The Feisty Librarian

The Feisty Librarian

A Contemporary Romance

Sophie Stern

COPYRIGHT © 2019 BY Sophie Stern

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Victoria’s life is the epitome of organized. Every moment in her day is planned, which means she doesn’t have room for a social life. She doesn’t have room for love.

When she finds herself trapped in the library during a blizzard, she’s stressed because it throws a wrench in her plans. She needs to be working on her thesis. She doesn’t need to be thinking about the librarian. Besides, he doesn’t want her there. To him, she’s nothing but a distraction. Worse, she knows it.

Graham might work in the library, but he isn’t exactly a good boy. He’s rough around the edges and he’s had his eye on Victoria for a long time. He’d do almost anything to make her come apart beneath him. He wants to dominate her, but she’s much too sweet, much too innocent for him Still, when a snowstorm traps them together, it’s as if fate as brought them together.

But there’s more to Victoria than meets the eye.

And the lovely grad student might not be ready for someone quite so....feisty.

Chapter One

SHE DIDN’T HAVE ANY business being in the library. She was a programmer, for fuck’s sake: not a research assistant. Victoria wasn’t interested in books or reading or sitting around smelling the mold that was definitely inhabiting this musty basement. She just wanted to find the information she needed and get out. Easy peasy. In and out.

That was it.

Her thesis was half-finished, open on her laptop screen. It was secure enough in her little cubicle on the 3rd floor of the library. People in other cities might be shocked that she would just leave her belongings unattended while roaming around a library basement, but Victoria wasn’t like other people.

Besides, Mischief was safe. It was one of the safest towns in the state, at least when you looked at the statistical analysis of the crime rates when compared with the population, which Victoria did on a regular basis. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay in Mischief after graduation, after all, and that date was looming, approaching much more quickly than she was comfortable with. She’d have to make a choice. She was already receiving job offers from other places, other cities. Soon she’d have to make the call as to whether she wanted to stay or go.

The idea of moving to a new place and starting fresh was tempting. It enticed her the same way strawberry ice cream did. It looked good, but it wasn’t really something she needed. Still, Victoria had toyed with the idea for awhile now, wondering whether it was the right choice or whether it was something she would later regret.

Victoria moved through the shelves stealthily. She hadn’t really spent a lot of time in the basement at the library. It was dusty. She was guessing that the custodian probably didn’t spend a lot of time down here, and she didn’t blame them. Who would want to wander around in an area that was spooky and dark? She didn’t.

Come on, book. The sooner I find you, the sooner I can finish my thesis. She mumbled, but didn’t say what she was really thinking out loud.

She didn’t say that she was wondering if she should give up her current job.

If she should accept a new position.

If she should...

She just didn’t know what she wanted.

She didn’t know what was best.

Sometimes it seemed like moving would be an incredible opportunity full of possibilities and freshness. Then again, Victoria had gotten a pretty fantastic offer right here in Mischief. That in itself wasn’t surprising: she was good at what she did. What was surprising is the fact that she was seriously considering staying. A year ago, she wouldn’t have thought twice about leaving, but Mischief was a comfortable place to live and it carried with it many interesting places and people. There were little book nooks and shops. There were trinket stores. There were restaurants and cafes and she had an incredible roommate she loved. Holly was irreplaceable.

Still, Victoria tended to get wanderlust. She’d never stayed in one place too long.

Was working in Mischief for the foreseeable future something she’d be comfortable with?

Would she be satisfied?

The pay at the potential job was a little less than the other positions she’d seen, but she wouldn’t have to move. She wouldn’t have to leave. Restarting her life in another place could be interesting, but was that what she wanted? Victoria wasn’t sure. There were just so many decisions she had to make. She had to decide what she was going to do about her thesis and what she was going to do with her future and what she was going to have for fucking dinner. Right now, she didn’t want to have to make another choice.

What she did want was to find the volume she was looking for. The library directory had indicated there was an older book down here that she could use to round out her paper and she desperately wanted to find it before the library closed. There was a storm brewing and she needed to hurry up and finish her work so she could get home before things got really bad outside. She didn’t live far, but nobody wanted to drive on the ice, least of all her.

Victoria’s paper, Math in Gaming: The Impact of Technology in the Classroom, was going to be something incredible. She could feel it. She knew this topic inside and out. She hadn’t spent five years as a programmer and another two in graduate school getting her education degree to sit by idly while kids around the world struggled with something that could be fun.

Math could be fun.

It didn’t have to be scary numbers and these big, huge, terrible problems that were stressful. With her ideas for classroom integration, small and medium size classrooms across the country could truly begin to revitalize the way kids learned math in middle school.

That is, if Victoria could find the damn book she needed.

She walked down the aisle, trying to ignore the flickering lights. She shivered. Then she shook her head in disgust at her own weakness. She wasn’t weak. She certainly wasn’t the type of girl who got scared because she was hanging out in some dark room. Not her. Nah. Victoria was stronger than that. Braver. She was more intelligent.

She certainly wasn’t scared of the dark.

She strode down one aisle and then the next. There were no other patrons down here, which was understandable. She’d been at the library the better part of the afternoon and chances were the building would probably close soon, anyway. She figured she still had enough time to find her book and churn out a few more pages. It just showed how determined she was.

Well, she was either determined or stupid.

Anyone with half a brain had long ago gone home to get out of the coming storm. They’d returned safely to spend time with their loved ones and to cuddle their children and family and pets.

Victoria didn’t have any of those things.

Holly was at a club tonight, so Victoria had no one to go home to. Aside from the storm, she wasn’t really in any sort of rush to go home to her lonely little apartment. There was nothing waiting for her except homework and chores, so she had an advantage at the library. She could take her time.

That was a great thing, she lied to herself. It was. She had freedom and flexibility. She had the ability to do whatever she wanted when she wanted. She could make whatever choices she wanted to make. She had it all.

Well, almost.

She still didn’t have the book she wanted.

She ran her fingers over volume after volume. She checked the index card she had in her hand to make sure she had the title, author, and call number right. She was certain that she did, but still, the book was nowhere to be found. She turned a corner and walked into a cobweb. Spitting and sputtering, she waved her hands in front of her and wiped everything from her face.

Fuck, she muttered, shaking her head.

She tried not to think about the possibility of spiders crawling on her shirt and instead focused on her quest. This was nice, she told herself. Aside from the general creepiness of the basement, it was kind of calming to be down here. She didn’t have to worry when she was in the library. Here she just got to focus. There were no choices she had to make. She didn’t have to worry about meeting deadlines or dealing with her boss. She didn’t have to solve any real, serious problems.

She could just take a deep breath, and for Victoria, that was a rare treat.

She reached the end of the aisle and looked around one last time. Maybe someone had checked the book out and lost it. Or maybe it had gotten set somewhere and lost within the library itself. That could happen, she knew. It was why so many librarians urged patrons not to re-shelve books they’d been looking at. It was easier and better for the librarians to re-shelve things, rather than allowing patrons to do it incorrectly and risk losing a book forever.

Then she saw it.

Finally.

Sitting at the very end of a row of dusty and slightly-damaged books, it beckoned.

You’ve got to be kidding me, Victoria reached for the bright red volume, wondering how she’d missed it earlier. Then she noticed there was no call number on the spine, no number on the base of the book. It was the same title, though. That was undeniable. She grabbed the book and pulled it from the shelf.

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. Her efforts had paid off and now she could finally finish up her work. She had worked harder than she could have possibly imagined to find this dumb book, but hopefully it would be the perfect source to complete her thesis. She smiled as she held the book to her chest. Victoria turned to head back upstairs, but before she had gone more than a few steps, the lights in the basement went out, casting her into total darkness.

Victoria choked back a scream.

She was alone in the darkness.

Totally.

Completely.

Absolutely alone.

GRAHAM WASN’T THE TYPE of guy who minded working late. As a librarian, it kind of came with the job. He couldn’t officially close the library until exactly 10:00. Even if that last hour was completely desolate, part of the appeal of the Mischief Public Library was that it didn’t close early.

Ever.

For anything.

Someone could wander in at 9:58 and Graham would be happy to help them find anything they needed. It was part of why he’d become a librarian in the first place. He cared for others. He didn’t pretend to have a heart of gold or anything like that, but he loved books and he loved helping other people find books that spoke to them. He was a firm believer that anyone could love reading. It was just a matter of finding the right book.

Graham locked the doors right at 10:00. The storm was already starting and he needed to get home. Not that he had anyone waiting for him, but he didn’t want to be driving around in the middle of a frozen hell. He’d rather be at home, reading a book, drinking cocoa, or studying a language. He had started a new rogue in World of Warcraft, and if he was completely honest, he wouldn’t mind grinding a few levels before he went to bed tonight, either. Motivation struck and he decided to close as quickly as he could. Still, he couldn’t skip the nightly routine. The library was too big to just lock up and go. He had to make sure there weren’t any lingering patrons hanging out