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My boss's voice startles me, even though it's barely more than a whisper.
I turn around from where I've been processing books and sorting them onto the returns trolley, organizing them by genre and author surname.
"What's up, Trevor?"
"Someone's just walked in. Can you please serve them? I've got to jump in for kids reading hour."
"Go and read to the children." I wave him off. "I'll take care of everything else."
Trevor sends me a grateful smile. "You're the best. Thanks, PJ."
"No problem."
Trevor takes off for the reading room in the corner of the small library, while I spin around and stride toward the counter.
I take exactly two steps before screeching to a standstill. My eyes widen, and my entire chest clenches.
There's a man standing at the counter.
Not just any man, though.
It's the same man I spotted in the woods yesterday, except this time, he's wearing clothes—a green flannel shirt over a black T-shirt, to be exact—which is a shame because he looked great naked. His golden skin glistened in the mid-afternoon sun, and his body looked like it belonged on the cover of one of the many,manyromance novels I own. Solid. Rugged. Manly.
What is he doing here?
With my heart thundering in my chest, I approach the counter. I only saw him from a distance yesterday. Now, standing so close to him, I can make out the color of his dark eyes. They're fixed on me as I get closer.
I also notice how thick and luscious his brown hair is, and I glimpse the first few strands of gray starting to pepper his full, thick beard. Mmm, that's sexy.
Oh god, did he see me yesterday?
I hoped I'd managed to sneak off without him noticing, but what if he saw me? Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong?
Or maybe it's purely a coincidence that he's showing up right now. Maybe he wants to, I don't know, borrow a book or something.
The powerful stare he's aiming my way makes me think that's unlikely.
I place my palms on the counter, inhale, and as I breathe out, I summon the strength to look up at him. Jesus, he's tall. I mean, everyone's tall compared to me, but he's got to be at least six-four, maybe more.
My eyes meet his. Turns out, I was wrong about their color. Yes, they're a dark chocolatey brown, but there are flecks of gray swirling in them, too.
They're beautiful.
He'sbeautiful.
And most likely pissed at me for spying on him, even though that wasn't my intention. I was on the lookout for a mountain bluebird, the hot-as-heck lumberjack I stumbled upon was a completely unexpected surprise.
A pleasant surprise, sure, but I don't go around peeping on naked guys. That's gross. I got a little lost and was trying to find my way back to the hiking trail.
I drop my hands to my thighs and tap each leg exactly five times.
I'm a librarian. I'm a professional. I can handle this.
I put on a bright smile. "Good morning. How may I help you?"
The giant mountain man stares at me for a few moments. "I'd like one…ticket, please."
His voice is as deep and thick as I may or may not have imagined it would be.
