Page 32 of Bookworm

"No, you're not," she grumbled, "but I still love you."

"And I adore you from your awesome lists to your somewhat dirty mind."

She didn't bring up Bo again, thank goodness.

But that didn't stop me from remembering what she'd said about him staring at me.

I wanted her to be right. ButI knew it was just wishful thinking.Whenever I'd looked, Bo was directing hisfrown at someone else. They were girls mostly.He hadn't liedthe other day.Bowas getting a lot of attention.Each time I spotted him, a different girl was chatting him up.They were all gorgeous too.I was a firm believer that everyone was beautiful in their own way, and where I had struggled to find even one suitor, Bo could've had his pick. Blonde, brunette, redhead, thick, thin, curvaceous, freckled, tan, black, white, any color under the rainbow, the ladies and gentlemen of Chariot High were taking the challenge that was Bo very seriously.

Funny.

I'd never desired his attention before.

Never thought I'd miss his harsh looks.

But in my gut, I felt the absence of them now.

"Nope," I said to myself. "You are not allowed to miss Bo Stryker's frowns. The guy isn't some kind of fae prince who cast a spell on you.Be a boss about this, Charlotte, and shake him off."

I tried to listen to my own advice, but it was hard—especially when I had to return to the scene of the crime.

I'd been at the library a couple hours, daydreaming on and off about a certain someone, when Casey and Natalia called me out.

"Okay, what's up with you?" Casey asked, putting her hands on her hips.

I blinked. "Huh?"

She held out a hand to my face. "We're brainstorming for the Friends of the Library event—one of your favorite times of year by the way—and you keep getting distracted."

"I'm not," I said.

Natalia cocked her head to the side. "Casey just said we should have shirtless men at the event, painted to look like statues."

"And do you know what you said?" Casey asked.

"Um, it's a family-friendly event, and the library board would never let us do that?" I said.

"No, that's what you would've said had you been paying attention."

"What you said," Natalia added eyes alight, "was, 'Great idea. VeryBridgerton-esque.'"

I winced.

"You were also in favor of finally allowing beverages in cups this year rather than making everyone bring a reusable bottle."

"But liquid could get on the books!" I gasped.

Casey nodded. "Exactly! Which is what you say every year, but you didn't this time. Because, as previously stated, your mindwas wandering."

"It's also better for the environment," I mumbled.

"You had the dreamiest look on your face," Natalia said.

"Almost like—"Casey's eyes widened."Charlotte Kent, were you thinking about a guy?" she asked.

I scoffed. "As if."

Casey's smiled got bigger. "You were totally thinking about a guy."

---