Time (Laws of Physics #3)(65)

It made me smile. “Challenge all who besmirch my name?”

His mouth curved against my hand.

“You like that word? Besmirch? It’s a great word, right? I dare you to use it in a song. You know another great word? Nachos.” Turning my fingers, I caught his and tugged him toward the coffee table. “Come. Sit. Feast.”

Abram allowed me to pull him back to the couch, and then he allowed me to gently push his shoulders until he was sitting again. Hesitating for a second but ultimately yielding to the impulse, I sat on his lap. Immediately, his arm came around me, one hand on my hip, the other on my thigh.

“I’ve never fed anyone before. Do you want me to feed you nachos?” I lifted a chip toward his mouth. “I can make airplane sounds.”

Eyes still sad, he laughed, and his forehead fell to my shoulder. Again, he made a growling sound.

“Or train sounds? Choo.” He shook his head, so I ate the chip. Turning, pressing my chest against his chest, I wrapped him in my arms. “It gets easier to ignore people who don’t matter. I promise. Like any skill, it just takes practice.”

“But what about your career?” He lifted his head, leaning back to capture my eyes as his scowl returned. “I think Marie tried to warn me about this. Charlie too.”

“Physicists—and the science community in general—don’t pay much attention to the chatter of pop culture unless it furthers their own careers. Me dating you might be the cause for some minor curiosity, and I’ll probably have to put up with a slight increase in snobbery and pretentiousness. Eventually, they’ll go back to hunting for puzzle pieces to the universe and struggling to find grant dollars to fund their research. Remember who my parents are. I’ve been dealing with their shadow most of my life.”

Abram leaned further back, his eyes moving between mine, questioning. “I thought you were worried about candid pictures of you being made public. You said they could destroy your career. And, for the record, I don’t like the idea of being a shadow for you.”

“Oh, depending on the picture, they totally could wreck my career, or derail it. If that picture of me in the lab coat were released, I’d definitely lose a few of my grants and would have a hard time finding any funding. At least, for a while.”

Aghast, he stared at me. “Then why did you send it?”

“Because I thought you’d like it.”

“Mona.”

“Abram.”

“We should delete them. We should delete those pictures now.”

“No. We shouldn’t. You were right. Other people shouldn’t be dictating how I share myself with you, so don’t let them dictate how you share yourself with me. I came to terms weeks ago with the futility of conforming to pompous ideas of what constitutes appropriate behavior.”

“You did? When?”

“When I sent you that picture of me in a bikini. I even told you in the hospital, but you might’ve been too sick to hear me. And actually, futility isn’t the right word. It’s damaging to everyone who comes after. It’s damaging for Mona DaVinci to sit quietly and let others dictate her—my—personal life. Then what good have I done? History—the good kind of history—is seldom made by those who keep their head down.”

His dimple winked at me as his eyes gazed deep into mine, like he was a little mesmerized. “You’re the most remarkable person I’ve ever known.”

“Ditto, Mr. Harris.” I stole a quick kiss, grinning down at his handsome face. “But don’t get ahead of yourself. I haven’t done anything yet. It’s not like I’m going to hand out bikini shots of me at faculty meetings. I’m just going to act like myself, do what I want to do. I’m going to be honest.” Tilting my head to one side then the other, I shrugged. “And if trouble follows, so be it.”





I called Lisa while we ate the nachos. As I suspected, she wasn’t too freaked out about the social media “shitstorm” as Abram called it, but she did surprise the Schr?dinger out of me by offering to maintain the ruse.

“Just think about it,” she said. A second later, I heard a microwave beep on her side of the call.

Abram and I swapped stares of disbelief, not because of the microwave beep, but because what the heck?

“Why would you do that?” I blurted, for obvious reasons.

“It’s the least I can do for you after what you’ve done for me. And it doesn’t bother me. We could just not comment on the pictures. It would buy you and Abram more time together without the press following you everywhere. Like I said, just think about it.”

Abram frowned thoughtfully in a way that made me nervous. I glared at him, wanting to deter any temptation he felt to take my sister up on the offer.

“No. No way.” I said this for his benefit as much as hers.

“Can you give us a minute?” Abram cut in and put Lisa on mute.

“The answer is no.” I crossed my arms.

“She makes a good point about giving us more time. And if she doesn’t mind, why not?”

“You can’t be serious. You were the one who came in here less than an hour ago, huffing and puffing about how terrible the news was treating Lisa.”

He gathered a deep breath and, holding my eyes, he nodded. “You’re right. It’s not fair to Lisa, and it’s obvious she’s trying to be a good sister here. I have to give her credit for that. But it’s just, I love you. And I’m worried about you. You’re more sensitive than people think, and you feel so deeply. I know you said you’re prepared for this, but I’m worried. But, I also trust your judgment. If and when you want to go public, I’m all for it.”