yes.”
“That was a long time ago. I could have changed.”
“I doubt that.” She went on the offensive. “Why do you care what I think about you?”
“Who says I do?” he countered.
Marissa bit her tongue and mentally reviewed her options. Could she ask Sally to tear up the lease she’d just signed a few minutes ago? She’d have to have a reason. Cold feet? She certainly couldn’t tell her new landlady the truth.
“Don’t let me scare you away,” Connor said.
His words were a challenge she couldn’t resist. “You couldn’t scare me away if you tried.”
“Oh, I probably could. But I don’t plan on trying, so you can relax.”
Right. As if she could ever relax around him. There was no way she could afford to let her guard down. She had to stay alert, stay aware and stay away.
Well, that last one was going to be more difficult given the fact that he lived next door, but she’d manage itsomehow. Because that’s what she did. She managed. She coped. And, yes, she cried. But only between coping and managing, and only for short periods of time and in total privacy.
Actually those crying jags had gotten shorter but it was getting harder and harder to keep them that way, given the stress of living with her parents. Maybe if her self-esteem hadn’t already been in the basement she wouldn’t have been as bothered by the situation at home as she was.
But it was what it was. Her entire life lately was what it was. It certainly wasn’t what she’d planned or dreamed or hoped for.
“You somehow don’t look reassured by my words,” Connor said.
“I wasn’t thinking about you.”
“Weren’t you?”
“No. As I said before, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“That’s good to know.”
“You should also know that I have no intention of changing any of my plans because of you.” She discounted the one Kroger parking lot incident. “This was my hometown long before you ever showed up and it will continue to be my hometown long after you leave.”
“What makes you think I’m leaving anytime soon?”
“I didn’t say it would be soon. But that is what you do. You leave. You move on.”
“So did you. You left and moved on.”
Yes and look how well that turned out, she thought to herself.
“Just so you know, I don’t plan on leaving Hopeful anytime soon,” Connor said. “What about you?”
“I just got here and already you’re trying to get rid of me?”
“I don’t want to get rid of you. Far from it.” He deliberately eyed her from head to toe. “You liven the place up.”
“Are you saying Hopeful is boring?”
“No.”
“Then why does it need livening up?”
“I didn’t say it
needed
livening up. I said that you liven the place up. Two different things.”
“I’m done trying to decipher your words. I have to get to work.”
“Me, too.” With a sweep of his hand, he indicated that she should go first. “After you.”
Was he? Was he “after” her? Trying to get her interested in him again? Because there was no way she was going to do that. He could tease and tempt her all he wanted. He could bat those memorable eyes at her and flash his bad-boy grin and she would remain immune.
She had to if she wanted to survive.
* * *
By the time Connor arrived at police headquarters, word had already gotten out about his new neighbor. “Hey, I heard the new librarian in town just moved in your building.”
The comment came from his administrative assistant, Ruby Mae Rivers, otherwise known as the department’s version of
TMZ
without the videos of the stars. But her contacts made her a woman constantly in the know about everything there was to know.
Ruby Mae’s short salt-and-pepper hair never changed from day to day. Nor did her raspy voice. In her mid-fifties, she was a mother of five and grandmother of ten.She ruled them, and the people in the department, with an iron fist.
“News travels fast,” Connor said as he poured himself a cup of
“That was a long time ago. I could have changed.”
“I doubt that.” She went on the offensive. “Why do you care what I think about you?”
“Who says I do?” he countered.
Marissa bit her tongue and mentally reviewed her options. Could she ask Sally to tear up the lease she’d just signed a few minutes ago? She’d have to have a reason. Cold feet? She certainly couldn’t tell her new landlady the truth.
“Don’t let me scare you away,” Connor said.
His words were a challenge she couldn’t resist. “You couldn’t scare me away if you tried.”
“Oh, I probably could. But I don’t plan on trying, so you can relax.”
Right. As if she could ever relax around him. There was no way she could afford to let her guard down. She had to stay alert, stay aware and stay away.
Well, that last one was going to be more difficult given the fact that he lived next door, but she’d manage itsomehow. Because that’s what she did. She managed. She coped. And, yes, she cried. But only between coping and managing, and only for short periods of time and in total privacy.
Actually those crying jags had gotten shorter but it was getting harder and harder to keep them that way, given the stress of living with her parents. Maybe if her self-esteem hadn’t already been in the basement she wouldn’t have been as bothered by the situation at home as she was.
But it was what it was. Her entire life lately was what it was. It certainly wasn’t what she’d planned or dreamed or hoped for.
“You somehow don’t look reassured by my words,” Connor said.
“I wasn’t thinking about you.”
“Weren’t you?”
“No. As I said before, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“That’s good to know.”
“You should also know that I have no intention of changing any of my plans because of you.” She discounted the one Kroger parking lot incident. “This was my hometown long before you ever showed up and it will continue to be my hometown long after you leave.”
“What makes you think I’m leaving anytime soon?”
“I didn’t say it would be soon. But that is what you do. You leave. You move on.”
“So did you. You left and moved on.”
Yes and look how well that turned out, she thought to herself.
“Just so you know, I don’t plan on leaving Hopeful anytime soon,” Connor said. “What about you?”
“I just got here and already you’re trying to get rid of me?”
“I don’t want to get rid of you. Far from it.” He deliberately eyed her from head to toe. “You liven the place up.”
“Are you saying Hopeful is boring?”
“No.”
“Then why does it need livening up?”
“I didn’t say it
needed
livening up. I said that you liven the place up. Two different things.”
“I’m done trying to decipher your words. I have to get to work.”
“Me, too.” With a sweep of his hand, he indicated that she should go first. “After you.”
Was he? Was he “after” her? Trying to get her interested in him again? Because there was no way she was going to do that. He could tease and tempt her all he wanted. He could bat those memorable eyes at her and flash his bad-boy grin and she would remain immune.
She had to if she wanted to survive.
* * *
By the time Connor arrived at police headquarters, word had already gotten out about his new neighbor. “Hey, I heard the new librarian in town just moved in your building.”
The comment came from his administrative assistant, Ruby Mae Rivers, otherwise known as the department’s version of
TMZ
without the videos of the stars. But her contacts made her a woman constantly in the know about everything there was to know.
Ruby Mae’s short salt-and-pepper hair never changed from day to day. Nor did her raspy voice. In her mid-fifties, she was a mother of five and grandmother of ten.She ruled them, and the people in the department, with an iron fist.
“News travels fast,” Connor said as he poured himself a cup of
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