Read Online Mayday by Olivia Dade - Free Book Online

and her heart if she kept spending time with Wes? The whole idea seemed like a surefire path to heartbreak, to be honest.
    Then again, what wouldn’t she do to ensure getting the Community Outreach job?
    Not much. Not much at all. Especially if she didn’t have to compromise her ethics.
    â€œAll right.” She stood and stretched out her hand. “But the recommendation needs to be honest. If you don’t feel like I’ve done a good job, don’t write it. On the other hand, if you feel like I’ve excelled, I want a glowing letter. Like, so glowing it might as well be radioactive.”
    He took her hand in a firm grip, which he let linger a little too long for comfort.
    â€œThank you, Helen,” he said, and his voice caressed every exposed nerve in her body. “So when can we start?”
    She sighed and headed for the door. “Put on your coat, Mayor. Might as well start now.”
    â€œPerfect.” He threw on his wool peacoat, looking dapper and eager.
    She sighed again. Yes. Just perfect. If she didn’t mind spending time with the man most likely to destroy her ego and break her heart again.
    â€œWhere do you want to go?” he asked.
    That question, at least, she could answer without hesitation.
    â€œSomewhere I can get a drink,” she told him.

5
    T wo months later, Wes gazed at Helen over the top of his coffee mug and marveled once again at how such filthy stories emerged from such a soft, sweet-looking mouth.
    Sliding her glasses up on top of her head, she continued her latest tale of library oddity. “So then Con had to figure out what to do about the elderly dude in the bathrobe and slippers. I mean, the Bookmobile serves people who can’t come to the library, but there are limits. And those limits involve terry-cloth robes flapping in the winter breeze.” She wrinkled her freckled nose. “And from what Con said, other things were flapping too. Floppy things. Surprisingly girthy things.”
    He choked on his coffee, somehow managing to get it up his nose as he laughed.
    She took a sip of tea and smiled in the satisfied way she always did after making him crack up. He’d discovered over the past two months that Helen loved to tell stories, especially ones that made him cringe and laugh at the same time. During their last conversation over coffee, he’d cringe-laughed so hard he’d actually pulled a muscle in his face.
    â€œDid I tell you about all these slippery books we kept getting returned from Angie’s smut room at Battlefield?” She leaned forward in her chair. “It turns out it wasn’t hand lotion, after all. Or not just hand lotion. Penny finally figured out—”
    â€œNo, you haven’t told me. And I really want to hear about it.” Kind of. “But I was curious. You told me earlier about Penny’s engagement. How do you feel about it?”
    With one swift motion, she lowered her frames back onto the bridge of her nose. Her gaze sharpened on him, evaluating his question. Considering how to answer it.
    â€œPenny couldn’t be happier,” Helen finally said with a genuine smile, the one that made the dimple on her right cheek peek out. “Jack treats her like a queen, and they have so much in common. They can exchange obscure literary references for hours. Not to mention their mutual fondness for slutting up Jane Eyre .”
    He couldn’t hold back a snort of mirth, tweaking his injury yet again. His conversations with Helen often included more information than he necessarily wanted about Penny and Jack’s fondness for Rochester-Jane cosplay. Much as he hated to admit it, though, he enjoyed the stories. Listening to them felt kind of like watching a sexy train crash. Plus, he considered them his long-belated education in world literature.
    Following Helen down that particular conversational rabbit hole would prove easy. Too easy. As usual, she was trying to distract