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Lifting it up to my nose, I inhale the rich scent of aged leather, paper, and ink with a hint of lavender from the perfume I spritzed on the pages this morning. I head to the bookshelves housing texts on ancient Greece, one of my favorite time periods to read about. Then, I kiss the cover and slip the journal between two Greek mythology books.

My heart thumps wildly as I take a few steps back.

Go. Find your soulmate. There’s a reader for every book, including mine.

After blowing out a deep breath, I traipse down the wrought-iron spiral staircase, past the main floor with soaring vaulted ceilings, old-fashioned three-tiered chandeliers, and rows and rows of dark mahogany shelves.

My phone buzzes in my pocket again as I approach the exit.Dayton. I answer the call and push open the heavy metal door at the same time.

A soul sucking gust of frigid air blasts on my face.

“Dayton, coming out right now. I got sidetracked—”

I slam into a brick wall.

That is, if the brick wall is made of a towering hunk of masculine muscle.

A deep, raspyoomphreaches my ear.

My things scatter on the ground. My boot-clad foot slips on the icy pavement. I propel backward, swinging my arms out, trying to grab onto anything before I land on my ass and make a fool out of myself.

A powerful arm curls around my back and hoists me up.

The next thing I know, I’m smashed against a hard chest, and the alluring scent of leather and amber reaches my nose.

“Easy there.” A gravelly whisper reaches my ears, followed by a chuckle.

I shiver and look up.

The most beautiful pair of slate-gray eyes stare down at me. Eyes belonging to a masculine face—all sharp lines and hard angles—stare down at me just below the dark brown hair effortlessly tousled like he just rolled out of bed. Mystery guy’s lips tilt up in one corner, the smirk transforming his face from hot to smoldering with just the right amount of bad boy charm.

Trust me, men are idiots. You don’t want any of us.Liam’s words barge intomy mind.

The mystery guy is who I’d imagine as Ares, the god of war from Greek mythology. Ares, in a dark leather jacket on a break from killing his enemies, transported to the modern world.

I must have slammed my head too hard and am hallucinating. I blink a few times.

Nope, he’s still here.

Ares murmurs, “You okay? Cat got your tongue?”

He lets go of me and kneels down, picks up my laptop and papers, his eyebrow arching when he sees my textbooks. He stuffs them into my bag and hands it to me.

“Probably the only useful class I’ve ever taken.” He nods toward the finance book,Financial Literacy for Future Leaders.“Good luck.”

Mystery guy winks and steps through the library door.

I shake myself.Manners!

“Thank you!” I holler after him.

He pauses mid stride and turns around. This time, he unleashes a smile that causes my stomach to flip.

I look away, feeling guilty. I have a boyfriend…probably not for long, but still.

Mystery guy laughs, the husky sound sending another flutter in my gut. “All good…Sunbeam.”

Sunbeam.My eyes snap up, but he’s already disappeared.