The door opened and a portly man with a shock of white hair got out.
“Matt, I’m happy I ran into you.”
“John. Hi,” Matt said. He turned to her. “Three minutes. I swear, that’s all it’ll take.”
Fifteen minutes later, Tamryn found herself jogging alone on the dirt path back to Belle Maison, her body humming with unsated lust. John Devereaux, the councilman from neighboring Maplesville, had not taken Matt’s many hints, or just didn’t care about the daggers both she and Matt threw his way as he rattled on about the upcoming fair in Maplesville that was scheduled for the same weekend as the festival in Gauthier.
Even the mouthwatering aroma of Phylicia’s buttermilk biscuits wasn’t enough to lift Tamryn’s spirits as she entered the B&B. She’d finally decided to take that next step with Matt, and now that she’d been stymied, she was angry.
She slogged up the stairs to her room, grabbed the clothes she’d laid out before she left for her morning jog, and went down the hallway to the bathroom. Most of the Victorian’s other guests were still asleep, so she didn’t have to worry about hogging the bathroom.
As she stepped under the warm shower spray, Tamryn closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift back to Matt’s heated kiss. The skill he possessed, the mastery he held over her body—it was hard to comprehend. After only a few kisses, he knew just where to lick and nip and suck. He knew exactly what to do to light her body on fire.
With his image front and center in her mind’s eye, Tamryn let her hands travel down her stomach and into the thatch of curls between her legs. She slowly rubbed her fingers over the swollen flesh, massaging the pulsing bundle of nerves. She increased the speed and pressure, bracing her back against the tiled wall and adding her other hand to the action. In moments her body was erupting in a swift, all-consuming orgasm that caused her limbs to shake and her knees to buckle.
Tamryn sank to the narrow ledge at the rear of the shower and leaned her head back against the wall. By the time she was strong enough to step out of the shower, the entire bathroom was filled with thick steam.
She wiped at the mirror and stared at her reflection.
“You have got to let that man have his way with you,” she said.
Her body shivered at the thought.
As much as she’d fought this attraction to Matt, now that she’d decided sleeping with him was inevitable—even necessary—she wanted to do it now. Right damn now!
“That’s what you get for playing hard to get,” Tamryn muttered.
She got herself as dry as she could in the humid bathroom, but when she went to get dressed, she discovered her clothes had grown damp from all the shower steam. Tucking the towel securely around her, Tamryn opened the bathroom door and peeked around. Finding the space empty, she dashed down the hallway.
Her cell phone was ringing when she got back to her room. She smiled when she saw the name illuminated on the screen.
“Hey, you,” she answered, tucking the towel more securely between her breasts as she sat on the bed and settled against the headboard. “I’ve been meaning to call you.”
“I would hope so,” her coworker Victoria said. “I can’t believe you didn’t call me already. You let me get this news like everyone else.”
“What news?”
“What news? Didn’t you see the announcement? I would have thought as a member of the History Department they would have told you before they told anyone else.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Tamryn reached over and grabbed her iPad from the nightstand. She brought up her email and saw the subject line just as Victoria said, “Reid is the new head of the History Department.”
The air whooshed out of Tamryn’s lungs with the force of a two-by-four to the solar plexus.
“How? When?” Her eyes darted up and down the email, but her brain was too befuddled to take anything in.
“I got the email about an hour ago,” Victoria said. “Did they seriously not tell the History Department beforehand? That’s insane.”
“They didn’t tellthismember of the History Department,” Tamryn said.
Which more than likely meant that she would not be a part of the department for much longer.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as the full weight of that possibility struck her. It took some effort to swallow down the bile that had climbed up her throat.
“Vicky, uh, can I give you a call back a bit later?”
“Sure,” Victoria said. “I have to get to class anyway. It’s a beautiful day here in Boston, so I’m not expecting many students to show up. Call me later. I want you to fill me in on the work you’re doing.”
