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“Huh?”
“Never mind. Thanks, Vern. I could’ve done this myself, but it never occurred to me to check the lock or look for a”—I held the small knife in the air with my thumb and index finger, wondering who the hell stuck it in my window—“knife.”
“Sure thing.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
I escorted Vern out to his blue Ace’s House’s pickup truck parked on the side of the street in front of the library, thanking him again. When he drove away, I hurried back inside. Hugging myself, I shivered off the cold outside air and wiped my boots on the rug by the front door, and then my eyes immediately flicked to the stern, silent sheriff’s deputy waiting by the check-in desk. He was so quiet, Vern and I hadn’t even noticed him on our way out.
“Hi,” I said. God, if Frank wasn’t the most handsome man I’d ever seen, I was a liar. He’d ruined all other men for me. No one could compare to him, to his tall, strong body, or to the smile he offered only to me. Once we’d gotten over the nervous get-to-know-yous, Frank wasn’t shy or stingy with his catching smile.
He was waiting for me, hat in hand. He had this adorable habit of dragging his fingers through his hair when he wasn’t wearing his hat, like he was self-conscious of his hat hair, and it pushed the thick locks up off his forehead. Gray hair was taking over the rest of the younger dark brown color, and I found myself chasing the waves with my eyes, trying to follow the silver streaks.
“That your new boyfriend?” he asked, totally deadpan.
“Yes,” I teased. “We’re going to the honky-tonk for Sunday supper.”
“Hm.”
“Oh my God, Frank. Speak!”
His lips curved up, but only at the edges of his mouth. “I was hopin’ you’d come back to my place again tonight. I wanted to feed you, but if you wanna go with Vern, that’s fine. Have fun then.” He flipped his hat onto his head and nodded, then walked past me like he was really going to leave.
I grabbed his arm and yanked. His hat fell to the floor, and he spun back around, reaching for me.
“Oh no you don’t,” I said breathlessly. I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist as he lifted me with his hands firmly planted under my ass. It was like climbing a tree, he was so tall. His fingers dipped between my thighs from the back, jamming my skirt up there, his thumbs rubbing circles over my ass cheeks.
He smiled fully, and I melted right there in the middle of the library as I began to tingle in places a librarian should never be tingling, at least not while they were in a library.
If I’d had to, I would’ve guessed Frank was a breast man, if the way his eyes were always drawn to my chest was any indication, but when he touched my ass, my body lit up in ways I would normally have been embarrassed about. If we ever had actual sex, I was certain there were things he could do to me there that would positively scandalize me.
I shivered again, and he kissed me, murmuring against my lips, “Miss me?”
“I did, actually.”
Truly, I’d been aching for him. I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said the other night before he’d taken me to ecstasy and back without laying a finger on my body.
There was a tug-of-war going on inside my head every minute of every day, with the scared, sensible part of me on one end and the dreaming little girl on the other, both yanking the rope, one trying to convince me to set free all my insecurities and fears, and the other trying to convince me to hold them tighter.
But both of them were afraid to tell Frank the truth. Both were becoming terrified my shortcomings would send him running.
As I had done a million times already, I pushed the thought out of my head as he squeezed lightly, his fingers one measly inch away from where I already knew they could offend my better sensibilities, and the hum inside my body began to burn.
“What was Vern doin’ here?” he asked. “You gettin’ a little somethin’ somethin’ upstairs?”
“Ugh.” I swatted his burly bicep. “You’re terrible. No, one of the upstairs windows was stuck open. Vern helped me get it unstuck.”
He frowned, a frustrated look taking over his face. “Now, why didn’t you call me? I woulda fixed that for you.”
“Oh, well, I—”
“I rebuilt my house pretty much from the ground up. I think I could manage a window.”
“I didn’t know that, and besides, you have kind of an important job. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“I told you Max and I renovated my house.”
“No, what you said was that he helped you with ‘some renovations.’ I thought you meant new kitchen cupboards or something. I didn’t know you rebuilt the entire house. And now I’m extremely impressed.”
