Her eyes turned dreamy for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. She cleared her throat and pointed me in the right direction without speaking a word.
I nodded once. “Thank you.”
Her gaze still followed me as I walked away from the counter, maintaining the same pace as before. I rounded a corner down another aisle, and that’s when I spotted her: theone girl who’d caught my attention since I set foot on this campus.
Her chestnut brown hair fell in effortless waves to her mid-back as she strolled down the aisle, her eyes scanning the bookshelves. There was something about her that pulled me in—something I couldn’t quite explain.
I watched her from the adjacent aisle, eyebrows raised, as she sipped what looked like an espresso. Her delicate fingers traced the edges of the books meticulously arranged on the shelf.
As I drew closer, I realized she was standing in the psychology section, and the book I was looking for was right in front of her. She paused in her tracks, tucking her hair behind her ear, her gaze wandering the bookshelf.
At this point, I couldn’t risk it because she just might be searching for the same book as me. Of every book on that shelf, what were the odds that she was going for the same one as me?
I wasn’t going to take that chance.
By the time I got to her, she’d already reached out and grabbed the spine of the exact book I’d come for. However, before she could pull it out, my hand shot out and firmly held it.
I could swear I heard her breath hitch, and when my hand grazed hers, I felt something spark inside me. It felt like time itself slowed when she turned her head to look at me.
Her large, stormy blue eyes met mine in an instant, spreading a strange warmth across my body. In a split second, I drank in the details of her oblong face—the gentle curve of her lush lips, the freckles dusting her pointed nose, her porcelain skin and trimmed eyebrows.
“Uh…I need that for my paper,” she said, her voice sweet like butter.
The scent of her perfume drifted into my nostrils, leaving me numb and intoxicated. This girl had me hooked–literally—because I couldn’t tear my gaze from her. Those large blue eyes bored into mine, stirring strange emotions in me.
For a second there, I almost forgot about my mission, even though I didn’t let go of the book. Unafraid, she looked right at me, exuding an air of confidence and control. I couldn’t find my voice, and it appeared my brain had abandoned me.
Even when she said she was here first, in an attempt to make me let go, I stayed silent. Not because I chose to be a dickhead, but because, for the first time in a long time, I was speechless. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, yet I couldn’t help but be fascinated by her.
While I was still struggling to find my voice, she yanked the book out of my hand. Her brows furrowed, forming creases between them, and her expression turned ugly.
“This is a library. Not a gladiator arena.”
Her words, tinged with disdain, left me stunned, especially when she glared at me for a moment before walking away. I raised my brows, watching her leave with the book I came all the way here for.
I hadn’t yet processed what just happened—the way she dismissed me as if I were a nobody, her unusual defiance, and the weird tension she left behind. My eyes lingered on her even after she took a seat at a nearby table.
I combed my fingers through my hair and dematerialized from her sight. The next time she’d lift her head, I wouldn’t be in the spot where she left me.
It would be easy to exercise my authority and force her to hand over the book. But this was a library. I couldn’t risk drawing unwanted attention to myself. So I found a spot by a hidden window where I could discreetly keep an eye on her.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, an incoming call from my lieutenant. I answered.
“Boss. Is everything all right?” he asked on the other line. “Do you need me to come in?”
“No. I’m handling it.”
He hesitated. “All right.”
I ended the call.
By the time my gaze darted back to the girl, she was already picking up a small brown paper that had slipped out of the book. My eyes narrowed as I watched her head tilt slightly as she stared at the paper, probably puzzled by its contents.
She didn’t understand what she was holding, but the danger was as real as the laptop on her table.
Julius Perry and his associates had been passing locations and names hidden in chess notation, with moves disguising coordinates for weapons shipments.
Oblivious to the horrors behind that paper, she slipped it back into the book and continued studying.
