Page 59 of The Librarian and the Rock Star

“Why did you call?”

“How badly is he messing up the interview?”

I counted to three very calmly before answering, “They seem to be chatting away, laughing and having a lovely time.”

“What, you’re not there hanging on your rock star crush’s every word?”

“No, I’m over by the bar apparently taking calls from terrible band promoters who don’t know how to do their jobs. If you were so concerned with this interview, you could have been here. You could have coached Jack on what to say, and what to promote.”

“What the hell would you know about it?”

“When I have a job to do, I do it to the best of my ability. Do you?”

He hung up with a loud click. I hung up the phone, pushing it away down the bar. My hands were shaking slightly.

“Here you go, miss,” the bartender said, handing me a glass of water. “May I get you anything stronger?”

“Not at the moment, thank you.” He gave me a pleasant smile and a nod, putting the phone away.

Jack and Nick were standing up and shaking hands. They practically looked like old friends. After Nick left, Jack came straight to me, grabbing me and kissing me so enthusiastically that I was immediately embarrassed, assuming the other people around were staring.

“Not here,” I whispered, blushing furiously.

Grabbing his hand, I led us to the elevator. “How did it go?”

“Amazing,” he said, practically bouncing. “You were right! As soon as I spoke about cities other than Toronto he lightened right up, asked some great questions, and I think we really hit it off.”

“See? You’re fabulous,” I laughed.

35. Start to a Strange Date

We went back up to our room to get ready to go out. I hid in the washroom to get dressed and do my makeup. I suppose it didn’t make much of a difference, since Jack had already seen my work look, my rocker look, my no makeup look, and my first thing in the morning disaster, but I really wanted to look like the kind of girl that belonged with him.

It seemed strange that we had gotten so close in just a week, and seemed to have skipped some of the dating process, but I felt like tonight should be a special occasion. I slipped on a dark purple short-sleeved dress with a cute shor

t swingy skirt, with smoky, smudgy purple eyeliner to match, which really made my eyes pop. I didn’t even bother wearing lipstick, because I just knew what was likely to happen.

Jack’s leather cuff was still on my wrist, which gave me a silent giggle every time I looked down and noticed it.

When I came out, Jack was dressed nicely but casually, in fairly new black jeans and a black button-down shirt. He was also completely clean-shaven. I giggled. “Well, hello there Mr. Smooth Face.”

He turned to look at me, froze, then let out a long, low whistle. “Wow, girl, I don’t know whether I should take you out like that. I don’t need the competition.”

“Very funny,” I said, “But I’m hungry.”

“What sort of food are you in the mood for, besides old school diners?”

“I like everything,” I said. “Shall we just walk toward Mont-Royal and see what looks good?”

“Sure!”

I realized that I was going out into the world without a plan, and without researching anything first. This was a major step for me. I mean, it’s just selecting a restaurant. It’s not really an important life choice. But for me, flying by the seat of my pants has never been in my nature. My basic nature has her pants sitting squarely in a desk chair at all times.

We strolled arm in arm through the lobby and down Duluth through the Plateau, toward Avenue du Mont-Royal. People were everywhere, chatting, sipping wine on patios, or briskly walking to parties. Even with my extremely limited French, it sounded like the entire city was in a great mood.

Jack slid his arm around me, to hold me close as we leisurely walked to the Avenue, looking in shop windows. I was a bit dazzled when I saw our reflection – I looked so confident, and maybe even a little striking. But what was really surprising was the way we looked like such a couple. This tall, handsome man was proudly snuggling against me in front of the entire street. I’ve never been with anyone who enjoyed public displays of affection. I don’t think I’ve ever been with anyone who was so incredibly proud to have me as their… I shook my head before I could even think the word. It was way too soon to even contemplate, no matter how attached Jack seemed to be already.

We paused to look in a shop window at some absolutely crazy designer shoes. “Those would look great on you,” Jack said, “But I don’t think you’d be able to walk very far.”

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