Page 19 of Hometown Hottie

My eyes locked on Carson’s as I silently asked him just what the heck he was doing at my read-aloud. Amusement flared to life in his gaze and he patted the spot beside him. Slinging my bag off my shoulder, I dropped it on the floor and made a point of taking the other beanbag.

Mrs. Norris put her hands together as she smiled at us. “Thanks to both of you for being here. I’ll let you decide how you’re going to go about it before the kids arrive.”

She bowed out, leaving me to glare at the unwelcome intruder who had better find a different timeslot if he wanted to read to the kids at this library. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, that amusement still dancing in his eyes as he smirked at me. “Reading to children. You?”

I shook my head, utterly confused about what was happening right now. “What is your deal, Carson?”

“My deal? I’m a retired football player who wants to give back to his community. What better way than starting here, with the children I might inspire to chase their dreams one day?”

“No, that’s not it.” I stared at him, taking in that chiseled jaw and the perfectly innocent green eyes gazing back at me. But he was no innocent. Dressed in dark-wash jeans, expensive sneakers, and a T-shirt so tight it might as well have been painted on, he looked like he was going on a date—not to a read-aloud. “You knew I was going to be here, didn’t you?”

Not that I thought he’d gotten dressed up for me or to impress me, but what I suspected was that he was here to mess with me. Whatever he was doing later had nothing to do with me, but here and now, he hadn’t come for the kids. That much, I was sure of.

“You’ve never had a philanthropic bone in your body,” I said, not harshly. I was just stating a fact. “I know you’ve been giving money for all kinds of things around town, but giving time is something entirely different.”

“Yes, it is.” He nodded agreeably, but those eyes still hadn’t left mine and his annoying bulging biceps kept rippling as if he was moving them around on purpose. “That’s kind of why I’m doing it though, Nova. I’ve been giving money for a long time, but I could never do anything else. Now, I can. So here I am.”

Once again, I shook my head. It wasn’t that Carson was a bad person. Not at all, in fact. I just didn’t think it was a coincidence that he’d ended up here, at my read-aloud, when he could’ve chosen any other day and time of the week—other than Tuesdays at ten a.m., that was. Because that was mine too.

“What do you want from me?” I asked. “Why do you keep ending up in the exact same place as I am?”

“I don’t want anything from you, Nova. I’m just doing my part for my town. Just like you are. Are you really pissed about me showing up to the read-aloud? Or is there something else going on with you?”

“There’s nothing else, Carson. I just don’t understand how you keep showing up everywhere I go. It’s unnerving.”

“Unnerving?” He held my gaze for a long moment before his eyebrows slowly started rising. “Or a challenge of some kind that you’re going to rise to?”

As those electric eyes drilled into mine, I realized he was right. I was feeling weirdly territorial over my spot here at the library. Probably because it and a few other things around town were all I’d had while he’d been off gallivanting all around the country.

For some of us, this town had always been enough, and yet somehow, he was the returning hero and people were acting like he should be lauded for it. I wasn’t jealous. People had been plenty nice about my own return when I’d come back from college.

Maybe I was just a little bitter? I didn’t really know how to put words to all the feelings swirling around inside, but what I did know was that no one did read-alouds better than I did. So if he wanted to turn it into some kind of competition, then it was on.

And he had no idea what was about to hit him.