Epilogue
When Beth arrived at Roust, she almost turned around and left. Her grand idea suddenly felt ridiculous despite Julia’s and Anusha’s assurances that she looked hot. Beth glanced down at the tight blouse and oh-so-snug pencil skirt and swallowed. In the rearview mirror, she checked her black-rimmed glasses and perfectly messy chignon. A real sexy librarian. It was over the top and more than a little laughable, but she wanted to prove to Alex—and maybe even herself—that she didn’t always take things so seriously. And she knew he was just the type of guy who would appreciate the gesture.
Climbing out of the car proved precarious in her four-inch heels, but she managed and walked through Roust’s door is if she were used to wearing such things. Thankfully, the patrons inside were absorbed in their conversations and coffees and didn’t notice her daringly sexy getup. The teenaged boy behind the counter, however, certainly noticed. His mouth parted as he took her in, and his face reddened. “What . . . can I get you?”
Giving him a smile, she said, “I’d like to speak to the owner. Mr. Buchanan.”
“Oh,” the boy said, a worried expression crossing his face as if he thought she was there to file a complaint. “He’s, um, in the back.”
Beth smiled patiently. “Can you get him?”
The flustered barista blinked and then nodded. “Yeah. I can, yeah. Sure. What do I tell him it’s about?”
She thought about it. “Tell him it’s about an overdue book fine.”
The boy’s eyebrows rose, but he hurried off.
Less than a minute later, Alex emerged from the back, his mouth pulled into a confused frown. When he saw her, his eyes widened.
And she knew she’d chosen the right outfit.
Of course, then his shock faded and was replaced with disappointing guardedness.
She watched the barista return to his post behind the counter, then looked back at Alex. “Hey.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Hey.”
“Can we talk?”
He seemed to debate his answer, but then he nodded, gesturing with his chin toward the hall he’d just come down. “My office.”
She followed him. His office was a small but tidy space with modern furnishings and was like a cocoon of solitude compared to the clatter and conversation of the shop proper. Framed artwork that had clearly been done by a child—presumably Tessa—graced the walls, and natural light filtered through a large window.
“This is nice,” Beth said, gazing around.
He went over to his desk and leaned his hip against it, crossing his arms over his chest while he studied her. “Beth.”
It wasn’t a greeting or a question. It was a spit-it-out-I’m-busy demand.
She sighed. “I was an idiot.”
His expression remained placid. “Oh?”
So, he was going to make her bleed for it then. So be it. “I met your mother today,” she said. “And your niece.”
He stared at her with unreadable eyes, and she couldn’t tell if he was giving her the silent treatment or simply watching her squirm. Finally, he asked, “And how did you get on?”
“They were both very kind. Tessa is beautiful. I can see the family resemblance.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “She’s a good kid.”
Beth continued. “Your mother mentioned that she’s friends with Pearl Taylor.”
His eyebrow raised ever so slightly. “You mean the kind of friends who might, I don’t know, gossip amongst each other?”
Beth grimaced. “Yes.”
“Gossip that might find its way back to a certain daughter?”
“Yes,” Beth answered again.
“I see.”
“Alex,” she said by way of offering an olive branch. “I’m sorry I misjudged you. If you hadn’t noticed, it’s one of my skills.”
He studied her, and then the corner of his mouth slowly curved. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”
“Rylie has gotten under my skin since high school,” Beth said. “I shouldn’t still let her get to me.”
Though his grin lingered, he said, “I’m not and have never been with Rylie Taylor-Reed.”
Beth held up a hand. “You don’t need to explain.”
He gave her a look that said let me finish. “She and her friends come in here every other week, flirting with me and any other man within spitting distance. I let them giggle and bat their eyelashes, then I give them their coffee and go back to work. Nothing more.”
She let out a breath, embarrassed by her relief. She should have known Alex wasn’t the type to cavort with Rylie. Beth had only known him a short while, but he’d been nothing but genuine and polite. Shamelessly flirtatious but polite.
“When I saw you give her that money,” she said, “I assumed the worst.”
“It was for cookie dough.”
Beth’s train of thought derailed. “What?”
“Cookie dough,” he said again. “Rylie said her kid was selling cookie dough for a school fundraiser. Wanted to know if I would buy some. Begged me, really.”
He’d been buying cookie dough. Beth had never felt more obnoxious. “That wouldn’t be chocolate chip would it?”
“Three tubs’ worth,” he confirmed.
She was quiet for a long moment, simmering in her embarrassment. Finally, she laughed. She couldn’t help it. The chain of events was just too outrageous. “I bet you’ve never had a date blow a gasket because you bought cookie dough before.”
“Can’t say I have,” he admitted, a smile playing on his mouth.
“God,” she laughed. “This is what happens when you read too much fiction. Everything looks like a conspiracy or a mystery or a romance trope.”
A mischievous glimmer lit his eyes. “Romance, huh?”
“You know what I mean,” she said, the return of his incorrigible ways making her heart flutter. “The point is I’m so busy worrying about what might be going on that I forget to pay attention to what is actually going on.”
Looking positively rakish, he asked, “If this were a romance novel, what would the hero do to the virginal heroin right now?”
She blushed. Furiously. “I’m not virginal.”
“Right.”
She wanted to remind him of the incredibly non-virginal outfit she currently wore, but she settled on, “Not that it’s any of your business.”
He chuckled, and it sounded far sexier than it had any right to. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Though she hadn’t been lying when she’d said she wasn’t virginal, she wasn’t far from it. The few serious relationships she’d indulged in could be summed up in one word: safe. Her boyfriends had been dull and predictable, and that carried over into their love life. She’d simply never had the courage to be adventurous when it came to the opposite sex. Despite the racy titles she so loved to read. But wasn’t it time she came out of her shell? Wasn’t it time she lived? In the real world and not just the fictional one? A month ago, she would have blushed and made a quick exit. Today, she was ready to embrace a little risk. Go a little wild. Be a little bad.
Feeling bold and reckless, she met his gaze and said, “He would kiss her.”
Alex’s eyes went from playful to downright hungry. “Would he.”
She looked at him from behind her non-magnifying glasses—that she’d bought strictly to reduce computer screen glare. They had never felt sexy until now. “He would.”
Alex grinned as if he was thoroughly enjoying her boldness. “You done messed up, little librarian.”
Beth’s heart skipped a beat, and her mouth parted. “Oh?”
“Oh,” he confirmed, and crossed the room in two strides, taking her into his arms.
Beth had read countless passionate romances, but she’d never experienced one herself. Until now. And she knew she would never be the same. Alex gathered her against him, burying his fingers in her chignon, bringing their mouths close. “You’re always beautiful,” he said against her lips. “But if your intention was to drive me out of my damn mind with this outfit, you succeeded.”
Beth gripped his biceps and stared up at him, her bottom lip trembling in anticipation. He was so, so close. “Mission accomplished.”
He kissed her then. A mind-stealing, hotter-than-Hades kiss. She moaned into his mouth and closed her eyes, unable to withstand the onslaught of his desire crashing against hers. He worked her mouth like a magician, disappearing her inhibitions with a flourish. She forgot that she hadn’t known him all that long and that they were currently making out like heathens in his office. Inside a coffee shop. There was only Alex and their desperation. When his tongue met hers, he groaned, and she found herself pushed against the wall. Never had she been so overcome with want. It was the kiss to end all kisses. The one she would think of when she lay on her deathbed, old and frail. It was the most thrilling, exhilarating moment of her entire life.
And she wasn’t the only one affected. Alex’s hand shook as he held her own against the wall, while he continued making love to her lips. And that’s what it was. A mere kiss could never contain all that this was.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you walk into my shop,” he said, his voice husky. He kissed her cheek, her jaw, her throat.
She gasped, turning her head to give him access. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh,” she said, for that was all she could manage. Had anyone ever swept her off her feet like this? His mouth was a thief of rational thought, and she was his willing victim.
When he abruptly broke away a few heartbeats later, it took her head a moment to stop spinning. She gazed at him with flushed cheeks and a heaving chest, pleasure cluttering her thoughts.
He dragged his hand down his stubbled chin. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I got carried away. Usually not how I handle a first kiss.”
“The hero would kiss me again,” she said, hoping to banish his worries. “Be the hero.”
He was like a book, and she didn’t want to stop turning the pages now. Their story might have a happy ending and it might not, but she was desperate to find out. Besides, what kind of librarian would she be if she didn’t read just one more chapter?
He laughed. “You’re not what I expected.”
“I know the feeling,” she said. “I’m not what I expected, either.”
He kissed her again. “I want you. Now.”
“That wasn’t part of our agreement,” she breathed.
“Then consider this an addendum,” he said, nipping her shoulder through her blouse. “I’ll pay you in day-old pastries.”
She laughed, but it dissolved into a gasp when he pulled her hair just hard enough to send a thrill through her. He spoke against her throat. “Don’t you know it’s not polite to laugh during a business meeting?”
She arched against him, unable to stop herself, and curled her fingers into his shirt. “When you’re the CEO of the company, you can do whatever you want.”
His grin was dangerous. “I’ll show you who the CEO is.”
This time, when he kissed her, it was a claim, and she rose to the challenge. She didn’t think about propriety or modesty or consequences. There was only this moment with this man, and she didn’t want to have a single regret. They pulled at each other’s clothes—him shoving up her skirt, and her popping the buttons of his shirt. Her heart was beating so fast she worried it would give out.
“Oh God,” she whispered as he pulled aside her half-unbuttoned blouse, revealing her black lace bra.
Groaning, he worshipped it with his mouth, while she awkwardly did away with her panties one-handed.
“This is crazy,” he said, raking her bra strap down her shoulder as far as her bunched blouse would allow.
She gasped. “I know, but don’t stop.”
Breaking away only long enough to tear open and put on a condom, his gaze bored into hers. “That is one thing you definitely don’t have to worry about.”
They came back together in a frantic meeting of mouths and hands, and when he entered her, she cried out. He muffled it with his kiss, and they moved together in strained silence that was broken only by the sound of their hot breath and the rattling of wall art. It was fast, furious, and feral, and when it was over, they clung together in a breathless tangle of arms and possibilities. They gazed at each other while they returned to earth, his hand bracing the wall beside her head, caging her in. It was a cage she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to break free of.
“Well,” he said after a sweet, lingering moment. “That was unexpected.”
“Very,” she agreed, her voice tremulous.
He kissed her reverently. “If this is how you apologize, you can offend me anytime you want.”
She laughed, and he took advantage of the angle, kissing her throat.
“You were offended, huh?” she asked. “You’re such a millennial.”
His own laugh tickled her neck. “You want to get coffee with me? I know a great place.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve heard the customer service leaves something to be desired.”
The look in his eyes said he very much wanted to punish her for the insult, but a knock came at the door. From outside, a muffled voice said, “Excuse me, Boss. There is a customer wanting a refund because I messed up her cappuccino, and I can’t do refunds.”
Beth gave Alex an I-told-you-so grin before dissolving into laughter that she struggled to hide with her fist.
Alex tried to hold back his own grin and failed. “Be right there, Derek.” Then, to Beth, he added more quietly, “This isn’t over.”
As he reluctantly let her go, buttoning his jeans, she smiled. “I hope not.”
He paused, his shirt half tucked in, and pulled her in for one last kiss. “You can count on it.”
Her heart felt as though it was made entirely of sparklers. Crackling with happy energy and bright light. She didn’t know what the future held. If Alex was her happily ever after. But the possibilities floated around them like fireflies on a warm summer night. Beautiful and magical. Which of those fireflies they caught remained to be seen, but she couldn’t wait to fill her jar.
“You don’t happen to own a white horse, do you?” she asked him, tugging her clothes back into place.
He ran his fingers through his mussed hair and laughed. “No, but I have a black Harley. Same thing.”
As she recalled what it had felt like to ride on that black Harley with him, she was inclined to agree. “I guess it’ll do.”
His mouth quirked. “Damn right it will.”
When she’d adjusted her skirt, she started to take off the black-rimmed glasses.
“No,” he said, straightening his watch while he stared at her. “Leave them on.”
Her breath caught, and she complied, lowering her hand. “You’re bossy.”
His grin produced that adorable cheek dimple. “It’s kind of in my job description.”
“Speaking of jobs,” she said as he opened the office door. “I wasn’t kidding about that library fine.”
He stopped and looked at her, his expression amused. “Is that so?”
She did a quick assessment of her dismantled chignon. “It is,” she confirmed. “I found you in our system. You owe the library sixty cents.”
He laughed again. “You’re serious.”
“Oh, I’m serious,” she assured him. “Kissing the librarian doesn’t get you out of your financial obligations.”
The glint in his eye turned wicked. “I seem to recall doing a lot more than kissing the librarian.”
She gave him a stern look. “Pay up.”
As they made their way toward the heart of the coffee shop, he pulled out his wallet. “You drive a hard bargain.”
She held out her hand but couldn’t help her laughter. “You know what they say,” she said, feeling mischievous and over-the-top happy. “Money talks.”