I do the only thing I can think to do. I deliver him another lie.
I pinch my eyes shut and rap my knuckles hard against the wall. “Someone’s at the door.”
“Kat—” The way he says my name is almost frantic, like he’s trying to hold on to a thread that’s unraveling faster than he can grasp it.
“I have to go.”
“Sure. Talk later?”
“Mhm. Goodbye, Cowboy.”
I don’t think twice as I end the call. His voice echoes in my mind as I close my laptop and cut off my last remaining connection to the only man who’s made me feel safe to be myself. I swallow hard against the rising tide of sadness.
It’s for the best. Now we can both move on.
You’re a liar, Callie Cooper.
Chapter 6
True Love or Something Like It
? Needy - Kelsea Ballerini
Callie
Mo leansagainst the front desk, flipping through a paperback while I finish cataloguing the new inventory that arrived this morning.
“I still think you should let that cowboy take you for the ride of your life,” they whisper.
I slam the book shut and stack it on the return pile from which they stole it. “I think you're overestimating my skills at seduction.”
“Or you're underestimating them. You can’t tell me you aren’t dying to play the role of the sexy librarian who falls for the nerdy cowboy.”
I stand and grip the handles of the returns cart. “Now I'm falling for him? I thought this was just some hypothetical one-night stand.”
They shrug. “The universe works in mysterious ways. You never know when true love is going to find you.”
I snort at the sheer ridiculousness of that statement. True love is for fairytales—princesses in towers and damsels in need of rescue. I’m neither of those things, so I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. If it comes looking, I’ll be over in the non-fiction section.”
As I walk away from the desk, an unexpected voice stops me dead in my tracks. Something else I’ve learned is that the universe has a cunning sense of humor.
“Hey. I'm looking for Callie.”
My breath catches as a flood of unwanted heat curls down my spine. It can’t be. He doesn't even know my real name.
Mo barks out a laugh. “This is too good. She’s in the non-fiction section.”
I turn to shush her, slamming into Jaxon in the process.Acowboy, but notmycowboy. How could I possibly mistake him for someone else? He palms my shoulders to steady me, and that same heat pools low in my belly. Over his shoulder, Mo grins and makes a heart with their hands.
Still reeling from the momentary confusion, I put on my best customer service voice. “Good morning. Can I help you with something?”
I must be losing my mind. There’s no other explanation. The odds of meetinghimin Willow Valley are astronomical. Still, I can’t deny the small flicker of hope that maybe someday he’ll find me.
Nobody has ever made me feel the way he does—or did—desired, wanted. It was nice to live in a world of delusion for a while, but it wasn’t real, and I shouldn’t pretend that it was.
So why do I miss him so much?
“Do you have the new M.W. Hartley book?” Jaxon asks.
