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“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “That sounds really rough.” Sympathy tugged at my heart. I could only imagine the heartbreak she must’ve felt. “You didn’t deserve that.”
She offered me a shrug, her gaze drifting across the room momentarily. “It’s better I found out sooner rather than later, right?” A peculiar expression crossed her face. She leaned in closer, her brows knitting together. “But what about you and Father Logan?”
Her sudden question caught me off guard, and my shoulders flinched back.
“I... I don’t know what you mean. There’s nothing…” I stuttered, trying to keep my voice steady and failing miserably. Except I had nothing to hide. We hadn’t done anything together. I only spied on him naked in the shower, but no one knew about that… did they?
I started to sweat at the thought.
Sara burst into soft laughter, waving a hand dismissively.
“Oh, come on, Kat. I’ve seen the way you look at him, especially during dinner. And trust me, I know how it feels to fall for an older man.” Her eyes squinted mischievously as she added, “The temptation is ridiculously hard to ignore. Older men... they just seem to know what women want. Once you’ve had a taste, you’ll never go back.”
She let out a series of giggles, the sound echoing in the library. My cheeks were on fire at her teasing.
“Yeah, well,” I shot, not liking where this conversation was going, “If older men are like the perfect cup of coffee, then I’m more of a tea person.” The words I’d once read in a book had barely left my mouth when we both broke into laughter.
“That’s good. I may have to borrow that one. Okay, I guess we better get this done since I have late-night baking duties.” Straightening, she said, “Now, the library is open twenty-four hours, and I often come here for time out since not many visit it.”
Sara started clicking on the mouse, the pale glow of the computer screen reflecting on her face. The machine hummed and whirred, filling the silence between us, the noise a sign of its age.
“Yeah, it’s a bit outdated,” she confessed, giving me a sheepish grin. “But it does the job, and it’s probably the same vintage as the ones you’ve been using at your college.” With a chuckle, she handed me a note with the login details and password for both the computer and the online portal. “Just remember these, and you’re good to go.”
“Oh, absolutely.” I couldn’t help but laugh in agreement. “The ones at my college could probably be in a tech museum.”
Leaning in, I watched her navigate the online portal, explaining where to find my lessons and how to download them. As I followed her movements, my eyes landed on a pair of headphones near the desktop.
“This doesn’t seem too bad,” I mused aloud, my gaze still on the headphones figuring they’d be for me listening to lectures. I was ready to dive in to catch up on assignments and try to regain some semblance of normalcy in this strange new world.
“Oh, you’ll do just fine,” she assured me with a nod, already rising from her seat, her movements swift and sure. “But I gotta go now.”
I glanced up at Sara as she walked away. “Hey, Sara?”
She turned, an eyebrow arched in question.
“How come you know so much about this?” I gestured toward the computer.
A laugh bubbled up from her throat, and she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.
“I’m studying Information Technology at college, so I usually get assigned all these tech-related tasks at this place.” Her grin was wide. “I guess it’s kind of my thing around here. Anyway, I forgot to mention that your textbooks are on row M of the shelves.” Then she was gone, and I was thrown into silence.
The idea of catching up on classes had a comforting appeal. As the wind whipped up a frenzy outside, the old walls of the library groaned. My thoughts strayed to the possibility of getting a steaming cup of coffee from the kitchen into the library, maybe even one of Louise’s cupcakes. The mental image of Louise’s anger if she found out had me forgetting the idea of a hot coffee.
I rose from the chair, stretching the kinks from my shoulder blades, before navigating my way to row M. As promised, I found my name stuck on a note along a row of books, waiting for me. Curiosity piqued, I ran a finger over their spines, recognizing some titles, but my eyes stopped on a new one, a book I couldn’t afford for college. Either the institute had deeper pockets than I’d assumed, or the college was unusually generous.
I slid the book out and began leafing through it.
A creaking floorboard shattered the silence, its sudden echo causing me to snap my head up. The unexpected sight of Logan at the end of the aisle startled a gasp from me. My heartbeat hammered a frantic rhythm in my ears, lodging somewhere in my throat. A silent question danced in my eyes.
Dressed in his robe, with his mohawk wind-tousled, Logan stood there, his gaze locked with mine. Clutching the book to my chest, I found myself swallowing the dryness that clawed at my throat, my thoughts flashing on him naked in the shower. I focused into those deep, green eyes that traced my body.
“You found your books,” he stated with a deep, rugged voice that melted me.
I took an instinctive step back, bumping into the bookshelf behind me. The action did nothing to deter him. If anything, it encouraged him as he moved forward, our little dance making my heart pound harder. He kept closing the distance between us until I could smell his cologne—musky and almost sweet, reminding me of cool summer nights.
“I sure did,” I said, sounding breathy. “Did the institute pay for them? They’re pricey.”
“We have a budget for such things,” he explained, then licked his teeth in a way that made him look every part the big bad wolf, and I was the prey he’d just trapped in his snare.
