Read Online Consumed (Keeping her in the Dark) by Leslie Sansom - Free Book Online Page A

people now. They stay pretty busy up here.”
    We went back down stairs and finished putting the books
away. Tim started to show me the children’s section, when it was time for me to
go.
    “That’s okay. I can show you tomorrow. I’ll also show you
what happens to the old books, books we have too many copies of, and damaged
books.”
    “Thank you for all your help today. It really went fast,
didn’t it?”
    “It only feels that way because it’s your first day. When
you’ve been here awhile, the day drags on.”
    I couldn’t imagine ever being bored surrounded by books.
Just inhaling and smelling the scent of all the book bindings and paper, made
me smile. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell Liam about my day. Although I
was concerned with telling him I was working with a man.
    He sat quietly as I went through the details of my day. As I
started to explain how Tim trained me to use their computer system, it occurred
to me that Liam probably thought this was the biggest waste of time. I slowed
my speech and took some of the enthusiasm out of my voice. My new job was
really nothing compared to his. He probably thought a well-trained monkey could
do this job.
    “Tomorrow he will show me where they keep the damaged
books,” I started tapping my fork against my plate. “And the books that are,
ah,” I started stuttering, “old books, and books that are old,” I lowered my
eyes and stopped talking. I moved my food around my plate and took a sip of my
wine.
    “Norah?” Liam hadn’t taken his eyes off me. I looked over at
him. “What happened?”
    “Nothing, I was done. That was it. That was my day.” I took
another sip of wine. “Tell me about your day.”
    “You know what I do. Endless meetings, conference calls,
talking to lawyers, and negotiations that usually end nowhere.”
    He took another sip of his wine. “I was enjoying listening
to you talk about your day. Why did you stop?”
    “I thought I was boring you,” I whispered. He touched my
hand.
    “Nothing you do is boring, little one. Your job may not be
my cup of tea, but I like to hear you talk about it. You seem very happy. I
assume you had a good day, and liked working with…..Tim? Was it?” I smiled but
fidgeted with my fingers in my lap.
    “Yes. Are you mad? About Tim?” I asked.
    “Why would I be mad about Tim? Is he mean to you?” He
laughed.
    “No. I just thought you wouldn’t like me working with a
man…so closely.”
    “Does my working with Marcy… bother you?” He clasped his
hands in front of him and rested his chin on his knuckles.
    “Well to be honest, I guess at first it bothered me,” he
interrupted me before I could finish.
    “Really? I had no idea. Why?” he looked like he was enjoying
this conversation. He had that smug, cocky grin on his face.
    “It bothered me because when I met her the first time, I
wasn’t sure about us. And I guess I didn’t understand why she kept looking at
you and me…and staring almost. I thought she might like you. And since I didn’t
know much about you at the time, I thought you might be involved with her.” I
hated stroking his oversized ego, but I was just being honest.
    “Well, if you had asked me I would have explained that she
looked at you and me together, because I had never brought a woman I was seeing
into work before. She probably wasn’t sure what to make of it.”
    “Well I know that now. And the next time I came in she was
more than generous and made me feel like a queen.”
    “Well to answer your question, no I’m not mad. When you
aren’t the boss you can’t control who you work with. I trust you, Norah and
more importantly I trust your judgment. I’m just glad you had a good day.” He
smiled and sounded very reassuring, but I still had this feeling that he
thought this job was beneath me. Maybe he was still offended that I even wanted
to work at all. Maybe he felt as though I was wasting my college degree. I
didn’t continue with the conversation