Merriment in the Museum - Book One in the Rock My Socks Off Trilogy Read Free Page A

all.’
    ‘No,’ she said seriously. ‘It’s not only your heart.’
    He watched her eat. He noticed how sensuous her lips looked as she flirted with each lettuce leaf before finally committing to it.
    ‘Am I nuts to want to fuck you while you eat salad?’ he asked.
    ‘Don’t ask me. Ask the proprietor. People might be waiting for the booth.’
    Jacob got up, snatched the bill off the table, and headed for the cash register. He turned to look at Normandie, hoping to catch sight of her expression without her knowing. She was smiling, and her right hand nestled prettily, napkin in hand, at the centre of her denim crotch.
    During the walk home, she spoke only once.
    ‘There’s something different about the way you arouse me. It’s like different hormones are engaged, compared to what I’m used to. It’s interesting.’
    It was interesting, Jacob repeated in his mind.
    He was tracing soft circles along her flank when she confessed herself preoccupied.
    ‘At least now I know there’s something better than tenure,’ she sighed.
    ‘No offence, Dee, but from where I stand – er, lie – that’s quite a non sequitur.’
    ‘I’m sure that’s true. But it’s only because you can’t read my mind.’
    ‘I’ll try to do something about that. Meanwhile … what’s all this about tenure?’
    She sighed again. ‘I’m probably not going to get tenure, that’s all. The budget is tight and the university wants the department to downsize, and even though Kate adores me, she can’t …’
    ‘Who’s Kate? You don’t need to explain why she adores you – who wouldn’t adore you? – but just tell me who she is, so I can follow on my scorecard.’
    ‘My good friend Professor Katherine G. Passky is the brilliant, sexy, silver-haired chair of our department. I sort of idolise her.’
    ‘She sounds like you in twenty or thirty years.’
    Normandie kissed him. It was about eighty per cent sexual and twenty per cent tender, and it made Jacob feel as if he’d taken a slug of scotch.
    ‘Twenty-two years. I think she’s fifty-three. Anyway, she’s written astrophysics books that would make your head swim.’
    ‘Trust me,’ said Jacob, holding up a cautionary hand. ‘Even the title of an astrophysics book would make my head swim.’
    She smiled. ‘I keep forgetting you’re a layman.’
    ‘So soon?’ He began caressing the smooth globes of her behind, by way of refreshing her memory.
    ‘Mmm. This is why I said there was something better than tenure. Where was I?’
    ‘Kate.’
    ‘Yes. Kate thinks I’m a genius. Granted, I am … but it’s so hard to find people who properly acknowledge that.’
    Jacob got into a rhythm, kneading her flesh. ‘Is there anything that can be done to put you over the top?’
    ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing for a while, darling.’
    ‘I mean, to get the university to give you a permanent position.’
    ‘At this point, I think they’d have to be convinced that I was doing not only important work but spectacular work.’
    ‘But I don’t understand. If your Kate thinks you’re such hot stuff, why can’t she help?’
    ‘She can’t pay me a salary with nonexistent money. Even a really good knowledge of quantum physics doesn’t enable that .’ Normandie suddenly inhaled sharply with surprise and pleasure. ‘Ooh, do that again.’

Chapter Three
     
    A LMOST EVERYONE J ACOB HAD ever known fell into one of two categories: people who knew exactly what they wanted and were too busy pursuing it to stop and chat; and people who didn’t know what they wanted and were happy to talk all night. From the latter population, Jacob had consistently drawn his friends and his lovers.
    But Normandie was a strange, wonderful hybrid of the two types. She knew what she wanted – and she wanted a lot. She wanted vast galaxies of knowledge. She wanted acclaim. She wanted the respect of her peers. She wanted a bigger telescope, and a building to put it in.
    And she seemed, judging from