Farrah Rochon - Yours Forever

“You’ve spent the past six months avoiding me. I was afraid you would leave me out on the side of the road if you knew I was the professor you’ve been thwarting at every turn.”

An offended frown tugged down the corners of his mouth. “I never would have left you out there.”

Tamryn held her hands up. “Forgive me. That was a poor attempt at humor. I know you wouldn’t have left me stranded. Thank you again for coming to my rescue yesterday.” She tipped her head to the side. “You must admit it’s rather funny that the only person I have any knowledge of in Gauthier just so happened to be the one who found me. Either this town really is that small, or it’s an amazing coincidence.”

A hint of amusement flashed in his light brown eyes. “Maybe a little of both,” he said. “Believe it or not, I almost didn’t go for a ride yesterday. I decided at the last minute that I needed to clear my head and just hopped on the bike almost without thinking.” His penetrating gaze eased its way along her body. “It’s as if I was meant to find you.”

His voice resonated with meaning, evoking a shimmer of interest that cascaded along her exposed skin. Tamryn surreptitiously sucked in a breath as she straightened in her chair and damned her tingling spine to hell.

The laugh that escaped her throat was much huskier than she’d intended. “Interesting how that turned out, isn’t it?”

He nodded slowly, reclining in his chair. “Very.”

His stare was probing and filled with enough heat to sear her skin. Usually, being on the receiving end of such intense scrutiny would creep her out. This time it did the exact opposite.

Tamryn cleared her throat and twisted yet again in her seat.

“So, what brings you here?” Matt asked, folding his hands over those abs that her fingers already had intimate knowledge of. “I doubt you came all this way simply because I’ve been avoiding your calls.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re important to my research, but not that important.”

His brows lifted. “So you’re here doing research?”

“For the entire summer,” she answered.

He groaned and ran a hand down his face.

“How quickly that charm disappears when you put on a suit and tie. Maybe you should come to the office in a T-shirt and jeans.”

“Forgive me,” he said, straightening once again and running a smoothing hand down his tie. “If my old nanny were still alive, she would have plucked me on the ear for being so rude.”

“Happy to know I bring out the worst in you,” Tamryn teased.

“You just took me by surprise showing up here at my office,” he said. “Although, now that I think about it, I shouldn’t be surprised at all to see you in Gauthier. To say that you are persistent, Dr. West, is an understatement.”

“I can deal with being called persistent. I’ve been called worse.”

“I’m not sure I believe that. Now that I’ve met you, I can think of a dozen more appropriate adjectives that would apply.”

The lazy grin that traveled across his lips caused all manner of naughty things to stir within her belly.

This was so not what she had predicted when she’d imagined her first face-to-face meeting with Matthew Gauthier. Based on his evasiveness these past few months, she’d prepared herself for adversarial at best, but had been expecting downright caustic.

What she had not expected were those killer dimples or that smooth-as-butter voice. She surely had not anticipated having to practice keeping her heart rate at a reasonable level while in close proximity to him.

“What is it that led you to Gauthier?”

“I’m researching the Underground Railroad,” Tamryn answered.

“I know that from your many, many, many phone calls and emails,” he said, softening the veiled reprimand with another infectious grin. “But why make the trip all the way down here? There’s a professor at Tulane University who is working on this already. He’s put much of what he’s found online. You could have just connected with him and saved yourself a lot of time and money.”

“Actually, I’ve been in contact with Professor Lawrence since the discovery was made. I find the work he’s doing with his students fascinating, but this is something I need to see with my own eyes. My research is in a different vein from that of Professor Lawrence’s. I have a lot of my own questions.”

“I’ve hardly ventured to that side of the building since they started digging around over there,” he said. “I’m sorry to break this to you, but I won’t be much help.”

“How do you know how much help you’ll be? I haven’t asked any questions yet.”

He choked out a shocked laugh. “You haven’t asked any questions? What about those many, many emails?”

She waved him off. “That was just a little harmless digging.”

His eyes brightened with amusement. “Harmless, huh? Does that mean what you have next up your sleeve is going to cause me some real pain?”

There was a single knock at the door before it opened. The office manager poked her head in. “Excuse me,” she said.

Tamryn looked over at Matt just in time to see him subtly shake his head.

A knowing grin flashed across her face as she turned to the office manager. “Let me guess, he told you to come in and rescue him in ten minutes?”

“Actually, it was five,” the woman answered.

Matt shot her a bland look. “Thanks a lot, Carmen.”

“And I’m not rescuing you,” she said. “I wanted to make sure you have everything you need for the conference call on Mrs. Black’s case.”

“I do. Thanks.” He rose from behind his desk, buttoning his jacket. It fit his frame to perfection, molding to those muscular shoulders that had been displayed underneath his T-shirt yesterday. He rounded the desk and gestured with his head for Tamryn to follow. “I’m going to take Professor West on a short tour of the building so she can see the room that was unearthed last summer. If the attorney representing the school board’s health insurance calls early, please come get me. It took weeks just to set up this call.”

He held the door open. “After you,” he said to Tamryn.

She slipped past him, then waited for him to lead her down a somewhat narrow, paneled hallway. It was obvious that the building was old, but it was also well preserved.

“The room is still the equivalent of an archaeological dig site,” Matt called over his shoulder. “It’s been roped off since it was confirmed that it was an actual stop on the Underground Railroad. I doubt I’ll ever get my entire building back.”

“It’s not yours anymore,” Tamryn said.

He stopped and turned. “Whose is it?”

“This type of history belongs to everyone. You can’t claim ownership anymore.”

“But I can pay the property tax on it?”

“Consider it your small part in preserving the past,” she said.

He shook his head, his soft chuckle reverberating in the air around her. “You sure you chose the right field of study, Professor West? Maybe you should have been an attorney.”

“Never once considered law,” she answered. “History is my...passion.” Tamryn’s voice trailed off as she stepped into the darkened room, her eyes trained on the far wall, where another door was open, but cordoned off by several strips of yellow caution tape.

She walked slowly up to the entrance, her lungs constricting as she came upon the tiny room. Tamryn brought trembling fingers to her lips, willing herself to keep it together. She’d vowed she was not going to cry.

But how could she not be overrun with emotion? Her great-great-great-grandmother had likely been in this very room—not as a slave fleeing to the freedom that awaited in the North, but as a conductor, assisting others on the Underground Railroad. Everything she’d uncovered over the years that she’d spent researching Adeline West indicated that she had ushered hundreds of slaves out of this area.