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So with a sigh, I turned back to my dinner. After making myself some ramen—doctored up with sliced carrots and a shredded chicken breast—I sat at my rickety kitchen table and like every day after work, dissected my hours at the library.
First, I couldn’t believe I didn’t hear the stranger when he walked in. Barely anybody ever came into the library, so any sound should have set off my alarms. But I didn’t hear anything until HE was standing in front of me.
The man looked like a romance novel hero come to life with his broad shoulders and gorgeous mien. Those cool, blue eyes were like ice cutting straight into my soul, butterflies hovering in my stomach. Okay, not just hovering, full on flapping their wings, making me go hot and cold at once.
“How can I help you?” came my awkward squawk. My eyes probably looked googly and big behind the horn-rimmed glasses, white-knuckled fingers clutching my book.
Thank god the cover only had a picture of a flower on the front and not of the hot and sexy things inside. Because I read romance. A lot of it. A lot of books with pictures of Fabio on the front, blonde hair blowing in the wind. So thank goodness, this wasn’t one of those novels.
But the man knew all the same.
It was like he had x-ray vision and could see right through the flower on the cover to the words on the page, where the hero and heroine exchanged kisses, and then … you know. X-rated stuff. Triple X-rated in fact, NC-17 stuff that would make your mother blush.
Because the corner of his lip quirked slightly, oh so attractive.
And from that slight move of his sculpted lips, my mind went crazy. In the book, the naive young heiress was finally about to make love with the corporate raider who’d taken her parents’ company and now threatened her own wealth. And I’d just gotten to a juicy scene. A super juicy scene if you know what I mean, involving steely manhoods and his lips on her ….
Just like this man’s lips before me now!
What would it feel like on my …?
OMG, what was I thinking?
Even with the flower on the cover, why couldn’t I be reading something else? Something important like Money Magazine or Fortune. That would make me look serious and studious, instead of a blushing, sweaty girl.
So embarrassing.
And to make things worse, I’d practically fallen all over myself trying to help him then. Yes, sir. Anything you need sir. Ugh! Did he think I was a complete idiot, or just a typical eighteen year-old virgin who’d never seen a man before? He probably just thought I was an idiot.
And why did he want to research the Virgin Mary? What would a man want with religious texts and long, boring tomes written by scholars? He looked more of a corporate raider than a guy holed up in a carrel all day.
But the dark alpha was calm, assessing me coolly.
Did he know I was untouched? Could he tell?
No. Couldn’t be.
And of course, I had to make myself look like even more of a moron when I’d mumbled my name and scurried off into the aisles afterwards.
Why oh why had I done that? Why couldn’t I have acted normal? Why did I have to stammer like a pimply adolescent?
Oh well. It was too late now. I was probably never going to see him again. No one ever came down to the library. At least not on purpose.
Still, as I nibbled on my ramen noodles and swallowed the warm salty broth, I couldn’t help wanting the thing I couldn’t have. To see the handsome stranger again … as soon as possible.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mason
The day felt like more of the same. The same as yesterday, the same as the one before that. Twirling a pen between my fingers, I idly shot another glance at the reports on my desk. They were from my second-in-command, Gordon. Good ole Gordy. He was my trusted lieutenant, handling everything that I didn’t want to do. Everyone at Carlton Corp. knew by now not to bother me with the easy things anymore. It just wasn’t worth my time. Gordon could do it.
My chair swiveled to the floor to ceiling windows, an expansive view of downtown below. Man, the view should have filled my heart, made my head swim with the beauty of the cityscape melding into a skyline.
But no. I was just bored.
I tossed the pen onto my desk and picked up a fidget spinner.
These things are addictive, aren’t they? The metal triangle whirled between my fingers, my brain glazing over.
Because the truth is, I’m not that interested in Carlton Corp. anymore. Hell, even the financial reports on my desk were boring. Before, I used to be all about the money. Making it. Making more. Finding more. Amassing wealth until I was the King of New York.
