Only You Read Online Free PDF Page B

wondered what you said to him.”
    The color in his cheeks deepened. “That was a long time ago, Josie.”
    “Bobby seemed to take particular pleasure in making me miserable. I just wanted to let you know how much it meant, you taking up for me the way you did.”
    “It was nothin’.”
    “I figured he would start torturing me again after you left, but he didn’t.”
    He looked even more uncomfortable. He turned and stared out the window, then glanced over his shoulder toward the front counter. “Wonder where Dixie is with that tea?”
    On impulse, she reached out and touched the back of his hand. “Why did Bobby leave me alone after that day?”
    His sigh was heavy with resignation. He turned his hand over and rubbed his thumb against the back of her wrist. “Because I made sure he wouldn’t bother you again.”
    His touch was hypnotic. Addictive. “How? You weren’t always around to keep an eye on him.”
    “I let him know that if he did, I’d hear about it and see to it that he’d regret it.”
    “Oh, Cole. You didn’t hit him, did you?”
    “Naw. But he knew I would.”
    Much as she liked the feel of his talented fingers on her wrist, she folded her hands in her lap. “I just wanted to say, you standing up for me, well, it was the nicest thing anyone ever did for me at school.”
    “It was nothin’,” he repeated.
    She wished she could make him see what a big deal it had been for her. Her life had changed after that day. So many of the kids had been cruel to her, especially at recess. She always got picked last. Even when she did try to play kickball or whatever game it happened to be, she never was allowed to play. The kids didn’t let her touch the ball, and they’d skip her when her turn came around.
    So, she’d quit playing. None of the teachers minded. They pretty much let her do what she wanted, because she was a good student. Special. The kids had hated that even more than having to put up with her on their teams. So, they turned their attention to making her as miserable as possible. Until Cole had stood up for her. Still, she could see that no matter what she said, Cole would downplay it. It was his way.
    “What have you been doing all these years?”
    He played with his silverware. “This and that. Nothing nearly as interesting as you, I’m sure. What kept you away from home all those years?”
    “There wasn’t much to come back to here. After I left for college, Mom and Dad bought the condo in Florida, and over the years, they spent more and more time there. So, I worked summers at the UNC library. Then during graduate school, I taught classes at Syracuse’s Summer Information Science Institute in New York.”
    He rubbed his jaw. The stubble lining it made him look incredibly sexy and a little dangerous. “Sounds . . . ”
    “Boring?”
    “I was going to say prestigious.”
    That comment caught her off guard. “Thank you.”
    “So with your folks gone for good now, why’d you come back? I’m guessin’ you could have gotten a job most anywhere you wanted.”
    “Being the director of the Angel Ridge Library was always my dream.” That much was true. She wouldn’t go into the part about the deal she’d brokered with Mrs. McKay that left her with no other choice but to return.
    She’d achieved a full academic scholarship from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, finished at the top of her class with a bachelor’s degree in library science. Against the odds, she’d been accepted to The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the top graduate program in the country for information science. But because of a couple of C ’s in math, she’d been passed over for a graduate assistantship in favor of candidates with 4.0’s.
    That summer, she’d come home and worked part-time here in the library. She’d have given anything to be the director of such a prestigious library, but Josie knew her dream would slip from her grasp if she couldn’t find the money for