Page 21 of Pretend You Love Me

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

I stare up the ladder and my mind immediately goes to the library scene inBridgerton.Daphne on the ladder - Simon’s head between her legs. I feel Kip’s eyeballs on me. I can’t look at him right now. I run my fingers over the book on the shelf. God, now I’m thinking of the scene inAtonementwith Keira Knightley’s character pinned up against the bookshelf. When did I develop a library fetish?

Ok. Not happening. Dirty thoughts away.

“My mom loved books,” he says as I pick up a copy ofCatcher in the Ryeand turn it over in my hands.

“This was her home?”

“My parents, yes,” he says.

“Did they...”

“Pass? Yes. They’re gone.”

I turn to face him. “I’m sorry.”

He nods. “This was her favorite room.”

“I can see why,” I say, placing the book back on the shelf.

I think for a moment and then ask, “Is your name short for Kipling?”

His eyebrow shoots up.

“Most people don’t figure that out,” he responds.

“Well, I figured with your mother’s love of books. Do you have any siblings?”

A cloud passes over his face.

“Hawthorne.”

I frown a little. “Like theScarlet Letter.”

“LikeThe House of Seven Gables.”

“Oh, I’ve read that,” I say. He’s leaning on the ladder now, and damn it, it’s super sexy. Leaning - why is leaning so damn sexy? I wonder what it would feel like to have his body leaning toward...

“You okay.” He interrupts my thoughts. “Is it your head? Do you need to sit down?”

“Oh, no...”

Shit. He caught me lusting after him.

“I’m fine. Really, what were we talking about?”I ask.

“Hawthorne. House of Seven Gables. You’ve read it?”

“Yeah, it’s the one with that lady with the bad eyesight, and she has like a permanent scowl and bad line between her eyebrows, so everyone just thinks she’s really mean when she isn’t. Honestly, it’s the only classic literature I’ve read that I thought was a strong case for Botox.”

He lets out a loud laugh. That beautiful smile spreads across his face again, and a warm, glowing feeling spreads across my body from below my belly button.

No. Down girl. Nope. No. Nope.

“That’s not what I thought you were going to say.” He’s shaking his head and laughing.