Page 14 of The Librarian and the Rock Star

“I really do appreciate your help,” he said. “I wish…” He stopped himself.

“What is it?” I instinctively took his hand, which is bolder than I would have expected of myself.

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “I just had a selfish little wish.”

I gave him my very best ‘do as I say right now’ glare. “There’s no harm in telling me.”

He smirked. “There might be harm if I scare you away.”

I rolled my eyes. “What on earth could you do to scare me away?”

He looked at me very seriously. “I can be too intense for some people, for starters.”

I shrugged. “I can appreciate intensity, sometimes.”

He tilted his head to the side while examining me, as of searching for clues. “Maybe later while we’re walking,” he said. He waved to the server for our bill.

“Tell me a secret,” he said abruptly.

“What sort of secret?”

“Anything at all. Tiny, huge, whatever.”

I thought for a moment, then thought that I’d follow his lead and be bold. “Okay. When we were in the hallway and you asked me to come to the interview with you, I noticed how much my breathing changed when you’re this close to me. But I’m starting to get used to it.”

He looked at me, perplexed. “What do you mean?”

“You, um.” I swallowed hard. “You have this giant energy around you and it’s rather intimidating.” I left out the part about him being so good looking that it was distracting as hell.

Jack’s face was a nearly comical mixture of surprise and angst. “I’d never want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

I laughed. “No, really, it’s a good thing. It’s exciting. It’s just... odd.”

The server dropped off our bill, and he waved my hand away when I reached for it. “Don’t be silly. I just got paid a ridiculous amount of money for doing what I love tonight.” He dropped some cash, and I noticed that he over tipped quite a bit.

“Did you mean to leave that much?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah, did you see the other server?”

I glanced around to where our server was hustling tables, and saw another server lurking in the back on her phone. “In the back?”

“Yeah. She’s been slacking all night, and our gal has been busting her ass. Night shifts are also usually full of drunks and weirdos who don’t tip well. She deserves an extra fifteen bucks for her trouble.”

I was touched by his thoughtfulness and generosity, but more importantly, that he was that observant. “You have quite the hawk eye,” I said. “Thank you for dinner.”

He shrugged, but there was a twinkle in his eye as if he were delighted that he impressed me.

11. Strolling Home

We began walking again, with me wearing his jacket, and Jack immediately took my hand. Thank goodness I had that glass of wine to steady my nerves, or the butterflies in my stomach would be running amok. I wished that my apartment was much farther away, as I was enjoying our chat far more than I had any conversation in a very long time.

“Apparently guys hate this question, but I can’t resist. What are you thinking about?” I asked.

“To be honest, I’m hoping that you’re about to say your place is ten more miles away.”

I kept feeling little pieces of myself melting from the things he said and did, and hoped that I wasn’t turning into some sort of giggling little girl.

“It’s not that much farther,” I said. “Besides, don’t you have important band things to do tomorrow? I’m sure you are supposed to get some sleep eventually.”

---