What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss Page B

couldn’t believe she’d fallen for it. Now she would become public enemy number one.
    Rachel recalled Mark’s laugh, their shared moment, and tears pricked her eyes. She hurried into the staff bathroom.
    Five minutes later, Trixie barged in and found her, sitting on the floor and dabbing at her face with toilet tissue.
    “Rach…ohmygod, what’s wrong?”
    Her red-rimmed eyes made a denial stupid, so Rachel said what she needed to believe. “Nothing I can’t handle.” She managed a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
    Trixie’s boots squeaked as she crouched in front of her and took her hands. “Says the woman who never cries? I don’t think so.”
    “Don’t give me sympathy, please. I’ll get worse.” Standing, she went to the sink and splashed her face briskly with cold water. Defeat wasn’t an option. She’d just have to think of another way to watch out for Mark. “Anyone on the counter?”
    Trixie ignored her. “Didn’t the date go well?”
    Better for Trixie to think that. Rachel met her assistant’s gaze in the mirror. “Devin saw your text message.”
    “About screwing a rock star?” Trixie’s eyes widened. “Didn’t you tell him it was a joke?”
    “Egotists rarely laugh at themselves.”
    “What a butt-head.”
    Rachel remembered the feel of Devin’s butt. “The misunderstanding wasn’t one-sided,” she admitted. “I should never have kissed him back.” In the cold light of day she couldn’t understand why she had.
    “You kissed!”
    Damn . “Let’s get back to work, hey?” She turned the handle but Trixie leaned against the door.
    “Just tell me what the kiss was like.”
    Fantastic . “Like kissing a wet dog. Look, the whole date was a bad idea, but no harm done.”
    “Then why were you crying?”
    “Because…” Unable to tell the truth, Rachel floundered.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    “B ECAUSE YOU ACTED LIKE an asshole, Rachel’s really upset.”
    Devin looked down at the baby Goth barring his way into the lecture hall. “You’re the text sender…Trixie, isn’t it? And this is another one of your oh-so-funny jokes. Because Heartbreaker doesn’t get upset, she gets mad.”
    The young woman frowned. “No, this time I’m serious. I don’t know what went down, other than the fact that you kiss like a wet dog, but—”
    Devin laughed. “You see? Mad.”
    “You made her cry.”
    “I doubt that.” He tried to step past her; she blocked him.
    “I found her in tears this morning. She tried to make light of it, but Rachel never cries. I mean never. Even when her dad died a couple of years back.”
    He didn’t need this. It had been enough placating Mark. Devin figured he wasn’t due to make another apology for at least a year. “You’re making too big a deal of this.”
    “You mean it isn’t a big deal to you ,” said Trixie. “But it must be a big deal to Rachel or she wouldn’t be so upset. She’s not like us. She’s led a sheltered life and hasn’t learned to protect herself.”
    Devin recalled Rachel’s well-placed knee. “Trust me, she can take care of herself.”
    “I mean emotionally,” Trixie said impatiently. “She doesn’t protect herself against being hurt.”
    He wasn’t used to being taken to task over bad behavior. The band had been on the road so much it was easy to sidestep consequences, and if they hadn’t been touring…well, there was the house in Barbados to escape to if he needed to get out of L.A. for a while.
    “I’ll think about apologizing.”
    “Really?”
    “Sure.” But it was a tactic to get rid of her. Devin didn’t “do” hurt feelings and he wasn’t about to start.
    So he couldn’t explain how he ended up knocking on Rachel’s front door at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening.
    When she was feisty he could ignore her, stay pissed. But Rachel hurt niggled at his peace of mind. And that peace was too hard won to surrender lightly.
    Her shadow appeared through the stained glass door panel, hesitating as Rachel recognized him.