The Library (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 1) by Casey White (ebook reader 8 inch .TXT) 📗

her of that?  Owl gave a quick shake of his head, his mind racing.  Had to take back control of the conversation, fast.  “I meant it,” he said.  “You can come back, if you like.”  The corners of his mouth quirked up.  “You’ve been substantially less of a pain in my ass than some of you.”

Olivia smiled, just a hint of something bittersweet lurking beneath the surface of the expression.  “Yeah.  I know.”

Asshole.  She already said-  “And even...even if it doesn’t last forever, you’re still high up in the Booklenders, right?”  He shrugged.  “You can always come to Alexandria.”

“To the doorway,” Olivia mumbled.

“Well, maybe sometimes I’ll give you a peek through the door.  See how Alex is doing.”

Olivia’s eyes snapped up to meet his, widening.  They relaxed again a moment later.  “You mean that, don’t you?”

“M-Maybe.  We can talk about it.  I just don’t want you to-”

“It’s fine,” she whispered.  “That was the deal  I...I don’t want you to go against that for me.  Really.”

“But-”

Her fingers squeezed his thigh again, releasing a moment later to brush back and forth across the fabric.  His skin twitched at the touch.  He couldn’t quite bring himself to pull away.  “I’m glad I got to see it,” Olivia said.  Just a short while before, she’d seemed right on the edge of frantic about the matter.  That was gone.  Something else waited in its place.  Resignation?  “Even if it’s not forever.  Even if I can’t come back.  I got to see the Great Library.  Just this once.”

“...Yeah,” Owl said at last.

Olivia’s head dropped to his shoulder.  He flinched.  She was right there, pressed up against his side.  “This place,” she murmured.  “I knew it’d be different, but I’ve never seen anywhere like it.  Alex.  It’s perfect.  She’s perfect.”

Perfect, my ass.  He wished he could tell her about all the times it wasn’t so picturesque - the times when Alex decided to lock him in rooms until he apologized for a rude comment, the doors she shut in his face.  Alex was far from perfect.

But none of that seemed to matter.  Alex was here, and she was special, and it was hard to articulate words when a headful of hair hovered inches in front of his nose.  Olivia’s fingers kept brushing the inside of his thigh, almost absentmindedly.

“Y-Yeah,” he managed, the best he could do.

Olivia shifted.  He had a moment’s warning before her head lifted - and her almost-black eyes met his.  “I want to thank you,” she said.

Owl froze, pinned in place by the intensity in the look she was giving him.  Where had it come from?  Something had changed, he knew - he just didn’t know what.  Or why.  “W-What?” he stammered.  “I mean, whatever it is, you’re welcome, but-”

“You put up with a lot from me, I’m sure,” Olivia said.  Her eyes were on his, but her cheek still rested against his shoulder - and her hand was still on his leg.  “You wasted a lot of time on my hobbies.  You didn’t have to.”

“I-It’s my job,” Owl said.  His cheeks were flushing, he knew.  She was too close.  He hadn’t- He really hadn’t expected this when he’d gotten up in the morning.  “I was just-”

“Your job might be to tolerate my bullshit,” Olivia said.  “You didn’t have to go out of your way.  You did.”

“I’m just- As Librarian, I-”

“Jesus Christ, you’re thick,” Olivia mumbled, letting her head fall forward.  When she lifted it again, that tiny, wry smile had returned to her lips.  “You’re a good man, Owl.  An idiot, but good.  Smart.  Considerate.  Patient.”

Owl swallowed hard.  “Thanks, but-”

“I like good men,” Olivia said, enunciating each syllable clearly.  “And I like you.”  Her thumb pressed gently into his inner thigh, climbing higher.  The corners of her eyes crinkled.  “Let me go back to the start.  I want to thank you, Owl.”

Oh.  The final piece slammed home with a click loud enough he was surprised it didn’t echo off the Library walls.  “Oh,” Owl said.

Her lips curled up.  “Oh.”

She was beautiful, the whispers in the back of his mind pointed out.  And fun to be around.  Filled with life.  He certainly didn’t dislike her.  So maybe

Owl flinched as she leaned in, sliding her hand up nearly to the crook of his leg.  Shivers rippled up his spine.  “O-Olivia.  Wait.  I didn’t help you so that you’d feel obligated to-”

“I’m not stupid,” Olivia said, her smile growing.  “I’m a grown woman.  I know how to be up front about what I want.”

“Y-Yes,” Owl said, licking his lips.  She’d shifted by then, angling around his front until the two were seemingly inches apart.  “You certainly do.  B-But I’m the Librarian.  So-”

“So what?” Olivia said.  He bit back a yelp as her fingernails traced lines across his pants.  “We’re both adults.  This is the Library.”  A chuckle slipped from her lips.  “It doesn’t really matter, does it?  Who’ll ever know?”

“Well, Will might-”

“Will isn’t going to bother us,” Olivia said, still smiling broadly.  “He’ll know better than that.  He’ll be holed up in the study if he knows what’s good for him.”

“Oh,”  Owl swallowed again, warring with the flood of something washing through him.  Stop acting like this is your first time flirting with a woman.  This isn’t even your first fling.  “B-But, I can’t- I’m the Librarian.  I can’t take off my-”

“I really don’t think we need to take your mask off,” Olivia said, her voice filling with amusement.  Her hand was roaming, by then, coaxing him on with tiny, whisper-soft touches.  “We’ll manage somehow.”

“I shouldn’t,” he mumbled.  But he didn’t pull away, either.

The low rumble of her laughter filled the space between them.  “You married, Owl?”

He shook his head violently.  “N-No.  No.  I’m not.”

“Got a lover, then?”

“...No.”  Owl licked his lips, swallowing again.  “Nothing...Nothing like that.”

It was true.  He didn’t.  Even in the outside world, that was one challenge he’d never been able to beat.  Not for long enough to mean anything, anyway.

So why did it feel so much like a betrayal to say the