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“That’s great—oh,” she said as her gaze landed on the cover.
Because this was Luna.
I guarantee she’d read every single one of the romance books they had on the shelves of the library. Along with a bunch of the historical, contemporary literature, and even a healthy amount of the young adult stuff too.
“Don’t spoil it,” A said, smirking, as she took the book. “We want to see where it goes,” he added, and I watch Luna shoot me a confused look from under her lashes.
Luna was not, by nature, a big gossip. But there was no way she was going to keep this little bit of information to herself.
I was sure our cousin Gracie would know it before she even left work. From there, Gracie would spread it around until it made its way back to Violet who would likely pile on a bit because she would think it was funny.
Then, inevitably, it would trickle back to the aunts. Then the uncles.
My parents would be calling.
It was going to be a whole headache.
“Do you have a library card?” Luna asked.
“You know, kept meaning to get one,” A said, reaching for his wallet, pulling out his ID. “Figure you know where I live,” he added, all smooth charm, and Luna was not immune.
“I, yeah, of course,” she said, typing on her computer. “So, do you read a lot?” she asked as she kept filling out the form for him.
“A bit,” he said.
“You have a whole-ass library at your house,” I said, wishing I could suck the words back in when both their gazes slid in my direction. But I couldn’t. So I might as well lean into it. “Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves,” I told Luna, who had more bookshelves than furniture at her place. I once went to get a cup out of her cabinet and found books hiding in there as well.
“Really?” she asked, eyes brightening as she looked back at A.
“Picked up the habit from my library as a kid,” he told her.
“That’s amazing!” Luna gushed. “That’s why we do what we do. In the hopes that one person who comes in will pick up a lifetime love of reading. We actually have three colors of cards. Which one would you like?” she asked, waving back toward where they were displayed on a shelf behind her.
Sky blue.
Blood orange.
Sage green.
“What’s your favorite?” he asked.
“Oh, I can’t pick for you,” she said, shaking her head.
Luna couldn’t make a decision to save her life. She was forever weighing the options.
“Okay. What’s her favorite?” he said, jerking his head toward me.
“The green,” Luna said, and damn if that was a knowing little smirk tugging at her lips as she finished everything, and pushed a fresh card across the desk for him to sign.
“Green it is,” he said, tucking it into his wallet with his I.D. “Hope it’s a good one,” he said, waving the book at her after she scanned it and handed him the receipt.
“It is,” she assured him, giving him a shy smile before her gaze slid to me, brows pinched like I was a puzzle that wasn’t quite coming together.
“I’ll see you for your birthday,” I assured her as I made my way to the door, wanting to avoid any further questioning.
“I’ll scoop you up at your place,” A declared as soon as we were outside.
“Ah, no,” I said, hearing a whimpering sound, only to turn toward A’s SUV to find Val scratching at the window, his whole body waggling.
“Can’t bring your car to my place,” he reminded me.
“I can take a ride,” I insisted as we got to our cars.
Inside, Val must have stepped on the window button because it started sliding down, and I could hear his panting and crying more clearly, making me step forward to take his big head in my hands and give him a rub.
“We’ll meet you back at your joint, Hope,” A said, tone a little sharp, demanding, giving me a hint of that fearless leader he must have been to run his empire.
He also said my name, which he almost never did.
And, somehow, the sound of it on his lips gave me that shivery feeling just as much as it did when he called me mama, which I was supposed to hate.
“Fine,” I grumbled, giving Val another pet before turning toward my own car and climbing in.
I should have been using the short amount of time alone to decompress, to get my head on straight.
But all I could do was think of his voice as he read that sex scene, feel his hand in my hair as he acted it out, think about myself bent over a desk with him behind me…
“Damnit,” I grumbled as I parked my car at my place, slamming my head into my steering wheel a few times.
Hopefully, he had a plan in the works to find his snake during the shipment, and then I could take my ass back to my own house. And not see the man again.
