Julia smiled against his chest and kissed the skin there.
“Things seem—different since we came back from Italy,” he prompted, his hand still gliding across neck and shoulder.
“We have a lot to be grateful for. We have each other. I have Harvard. Doctor Nicole has been helping me. I feel like I’m finally putting the pieces back together.”
“Good,” he whispered. “And the way that we make love, in general, you’re happy with that?”
Now Julia lifted her head so she could gaze up into his concerned blue eyes. “Of course.” She laughed quietly. “You can’t tell?”
“I can tell that I please your body. But your body is not your mind, or your heart.”
He seemed embarrassed, and Julia repented of her decision to laugh.
“Tonight was an aberration. But even if it wasn’t, I’m sure we’d work through it. Are you happy with the way that we make love?” She sounded shy.
“Yes, very much. I feel it changing—I feel the connection deepening.” He shrugged. “I just wondered if you felt it too.”
“Sometimes I think this is a dream. Believe me, I’m happy.” She leaned up to kiss him and then rested her head on his chest again. “Why are you asking me these things?”
“Where do you see yourself in the future?”
“I want to be a professor. I want to be with you.” Julia’s voice was on the quiet side, but remarkably assertive.
He began threading the sheet in between his fingers. “Wouldn’t you rather find a nice man who could give you children?”
“You can’t ask me if I’m happy with one breath, and push me away with the next.”
When he didn’t respond, she gently took hold of his chin, forcing his eyes to hers.
“No, I don’t want to find a nice man to have a child with. I want a child with you.”
Gabriel stared at her incredulously, his blue eyes widening.
“Truthfully, I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the point where we’re healthy enough to open our home to a child. But if we do, I’m sure we’ll find a little boy or girl who is supposed to be our child. Grace and Richard adopted you; we can do the same.”
Her face grew pained. “Unless you decide you don’t want that. Or you don’t want that with me.”
“Of course I want you.” The intensity of his voice matched his eyes. “I’d like to make promises to you. But I want us to wait a little before we have that conversation. Does that trouble you?” He reached out a finger to toy with the diamond in her ear.
Julia didn’t need a narrator to understand what his physical gesture meant. “No.”
“I don’t want you to think that any hesitation on my part is due to lack of feeling.” Gabriel gave voice to her unspoken fear.
“I’m yours. All of me. And I’m so glad we won’t be apart next year. The thought of losing you was torturous.”
He nodded as if he understood.
“Now come here, Julia, so I can worship you.”
Chapter 20
“Miss Mitchell.” The tall, dark-haired woman in the power suit strolled into the corner office, shook Julia’s hand, and sat behind her large desk.
Miss Soraya Harandi was of Iranian descent, with light, unfreckled skin and cascades of blue-black hair. Her mouth was wide and full, and her dark eyes sparkled. She was not necessarily beautiful, but she was striking, and Julia could not help but stare.
Soraya chuckled.
Julia immediately looked down at her book bag and began to fidget with it.
“Now that’s something you cannot do in front of the Dean. No matter what he says or does, you cannot look away. It makes you look guilty and weak.” Soraya softened her criticism with a smile. “Law is as much about psychology as it is about precedent. Now, why don’t you tell me what led up to the Dean’s letter?”
Julia took a deep breath and told her story, beginning when she was seventeen and ending with the letter from the Dean’s office. She only left out a few details.
Soraya listened carefully, jotting down notes on her laptop and nodding on occasion. When Julia finished, Soraya was quiet for a moment.
“That’s quite a story. Since the Dean hasn’t disclosed what the complaint is about, let’s not assume it’s about your boyfriend. Although we should prepare for that scenario. Was your relationship with Professor Emerson absolutely consensual?”
“Of course.”
“Have you ever had a sexual relationship with one of your professors or teaching assistants before?”
“No.”
“Is it possible he seduced you solely for his own amusement?”
“Of course not. Gabriel loves me.”
Soraya appeared relieved. “Good. Well, good for you personally, not so good depending on the complaint.”
“What do you mean?”
“If your relationship was consensual, then the university can pursue disciplinary action against both of you. If you were a victim, then they’ll only pursue him.”
“I am not a victim. We are in a relationship, and we waited until after the semester was over before we became involved.”
“No, you didn’t.”