Page 59 of Booked for Summer

‘Ah.’ He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard Jeremy mutter, ‘Should have guessed’. ‘Maybe you should go to the library and see what the meeting is all about before you jump to inappropriate conclusions. You might find it was something you would have agreed to put your name to had you not missed the request which I’m almost certain would have been sent to you.’

‘I’malmost certainyou have direct knowledge of what’s happening here,’ he retorted. Just like he was almost certain Jade and her merry band of Haven haters were behind the poster and the meeting.

Damn it, he had enough on his plate with his grandma right now. He did not need a public confrontation.

But you’ll get to see Jade. He hated that he felt a bump of pleasure. Hated too that his legs began to propel him towards the library before he’d started to consider the pros and cons of turning up.

The sun was low in the sky as he wound his way through the cobbled streets of the historic district towards the Nantucket Atheneum. As he always did, he took a moment to admire the building, and another to wonder why it wasn’t used for a higher purpose than housing books.

Thankfully, once inside, he didn’t have to ask the way to the event– it was painful to say the wordsbookish speed datingin his head, never mind out loud. The sound of lively chatter guided him straight up the stairs towards it.

Lined up on the highly polished wooden floor of the Great Hall were small tables– he hazarded about fifteen of them. At each table pairs sat opposite each other, having animated conversations.

He’d barely had time to take it all in before a buzzer sounded.

‘Time to swap!’ Jade, cheeks flushed, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, creeping loose at the sides, waved her right arm in a circular motion. ‘Clockwise to the next table please.’

His pulse rocked up a few beats as he stared at her. Was it okay to be angry and yet mesmerised at the same time? Because he couldn’t take his damned eyes off her. Nor could he fail to spot how easily she talked to people, a smile here, a press of an arm there. Exaggerated horror, followed by laughter, the other person– a guy, he noticed with a flare of jealousy– joining in on the joke.

He was torn between stalking over to her and dragging her away, or retreating to his yacht to have the argument another day. One when he didn’t feel exhausted, drained from all the research he’d been doing on AMD. A day when he didn’t desperately feel the need to talk to someone about it all.

And when he didn’t feel so raw from seeing the woman he couldn’t get out of his head, using his name to further her own ambition.

He was about to take theretreatoption when a pair of big blue eyes clashed with his across the room. He watched as she blinked, even saw her draw in a breath. Then she smiled apologetically at the young guy she’d been talking to and walked purposefully towards Liam, drawing the eye of every male, and some females, in the room.

Even those supposed to be fascinated by the books, he thought waspishly.

‘Hi.’ She bit down on her bottom lip, and his blood temperature rose a few degrees. ‘Good to see you here.’

‘Is it?’ He nodded towards the poster. ‘Or were you hoping I wouldn’t attend the meeting I’m apparently proudly sponsoring?’

‘Ah. You noticed.’ She gave him a cute little smile. ‘I may have forgotten to ask your permission.’

Mary shoved a tray of food for tiny people– he freaking hated canapés– under his nose. He waved her away, annoyance humming through him. ‘I presume I’m paying for those?’

‘Well, the bookstore is, so technically, I suppose yes, but according to your preciousspreadsheets,’ the way she emphasised the word told him he wasn’t the only one now irritated, ‘there is money for promotion.’

‘You used my name and money to promote an event designed to save a bookstore I own and want to close down?’ She couldn’t have made him look more stupid if she’d tried.

Her cheeks reddened. ‘I realise it sounds a bit off when you say it like that, but if you’d just let me explain. It’s true the goal of the event is to persuade you to keep the bookstore, but?—’

‘There you are.’ Liam’s hairs stood up on the back of his neck as Adam slid up to Jade and kissed her on both cheeks. ‘I see we’ve got a great turnout.’

We?Liam’s annoyance turned to anger, reinforced as Adam smirked.

The screech of the buzzer sounded again and Jade gave him one last, worried glance before ducking off to announce another rotation.

‘She’s quite a woman.’

Liam snapped his gaze away from Jade’s ravishing figure and back to Adam, who was giving him a calculating look. ‘She’s an employee.’

‘Hasn’t stopped you in the past, by all accounts.’ He gave him a sly smile. ‘It must hurt to know the woman you’re clearly obsessed by, is doing her best to rally the island against you.’

The barb pierced but Liam kept his body relaxed, his voice steady. This was familiar territory. ‘Do I look like I’m hurting? Because it feels like I’m running a highly successful multi-million-dollar business.’ He gave him a sardonic smile. ‘How are you doing?’

Adam’s face flushed a fiery red. ‘How do you think? You stole my business from under me.’

‘I bought your business for a fair price,’ Liam corrected.

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