just to be sure.
“Yes.”
Oh. So that explained why he was there. A famous author walking into a library wasn’t the weirdest thing ever. It still didn’t explain why he’d stopped by after hours or why he was acting like such an entitled jerk, but whatever. At least he probably wasn’t an axe murderer.
“Um, is there something I can help you with?” Callie asked.
“Yes.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You’re not going to make me play 20 Questions, are you?”
“No. Come have a drink with me and we can discuss my proposal.”
“Your proposal...?” Callie repeated, her perfectly shaped eyebrow shooting up.
“Relax,” Hunter said with a wink. “It’s a business proposal, not the marriage kind.”
Immediately, Callie’s face reddened. “Well I didn’t think that !” she shot back, acting annoyed to hide her embarrassment. She didn’t want to let on that she thought Hunter was gorgeous and the more she looked at him, the more she imagined him inside her. No way would she ever admit to that. Why did the jerks always have to be so good looking?
“Is the bar across the street any good?” Hunter asked.
Callie shrugged, not wanting to admit that she had only been there once, ages ago. She doubted Hunter Black would be impressed to know she wasn’t a party girl type – and for some infuriating reason she found herself wanting to impress him.
“Well let’s go find out.”
Hesitating, Callie turned back toward her book. She was still annoyed she’d lost her place in it.
Hunter followed her gaze. “The characters and story will still be there after we get back from the bar, promise.” He grabbed the book off the counter before she could pick it up.
“Hey!” she protested, unsuccessfully lunging for it.
“You’ll get it back,” he reassured her as he held it out of her reach. “But first you have to hear me out. One drink – that’s all I ask. Then I will return your book to you, promise.”
Normally that kind of ultimatum would piss Callie off. But Hunter was extremely, sinfully good looking. Not even his abrasive personality could overshadow his gorgeousness. And it had been a stupidly long time since Callie had been in the company of a halfway attractive, successful, articulate man.
“One drink,” she told him.
“Good girl.”
That struck Callie as an odd thing for him to say. Even stranger was the effect those two words had on her. Suddenly she felt very warm and even slightly tingly in her extremities and in, well, other places.
Hunter looked down at the book he had confiscated from Callie. First he skimmed the story synopsis. Then he turned the book over and examined the front cover, which featured a brawny half-naked pirate holding a swooning, busty damsel in distress in his arms. Hunter looked up at Callie and smirked.
Then, because he apparently had to act like an asshole at all times, he commented, “I know you write fan fiction online, but even so I would have taken you for someone more, well, literary. You really read this drivel?”
“I’m going to give you ten minutes,” Callie said pointedly, making a big show of glancing down at her wristwatch. “Once the ten minutes are up, I’m taking my book – which for the record is probably better company than you – and going home.”
“Friday night sitting home alone reading romance novel...exciting!” Hunter taunted her. “Why do I get the feeling that’s what you spend every Friday night doing? Jesus woman, you’re a librarian by day and a bookworm by night – are you trying to make the world think you’re a walking stereotype?”
“Nine minutes.”
“Okay, okay, let’s go.”
*****
When he had walked into the library, Hunter had been a man with a mission.
He’d known exactly what he was after, and he was hell bent on getting it. He always got what he wanted, and tonight wasn’t going to be an exception. He had a
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