Chapter 25

“This is an impressive turnout,” Ron said to both Naomi and Sebastian after all of the guest speakers and faculty had a chance to talk and answer questions. “I’m in awe that Kingston Williams is here right now.”

Sebastian said a casual, “It was nothing. He was happy to help.”

Ron nodded, along with several members of the Personnel Committee—the one that would ultimately be making the decision as to which one of them would receive the award. “No doubt,” said the dean of Faculty Affairs. “But the audience seemed fairly interested in Dr. Price’s guest as well.”

The comment made her stand a little taller, especially coming from Dr. Shipley, whose opinion on today’s event would hopefully weigh more heavily than those of some of the other faculty members. Though she wouldn’t consider herself friendly with anyone on the committee, she’d talked to several of them enough to know they liked and respected her. She hoped, anyway. But she wasn’t sure the same could be said for Sebastian. And the thought made her feel worse than it probably should have.

“What was his name again? Lyric…”

“Lyrical Soldier,” Naomi offered.

She looked around the room for the man, which made Dr. Shipley and Sebastian do the same.

“Right, yes. Lyrical Soldier,” Dr. Shipley said. “He seemed popular with the students especially,” he added when he turned back to them. “Nice guy too. I’d never even heard of him until this event, but he has an extensive résumé. I’ll have to be sure to introduce myself.”

Naomi hoped that would happen after the singer finished signing autographs on females’ chests, which was what he was currently doing.

Then the provost added, “You both did an excellent job today. Your work should be commended. It was an interactive presentation in which prospective students, parents, and other guests could learn about our institution and what it has to offer.”

“Thank you,” she said, and she meant it. She was appreciative of the compliment. “Professor Blake was a huge help. I really couldn’t have taken on all of this myself, so I’m glad we worked together on it.”

“Yes, well, I should say the same,” he began. “Dr. Price has a knack for events such as these. There probably wouldn’t have been enough food here if the catering had been left to me.”

Dean Morgan, who’d been relatively quiet thus far, gave them both a smile, but the narrowing of his eyes that followed made it difficult to know what he was thinking. “I guess we’ll let you get back to work,” he said. “I’m sure you want to mingle a bit and address some remaining questions before the last of the guests leave.”

“Thank you,” Naomi and Sebastian both blurted in almost perfect unison before turning briefly toward one another. “Enjoy the rest of the event,” Sebastian added, before they both turned to walk toward some of the tables that were being manned by members of the English and Publishing departments so they could thank everyone.

They made their rounds together, shaking hands with the guest speakers and telling them how thankful they both were to have them here. Even Sebastian seemed exceptionally social, which meant that he managed to make eye contact with his colleagues and say that he appreciated them volunteering their time.

Once everyone had left, Naomi and Sebastian stayed to clean up. They threw out the food that was left and packed up some of the items they’d brought from the English department office into bags before heading to Kellerman. They were mostly quiet as they unloaded the bags and put back the supplies. After everything seemed to be back in its place, Naomi packed up what she needed for the rest of the weekend—which was only one class’s assignments to grade—and looked over to where Sebastian stood.

“I think that went well,” he said, but didn’t expand beyond that.

“It did.” Having meaningful conversation with Sebastian was something she was still attempting to navigate. Naomi tried to ignore the nagging curiosity deep inside her that had been begging her to ask Sebastian the simple question. For some reason, it seemed important that she know the answer, though she knew it really didn’t matter. Sebastian shut off the last few lights, darkening the room almost entirely, except for the campus streetlights shining through the window, before she finally spoke. “Did you really mean what you said to Shipley?” she blurted out.

“Mean what?”

“When you told him that you couldn’t have pulled this off without me.”

Sebastian had been heading to the door but turned toward her after she’d spoken. He looked genuinely surprised by the question. “Sure, I meant it. Who else would’ve entertained the student body with the history of his tattoos?”

A laugh burst from her as she thought back to when Lyrical Soldier spoke. “Okay, so he may have gone a little off course a few times,” she said, still smiling.

Sebastian remained quiet, and Naomi watched his face grow more serious. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I couldn’t have done this without you. As much as it causes me physical pain to admit it, we actually make a pretty good team.”

“I agree,” she said. “Maybe they’ll give us both the award if we promise to share custody.”

“I don’t think there’s an actual trophy involved.”

“That’s disappointing,” she joked. But Sebastian’s expression remained serious.

“Thanks for all your help,” he said as he placed a hand on the doorknob. “I actually had fun planning this with you.”

He didn’t look as embarrassed at his admission as Naomi thought he should have. “Me too,” she said quietly. As she walked the ten feet or so toward the door, she swore she could feel the air thicken with each step, as though closing the distance between them created a pressure that was somehow tangible.

By the time she made it to the door Sebastian had let go of it, lifting a hand to caress her cheek instead. When his lips met hers, she felt them open almost instinctively, and though her brain cautioned her to pull back, she didn’t.

There was tongue. God, was there tongue. And despite the fact that the kiss was short (or at least shorter than Naomi wanted it to be), there was also a connection pulling them together like poles of two magnets that had just figured out how to attract one another instead of repel. Because as much as this man drove her completely insane, she couldn’t deny that she’d wanted this to happen. And not just right now.

She wasn’t sure who pulled away first, but eventually they did. “What was that?” she asked softly. She could hear how breathless she sounded, but she hadn’t found a way to compose herself yet.

“A kiss,” Sebastian said casually, as if his actions hadn’t just changed the entire dynamic of their relationship.

“No…I mean…I know what it was. But why it was…why was it, I mean?” Pull yourself together.

“You kissed me twice.”

“Not like that.”

“Maybe you should have,” Sebastian said.

Her eyes closed as he leaned in again, and this time when his lips met hers, his hand massaged the back of her neck. It lasted only a moment before Naomi pulled away—an action that was clearly initiated by her mind. Her body would never have done such a thing. “What are we doing?” she whispered against his lips.

He didn’t answer right away, and it occurred to her that he’d probably been wondering the same thing. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “But I want to see where it goes.”

And for possibly the first time ever, she agreed with Sebastian Blake.