Page 8 of Raw & Vulnerable

Feeling her face heat, Minnie refuses to look away. “Probably.Yes.”

“Goody two-shoes,” he taunts, flashing his white teeth.

Scowling, Minnie steps away from him even further. He’s excessively frustrating. “Let’s go find this book of yours, shall we?”and get this over with so I don’t have to keep looking at you.

Without waiting to hear a response from him, Minnie sets off to the section where the book should be. Sure enough, the book is absent. The villain is leaning against the shelves, arms crossed over his chest, looking bored.

Minnie hates it when people are right about missing books. She also hates when people lean on the bookshelves! She pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales. “I’ll go check the book drop. It may have been recently returned. Stay put.” She gives him a look, irritated by his exaggerated leaning against the shelf. It’s bothering her, like a mosquito bite. She can’tnotsay anything. “Don’t put all your weight on that, please.”

She says please, but that’s only to soften the demand in her voice.

“Oh, no.” He doesn’t sound concerned in the least, unmoving. “Is my fat ass going to tip it over?”

As if there isanythingfat about his tight rear end.

What an insufferable man! Huffing, Minnie fiddles with her glasses again, stiffly marching off back downstairs to go to the recently returned, yet not shelved books.

Sure enough, the book is there, like a sore thumb. It’s easy to pick out amongst all the harlequin romances and mystery fiction. Hoisting the heavy class textbook into her arms, Minnie marches back, keeping a blank expression on her face.

He stops leaning on the shelf when she approaches, eyes catching on the book in her arms. Minnie holds it out to him, mentally willing her hands to hide their random tremor. “Is this it?”

One of his large, tattooed hands accidently touches hers as he takes it from her, causing a zing of awareness to skyrocket up Minnie’s spine. His eyes meet hers momentarily and for a moment, he seems to see her,reallysee her. He’s still studying her eyes when he says roughly, “Yeah. That’s it.”

“Fabulous,” Minnie replies, her voice rising in pitch unexpectedly, remembering her ridiculous fantasy of him last night. Oh, if only he knew…

Does he say that when girls suck his cock?Yeah, that’s it.Does he say it in that rough tone of voice? Minnie is losing the plot, good grief, fantasizing about him while looking him in the face!

Stepping from under his shadow, Minnie forces a slight smile onto her lips. “Well, I’ll head back to my desk now. If you need help finding stubborn books-”

A smirk pulls at his lips, not entirely unkind this time. “I know where to find you. Hidden behind Mary somethin’ or another.”

The bratty know-it-all inside of Minnie wants to shout ‘It’s Mary Shelley, you uncultured swine!’ but she refrains.

*****************

“Why don’t you just get a library card and check these out so you can study at home?”

She asks this later in the week, after nearly tripping over one of his stupidly giant boots. He’s like a lawn gnome; always in the way. Her parents had seven lawn statues hidden about their backyard when she was girl. The seven dwarves, go figure.

This terribly distracting man is becoming a fixture in her library and Minnie isn’t sure if she’s glad or concerned. Her wayward nerves are beginning to calm and ease with his continued presence. It’s almost like becoming immune to a poison; keep taking it in small, non-lethal doses.

He’s sitting in one of the reading chairs, hidden behind the shelves. Minnie nearly yelps when she steps on him as she’s barreling around, shelving books. She’s lucky he kept her from falling flat on her face.

“Well?” She presses. “Why don’t you?”

“I live with three other especially delinquent fuckers and nothing gets done when I’m there,” he replies coldly, glowering at her from over the top of his book. “Bet a prissy yuppie girl like you wouldn’t know anything about that, yeah?”

“I resent that statement,” Minnie replies, puffing out her chest as her shoulders shift back. She lifts her chin, looking down her nose at him. “But, yes. You’re right. I have a place to myself and I can do whatever I want.”

Then, Minnie feels herself shiver, heart dropping down into her stomach. She can taste bile on the back of her tongue, almost instantly, fear spiking inside of her.Never tell anyone you live alone. How can you be so careless, Minnie?

Too late now. She can practically see him making a note of that in his head before he slowly returns his piercing gaze to his studying.

She leaves him to it, panic making her strides quick. Closing time is soon and now she’s feeling the shakes coming to her hands, anxiety sharpening her vision as she moves through the paces with a sheer mechanical speed.

Adrenaline is a powerful tool.

That night, she triple checks all of her locks and definitely takes a Xanax, anxiety causing her breathing to become shaky and her chest to hurt. She tries, she really does. She doesn’t like taking it, but when it gets hard to breathe, she has no choice.

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