Page 263 - The Love Hypothesis

Except he’d never said that. Olive thought back to their conversations,

and—he’d complained about the department withholding his research
funds, about them suspecting that he was going to leave, about the
assumptions people had made because of his collaboration with Tom,

but . . . he’d never said that they were wrong. He’d said that the frozen
funds had been earmarked for research—for the current year. That’s why

he’d wanted them released as soon as possible.
“Harvard,” she whispered, feeling incredibly stupid. “You’re moving to

Harvard.”
“It’s not decided yet.” His hand was still wrapped around her neck,

thumb swiping back and forth across the pulse at the base of her throat.
“I’ve been asked to interview, but there’s no official offer.”
“When? When will you interview?” she asked, but didn’t really need his

answer. It was all starting to make sense in her head. “Tomorrow. You’re
not going home.” He’d never said he would. He’d only told her he’d be

leaving the conference early. Oh God. Stupid, Olive. Stupid. “You’re going
to Harvard. To interview for the rest of the week.”

“It was the only way to avoid making the department even more
suspicious,” he explained. “The conference was a good cover.”

She nodded. It wasn’t good—it was perfect. And God, she felt nauseous.
And weak-kneed, even lying down. “They’ll offer you the position,” she
murmured, even though he must already know. He was Adam Carlsen, after

all. And he’d been asked to interview. They were courting him.
“It’s not certain yet.”

It was. Of course it was. “Why Harvard?” she blurted. “Why—why do
you want to leave Stanford?” Her voice shook a little, even though she did

her best to sound calm.
“My parents live on the East Coast, and while I have my issues with

them, they’re going to need me close sooner or later.” He paused, but Olive
could tell that he wasn’t done. She braced herself. “The main reason is Tom.
And the grant. I want to transition to doing more similar work, but that will

only be possible if we show good results. Being in the same department as