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Back Hearts on Hold Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Also by Charish Reid
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Epilogue
  46. Acknowledgements
  47. About the Author
  48. Carina Press Romance Promise
  49. Writing for Carina
  50. Carina eNewsletter

He was about to reply to the email, but paused. He had a better idea. Should I? He pressed and held her cellphone number until he could copy it into his contacts. He labeled the phone number: “Sexy Prof” and began his text:

John: Your email regarding a missing book was basically the equivalent of a ‘wyd.’ Just wanted you to know that.

He waited for her response. This is probably a dumb idea. John was prone to fits of impulsiveness that usually got him into trouble. But picturing her tearing through her home, searching for a smutty paperback, made him smile in the darkness of his bedroom. She even searched her library tote bag. Of course Victoria was a Friend of the Farmingdale Public library.

Sexy Prof: New phone, who dis?

John laughed. Okay, Dr. Reese.

John: Mr. Donovan. I retrieved your number from your email and thought better to text you: $30 fines are not what I expected from a university professor.

Sexy Prof: Mr. Donovan, I shouldn’t have to tell you about the danger of making assumptions. Either way, the book: Is. Not. Here.

John: Was it a good book at least? What I’m asking is: Was the Duke worth the trouble?

Sexy Prof: The Duke was fine.

John: A *convenient* choice?

Sexy Prof: Convenient enough at the time.

John: I encourage you to turn yourself in, Dr. Reese. Throw yourself at the mercy of library law.

Sexy Prof: NEVER!

John: Fair enough... Goodnight for now, Dr. Reese.

Sexy Prof: Mr. Donovan.

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

There was no such thing as a free sandwich.

The department meeting had devolved into the toxic cesspool that she imagined it would. Today’s meeting did not have the pretenses of a democracy as English faculty members sat at a long boardroom table with Kenneth at the head. The sandwich Victoria picked at sat beside a copy of the spring semester schedule. With a mouthful of deli ham, she saw red as she skimmed the printout. Her usual African-American Literature was listed, as was the Post-Colonial Literature, but Composition I and Technical Writing Skills were added to her lineup. Tech and freshman comp? Where the hell did they come from? She glanced from her sheet to the faces of two other women in the department. Jennifer Klaus, their Children’s Literature professor wore an equally confused expression. Alison Kelly, the Victorian Literature professor, was slack-jawed as she stared at Kenneth. He remained oblivious to the three women as he and three male professors, Medieval, Early American, and Creative Writing, laughed it up on the other side of the table.

“Where on earth are we getting these adjuncts?” he asked the men. “I swear, I saw one of them dressed like a student, just the other day. Wearing a political T-shirt like it was the ’70s...”

Victoria frowned, hoping he wasn’t bad-mouthing her Paula.