Page 25 of Prickly Romance

“The book by Jane Austen.”

“Not much of a reader,” she answers.

“Blasphemy.”

I find the reference text I’m searching for in the music aisle and tuck it into the crook of my arm. “I’ll correct that later,” I warn her. “But there’s a part in the book where Mr. Darcy confesses his love to Elizabeth.”

“Sazuki confessed his love to you?”

“No.” I frown at the thought. “The point of the scene isn’t that Darcy confessed. It’s that he went on and on about how he loved Elizabeth ‘against his better judgement’.”

“Still not seeing the point.”

I slap the book closed and the thud earns me a stinky look from the librarian.

“Sorry,” I mouth. In a quieter voice, I explain, “If you want something from someone, you say ‘hey, I think you’re great. Let’s do something together’. You don’t barge your way in, tell them how things are going to be and then emphasize that you’re giving them a chance ‘against your better judgement’. Who the hell is supposed to say yes to that?”

“I’m guessing Sazuki’s job offer didn’t lay on the flattery,” Vanya says.

I slide my fingers down the book’s table of contents until I find ‘Beethoven’s Hearing Loss’. Thumbing to the right page, I tell Vanya, “He made sure to outline how my lacking background and poor education meant that I don’t deserve the position, but since he’s the patron saint of goodness, he’s giving me an opportunity.”

“No.” She laughs.

“He told me to start tomorrow. Andthen,” my voice climbs, “he warned me that any ‘differences of opinion’ won’t be tolerated in the office. All this before I’ve even accepted the job!”

“Sh!” The angry librarian scowls at me.

I place a finger to my lips and nod.

“Men.” Vanya scoffs.

I roll my eyes and dig into my backpack. When I find my notebook, I lay it on the table.

“So what did you do?”

“I wrote him an equally professional email.”

“Damn.” She chuckles. “Is it weird that I want to see it?”

“I’ll forward it to you later.”

“Thanks.”

“Babe, can we talk?”Hadyn says.

Vanya’s voice gets tight. “I need to go, Deej. I’ll see you at the farmhouse later.”

I tap my headphones twice to end the call and chew on my bottom lip.

Is something going on with her and Hadyn?

I quickly trash the thought. Hadyn adores Vanya. The first time I saw them together, Hadyn was following her around, unable to take his eyes off her. Whatever’s going on, I’m sure he’ll get to the bottom of it.

I peruse the textbook and jot down notes for my graduation thesis until my phone vibrates on the table.

Class is starting in ten minutes.

Time to get a move on.

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