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The beta's smile was a bit dizzying. “Newbie?”
“Yeah, this is my third shift.”
“Where’d Carolyn go?”
I shifted, mildly uncomfortable with the intensity of their stare. “She moved, as far as I’m aware.”
The beta laughed sharply. “Good riddance. No offence if you liked her or anything. She hated us hanging out.”
I quirked my head. “The entire facility isdesignedfor that.”
“Try telling that to Carolyn.” The beta thrust their hand out. “I’m Billie Gibson. It's nice to meet you. They/them is preferred, but I won’t slap you if you use she/her.”
I took the offered hand with a smile. Their grip was firm and warm, sending little tingles up my arm. “Noted! And I definitely won’t be chasing anyone out as long as you behave.”
Billie nodded. “My silent companion is Tony.” They shoved the alpha's arm.
“I was letting you talk first.” Tony shoved them back with a playful grin. “Nice to meet you, too, Nicky. I’m Tony Agani. He/they for me.”
I took his hand too when he offered it.
“She/her for me.” I perched on the edge of the table. “You two hang out here a lot?”
“Only a few times, but with you here now, we might be reconsidering that,” replied Tony.
I sucked in a little breath. Work. Focus onworkand not how gorgeous the patrons are. “Is there anything you think the facility still needs? I can pass along suggestions to my supervisor.”
Billie's blue-eyed gaze flicked over me with enough heat to make me blush. “Hiring a librarian that's as welcoming as she is pretty is the only suggestion I’ve got, and they knocked that one out of the park. Tony?”
“No complaints here.” He appraised me with the same heat as Billie. His dark brown eyes were deep enough to drown in, and his smile spread easily across his full lips.
God.
That smile was dangerous.
I was not remotely equipped to be around this level of beautiful. I had never been particularly good at being flirted with. It made my brain spark, and then words got hard, and I tended to stare at people with panicky eyes.
Heat prickled up my spine. They were looking at me and expecting some kind of response, but my tongue was a lead weight in my mouth. I hopped up, panic making my heart pinball against my ribs.
“Work!” I blurted out. “I should, I mean…I have to…get back. To work.” I spun and trotted away, merely grateful that I didn’t trip in my haste and somehow embarrass myself even more.
“Come hang out if you get bored working,” Billie called after me.
I tucked myself behind the circulation desk and took a deep breath. I wasn’t good around hot people. Now there were two sitting in my library that looked at me like I was a snack.
It was fine.
I could focus on processing the books instead of thinking about the beautiful people…
I’d made it through an hour of half-hearted focusing when Billie appeared at my desk.
“Hey, sorry to bug you. I’m finished with my book. Do you want me to put it back on the shelf or on one of the cart thingies?”
“Oh, cart, please. I’ll need to log the use for funding purposes.” With Billie this close, I was able to pick out the scent that was theirs specifically. It reminded me of a chai latte or a spice cake. Their scent was warm, inviting, and more delicious than it had any right to be.
“Huh, neat.” Billie leaned on the counter. “I sort of assumed it was a dick move to leave stuff for the librarians to deal with. Though, to be fair, I also thought Carolyn asked us to put stuff on the cart because she didn’t trust us to put it back properly.”
I laughed. “In her defense, a lot of peopledon’tput stuff back properly. But it does have a purpose to leave it for us, I promise.”
