Page 56 of It takes a Psychic

“I’ll bet you really did scare the hell out of Fullerton,” he said.

“Yes,” she said. “But when he recovered from the shock, he was furious. He threatened to tell my boss and everyone else in the department. My career would have been ruined. I tried to keep him quiet.”

“How?”

“The old-fashioned way. Blackmail. I told him I would not go to the head of the department with the proof that he had plagiarized my work if he kept his mouth shut about what had happened in the lab.”

Oliver nodded. “MAD. Mutually assured destruction. Good plan.”

“I’m not proud of myself, but I was desperate.”

“Understandable.”

“Not that it worked,” she said. “The rumors started to circulate anyway. I should have known it would be impossible to keep the incident in the lab a secret. There were some char marks that were hard to explain away as a normal lab accident. Still, I think my career would have survived if it hadn’t been for the raid on the Society. That finished me at Hollister.”

“Are you going to go through with your threat to accuse Fullerton of stealing your work?”

She groaned. “No. Accusations like that get messy fast for both parties involved. I didn’t have any real proof. I was bluffing. And, as I said, I did singe Matt that day in the lab.”

“As revenge goes, that’s pretty pathetic.”

“I suppose, but you know what they say about revenge. Two graves and all that. Anyway, I’ve got bigger problems. I doubt I’ll ever work in the academic world again. My best option is to go private as a consultant. Most businesses doing work in the Underworld aren’t terribly picky when it comes to talent. Corporations and private firms are profit-driven. All they care about are results.”

“True. But going down that career path can be hazardous. There are a lot of shady operators working the ruins.”

“I know.” She gave him a steely smile. “I was kidnapped by some of those shady types.”

He winced. “I guess you don’t need any lectures on the dangers of running a small consulting business in the Underworld.” He paused. “You’ll miss the academic world, though, won’t you?”

“Yes. It’s the research and analysis that fascinates me. The sense of discovery. That’s the mission of the academic world. Corporations and entrepreneurs are focused on profit and staying ahead of the competition. Different goals. Different mindsets.”

“Your colleagues in the academic world sound like a tough crowd.”

“True. I did learn one valuable lesson, however.”

“What’s that?” Oliver asked.

“I need to keep my personal and professional lives separate.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I know.”

Oliver was silent for a moment. She assumed he was probably about to announce that it was time he went back to his own room. She didn’t want him to leave, she realized.

She tried to think of a logical reason for asking him to stay. But he spoke first and turned the night—and her world—upside down.

He looked at her, his dangerous eyes heating. “What would you say if I told you that I want to kiss you?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

She froze—but only for theseconds it took for her to catch her breath. Her intuition slammed into the caution zone, alerting her that kissing Oliver was going to prove risky in ways she could not predict. But the wild, independent, feminine part of her gave her intuition the middle finger.

I know he’s dangerous. I don’t care.

It was just a kiss. Not her first and, hopefully, not her last. Just a kiss. What could possibly go wrong?

“Yes,” she whispered. “I would say yes.”

---