Page 10 of Sweet Redemption
Chapter Four
Charlie
How friggin’ embarrassing!
The first cute man that came into town and what happened? I fell on my rear end. Markus was so handsome. Dark wavy russet brown hair, strong squared jaw, full kissable lips and eyes—the color of the Irish countryside…Snap out of it, Charlie! He’s only passing through!
Yes, he was a total jerk…well, maybe not a total jerk, since I don’t know the man and it wasn’t fair to judge him. However, I wasn’t going to admit that I was attracted to Markus or anyone else for that matter.
Markus had all the attributes that were on my Nana’s checklist. I thought Nana’s list for the perfect man was crazy. He had to have height because no man should be looking up at his woman. He had to be fit, so he could protect his woman. He had to be successful in business, so he could support his woman. And the final one, which made me always cringe because no woman in her late seventies should be talking about sex to her granddaughter, he should be well endowed so he could satisfy his woman.
And my response to all that? “Nana? No such man exists. They’re all pigs.” Her argument? I was also the part of the problem. It had hurt to hear that from Nana, but that woman never intentionally gave me anything crooked, or led me astray with her words. But sometimes it had.
But it was true. I fell fast for men who gave me total attention and never gave chemistry a chance to sink in and see if we fit like jigsaw puzzles. One simple sweet gesture and I was in love. I was talking about Devon, the man I thought I was so in love with. But all he did was break my heart. It had been two and half years since I dropped Devon like a hot potato. I was wiser now to fall in a trap with sweet words and beautiful smile.
I remembered talking to her the night before that dear sweet old woman passed away in her sleep, it had me tearing up. That wasthreea yearsago.
“God, I miss you so much, Nana.” I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and began turning on all the lights inside the library.
I brushed the sadness from my mind and took off my coat. Once I hung it on the coat rack right inside the doorway, I stamped my boots on the thick brown mat. A shiver of cold ran through me when I stepped further into the library.
I checked the thermostat.Fifty-two degrees.“Merde.” The furnace must have blown out again. I walked toward the set of stairs that led down to the basement where the old furnace was stowed.
Once I got the darn contraption to work, an hour later, the heat finally started to circulate around the building.
Between dusting and cataloguing the new books that came in last week, I had tons to keep me busy. Especially now with the notice from the village. They were closing the library for good. I hated the idea of telling people the library was going to close down. Yet, on the other hand, I rarely get anyone to come inside. I had a month to pack and ship all the books to the surrounding libraries that wanted any additional reads. It was going to be tough. With every book packed, my heart hurt to see this place—my sanctuary—dismantled.
It was nearly noon, and not having the time to eat, I decided to forgo lunch and work on packing up the upper stacks.
With resignation, I made my way toward the stairs to the upper back stacks, when I heard the front door creak open.
I blew out an exasperated breath and turned back around. As my feet hit the bottom step, I saw Markus stroll by, his eyes on the ceiling. I gulped at the sight. I took a few steps, watching what he was doing. I swore, he was a beautiful man to look at. And that beautiful man was looking up at the ceiling I loved. Some of my animosity toward Markus melted.
Yeah. The ceiling was the best part of the library. An artist in the mid forties decided to depict a scene during the pioneer days—before they named the town Valentine.
It was just one of many things I loved about the place. However, between the decaying condition of the building and lack of funds to tend to it, this library would surely be demolished soon.
“Hello, Charlie?” His voice boomed throughout the book-laden building.
The throaty way Markus said my name on his lips sent a shiver of want across my skin. I clutched my middle, because it felt like tons of butterflies dive bombing in my stomach. The thrumming between my legs wasn’t helping either. I stalled mid-step, and contemplated if I should turn and hide.
This is so not happening.
Not wanting to face the humiliation of falling on my butt, I spun around and headed upstairs when he called out for me again. “Charlie?” His voice was much closer this time.
I glanced over my shoulder and found Markus standing at the base of the stairs. I smiled down at him and knew he caught me escaping.
“Hi.” The second the greeting fell out of my mouth, my left foot slipped off the tread and tripped down a few steps, twisting my ankle. Markus caught me before I tumbled head first and crashed to the floor like a clumsy oaf.
“Merde,” I cried out in pain, grabbing at my left ankle.
“Are you okay?”
I glared at him. “Do I look okay to you?” I screeched like a wicked witch.
Markus swept me into his strong arms. “Where can I take you?”
I let out an embarrassed huff. “My office.” Feeling ten times stupider, I kept quiet until Markus walked into my tiny but cozy office and set me down on the edge of the desk.
