Page 47 of I Met Him At The Library

“So, what are you working on?” She asked as she took a seat next to me.

“I’m working on holding myself back from dragging you to me so I can have a taste of your lips.”

Heat pinkened her cheeks, and I grinned devilishly at her. I’d never get enough of her, and all I wanted was to devour her repeatedly, forever. This was going to be incredibly detrimental to our productivity, but I couldn’t find it in me to give a damn.

Turning back to my laptop, I tried to focus on replying to the authors who declined attending our book convention. For those who sounded like they wished they could help, I asked if they’d help us promote the con as every ticket sold could help to save our small town library. Any help we could get for this event would be appreciated, even if it was a simple mention in a newsletter or a post on social media.

Checking ticket sales, we had already sold a few but those were from word of the event spreading around town. The goal for today was to send out emails to our own newsletter subscribers, and announce the event on our website.

Emily would get the names of attending authors off to Poppy for social media graphics. We’d have a few of those by tomorrow afternoon. It was my hope that within a few weeks, we’d have a better idea about what type of money we might expect to make from this event, and I’d know how to proceed with the budget for next quarter.

As Emily typed away on her computer, I typed away on my own, and we fell into a rhythm of clicks and taps. Working next to Emily was peaceful. Her light fruity scent filled the room and had a calming effect on me. My worries about funding the library eased, and I simply enjoyed the time sitting next to my beautiful woman.

While we weren’t public with our relationship, my mind would not let go of calling her mine. Before last night, it was more of a casual feeling of her belonging to me, but since last night, I’d wanted nothing more than to claim her repeatedly, publicly, over and over again.

The tension seemed to spike in the room, and my eyes traveled to Emily. As she typed away at her laptop she shifted in her chair. Turning my head to her, I watched as her lips parted and a small smile lifted the corners. Her eyes grew heated and barely blinked as all of her focus remained on her writing.

Her chest rose and fell in even breaths, but it was slightly heavier than normal. When she squirmed in her seat again, it dawned on me what she was writing. She was in the middle of an explicit scene, and her body was responding. A small smirk lifted the corner of my mouth, and I turned back to my own laptop.

It killed me to not bend her over the table and take her right then and there, but it was better for her if I ignored all the signs of her arousal. For now, it was best to let her finish, and then I’d have my way with her.

After Emily had met her word count goals, she began putting together the seating chart for the book festival. She also emailed off the list of confirmed authors to Poppy and contacted the table rental place in Fairwood. Levi or Trey would pick them up the day before the event, so we could set them up and have everything ready to go the day before.

I had emailed more authors and replied to contacts from the Fairwood library and two more of the closest libraries. They were all kind enough to share their lists of most checked out authors, and once again Donna Smith - Emily - was on each of them. She still hadn’t figured out if this was all a coincidence or if someone had purposely put her books in the libraries.

After she questioned the only people who knew, she believed more and more it was a coincidence, but I could tell she was still worried.

At the end of the day, we walked together toward the bar. She had agreed to meet with my friends and Meghan for additional planning, and to eat pizza with us. As we walked we talked more about the event and how we might get more people to purchase tickets. Then, Elizabeth Thompson exited Cornerstone Grocery.

“Oh, Emily,” Elizabeth said with a smile as her attention turned to me, and an eyebrow lifted, “And Ryan.”

“Good evening, Elizabeth,” Emily said kindly while I smiled at her in greeting.

“Excuse me if this is forward, but are you two dating?” Elizabeth questioned and my eyes widened.

“We are meeting up with some friends at the pub for dinner, we don’t want to be late.”

It seemed Emily was a pro at not answering straight up questions, but I followed her lead and kept walking until we both slid past Elizabeth. I wanted to answer the question with a “Hell yes we are,” and since last night, I couldn’t think of any reason why we might want to continue to keep our relationship quiet.

As soon as we were out of ear shot from Elizabeth, I muttered, “It’s hell not being able to touch you, or kiss you, whenever I want.”

“I know,” Emily whispered.

“I wanted to take you into the reference section and fuck you against the shelves.”

“Poor Betsy would end up in a grave if she caught us.” Emily huffed a laugh, and I chuckled, too.

“Fine, my office will do.”

Emily’s cheeks blushed, and her gaze moved to me as she bit her lower lip. I wanted nothing more than to reach up and pull her lip from her teeth before kissing her hard. I resisted the urge to the best of my ability, and gave her a heated stare of my own.

At the bar, we sat at the larger corner table with a wrap-around booth. Emily slid to the corner and I sat next to her. As the others joined us, we discussed the book festival, but my hand laid on her jean clad thigh and ran circles with my thumb. Emily shifted in her seat several times trying to stave off the growing desire in her.

Staying a secret wasn’t all bad when I could drive her mad with little touches and teasing where prying eyes couldn’t see. It was like prolonged foreplay. When I took her back to my place tonight, she’d be more than ready for me.

“So we only need ten more authors?” Meghan, who sat on the other side of Emily, asked.

“More would be better,” Emily stated.

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