She turned off the kitchen light and took her computer to her room. She had a few days. She’d start dealing with her issues on Sunday. But today? Today she’d hide.
She put in her earbuds, cranked up the music and started reading letters. And the letters started to help her feel halfway normal.
CHAPTER SIX
GABE EYED LAUREN as they shut down the library together. He’d been eyeing her all day, hoping that interacting with her would somehow help him understand Veronica better. Did Lauren know the truth? Did it even matter? It wasn’t as if Gabe could ask her about it.
The girl he’d been flirting with last night was a virgin. The thought still stunned him, though he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was only that he’d assumed since college that any woman he might date was probably as experienced as he was, give or take a couple of partners.
But Veronica had never had sex. Or she’d “pretty much” never had sex.
He frowned at the shelves as he straightened a few books. What the hell had that meant? Had she said it just to drive him insane?
Clearing his throat, he watched Lauren as she shut down the computer monitors. “I saw the Dear Veronica show last night,” he finally ventured as he hit the switch on the entryway lights.
“Oh, I was having dinner with Jake’s family and I couldn’t make it. Was it great?”
“It was pretty amazing,” he answered, wincing a little at how accurate that assessment was. He grabbed some paper towels and helped Lauren wipe down tables in the children’s section. “She’s really good at doing that in front of an audience.”
“She is!” Lauren beamed at him. “You wouldn’t believe how worried she was about it. But I knew she’d be great. She’s good at everything. She just needs a little more confidence.”
Right. He nodded. “How long hav
e you known her?”
Lauren shot him a curious look that he pretended not to see. “About a year. I didn’t meet her until after she moved back to town.”
“Why’d she leave New York?”
“I’m not sure. You should ask her about it.” Her smile wasn’t subtle.
Gabe shook his head. “I’m just curious.” He left off the “because she asked me to have sex last night.”
“Good,” Lauren said. “She’s very interesting.”
That was putting it mildly. Veronica was so damn interesting, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He’d thought about her all night until he’d fallen asleep. He’d thought about her all day. He’d wondered how she’d feel about their conversation once she was sober. He’d tried to figure out how he felt about it. He’d imagined what it would be like to sleep with her.
That had felt a little wrong since he hardly knew her and she was...kind of innocent? But that kind of wrongness didn’t exactly put a damper on sexual interest. She was pretty. She had great legs. Her smile made him happy. And she thought he was gorgeous.
Shit.
He retreated to the office to shut down the documents he’d been working on, though he hated doing it. He was just getting into the good stuff of figuring out which ebook lending system would work best with the library, but there’d be plenty of time to work on it tomorrow.
“Ready?” Lauren asked, reaching past him to grab her purse.
“Sure. I’ll walk you to your car.”
She laughed over her shoulder as she hit the last of the lights and headed for the back door. “Seriously?”
“Right. I got used to working in downtown Cincinnati.”
“Well, we do have to keep an eye out for bears. And there were rumors of a mountain lion in Jackson Square last year, but I suspect old Mrs. Smith was drunk again. She does love a good whiskey sour.”
She held open the door, then locked it behind her once he was through. “Hey, guys,” she called to the three firemen sitting in folding chairs near their door.
“Jesus, Lauren!” one called. “When I said you should hire a hot new librarian, that wasn’t what I meant!”
“Gabe,” she said drily, “that’s William, and those other two are Henry and Elliott. I’m afraid they’re a little disappointed with you.”