Package Deal (49 page)

“
It’s
brilliant. Wh
e
r
e
ar
e
you s
ubmitt
ing this?”
Sh
e
kiss
e
d
him.

“To th
e
local rag.”

“I think
if
you
mad
e
som
e
chang
e
s
and alt
e
r
e
d
th
e
first paragraph
, you could s
e
nd
it to a national magazin
e
. You said you’v
e
b
ee
n wanting
to do
that
.”

H
e
nodd
e
d
. “But I don’t hav
e
a r
e
putation
outside our area
. How do
I
go about it?”

“
I know som
e
e
d
itors who might b
e
int
e
r
e
st
e
d
.
Let me
g
e
t you th
e
ir nam
e
s.”

H
e
kiss
e
d
h
e
r and want
e
d
to do mor
e
, but sh
e
stopp
e
d
him wh
e
n C
e
c
e
lia call
e
d
h
e
r nam
e
.

Amanda
cam
e
back
downstairs
moments later and
hand
e
d
him a pag
e
with s
e
v
e
ral nam
e
s and addr
e
ss
e
s on it.

“M
e
ntion that I sugg
e
st
e
d
you inquir
e
. That should at l
e
ast g
e
t you a r
e
ading.”

“Gr
e
at!” H
e
l
e
ft th
e
hous
e
buoy
e
d
by h
e
r
e
n
couragement
, but still worried that no one seemed to know
or care where
Carlton
was
.

Chapter 12

“
Excuse me.
I don’t think w
e
’v
e
m
e
t
.
”
T
he man
adjusted
his pace
to
walk
with Amanda
on her way to the d
epartment
.
“
If all th
e
faculty look like you, I’m going to
e
njoy
my
tim
e
h
e
r
e
.
”
He beamed
down
at her.
“Or are you a student—just a little older than most?”

Amanda
turned
toward the
mellifluous voice
.
He
was t
all—she estimated around six foot
six. At their last
faculty meeting, Scott
had
said
several faculty members
had interviewed
a for
mer basketball star with a semipro team.
That must be why
he
was the subject of
so many
conversations
—
that
and
h
is
contract to write a series of murder mysteries
.
Evan Workman’s
blond
hair glowed in the late afternoon July sun as he walk
ed
beside her.

What was it Tricia had said
when
Amanda
had
called
to learn more after having missed an opportunity to interview him
? “People
around here
call him a
latter-day
Greek g
od. You’ll see. He’s handsome to the
point of gaga-ness, and brilliant according to
my pals who were at
the
writer’s w
orkshop—
and
he
’s
as great in bed as he i
s on the basketball court
.”

“You’re a naughty girl, Tricia.
When
are
you
going to get real about
your
writing instead of thinking
you can
sleep
your
way into a successful career?
”

“
Did I say I slept with him?
Why
do you always jump to that conclusion?”

“I think you know the answer to that question.”

“Well,
all I’ll
say
is tha
t
’s
probably
jea
l
ou
sy
from people who wish they had
.
But i
f he asks
,
why don’t you try him out
—
see if
the rumors are true. Aren’t you
still single
?
”

Amanda
craned her neck and looked up
into his face
, his green eyes reminding her of a cat about to pounce on a
n unsuspecting
mouse. “
You
must be
E
van
Workman
.”

He nodded. “And you are?”

“Amanda Gardner, English department.
Gr
e
g said you
would be here
today
—
for final interviews
.
I susp
e
ct you’
ll hav
e
lots of co
e
d
s in your class
e
s this fall
,
assuming you’
re offered a spot and you accept
.”

“Th
e
y want to l
e
arn
how
to writ
e
fiction
?” H
e
smirk
e
d
and he touched his
reddish
mustache with one
recently-manicured nail
.

He looked to Amanda as if he was preening.
“Som
e
might
.
I suspect
most will want to t
e
ll th
e
ir moth
e
rs th
e
y know a myst
e
ry writ
e
r
.
” Sh
e
turn
e
d
toward th
e
d
e
partm
e
ntal offic
e
. “
Are you
see
ing
the d
ean and the other administrators
today
?”

He shook his head. “No, th
ose meetings are
done. Just the
last of the
d
epartmental
gi
g
s
now.”
He opened the outer door for her.
“
And
h
e
r
e
w
e
ar
e
.”

After he
enter
ed
th
e
chairman’s offic
e
,
s
he
unlocked
h
e
r
office
door
and sat down in th
e
big chair. S
ee
ing th
e
small
e
r on
e
n
e
arby
r
e
mind
e
d
h
e
r of C
e
c
e
lia’s
comm
e
nts about
Carl
ton
.
Beatrice
had
said she’d
cl
e
ar
e
d
the man’s
things from th
e
room,
and moved her supplies from the oversized desk to this one,
for which Amanda was grat
e
ful. Sh
e
op
e
n
e
d
th
e
c
e
nt
e
r draw
e
r
of her new desk
. Staring up at h
e
r was on
e
of C
e
c
e
’s hair ribbons. Sh
e
picked
it
up
,
unsur
e
wh
e
n sh
e
had
placed it in the drawer
,
and
tucked
it in
to
her purse
.

When she thought of her daughter, she had to fight back tears.
Cecelia at home, but never alone
now
. Cecelia eager to
play soccer. Cecelia who wanted
a dog. Cecelia—how badly had she been damaged by Carlton and the aftermath of the accident? Amanda shuddered involuntarily. It felt good to be back on campus, but how long would it
take
before she relaxed enough to stop worrying about her daughter
every waking minute
?

Marcus kept warning her about being overprotective, but he had no children. How could he
possibly
know how her heart
clutch
ed whenever she thought of what had happened and what might have
occurred
?Still, he had been a rock of stability for her, and for Cece, too. And, she did not want to lose him—or what they had. She blushed
,
her mind
revisiting how they had been
before
Cece’s
accident.
When might they have that again?
Where would their relationship go
,
now
that Carlton was no longer around
?

An hour later,
she
took her seat in the conference room with the rest of the faculty
,
a
final
m
ee
ting
to review
E
van Workman’s
qualifications
. Gr
e
g list
e
n
e
d
as each person spoke
.

“Amanda?
You’v
e
b
ee
n pr
e
tty qui
e
t.
Hav
e
you anything to add?
You know mor
e
about his background than th
e
r
e
st of us.
”

“I think h
e
’ll
b
e
a gr
e
at addition to th
e
d
e
partm
e
nt. And
onc
e
his myst
e
ri
e
s ar
e
publish
e
d
, it won’t hurt
our
r
e
putation that h
e
’s
on
the
faculty
. Will h
e
b
e
offer
ing class
e
s oth
e
r than thos
e
in c
r
e
ativ
e
w
riting?”

Gr
e
g nodd
e
d
.
“H
e
’ll
carry
his shar
e
of th
e
g
e
n
e
ral
offering
s
.
You know my views on
prima donnas, actual and wannabe
s.
”

Petite
J
e
ssica Jam
e
son
cleared her throat
b
e
for
e
patting h
e
r salt-and-p
e
pp
e
r bun and smoothing h
e
r dark skirt.

“
Is s
omething on your mind,
JJ?”
Greg asked.

Her face was serious
, but Amanda thought she detected a mischievous twinkle in those dark eyes
when
the senior professor
stood to
sp
ea
k
.
“I’d lik
e
to sign on as his t
e
aching assistant if h
e
n
ee
d
s on
e
.
”

T
h
e
m
e
n
around th
e
tabl
e
chuckled
.