Page 41 of The Arrangement (Executive Suite Secrets #3)

ROME ASHbrIDGE

Heading into work on Tuesday had never felt so dreary. It had been more than a week since I’d last talked to Liam. I’d gotten one very brief text stating that he was okay and that he would reach out soon to talk.

Soon? What the hell was soon? Tomorrow? A week from tomorrow? A month from now? If soon didn’t mean right now, then it was too far away.

And the “to talk” part didn’t feel reassuring at all. Why couldn’t it have been something like, I’m coming directly over to your place so we can fuck like rabbits?

Or, I’m standing at your door, and all I need in the world is for you to open it and kiss me?

Those all sounded like excellent ideas, but none of them were coming true, and that sucked.

The library was getting busier during the day because schools were taking their holiday break. We’d added a few extra story times and other events, so parents had something to do with their children during the day instead of leaving them in front of a screen.

Christmas and Hanukkah decorations were everywhere on the second floor. We had both store-bought and lots of construction paper decorations the children had made for us. Little lights twinkled and flashed everywhere, making the entire library cheery and bright.

This had always been my favorite time of year.

I always went overboard buying gifts for my family and friends.

And, of course, I dragged my friends around to do all the usual holiday traditions—tree lighting on Fountain Square, Festival of Lights, Krohn Conservatory, Scuba Santa at the Newport Aquarium, The Christmas Carol at Playhouse in the Park, and then finally The Nutcracker with the Cincinnati Ballet.

The only thing was that I’d started envisioning all those things with Liam this year.

It wasn’t too late. Christmas was still a week and a half away. Plenty of time for them to cram in some fun holiday outings. Or if Liam wanted to stay in, eat candy canes, and watch old Christmas specials, I was happy to do that too. All that mattered was getting to spend time with Liam.

“Hey, Rome,” Ben greeted as I strolled into the children’s section of the library.

Ben’s brown hair with the curls appeared extra poofy today.

The friendly librarian with the wide grin said that his goal was to resemble a dandelion—the world’s most misunderstood flower—because they were full of wishes and hope, like him.

“Ready for today’s story time? You’ve got quite a crowd. ”

I nodded, my gaze straying to the short stacks. Despite being a library, quite a ruckus was brewing. There had to be at least twenty kids there today, most of them five years old or younger. I held up a picture book showing a bunch of kids playing in the snow.

“Nice,” Ben murmured with a nod. “Just as a heads-up. You’re actually reading two books today.”

“Huh?” I stared at him and then at the kids who were gathering in front of my seat for the reading. “You know there’s no way I can keep their attention through two books. They already look like they’ve been snorting Pixy Stix and mainlining sodas since they woke up.”

Ben chuckled. “Nah. Nah. It’ll be fine. Go read. I’ll bring the other book to you when you’re done. It’s really short. I promise.”

I frowned at my coworker. This seemed like a bad idea.

I didn’t like reading aloud from a book I wasn’t familiar with.

It might sound crazy, but I preferred to practice a book a couple of times so I could get the inflections and voices right.

It wasn’t just about entertaining these kids but also about getting them interested in books.

If they could form a love of books now, it would carry them on to great things and happiness for the rest of their lives.

With that flimsy reassurance, I moved to my special plastic blue seat at the back of the children’s library, while Ben rang the bell we used to signal it was story time.

Kids flew out of the stacks and raced to our corner by the windows.

They plopped on the ground and crossed their legs, scooting and wiggling as close as they could get so they could see the pictures.

Parents stood along the fringe of the semicircle, their phones at the ready so they could start their browsing while they had a guaranteed few minutes of safe distraction for their kids.

I began reading, and the library fell silent.

Only sniffles and the occasional muffled cough disturbed the quiet as I read.

My heart squeezed to see those upturned faces, eyes wide and mouths open as they listened with rapt attention.

They gasped at the surprises and laughed at the silly parts.

Even a few adults chuckled. The books were always short, stretching no more than fifteen to twenty minutes at a time, but for that moment, I forgot about the ache in my heart and all my worries.

My job was as much an escape from the world as it was my attempt to help the next generation.

The children cheered and applauded as we reached the end of the book, but those cheers quickly turned to gasps and giggles. I’d been about to say that I had another book to read, but when I lifted my eyes, words left me.

At the end of my circle stood Ben and someone dressed in an inflatable T-Rex costume. What the hell…

I tilted my head to the side and tried to see through the clear plastic window where the person could see out, but Ben grabbed my attention.

“Today, we have another special book we’re hoping Rome could read,” Ben stated.

Naturally, a loud cheer went up, because who didn’t love another book that apparently included a guy dressed like a dinosaur? Was that Carol in there? There was no way it was Janice. Maybe Megan.

“Everyone, sit down facing me. I’m going to hold the book, and Rome is going to read it aloud for us,” Ben instructed.

I shot him a look over the heads of the kids, but the man grinned at me while all the kids got settled.

As soon as we were ready, Ben pulled out from under his arm an oversized book that appeared to be made from posterboard and sewn together with thick red yarn. There was a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the front holding a magnifying glass. I read the title in a loud voice,

“Daniel the Dinosaur Finds a Friend.”

Okay, kind of cute.

Ben opened to the first page, and I continued to read.

“Daniel the Dinosaur was sad.”

The inflated dinosaur lowered his giant head and reached up his arms as if he were attempting to cover his eyes as he cried.

“This dinosaur had no friends.”

Ben flipped the page.

“One day, Daniel had an idea.”

The dinosaur jumped and put up his hand as though he were about to shout “Eureka!” and made all the children giggle.

“He would go outside and look for friends!

Daniel looked under rocks. And he looked behind trees.

Daniel looked in the sky. He even asked the buzzing bees.”

For each item, the faux dinosaur mimicked the action, even to the point of flapping his hands like they were tiny bee wings. The kids were eating each action up, giggling and laughing. Who in the world was this? They were perfect.

“Daniel could not find any friends. Should he go home?”

“No!” the kids shouted in unison without any prompting.

“No! Daniel wanted a friend. So Daniel the Dinosaur walked down the street to the park.”

The dinosaur mimed a march along the street that had Ben giggling. The motion moved the costume just right, and this time, I spotted red hair. Bright red hair pressed against that see-through plastic.

Liam.

That was Liam in the costume. My heart stopped, and I couldn’t rip my gaze away from the dinosaur. He was here. He’d come to see me. In a fucking T-Rex costume. I wanted to leap over these kids and grab him up.

Not until Ben cleared his throat did I pull myself together and resume reading.

“At the park, kids were sliding down slides and swinging on swings. They ran and jumped and played.

Daniel the Dinosaur thought, ‘Would they want to play with a dinosaur?’”

“Yesssss!” the children roared.

“Daniel walked up to a group of kids and asked, ‘Can I be your friend?’

The children all said, ‘Yes!’

Daniel spent the day running and jumping and laughing.

Daniel the Dinosaur was now happy because he had found some friends.

The End.”

The children all cheered and rushed toward the dinosaur to touch him and poke at his air-filled body.

“We had a great visit with Daniel the Dinosaur today, but he has to go home now. Everyone, wave good-bye,” Ben instructed.

All the kids lifted their hands and waved while I briskly wove my way through their small bodies to grab Liam’s arm.

Just under the sound of the fan that ran to keep him inflated, I could hear his giggle.

“I’ll see that Daniel gets safely home,” I cut in, turning the enormous dinosaur to the door.

We hurried through the hall, the material of the suit making a loud rubbing noise with his every step.

Behind him, his tail wagged back and forth.

Liam climbed into the elevator first, and I fought to get both his head and tail inside.

By the time the silver doors shut, we were giggling like lunatics.

“Holy shit! How do I get you out of this thing?” I cried as I slapped the button for the first floor before anyone else could attempt to join us in here.

Our hands knocked together a few times as Liam turned off the fan and unzipped it along the belly. When he stuck his head out, his face was flushed and his hair was an absolute mess, but no one had ever looked better to me in my entire life.

“What are you doing here?”

He flashed me a crooked grin. “You helped me with my job at the museum by bringing all those kids for a tour. I thought it was only fair that I returned the favor with yours.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Crazy in love with you. Would you be willing to date a guy who has a weird obsession with dinosaurs?”