It's Never too Late

In spite of the amount of traffic, there were no exceptionally long waits. Standing in the cash line with her satchel over her shoulder and her arms filled with heavy tomes, Addy marveled at the efficiency of the store. The three lines immediately to her left were reserved for credit card users. And to the far right was a line designated for scholarship recipients.

Probably students on a full ride whose books were included as part of their monetary award. Scholarship recipients were on her list of people to investigate. Lawsuits had been filed—and won—based on education being denied to some while it was offered freely to others of equal merit. And a degree from Montford came with external economic value.

As Addy was mulling over that thought, her heart suddenly tripped. Mark Heber, looking sexy in jeans and a white polo shirt, had just joined the back of the scholarship line.

God, he looked good.

He couldn’t see her. She couldn’t let him. Not yet. Not so soon after last night. At least not until she had her emotions firmly in check. Turning her back, Addy stepped up to the counter, her sob story in place for the cashier as she attempted to get a pass on paying for her books. When she was told in no uncertain terms that she had to pay, she asked to see a manager, asked to speak with the manager’s boss, asked if students in the scholarship line got their books for free and what she’d have to do to reap the same benefit.

She’d be doing spot checks like these all over campus to ensure that employees at every level knew university policy and applied it across the board. A lapse, regardless of how minor it was, could point to a bigger personnel problem—or aggrieved student. If employees didn’t follow policies—like those related to hiring, conflict of interest and so on—rigorously, they could put the university at risk of a lawsuit.

So Addy did her best to get someone to make a mistake....

She did it all without raising her voice, or causing a stink. And when she left she was happy to know that Montford’s bookstore employees, at least those who were working that day, could not be persuaded to budge from university policies.

Stepping outside, she wished she could call Will—and almost walked straight into Mark.

“What was going on in there?” he asked, falling into step beside her as though they met on campus every day and hadn’t just met for the first time the week before.

As though he hadn’t been sharing her living room couch, smiling at Barney Fife’s antics, mere hours before.

“Nothing, why?” she asked, conscious of guarding Adrianna Keller’s secrets—and Will Parsons’s.

“You seemed to be having trouble. I heard you ask to see the manager. So I waited.”

Maybe she was still vulnerable from the night before, or maybe Mark Heber was just a genuinely good guy, but Addy was touched by his concern.

And bothered, too. She was there to work while living a lie. She couldn’t encourage friendship.

But she also had to try to fit in—and a new student in town would be eager to make friends....

“One of the books I need is in ebook format only.” She couldn’t believe the ease with which the lie escaped her lips. “I prefer print and was checking to see if there was a print-on-demand option.”

“Is there?” He stepped closer to her to avoid colliding with a group of young guys going in the opposite direction. Addy felt the brush of his arm as acutely as if he’d just kissed her.

Books. He asked about books. “Yes.” A pair of girls were coming toward them. One had tattoos all the way down her arm. Addy focused on the tattoos. “It’ll take a few days, though.”

He reached for her bag of books. “Are you headed to your car?” he asked. “I can get these for you.”

She could carry her own books, but she gave up her bag. “Yeah. How about you?”

“I’ve got a break, two afternoon classes and then I’ve got to go to work.”

He had a backpack slung over one shoulder. No bookstore bag. But she’d seen him in the scholarship line. It didn’t surprise her that he’d won a scholarship.

Only that he’d applied for one, if what Nonnie had said was true and he was in Shelter Valley only because she’d blackmailed him.

The man was occupying far too many of her thoughts. She needed to focus them elsewhere so she could free Will and get out of town. But Mark smelled musky and masculine and...

“You don’t have any books.” She didn’t know what else to say.

“I prefer ebooks.” He shrugged, grinned and then said, “And I just found out this morning that my scholarship provides for a tablet to read them, too. You’re talking to the owner of a brand-new seven-inch e-reader. Not quite an iPad, but it’s still pretty cool.”

He sounded like a deep-voiced kid at Christmas. He was smiling broadly as they walked across the campus, the sun shining warmly down on them. Addy wondered if he liked Christmas, if he and Nonnie celebrated in a big way. She wanted to tease him about his obvious affection for electronic devices. But she was there to work.

Period.

“Your grandmother said something about blackmailing you to go to college,” she said, even though she knew that she should be taking back her bag of books and getting the heck away from him. “Was that just B.S.?”