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“Are you stealing my books?”
I straighten fists on my hips. “Excuse me, sir. These are the library’s books. And even if you have a momentary claim on them, I resent the implication that I am a book thief. I was merely shelving this one title that I doubted was part of your Sunday-night collection.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because it has been left out of your fortress.” I gesture at the towers that surround his work space.
“An oversight.”
“So.” I let my fingers slide away in defeat. “This is one of yours?”
Cole reaches over his wall, plucks the book off the table, and places it on the top of one of the piles.
“Yes.”
Damn him.Let me shelve for you!
“Fine. I’ll leave you alone.”
“Wait.” His command stops my retreat.
When I glance back, he traps me with his intense stare.
“Did you need help with something?”
He shakes his head, and the hope bubble that had formed in my chest pops.
“Then I should wait because…?”
From the twist of his mouth, he seems to chew on some words. I turn fully back to face him, suddenly wildly interested in what might emerge from his mouth next.
The suspense is brief.
“How was your date?”
“My what?”
“Your date. Saturday night,” he clarifies.
An uncomfortable spike of fear scrapes against the inside of my ribcage. I take a step back. “How do you know about that?”
Cole watches the retreat with shrewd eyes.
What is he thinking? Is he upset at my caginess?
Is he angry?
My pulse beats a rapid rhythm under my skin.
Karen is here. Daniel is working security tonight.
“He asked you out on Thursday. I was there.”
And like that, the fear evaporates.
“Of course.”
I hate this. The bouts of panic that come from uncertainty. For so long, I’d lived with a different kind of fear in my life. Finally, I’d thought I’d found safety. Security.
