Checking Out Love by R. Cooper Read Free Book Online

his next free evening, exactly one day before he’d scheduled an appointment to return anyway, Jeremy raced to get to Four Oaks before the library closed. He shouldn’t, so there he was, parking by the No Parking sign, being stared at by a judgmental cat. No one seemed to be home in the quirky little Victorian, although the porch light was on.
    Jeremy dealt with his helmet and dragged his hands through his hair to give it some life. Then he nodded at the cat before heading into the library. He stuck his gloves in his pocket and unzipped his leather jacket. He’d worn plaid again. He had not thought this out.
    Ah well. There was always the chance Benj wouldn’t be working tonight. He could have gone home alone, his attention buried in a book as he ate a single chicken breast and wished someone like Jeremy would take him to dinner.
    Which was a joke. Jeremy’s finances didn’t go to nice dinners. If he went for his doctorate, then he wasn’t going to be eating nice dinners for a long time. He’d have no money, and barely time to eat. A night home with simple food and a warm boyfriend would seem like heaven.
    Was that part of the problem? Did people desire Benj, but his cardigans and quiet nights before the fire with Persephone looked boring from the outside?
    Jeremy hesitated outside the library entrance. The plaque was harder to read at night, but he remembered the gist. The library had respectable credentials, was a place for respectable people. Not grad students who imagined things that weren’t there, who still had mixed feelings about knitted sweaters.
    He was startled from his indecision by one of the women from the main desk, who pushed the doors open and seemed equally surprised to find him standing in the dark.
    “Was looking for a lost backpack,” she explained shortly, then narrowed her eyes. “We’re almost closed. Come in if you’re coming in.” They had a way of giving orders at this library. Jeremy supposed it came with all the tradition. His grandfather had the same way of bossing people around just by speaking.
    When she opened the door for him, Jeremy stepped inside. She gave him a sideways glance as she returned to the main desk. The other woman wasn’t there, the one Jeremy had spoken to before. He must have made an impression however, or been very obvious, because this one gave him a once over before jerking her head toward the stairs. “Be careful if you go up. One of his least favorite people is here today. It puts him in a foul mood.”
    “He’s here?” Jeremy wondered in excitement, and used up all of his dignity in not dashing up the stairs for his chance to finally check out the Beast. He reached the top, then stopped in astonishment at the quietly furious voice carrying through the empty space.
    “You come into my library with this attitude?” The husky whisper was whiskey-sharp, or maybe that was how the air itself seemed to have stilled in awe. Jeremy curled a hand around the strap of his bag and continued carefully forward. The epic, sotto voce verbal thrashing seemed to be taking place near the special collections library.
    A hushed snarl was the initial answer to whatever the guilty party had said in response. “I don’t want to hear it. You knew the rules. You chose to break them. You’re no longer welcome here.”
    Jeremy’s heart thudded against his ribs, because he knew that voice. He slowed down, blinking rapidly as Benj came into view. Standing straight, he managed to tower over another man who was probably about the same height he was—or would have been if he hadn’t hunched in on himself. He looked like he was trying to argue stubbornly, but when he raised his chin, he appeared defensive.
    He was in his forties or fifties, white, and wearing a long, fawn-colored coat that could have been cashmere for all Jeremy knew. He was trying to argue while shoving his laptop into a briefcase.
    “It’s ridiculous that you’d make me wait for official scans. I don’t