Page 19 of Leashed

He snorted, falling into step beside her and opening the door. “Your car runs like shit. Battery’s on me if you’re cool with me hanging out here to kill some time.”

There was a strange undertone to his offer, his head turned slightly away from her as she passed him. “I’m not going to be very good company,” she warned as she set her books neatly into the return bin. When the librarian motioned from across the room, she circled the counter and checked her own books in. “I need to narrow some research.”

He leaned over the counter, his eyes scanning over the screen. “What the fuck’s that about? Those don’t look like research titles.”

Closing out her lending history, she bit her lip. “Just my downtime reading.”

“I think I’m going to have to check that shit out.”

She beelined to the wall of history books, ignoring Bo as he strode over to the romance section, documenting his finds with yelled whispers at her.

*

Bo watched whilethe pile of mythology books that had grown incrementally over the hour began to shrink as Sage pored over them, separating the ones she intended to bring home from the ones she didn’t. Reaching over to his own stack, he chose another paperback, pointedly ignoring her pursed lips while he scanned for the good stuff.

“People don’t use the word loins enough in casual conversation,” he stated, flipping back a page to make sure he didn’t miss any of the scene. “Or honeyed.” He read down a few paragraphs. “Engorged, on the other hand…that one should be retired.”

She had stopped hushing him twenty minutes earlier when every attempt to silence his commentary was met with him reading aloud from the steamier sections of the romance books he had collected.

Glancing back at the novel’s cover, he wrinkled his nose and set it aside. “Are any of these the type you like?” Met with silence, he spread the remaining books out. “I need a recommendation if you want me to shut up.”

Her dark eyes met his for a moment before she looked over the choices, inching one toward him. “I read those, but there’s usually a lot more cursing in them.”

He turned over her selection and read the blurb on the back. “Vampires aren’t real guys.”

“I’m aware.”

Angling his chair so he could put his feet up on the empty seat beside him, he left Sage alone while he read her preferred genre, surreptitiously looking over at the reserved woman as the dark, racy story unfolded.

*

Sage cupped herbook bag against her hip, ensuring all the lights were off in her car before she met Bo on the sidewalk. “You weren’t reading that while you were driving, were you?”

Marking his place with his thumb, he dropped the book to his side and followed her to the door of her apartment complex. “How the fuck is he going to tell her he’s a bloodsucker? It’s not like he can just say it and not expect her to freak right the fuck out.”

“I can’t tell you that,” she replied, fumbling with her keys. “It’s part of the plot.”

Staying back a few feet, he glanced down at the book in his hand. “It’s fucking bullshit is what it is. She’s gonna stab him,” he muttered, tucking his hair behind his ear. “Well, you’re good to go. Have a good night.”

“You too.” She smiled. “Thanks again.”

He walked back to his truck with a wave and she took the stairs to her apartment, her phone buzzing in her purse as she carried her bags into her room. Leaning them against her desk, she dug her cell out. “Hey, honey.”

“I’ve been calling for twenty minutes,” Nixon barked. “What’s going on with your car? Are you okay?”

Lying back on her bed, she closed her eyes, the calm she had felt earlier evaporating. “It just needed a new battery. How’s the conference?”

Her car forgotten, he launched into a tirade about the ineptitude of the conference organizers. The inconveniences he was describing seemed small and unimportant to her.

But having never attended a conference herself, she listened closely, adding an occasional murmur of agreement.

“I’ll be landing at three tomorrow,” he finally concluded. “That new war movie is showing at nine, so we should be able to squeeze in dinner beforehand.”

Sitting up, she frowned. “I’m working nine to three at the lounge and then four to eight at the library.”

He exhaled into the phone in obvious annoyance. “Why are you scheduled at the lounge? I thought I told you to quit that job.”

Something reared up inside her, screaming at her to get away, to end the mockery of a relationship she was trapped in.

But another stronger force silenced her tongue, an aching pressure in her chest building the longer she entertained the thought. Relenting, she sighed. “I will. After the holidays, okay?”

“Fine. I’ll pick you up from the library at eight. Bring a decent change of clothes and you can eat at the theater. I’ll text you when I land tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” she relented. “Night, honey. Love you.”

“Yeah,” he replied, sounding distracted. “Love you too.”

Setting her phone down, she walked to her balcony, watching as Bo’s truck turned out of the neighborhood.

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