Huh. He’d definitely never wanted to do that before.
“I totally understand if you don’t want a bunch of people coming and going, interrupting your work. I stocked the books on the shelves in the bookmobile myself, so I have a decent recollection of what titles are available. I can make a list and let people choose from that, then pull titles people select. Or maybe there’s a cart or something I can pile some books in and take around town that way.”
Levi’s cheek twitched under his beard. Why was he finding this exchange adorable and not annoying? With anyone else, he’d unquestionably be grinding his teeth so hard a headache would be starting to develop. With her, he found he wanted to smile.
“It’s fine.” His voice came out gruff—much gruffer than he intended or expected—and he frowned.
Hayley frowned too. A little wrinkle appeared between her eyes as she studied him. “It’s fine that there may be a steady stream of people coming in and out of the service station? Are you sure?”
He nodded. He didn’t blame her for questioning him. He hadn’t exactly shown himself to be a man who anyone would call welcoming or friendly now, had he? But he could put up with a small, interspersed crowd for a few hours. The van could only hold a couple of people at a time inside anyway, and he figured the same rules of quietness in a library applied to the mobile ones as well.
“It’s fine that they may talk and laugh and make a bunch of noise?”
So maybe the same rules didn’t apply, but still, if it would make her happy, then he’d deal with the distractions. “I said it’s fine.”
The lines on her face softened. “If you’re sure, okay, then.”
Levi glanced around the room. There was work he could do in here. Some emails he needed to return and inventory to be ordered. He didn’t have a buyer lined up for the Barracuda, so he could put out some feelers to see if anyone in the classic car world was interested in adding the Plymouth to their collection. It wasn’t how he’d planned to spend the day, and he’d make zero progress on fixing the bookmobile, but he could tell her job was important to her and that the thought of getting to share books with others gave her joy.
Hewanted to give her joy as well.
He reached behind him and found the knob, opening the door and gesturing to the garage. “Consider my shop as your library for the day. If you need me, I’ll be in here, getting some work done.”
She beamed up at him, the effect causing his heart to trip against one of his ribs. “You keep coming to my rescue, Levi. You really are a hero, you know that, right?” Without warning, she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tight then skipping away before he’d even realized that her body was pressed snuggly to his, warm and firm and ... comforting?
He stared after her retreating back. What had just happened? What had she said? Him, a hero? No one had ever called Levi a hero before. Uptight, neurotic—that, and more. A hero? Never in his life.
He wished it were true.
But then again...
If he were to do anything about the confusing swirl of uncharted feelings she stirred within him, well, he’d have to be the most selfish antihero to act upon them.
13
The blinds on the glass window separating the office and garage were open. Levi should have probably closed them so he could’ve gotten some actual work done over the past—he glanced over at the wall clock—three hours. Instead, he’d been peering through the horizontal slats, observing Little Creek’s circulation librarian. Watching her over the span of the morning had solidified the first impressions formed in his mind about her.
She smiled easily and was friendly with all. Warmth exuded from her with every word and every glance, putting people at ease and making them feel welcomed and important. She thrived on interacting with each person who approached the bookmobile, seeming to glow brighter as she bid adieu to another new library patron with a stack of books tucked under their arm.
He understood why everyone seemed drawn to her. Why they lingered outside the van’s side door to speak with her for just a few more minutes. What he didn’t comprehend, however, was the pullhefelt toward her.
Because he had never felt any sort of desire to spend time with another person before in his life.
Ever.
As a child, school had been torturous. Too many kids in too small of a classroom. Nobody followed the no talking rule, some whispering to seatmates while others would shout across the room to their friends on the other side. Which, of course, only made the teacher have to raise her own voice to be heard above the din.
Levi was slightly ashamed to admit, but he’d been a bit of a nightmare for his teachers. He’d learned that if he misbehaved, he’d be sent out to the hall or to the office—both places that were quiet and still enough that it didn’t make his skin feel too tight, his heart race, or his head explode like someone had placed a stick of dynamite between his ears.
And church? Well, let’s just say he had never experienced a peace that surpassed understanding beneath a steeple. The suit his mom made him wear itched, the PA system had a constant high-pitched hum, and the perfume the ladies wore gave him an instant headache.
Home wasn’t much better. His sisters always bickered or had some sort of drama going on. They’d play music too loud or use too much body spray. There was no such thing as peace and definitely no such thing as quiet.
One day, he’d found some pieces of plywood in the garage and asked his dad if he could have them. Then he’d climbed a big oak tree in the backyard and nailed the plywood to a couple of thick branches. Not exactly a treehouse, but that platform in the treetop became his escape. Only his mom had ever been allowed up there with him. They would sit side by side, each reading their own book, neither saying a word. There, he could simply be. Guard down with no fear of being attacked by the world around him.
Why, then, did he have this unquenchable craving to simply be near Hayley?
After hours of watching her from a distance, the build-up inside him could no longer be denied. It was a need deep inhis soul that he didn’t understand. How could he, when he’d never felt this way about anyone ever before?
