you’re calling during your shifts. He licks my hand so I don’t sleep through your call.” She rolled over and reached past Judah’s head to get her phone, but Declan held her tight.
“It’s not me, so ignore it.” He punctuated that with a kiss and managed to get his hands all the way under the T-shirt.
She eased away. “It could be Nellie Shaker. I promised her we’d touch base first thing this morning. Caterers are coming soon. She hired history specialists who are obsessed with every single thing being authentic to the Victorian era, including the dishes and food and…oh.”
Evie forgot what she was saying as he coasted his hand over her body.
“I’m obsessed, too. With…” He cupped her breasts. “You.”
“One second. I’ll tell her I’m busy.” She grabbed the phone, squinting at it. “Oh shoot.” She straightened right up. “Holy heck, it’s Joan Whitfield. Why is she calling me?”
“Who is she?”
“My boss, Dean Whitfield.”
He gave her a not a chance look and pulled the T-shirt higher. “You’re on sabbatical. And I’m on a mission.” He kissed her belly.
“She wouldn’t call unless it’s important. Hold that…” She brought the phone closer. “Oh. Yeah. Hold that.”
She cleared her throat and tapped the phone. “Evie Hewitt,” she said in her most professional voice, despite being one hot kiss from naked and completely horizontal.
“Joan Whitfield,” the dean’s familiar voice came through the phone. “How is your sabbatical going, my friend?”
She smiled at Declan, who was tracing a line on her leg. “It’s…” His finger disappeared under the edge of the T-shirt. “Incredible. That’s…I mean, it’s…been perfect.” She glared at him, but he chuckled and tortured her by inching his finger higher.
“Good, good. Well, I’m not calling to cut it short, so you can relax about that.”
She couldn’t relax about anything when his hand was…there. “Glad to hear it, Dean.” She emphasized the title to remind him this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill girlfriend calling.
He dipped his head to kiss the very skin he’d been touching, using his tongue to make her crazy.
“So things in your little town are going well?”
“Really…well.” She bit her lip as he nibbled her thigh. “The whole experience has been simply…breathtaking.”
She fisted some of his hair, tugging lightly.
“Oh, really?” Joan laughed, and Evie tried to picture the silver-haired sixty-year-old who loved patterned scarves and red wine. But she failed. The only silver she could see were the threads at Declan’s temple when he turned his head to kiss the other thigh. “And here I thought you were just taking care of your grandfather and his house.”
His lips pressed on the most tender part of her, making Evie want to drop her head back and whimper in delight. “I’m doing a lot more than that,” she said, working to keep her voice steady.
He peeked up with a question in his eyes. Evie smiled and pushed his head down. “I can multitask,” she told her boss…and her boyfriend, whose shoulders moved with a silent laugh.
“I know you can,” the dean said. “Better than most. Which is why I’m calling with some very big news.”
“Oh?”
Declan stilled at the sound of that single syllable, as if the interest in her voice piqued his.
“I’m taking the job as head of the College of Vet Med at Cornell.”
Evie gasped and not because Declan found another sweet spot. “Joan! Congratulations. Cornell has an amazing program! And their teaching hospital is one of the best in the world.”
“I know, and I’m stoked for the job, but I wanted to call and tell you personally.”
“Thank you for that,” she said, vaguely aware that she’d inched away from Declan. “You’ll be missed,” she said. And, if she’d already told Declan her news, she’d probably spill the beans to Joan right now. But she didn’t want him to find out that she’d decided to stay like this.
He paused and watched her, taking her cue to slow down the fun as she got more serious.
“Cornell is lucky to get you,” she said, thinking of the strong and fair hand that Joan used at NC State. It was no wonder she’d go to Cornell, one of maybe three schools in the country ranked better than their own for veterinary medicine. “Do you start in the fall?”
“Actually, I’m going this spring, which has the powers that be in a tizzy around here.”
“I can imagine,” she said, holding Declan’s gaze as he abandoned his teasing to let her finish the conversation.
“Be right back,” he mouthed, pointing to the bathroom.
She nodded and blew a kiss. “What do