Page 25 of Bookworm

"Such a shame," Portia said. "I really wanted to win."

"I know, he's gorgeous but difficult. It wouldn't be a good bet if it was easy," Elana said. "Maybe we should try again? When he's not preoccupied?"

Portia nodded. The two linked arms, and off they went.

Amazing, I thought. They hadn't wallowed in misery after their failed encounter. They just bounced right back as if nothing had happened. Hopefully, I'd be able to do that too.

Two more names on the list.

Really one, but still.

Leif George wasn't here, and I would live to flirt another day.

Maybe I could do this.

Maybe I could talk to a possible suitor and jumpstart my HEA.

And if not, at least no one else would know about it.

#

Nothing fun ever happened on a Wednesday.

It was a slow day at the library and notoriously our least busy time of the week. But this one was doubly so because both my friends had called in sick. Apparently, Casey was taking a mental health day, and Natalia was down with the stomach bug. My boss hadgone home early, leaving me to close up since I had a key. That meant I was all alone with the books.

Shelving took no time at all.

There were less returns than usual.

A quiet had descended, and the atmosphere almost reminded me of being inside a church.

A sanctuary.

I absolutely loved it.

I'd been reading for the last twenty minutes, was just getting to a really good part in my book, when the bell above the door tinkled.

Smiling, I used a bookmark to save my place, looked up—and froze.

There, holding out his phone to take what looked like a selfie, was Leif George.

AKA suitor number four.

After the picture, he looked around, seeming lost for a second, until he spotted me, and a slow grin appeared. Leif strode over and leaned one arm against the counter.

"Hey," he said, flashing me a set of pearly white, perfectly straight teeth.

"Hey," I replied.

"That was lame wasn't it?" Leifnodded to the door, raising his phone. "I mean, who takes a picture at the library?"

I'd taken tons of them. In fact, library pictures were one of my favorite things. Mine, other people's, didn't matter.Bookshelves were beautiful.

But I chose to focus on his first question andshook my head. "No, it wasn't."

"Come on, be honest."

"It wasn't lame," I said, trying not to stutter even though his light blue eyes were on me. "Actually, we encouragetaking and sharing pics. Ithelps us getmore people to read. Just make sure you tag the ChariotPublic Library."

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