‘I’m sure we’veallgot a shitty story to share about exes,’ Maddie added. ‘I’m definitely with you on book boyfriends being better. Well, at least until I find my real-life version like these two have.’ She smiled at Jess and Jane.
‘When I find mine, I’ll book a billboard. I’ll put that stuff all over social media and take out an advert!’ Kara joked.
‘Actually…’ Jess paused. ‘That reminds me of something I saw on TikTok the other day.’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘There was a couple, and the boyfriend or husband—I’m not sure if they’re married, but anyway they live together and he asks her what she’s reading. And then she tells him and he basically offers to act out that scene with her.’
‘Sounds familiar.’ I gave Jess a mischievous smile as I remembered that was something she did with Theo. Jess blushed, then continued.
‘So I was thinking, maybe you could do that with Ben, to boost our social media,’ Jess added, and my jaw dropped.
‘Wait, what?’ I gasped. ‘I’m all for helping the library to succeed, but I draw the line at sleeping with Benjamin Buttface just to go viral.’
‘I’ll do it!’ Celeste’s hand shot up in the air, then giggled.
‘Benjamin Buttface?’ Maddie sniggered. ‘If anyone’s facedoesn’tlook like a butt, it’s got to be his.’
‘I’ve only seen him a handful of occasions, but he had a gorgeous face and butt.’ Kara grinned.
‘I’d be happy to put mybutton hisface!’ Celeste added, causing everyone to burst into laughter again. I had to admit, it was kind of funny. And crude. But Celeste made no secret of how much she enjoyed having and talking about sex, so it was to be expected.
‘Just to clarify’—Jess’s expression turned serious—‘I don’t mean you have to sleep with him. I’d never ask you to do that!’
‘Oh, thank God!’ I said.
‘In these videos they just kind of tease what they’re going to do. Like the girl will say something like “ooh, yes, please!” and then the video cuts. It doesn’t even have to be sexually suggestive—it could be something more innocent. It was just an idea. If so many of our members see him as book boyfriend material and Ben doesn’t mind playing up to that, we could use it to our advantage. Then again, maybe it’s not politically correct to even ask him. If the roles were reversed and a woman was asked to appear in suggestive videos for work, we’d be outraged at the exploitation, so it should work both ways. Forget I mentioned it.’ Jess waved her hand dismissively.
‘I think it’s a good idea,’ Maddie said. ‘Ben seems like quite a playful guy who likes the attention. I reckon he’d be up for it. I’d definitely watch it.’
‘Speaking from experience, I can say there are a lot of women who enjoy watching videos with hot men,’ Jane said with a glint in her eye.
They were all right. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew that Ben would appeal to a lot of our members.
I should’ve thought about something like this myself. It was bad that people whose area of expertise wasn’t social media had come up with a great idea before I had.
Jess was payingmeto manage the social media and I wasn’t even doing my job properly.
It was time to buck up my ideas. Although we were friends, if she thought I wasn’t adding value, she’d have to let me go. I didn’t want to fail. I couldn’t.
I had to get a grip and put my feelings aside and do what was best for the library.
Yep. Not only was I going to have to ask Ben for help, I was going to have to work even more closely with him than I’d planned.
Great.
10
BEN
‘This looks cool, Big T!’ I said to Theo as I looked around one of the studio flats on the library’s top floor.
It was Sunday and as it was the only day that the library was closed, it was also when the workmen did all the noisiest stuff to avoid disturbing the members downstairs.
‘Glad you like it!’ Theo said. ‘There’s still some plumbing to do in the bathroom and kitchen, but it’s progressing well.’
‘What will you do with the other flats?’ I asked.
