Page 108 of A Lady’s Guide to Subterfuge and Science

“Booth—”

“Thank you for the expulsion,” Oliver said, hand resting on the doorknob. “You saved me the energy I would have needed to resign.”

Without waiting for Comerford to respond, Oliver slipped out of the room. He slumped against the shut door and let out a shuddering breath.

“Oliver!”

Oliver saw Kalila rushing in his direction. She skidded to a stop before him, beaming.

“There you are,” Oliver said, his shattered heart mending at the mere sight of her. “I thought I’d find you at the townhouse.”

“I wanted to wait for you,” she said. “Dameer is in the entryway. We can go together.”

Warmth invaded Oliver’s body at the very idea that he’d been waited for. That she wanted to return to the townhouse together.

“All right, then,” he said, straightening. “Let’s go. I’m done wreaking havoc here.”

“Just one thing before we do.”

“Anything,” he responded, smiling down at her.

Before he knew what was happening, Kalila had grabbed him by the lapel, pressing her lips against his in a short, sweet kiss.

“Thank you,” she said, breath feathering against his skin.

“What are you thanking me for?” he chuckled, heart fit to burst. “It all went sideways.”

“Not at all,” she said. “I have my paper again. It went as well as it could have.”

“There you two are,” a voice called from the end of the hall. Oliver looked over Kalila’s head to see Dameer approach.

“We were just about to find you,” Kalila told him.

Dameer wrinkled his nose in annoyance. “Jennings is lurking out there and is whining to anyone who will listen. I could only wait for so long.”

To Oliver, Kalila said, “I can’t believe you hit him.”

“I’d have done it if Booth hadn’t,” Dameer said.

“I doubt that,” was Kalila’s response.

“Either way,” Dameer said, shooting her a familial glare, “I have to ask—what now?”

What now, indeed.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The silence in the parlor of the Southcott townhouse was, in Kalila’s opinion, of a rather bewildered nature. Dameer stood by the window, absorbed in thought, while Amelia and Caroline sat on a nearby chaise in uncharacteristic silence.

And Oliver—well, Oliver was at Kalila’s side, as he always seemed to be.

For her part, Kalila was quite giddy. Jennings had been punched in his smarmy face, everyone who had been in the great hall now knew who her research belonged to, and her paper was back in her possession.

Had she mentioned that Jennings had been punched in the face?

“Well, Kalila,” Caroline said, “I think it’s fair to assume that you’ve left the scientific community a bit shaken.”

“I can’t believe I was right,” Amelia crowed.