Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“I’m impressed,” I murmured. “Flowers? That’s a very good first step.”
Liam’s glare shifted into a smug smirk as he bypassed me completely and strolled up to where Janice was sitting behind the reception desk. Her eyes widened, and her lips parted in silent shock.
“Hi, I wanted to apologize for the chaos I caused on my last visit,” Liam said in a low voice as he held the flowers out to Janice.
“Oh…I…thank you…you didn’t need to…” Janice stammered. It was the first time I’d ever seen the woman at a loss for words.
“No, I really did. I’ve spent most of my life in a library, and I know how critical it is to maintain an environment that is supportive of everyone who comes here. It was reckless and inconsiderate of me to destroy the peace.”
“I…thank you. I’m sure it was an accident. It wasn’t intentional.”
My chin hit the fucking ground. Janice was melting before my eyes. It had taken us the better part of half an hour to clean up the mess Liam had made and to get the books reorganized. And she was going to brush it off because he smiled at her and handed her some flowers?
“I think I’ll go put these in some water. They’ll look lovely on the help desk, I believe.” Blushing and grinning like a schoolgirl, Janice rose to her feet, the flowers cradled in her arms. She gave Lily a nod to say that she was to handle the desk while she stepped away. And then I got a scowl, which clearly stated that I was not to create chaos and mayhem when her back was turned.
To hell with that.
“Smooth,” I sneered the moment Janice disappeared.
“I thought so,” Liam agreed, his smirk growing. “I made a mess the last time I was here. It occurred to me that it would be best to reassure the staff that I didn’t intend to disrupt the lives of others upon my return.”
“Welp, it looks like you’ve accomplished what you set out to do. Have a good one.” I gave a wave of my hand and a tight smile as I rolled off the reception desk and turned toward the door that led to the return room.
“Rome,” Liam growled.
Okay, that helped. Maybe I was pouty that the flowers weren’t for me. No one had ever brought me flowers. Not that I wanted Liam to be the first person in my life to do so, but still, it was the principle of the thing. Flowers would have been nice.
I spun to face him. “Yes?”
Seconds ticked by, and Liam stared at me, appearing as if he were about to choke up a hairball. His skin was growing more flushed. Would asking me out actually kill him? Maybe I should have warned Lily to start dialing 9-1-1.
“Will you go out with me?” Liam mumbled the question. His face twisted in pain as he spoke. It was as if he were in the middle of a root canal without any kind of Novocain.
“Wow. Has anyone ever said yes to you? Did you really get married?” I clucked my tongue. “It’s clear she was the one who was asking you out the entire time.”
Fuck! If looks could kill, I would have been incinerated on the spot.
Lily hissed behind me and punched my arm as soon as I got close to the reception desk again. “Be nice,” she whispered harshly. “This isn’t easy for everyone.”
“What?” I gasped. How was I suddenly the bad guy? Oh right, Lily had no idea how Liam had fucked me over as a kid. Liam deserved this and more.
While I was struggling with Lily’s admonishments, she leaned toward Liam and smiled. “Don’t worry. You’re doing great.”
Liam’s face might have been bright red, but I didn’t miss the wicked sparkle that entered his hazel eyes. He stood in front of me, wearing a pair of dark jeans and a nice, heavy winter coat. His red hair was windblown, but I could still see he’d taken the trouble to style it.
“It took me a long time to work up the courage to put myself out there for you,” Liam mumbled, lowering those evil eyes to the ground to make himself appear even more pitiful.
Lily leaned forward, poked me hard in the arm several times, and then gave me an urging glower. She was buying every bit of this bullshit.
Well, this had backfired wonderfully. I’d thought I’d get to tease and torment Liam by making him ask a man in public. Instead, he’d come in here with flowers, making me out to be the asshole.
With a grunt, I shoved away from the desk and walked to the stacks, grabbing Liam’s arm along the way. The big plan for an embarrassing moment has been a dud. Time to salvage this before I had to come up with a new plan. I held tightly to Liam’s arm as I dragged him through the stacks to the rear of the building. It seemed all too fitting that I was now the one pulling him away for privacy after he’d been forced to do that at the museum.