Page 34 of Honey Bee Library
He glanced over at the books next to us and shrugged. “Naw, I’m perfect. I don’t need any self-help.”
I snorted. “I doubt that.”
He feigned a hurt look. “Ouch.”
Guilt coated my chest, so I gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
He smiled and leaned forward. “No need for an apology. I like a woman who isn’t scared to speak her mind.”
And there it was. All of my suspicions were confirmed in one statement. He was here to flirt with me. It wasn’t books or a shared love of literature. I was someone he wanted to pursue. And from the look of his clothes, he wasn’t after anything serious.
I always attracted the wrong kind of men.
I laughed and shook my head. “Not going to happen,” I said as I reached out and fiddled with the books to my left. I wrapped the tips of my fingers over the spines and tipped them out before letting them fall back into place.
When Liam didn’t speak right away, I glanced over at him. His eyebrows were drawn together as he studied me. “What’s not going to happen?”
Great, now he was pretending to not know what was going on. I raised my forefinger and flicked it between us. “You and me.” I shook my head. “It’s never going to happen.”
“You and me?” he whispered. Then he chuckled as he raised his hands. “I’m not…I mean…”
Heat pricked my skin as the fear that I might have misread the situation rose up inside of my chest. What was wrong with me? Did I honestly think that every man wanted me?
“I—I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
I had no idea how I was going to come back from this. The only option I had was to hightail it out of there before he could finish rejecting me. I didn’t look him in the eye. I just turned and hurried back to my desk, where I prayed that a hole would open up and swallow me alive.
I was busy tapping away on my computer a few minutes later when I heard someone clear their throat. Out of instinct, I looked up even though I knew who was going to be standing there.
Liam had his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans, and he had a sheepish smile on his lips. I wanted to say that I’d moved past our little blunder, but my skin was still warm from embarrassment.
“Can I help you find a book?” I asked in my best librarian tone. I was going to keep our conversation professional. I worked in a library, and I was going to require him to stay on topic.
“Sabrina—”
“This is a place where people come to read and learn. If you’re not here to do that, then maybe…” I didn’t want to be flat-out rude. My mother taught me better than that. But I was going to be pointed, so I let my sentence trail off as I nodded toward the exit.
Liam glanced in the direction I’d motioned before he turned back to me. I could tell that he wanted to say something, but he was conflicted on whether he should. I just raised my eyebrows. The ball was in his court.
“Sorry for bothering you,” he murmured as he nodded and started backing up toward the doors.
“No bother. Come back when you need a book, and I’ll be happy to help you.”
He held my gaze as he lingered by the door before he pushed against the release and slipped outside. The library felt deafeningly quiet once he disappeared around the corner. I stared after him, wondering what had just happened. It had been so long since a man had paid attention to me that I just assumed if a man was talking to me, he was flirting.
I groaned as I rested my arms on my desk so I could bury my face in them. I shouldn’t be allowed around people. I didn’t know how to act anymore. I had a good thing going for me here at Honey Bee Library. I would never forgive myself if I messed that up.
Samuel was depending on me to make this job last. I needed it if I was going to start over. My little family needed me to get my head out of the clouds and focus. So that was what I was going to do from this moment on.
Focus.
11
WILLOW
The day was only half over,and I hated everything about it. I hated that Maddie had been there at the house this morning. I hated that she was so nice it was hard to hate her. I hated that I felt like Cole had betrayed me. I hated that I’d opened myself up to a man after I’d sworn them off entirely.
But most of all, I hated that I cared this much.
