My skin flushed hot. All rational thought fled my mind and there was nothing more important than learning how soft Lily Sawyer’s plush mouth really was.
I bent my head toward her and at the hitch of her breath, my balls tightened.
“If you aren’t going to use the study room, should I give it to someone else?” A voice had Lily jerking away from me with a squeak of surprise.
Irritated, I blinked out of my sexual fog and turned to find a woman standing in the middle of the aisle.
A woman I recognized.
Bloody hell, it was Lily’s mother.
I straightened and turned.
“Mum.” Lily pushed off the bookshelves, her eyes wide with embarrassment. “I was just grabbing a book before we used the study room.”
I’d never met Olivia Sawyer, the head librarian. I’d seen her around and heard some of the blokes making crass, sexist jokes about her being a MILF. She’d given Lily her coloring, including the hazel eyes. However, she was much curvier than Lily, a little taller, and if I was being honest, a little plainer in the face. She didn’t look old enough to be Lily’s mum.
“Sebastian Thorne.” I held out a hand to her, feeling grateful she’d interrupted, even if Lily was embarrassed by it. For a moment, I’d let my cock do the thinking. Lily deserved better than a casual fling.
“Olivia.” Lily’s mum shook my hand with a mischievous grin. The woman had a glamorous smile that transformed her from merely pretty to stunning. “I’m Lily’s mother as well as head librarian here. What are your intentions with my daughter?” She had a mixed accent. American with Scottish inflection.
I laughed at her forwardness as Lily squealed, “Mum!”
Olivia hushed her but was still smiling. “This is still a library, Lil.” She held out her hand to her daughter. “I’m going to need that key back. I’ve kicked couples out of the study rooms too many times to count, and my kid is not going to be one of them.”
“Kill me.” Lily closed her eyes. “Please kill me now.”
“After I get that key.”
“I assure you nothing untoward was about to occur,” I interjected.
“I’m still going to need that key.”
Groaning with pure mortification, Lily handed it over. “Nothing happened.”
“And now nothing will.” Olivia thumbed over her shoulder. “You can use the cubicles on the second floor. The ones out in the open for everyone to see.”
I snorted. Lily’s mum was funny.
“You do realize I’m almost twenty-two,” Lily hissed at her as we all turned to walk down the aisle.
“I do. But you do realize I’m the head librarian and I can’t condone sexual activity in the library … even though it’s an uphill battle.”
“There was no—ugh, you’re so embarrassing. Come on, Sebastian.” Lily stomped away.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to Olivia as I passed. Lily was out of earshot now. “Really, truly, nothing is happening. We’re just friends.”
“I remember a male friend of mine looking at me the way I caught you looking at my daughter.”
“Oh?”
She grinned and waved her ring finger. “He married me.” With a chuckle, she sauntered off in the opposite direction, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor.
Biting my lip, I turned back to search for Lily. Hurrying after her, a different kind of guilt clouded my mind. I didn’t want to lead Lily on and that’s exactly what I’d done. Shit.
I had to fix this.
All of it.
