part of a West Coast tour, maybe — start off in Seattle, then go down through San Francisco to LA to watch him filming his next movie. Even though it’ll probably be as big a piece of crap as his last one.’
‘I thought you liked action movies.’
‘I like good action movies. Nitrous 2 was absolute bollocks, though.’
‘I think you mean Ni-two-rous,’ Nina corrected with a smile. Their movie star friend Grant Thorn’s most recent film had gone by the rather awkward moniker of Ni2rous on its posters, providing a source of endless amusement to the couple — as well as late-night talk-show hosts.
‘Yeah, when nobody even knows how to pronounce the title, that’s probably a bad start. It really was complete arse, though. That bit where he dived out of the car that went over the cliff and fired a grappling hook to grab hold of his mate’s car that was jumping the other way? That was so fucking unrealistic they might as well have had him grow wings.’
‘It wasn’t any more unbelievable than his other movies, and you liked those.’
‘I used to like ’em. Maybe I’m growing old.’
Her smile returned, wider. ‘Maybe you’re growing up.’
Eddie snorted. ‘No danger of that, love. But I’ve got to admit, these days I’m happy just to watch Matt Damon moving purposefully for two hours. Still, actually getting to see Grant filming should be fun. Something to tell the grandkids.’
‘That kinda presupposes kids,’ said Nina. ‘I guess this conversation’s come round full circle.’
He shifted position to face her. ‘So… what’s your view on that? You’re…’ He paused, choosing his words. ‘You’re not dead set against it, are you?’
She also gave careful consideration to her reply. ‘No,’ she said at last. ‘No, I’m not against it. It’s just that, like I said, our lives have been complicated. But if things did get more straightforward, then…’ Another moment of thought. ‘I wouldn’t say no.’
From the look of delight Eddie was trying hard to contain, it was clear he was happy with her answer. ‘Nor would I.’
They kissed, then held each other tight. ‘It’s a big decision, though,’ Nina said at last.
‘Yeah, taking a sabbatical to get paid half a million dollars and have loads of sex. Big decision.’