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I don’t mention that wedges were a horrible choice of footwear for an eight-hour work day. I’ve been finding places to lean every chance I get. Not even sure why I opted for them, choosing to ignore how they happen to put my eyeline closer to a certain library patron.
“Sure. I take it back. You’re a giant.”
“Do you have any books to check out?”
“Touchy.” The teenager grins at me and hands over the first volume of the graphic novelSaga.
“I love this one.”
“Because there’s romance in it?”
“Oh shut it,” I grumble.
“He’s hot.”
I gasp again, which Jamie seems to enjoy making me do. “I’m not discussing this with you. Cole is one of my patrons, nothing more.” And he can’t be anything more. Not with the words “bad boy” and “naughty” as clear on him as his tattoos.
I learned early on in life that if I’m going to fall for someone, they need to be nice.
“Who said I was talking about Cole? Maybe I was referring to Josh. Your Saturday night date.”
A blush comes back, full force and aggravated by Jamie’s trickster smirk.
“His name is Joshua,” I grumble, feeling exposed.
“Of course.Joshua. The guy you’re dating. I’ll write that down so I don’t get confused.” The kid saunters away, back toward his corner table, and I try not to glare at his retreating form.
After helping the last two patrons in line, I’m suddenly patron-less. A few glorious seconds of leaning occur, just before Security Guard Daniel returns from his rounds.
“You’re popular tonight.” He gives me his kind smile, and I return it, guilty for the many throat-clearings my distracted mind required.
“Guess I make a lot of friends.”
“Not surprised. Everyone’s favorite librarian.” He leans on the circulation desk, eyes scanning the space.
“I try.”
His knuckles rap loud on the counter before he steps away. “Careful. You’ll make them all fall in love with you.”
The words remind me of a box I keep tucked in the cabinet under my bathroom sink. The darkest area of my apartment.
And I can’t help wondering if my friendliness is the root of my trouble.
Chapter Five
SUMMER
Joshua is a nice guy. He says nice things. We’re in a nice restaurant. He smells…nice?
Maybe. There is a decent cologne drifting past my nose as we settle at our tiny table. But it might be from the man who’s sitting behind me with his date.
I hope it’s Joshua’s cologne. I’d rather not lean in at the end of this date for a kiss and realize he smells like his own musk. Why would anyone want to be around someone that smells like musk? You know who has musk? Forest creatures. They’re cute to look at, but you wouldn’t want to breathe too deeply around them.
Because musk.
Maybe musk was good in medieval times when bathing was rare. Need to make sure your guy has quality musk, or else you’re going to be stuck with a shitty-smelling partner.
Literally.
