“Dammit,” I grumbled in irritation that a copy of the book Professor Meads had recommended was nowhere on the shelf. I double-checked the piece of paper where I’d scribbled the information for its location and I knew I was in the right place. All the books on banking and finance were here, which meant someone had to have borrowed this one. But the computer system had declared it available.

I glanced around the floor of the library and my eyes widened in alarm at the books left on the tables. There was no telling where the copy of the book could have ended up. I wouldn’t be able to find it as I didn’t have time to check all the books on the desks. I had to be at work by 3:30 and I didn’t want to show up late. The owner had been kind about giving me Christmas Eve off, the day I planned to go home and visit my father. I wished I could spend more than two days but while everyone else was enjoying the winter break, I would be back at work the day after Christmas.

Instead of wasting my time coming to the library and leaving empty-handed, I selected another text which had content on what I had been taught in Project Appraisal. I checked the table of contents and was satisfied it would suffice, then glanced at my watch again. Two-thirty already.

I walked briskly down three flights of stairs to the first floor and missed my step, seeing Lucas sitting idly by a computer desk. He glanced towards the stairs as though he was expecting someone, and I forgot for a minute how to descend a flight of stairs. I went down hard, wrenching my ankle, and had to clutch the bannister to keep from falling. I closed my eyes in mortification, hearing nothing but the beating of my heart and my thoughts.

Shit, did I have to make a fool of myself in front of him? As if he needs any more girls falling at his feet.

“I saw you almost fall, are you okay?”

I opened my eyes at the concerned voice to discover him hovering over me. Too close, too close, my body signaled to me but he was unstoppable as he took me by the arms and swung me down the rest of the stairs. He made it seem so easy. I assessed him from head to toe, taking note of his muscular arms in the short sleeves of his polo shirt. He had a big black sun-dial tattoo inside the lower portion of his arm that made me shiver. His chest was well-defined under his shirt. I remembered that from half-naked pictures of him modeling swimwear over a year ago. That was how I first knew about him. His photos had flashed all over social media and campus feeds.

His polo shirt was tucked into golf-shorts which bared his long, thick legs. He sported another tattoo on his right leg, an anchor. The place on my right hip where I’d gotten a tattoo of a humming bird last year burned now as I remembered. It was my little secret. Nobody knew about it. Certainly not my dad, or he would freak out.

Coming to the big city of Denver, that had been my father’s concern. That I would adopt city life and become someone else. Someone like my mother. I’d gotten the tattoo simply because I liked it and for no other reason, but if my Dad saw it, he would think differently. Though he was proud of my achievements, I sensed his disappointment at times that I’d headed for the big city once I finished high school instead of considering a local community college he’d wanted to pay for himself.

“Are you okay?”

His repeated question finally hit home and I stepped back from him.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he answered with a smile. That one-hundred-watt smile made me weak-kneed.

“I-I’ve got to go sign out this book,” I mumbled and took a step back.

“Wait!”

“Huh?” I was thoroughly confused. What did he want?

He took a step which closed the distance between us. “I was wondering if you’d like to go get something to drink, eat, or grab a coffee? Anything really would be fine.”

I blinked up at him like a deer caught in the headlights. It sounded like he was asking me out but I couldn’t believe it. Him and me? No way. To our left, there were some girls vying for his attention. Girls better suited to him with their fake lashes and silicone-enhanced boobs.

I recalled what he’d said to his friend when asked who I was. Nobody. I didn’t believe he meant to ask nobody out. Unless… I searched around me, trying to locate his posse, certain this had to be some cruel joke by them to make fun of me. But I didn’t see anyone else other than the usual patrons using the library.

Did that mean… The thought made me panic and I stepped back. No, no. I refused to believe it. A guy like Lucas didn’t go around asking a girl like me out.

“I have to go,” I stated, not able to hide the panic from my tone. I turned and headed towards the front desk, glad there was no one else in line.

While the borrowed book was being stamped, I glanced over my shoulder to where I’d left him and he still stood there, staring at me. I glanced away quickly, not wanting to give him ideas. I wasn’t gullible and I wouldn’t fawn over Lucas Caine. At least not in person.

“Thank you.” I nodded to the librarian and made for the door. I left the library without looking back at him and located my car parked in one of the lots used for student parking.

I winced when I spotted the old, dented Toyota, too banged up to have much use left in it. I probably would need a new car soon, but I hoped to get as much mileage out of it as possible. I couldn’t afford a new car right now and prayed it would last me another year. I highly doubted it. Somehow, I would have to scrape together the money to buy another used car but I didn’t see it happening until next summer.

I unlocked the door which groaned in protest when I opened it. Thank God, Lucas hadn’t followed me. Or maybe he should have followed me and taken a good look at the piece of metal crap I drove. That would have gotten him to quit trying to play with me. I knew guys like him. What had he done? Slept his way all around the campus and now looked for new challenges? Or did he perhaps think I would be flattered someone like him was talking to me and become an easy lay for him?

The joke was on him because there was nothing easy about me.

I jammed the key in the ignition a little harder than was necessary. It was a wonder it didn’t break inside but, as if to punish me, nothing happened when I turned the key. This was a common occurrence and it usually started after several attempts, but the key turned over and nothing. Not even a little sputter.

“Come on!” I cried in frustration, hitting the steering wheel with my hands. “Not today. Please.”

I got out the car and went to pop the hood, checking for anything that might be wrong. I smelled no suspicious odors but beyond that, I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t a mechanic. My father had taught me how to change the tires on a car which I could manage if the lugs weren’t too tight, but figuring out mechanical problems was beyond my expertise.

A group of three guys passed me, their arms around a girl each. They snickered at my car as they went by.

“Just throw that crap in the junkyard!” one of them called out and the others laughed.

I was hurt at their callous words. Did they think I would drive this car around if I could afford a better one? They could go to hell and take their opinions with them. I had my own worries without adding a few comments by young adults still acting like they were snotty-nosed brats on the playground.

The time on my watch showed it was almost three. I had to get to Lulu’s Diner and change into my uniform before my shift started. What should I do? I didn’t know anyone who could give me a lift. Whatever was wrong with the car, I didn’t even know if I could bring it in and have a professional look at it. With the little money I’d saved, I bought a laptop off eBay when mine stopped working and the money I had left was for my trip to my hometown, Pagosa Springs. The journey would last for a whole five hours and it was probably cheaper for me to fly, given the cost of gas, but I’d never flown before and I was terrified of the experience.

Tears pricked my eyes. I hated this. Hated that nothing ever went right for long. My father was looking forward to seeing me and I couldn’t wait to go back home and regroup. Though I’d never return to live in the small town with a population of under two thousand, it was a relaxing place to wind down and get away from the madness of city life.

God, sometimes I hated being poor.