She didn’t realize she’d risen to her feet until her chair crashed into the metal blindson the window behind her desk. “I. Do. Not. Need. Backup.”
He held his hands out. “Support,” he amended. “For your first conference. And since we’re both working on efficient combustion?—”
“Out.” She should’ve let Lance firehimout of that potato gun last night. “Get. Out.”
“Kaci, if you’ll think about it a minute, you’ll understand that this is good for?—”
“You,” she spat. “This is good foryou.”
“The benefits of the combination of physical and chemical combustion?—”
“Is covered in six research papers I’ve had published inPhysics Todayand is a concept I fully support. Iwillfind a chemist to work with, and when I do, Dr. Kelly, it will be a chemist selected for his or her knowledge, intelligence, and capability to fit within my team.” She pointed so hard, her knuckle throbbed. “Once more, Dr. Kelly, removeyourself from my office.”
He ran a hand over his graying hair. “I don’t know what I’ve done to offend you?—”
“Dr. Kelly,” a smooth voice interjected from the hallway, “I believe you’re keeping Dr. Boudreaux from her work.”
Dr. Kwami, her dean, folded his arms over his massive chest and stared down his nose at Ron.
Ron gave her one last glance, then muttered something to himself while he left her office.
Letting a man tell him to leave when Kaci herself telling him to leave hadn’t worked.
“My research belongshere,” she said to her dean.
Dr. Kwami settled into the plastic chair on the other side of her desk and pushed the door closed. He propped a dress shoe over one knee. “You’ve been having troubles.”
She pinched her lips together.
“I can’t fix issues if I’m unaware of them.”
“With all due respect, neither of us can turn me into a man, and I wouldn’t let you even if you could.”
A glimmer of a smile turned his lips up, but his dark eyes stayed serious. “I agree. Your research needs to stay here in our department.”
Her fingers slowly uncurled.
He tugged at the black tie over his crisp white shirt. “A student reported overhearing another professor making derogatory comments about you. Has someone from our department been harassing you?”
“Dr. Kwami, I’ve lived in this world so long, I wouldn’t recognize harassment if it walked up behind me and licked my ass.” And if he wanted to fire her for sayingass, so be it.
She’d build a shack out in the woods and sell potato guns out of her garage.
“I don’t tolerate harassment, Kaci. Nor doI tolerate my professors undermining one another, especially to the students. You belong here. You’re making a difference. If you have issues, give them to me. We need you inspiring these kids and working in your lab. Understood?”
“I didn’t get where I am by being a tattletale.”
“My daughter wants to be an astronaut, Dr. Boudreaux. I’d like to think she’ll have a safe place to learn, but that starts with us. With you and me. We can’t fix a problem if we don’t address it.”
“And not every problem has a solution. Not when people get involved.”
“Let me try.” He stood. “I’ll have a talk with the dean of the chemistry department. Dr. Kelly won’t be an issue anymore.”
Right.
Because Ron’s dean would respond to a man, whereas Kaci would just be a hystericalwoman who wasn’t mature enough to handle working with her ex-husband.
“This is my job as your boss, Kaci. Let me handle the people. You handle the physics.” He flashed a rare smile, white teeth glinting against his dark face. “And knock ’em dead in Stuttgart.”
