Page 2 of The Secret Crush Book Club (Peach Blossom #3)

Two

O h my god. That was all Zoey could think as she made a strategic retreat from where she had left Dani in the aisle.

They had finally had an entire conversation, and here she was running away after letting her mouth get away from her.

What the hell had she been thinking, imparting that last little bit of wisdom like she was some great sage.

Just because she was an author, didn’t mean she knew the right words to say—especially in the face of the one woman who had caught her eye months ago. This pining thing was for the birds.

“I didn’t expect you to be back so soon,” Tiffany said.

She had a knowing look on her face and a smirk on her lips, but Zoey didn’t even feel like rising to the bait.

She was still too stuck on the fact that she had had a chance, a real chance to say something to Dani, and yet she choked.

She choked hard. As if hearing her thoughts, Tiffany cocked her head and looked more deeply at Dani.

“Why do you look so shell-shocked? What happened?”

Zoey walked around the counter and dropped down into the chair they kept back there for when someone got tired of standing. “It was awful.”

“What? Why? Did she tell you books were stupid?”

“Of course not,” Zoey countered. She covered her face with her hands briefly as she gathered herself. “So, you know how she asked me for help finding some books?”

Tiffany nodded. “Something about self-help. I’m not a fan of those myself, but it is what it is. Did she change her mind or something? Did she decide she needed to go all ‘finding herself in a tropical place and changing religions’ on you?”

“I don’t know where you even come up with these things.

No, she was happy to look through the books I showed her, but then she was talking, and she seemed so down so I…

” Zoey could feel her stomach clench in embarrassment as she thought about her words.

If not for already having a book deal, she would have given up her dream of being an author right then.

“You what?” Tiffany prompted. “Spit it out already. You’re making me so nervous that I might have to call the cops or something.”

Zoey groaned. “I told her that everything is going to be okay.”

Tiffany stared at her for a moment before she frowned.

“Are you serious right now? That’s all? I thought you had done something crazy, like tell her she should sell all her things and move to Antarctica to commune with penguins or something.

” She rolled her eyes before reaching for the stack of books in front of her.

“Your overdramatic ass should have been an actress instead of a librarian.”

Zoey thought that was a little uncalled for until she realized that she had essentially just had a breakdown about having a single conversation.

This was not a great way to start things.

“I’m not trying to be dramatic.” When Tiffany gave her a look, she insisted, “I’m not.

It’s just…” She didn’t exactly know how to describe how she was feeling.

It wasn’t often that she liked someone to the point of wanting to do something about it.

Not since her sort-of-but-not-quite ex-girlfriend had she felt the need to pursue someone.

The vagueness of that relationship and the abrupt way it had blown apart left her hesitant to even try dating in the year since.

As a result, she now found herself ill-equipped when it came to expressing interest without feeling like a fish flapping about on the shore.

“How am I supposed to approach her?”

“Walk up to her and just tell her she smells pretty or something.” Tiffany’s flippant response had Zoey scowling.

This wasn’t the time to make fun of her.

She had a real issue. “Seriously. There’s no magic word for this.

I know you’ve approached people before. You’re a librarian. We talk to people all the time.”

“We talk to patrons all the time. Or kids. Not attractive women who make our blood burn and our ears ring.”

Tiffany grinned. “That was almost poetic.” When Zoey took a swipe at her, she moved out of range with a smile. “You should write that down and send it to her. Bring back old school love letters and all that.”

Zoey tried to ignore how much she liked that idea.

It wouldn’t be smart to show too much interest in one of Tiffany’s harebrained schemes.

That way only led to madness, and she wasn’t trying to have her business splashed through the town gossip train.

She shook her head to dispel that thought.

This was not the time for idle daydreams. This was a time to be serious.

“I can’t do that,” she said. It was then a thought struck her. “Oh no!”

“What?” Tiffany asked looking around. “What happened?”

Zoey widened her eyes. “She told me she liked my books, and I didn’t stop to tell her they were mine. What do I say if she brings them up again? What if she thinks I’m weird because I didn’t come clean immediately? What if she thinks I’m bragging if I say I wrote them?”

Tiffany held up a hand, halting the flow of her words. “First of all, slow down. All the questions are giving me whiplash. Second, just come clean and tell her you are her author in shining foiled cover. I guarantee that she’ll be excited if she likes them as much as you said she does.”

The thought sounded good. It was a dream of Zoey’s to be well-known and recognized for her writing.

But to do that would also mean divulging a picture of herself at the very least. She had three books under her belt and was working on her fourth, but she had always been very deliberate about keeping her personal life and writing persona separate.

She didn’t have an actual author photo, and instead used artwork gifted to her from a fellow author.

It wasn’t that she never planned on coming out and showing who she was, but it had never seemed like the right time.

Actually, that was a lie. She had wanted to be anonymous for her whole career, but now that she knew Dani was a fan, she was seriously considering giving up on that path.

Zoey sighed. She wasn’t the best at social situations despite her public-facing job. Books were easy. People, not so much. Right when she struggled to find something to say, commotion from the back conference room caught her attention.

“What in the world is going on back there?” Tiffany asked with raised brows. When an older woman walked over to the desk, Zoey gestured to the noise.

“I’ll check on the boys if you’ll handle the desk?

” She wasn’t surprised when Tiffany agreed eagerly.

The esports team was a joint effort in name only.

Tiffany didn’t know or care about gaming.

She had thrown her name down only because she agreed that they needed to do what they could to keep kids coming into the library.

The setup for the team had cost a pretty penny, but she and Zoey both agreed that the impact far outweighed the dent in their budget.

Zoey pushed the conversation with Dani out of her mind as she headed toward the back. Things were still quiet overall, but when another burst of noise erupted from the room, she put more pep in her step. She wasn’t expecting chaos when she opened the door.

“What is going on in here?”

The boys were mostly standing with headsets still on as they loudly talked over one another. She couldn’t understand everything that was being said, but she took a step inside and closed the door behind her to keep most of the argument in the room and not spilling out into the rest of the library.

Zoey knew all of the boys. She had been the one to approve them joining the club after all.

In the middle of the fray was Jordan, Dani’s son.

Zoey was surprised to hear him raising his voice like the others.

Usually, he was the calm, levelheaded one.

He had been appointed a sort of captain by the rest of the boys, so she was more than a little concerned with how worked up he seemed to be getting.

“Boys,” she said, raising her voice over theirs to be heard.

It wasn’t a tone she often felt the need to use, and it had nothing on what she and Tiffany referred to as the “mom voice” that patrons sometimes used when their kids were being a little too boisterous for the library, but it would have to do.

The boys all seemed to hesitate when they realized she was standing there.

Jordan, in particular, looked relieved. “Have you all forgotten you’re in a library? ” she continued.

“No, ma’am,” they replied almost in unison. Their voices were contrite, though some of them were still cutting each other scathing looks. Keeping up her stern persona, Zoey crossed her arms over her chest and peered down at them from behind her lenses.

“Good. Now, tell me what in the world is going on in here.” She held a hand up when multiple mouths opened. “One of you at a time. I can’t understand anything with you all talking at once.”

They looked at one another before all turning to look at Jordan. He sighed before taking a step forward. “Griffin thinks Jason was using a cheat code. I wasn’t sure, so I said we should just restart the round.”

“I wasn’t cheating!”

“There’s no way you’re that good!”

“Boys,” Zoey exclaimed, stopping the argument before it started again.

They both fell quiet, though they frowned and cut their eyes at one another.

Thankfully, the others seemed content to let her handle it, rather than jump in with their thoughts.

That was good. She didn’t need all of them getting riled up again.

“I agree that if there was a legitimate concern about cheating, then starting the round over again was the best way to go.”

Jordan smiled and ducked his head. Zoey couldn’t help but smile over at him.