Page 45 of The Librarian and the Rock Star

“I think so, yeah.”

He grinned, his dark eyes sparkling and those sculpted cheekbones pushed even higher. “I seriously love it that you had a photo of me in your home before you even knew my name.”

“Technically, the photo is in Lizzie’s home. But I’ll bet that many girls have photos of you up in their rooms, and I bet those are in focus, and of your face.”

He shook his head dismissively. “That’s totally different.” Changing the subject, he quickly said, “So, may I take you out to dinner?”

“Sure. Where are we going?”

He shot me a cocky grin. “Well, Miss Research, I’m going to not tell you. For I am a jerk.”

I rolled my eyes, giving a long dramatic sigh. “Fine, keeper of secrets. At least tell me what I should wear.”

He looked at my plain gray-blue dress. “That’s fine.”

“Is it somewhere fancy?”

He shrugged. “Not particularly.”

“Is that the sort of place that people might go on a birthday or anniversary?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“Then that requires a nicer dress. Have a seat, I’ll just be a couple of minutes.”

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes as he plopped himself on the couch. “Whenever a girl says five minutes, it means half an hour. No problem, I have to respond to a couple of Kelly’s texts anyway.”

I saw that as a personal challenge, so I practically ran to my bedroom. In four and a half minutes, I was wearing matching black lingerie, a nice navy blue dress, and navy eyeliner. My hair was brushed out nicely, and I even threw on mascara.

“Four minutes and forty-five seconds, because my hair had some tangles,” I said as I emerged.

Jack stood up, taking my hands in his. “I know you get all blushy and weird when people look at you, but good grief, Keira.” He stared at me up and down until I felt like I was on display, and a shiver ran through me. “Baby, you are so pretty, so infinitely beautiful that it is hard to not stare at you.”

I gave him a little kiss on the cheek, then grabbed my purse from the table. “Shall we?”

“Well, then,” he said, shaking his head as he followed me out. “Note to self – don’t stare at her for more than a second or she will freak out.” I laughed as I locked up, and we took off into the night.

A five-minute cab ride later, we were at a mellow little steakhouse that I had driven by before but never looked into. The hostess seated us, and I noticed that she was openly ogling Jack.

“Talk about stared at,” he muttered under his breath, giving me a wink. “I have a feeling she must be a fan, but in some restaurants, you’re not allowed to say anything to the customers if you recognize them.”

“I could see that. You’re here to have dinner, not network.”

“Yeah, but some people are totally cool about it. They’ll just sort of say hello, what they thought of the last album, and then leave you alone again. It’s very rare that people come over and hover for more than a moment, and get in your face in a pushy way. “

“What do you do when that happens?” I asked.

He shrugged. “When there are other people around, Tate might take an important phone call that he needs me for, or Noodle might just run by, grab me by the arm and drag me away. We watch out for each other.”

“They seem like nice guys,” I said. “Not a jerk in the bunch.”

“Well, they have their moments. We’re like family, and sometimes patience wears thin. Plus, you still don’t know me that well,” he laughed.

Our server arrived, with a big smile. “Mr. Jack, Sir, how are we this evening?”

“Fabulous, thank you.”

“And Miss, welcome. It’s lovely to see you here.”

---