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After pushing through the doors, I looked around like a man possessed. I had to lay eyes on Phoebe. I had to see her, touch her, feel that she was still here and still with me. I had to know I hadn’t fucked up so badly we couldn’t repair it.
“Can I help you, sir?”
I was surprised by a voice when I didn’t see anyone. Flicking my eyes around, I finally saw a woman with short brown hair and red glasses pop up from behind the check-out desk.
I swallowed hard. “I’m looking for a woman, my girlfriend. She has raven-black hair, creamy white skin, probably bright red lips, and she’s not as tall as me, but she’s about six foot or more if she’s wearing heels.”
The woman gave a bright smile. “Phoebe? Yes, she’s in the back. Here, I’ll take you there. Is everything okay?”
I gave a curt nod. “Just need to talk to her. She wasn’t answering her phone.”
She gave me a nod. “Library policy. Phones have to be silenced and if calls are taken, you have to go outside.” Well, at least she wasn’t ignoring me. Probably. “Phoebe really is an amazing journalist. It’s been great working with her,” the librarian said. “We’re fortunate to have the publications she was looking for. Quite a puzzle, wasn’t it?”
By the time we reached the back of the stacks, the library opened up into a large room of tables with several rooms behind it filled with magazines and journals. Phoebe was at a table piled high with magazines, engrossed in whatever she was doing.
I nodded to the librarian. “Thanks, ma’am.”
She smiled. “You can call me Gladys. Phoebe? Someone is here to see you.”
My heart stopped while she looked up and spun around.
Her eyes narrowed and her lip curled back. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
27
PHOEBE
The last person in the world I needed right now was the man standing in front of me.
“I’ll just leave you two to chat,” Gladys said wincing at the obvious tension, “but maybe you want to take one of the study rooms so you don’t disturb the other patrons.”
I nodded as I stood. “Of course. Could I just leave these here? I’ll be right back.”
Gladys smiled. “Yes, that would be fine.” She looked between us nervously. “Just, ah, remember this is a library. Please keep it down.”
I crossed to a study room, a door without windows that Gladys suggested. After I closed the door behind him, I leaned against it with my arms crossed. “Did you get lost?”
He just stood there, his intense glare giving me heart palpitations. Surely, he wouldn’t try to distract me with sex here in a public place, right? When I realized I liked the idea more than I thought I would, I squeezed my thighs together. Kinks had to be discussed later. I needed to take a stand and make him understand he couldn’t use sex to shut me up.
He licked his lips and stood against the opposite wall looking delicious. “I asked Kiley and Molly where to find you.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Why? To distract me again?”
He cleared his throat and advanced a step. “I needed to see you, talk to you.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
He leaned forward on a chair. “I’m sorry. It was the middle of the night and I reacted badly. Then you poured oil on a grease fire and made it worse. I thought if we both just ignored it, fucked our way through it, slept on it, then in the morning we’d laugh and it would just be over.”
I scoffed. “Over?”
His eyes met mine in defeat. “I don’t want puck bunnies and you were talking to a source. It’s that simple, right?”
I huffed and lifted my chin. “Why did you get so crazy about it then? You hollered so loud my source heard it and hung up. He might have told me more if you would have just stayed in bed!”
He raked his fingers through his beard. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how else to say it. I was only half awake and I made the wrong choice. You weren’t there, I panicked, and I came to find you.” His eyes darkened. “I’m always going to come after you, Raven.”
Damn him for knowing just what to say. Swallowing hard, I took a step toward him. “So, you’ll try not to interfere with my sources anymore. Even if someone calls in the middle of the night?”
