Chapter Three
B iting down on my tongue, I squinted and concentrated hard on the rat trap in front of me. Apparently, Bertha the librarian was up to her tricks and trying to off Wasabi.
“If we don’t get pest control to come in and take care of the problem, we’re going to have rats chewing up all our books.” Bertha tapped her fingernails on the countertop as she addressed the regional library director.
“Bertha, pest control was here three months ago, and they didn’t find any signs of rats or mice. Are you positive you saw a rat in the break room? Maybe it was just a dust bunny that got stirred up by a draft?” To her credit, the director was trying her best to be patient.
The director had arrived that morning to do her bi-weekly check-in at our branch, and like every other visit for the past six months, Bertha was determined to convince her we had a rat infestation. Except we didn’t.
We had a single rat, and he was an absolute gentleman who didn’t tear up books or leave droppings around the library.
Bertha huffed in annoyance. “I know what I saw! It was a massive rat!”
“Are you ready for this?” I whispered near Wasabi’s ear, even though I could have spoken in a normal tone since he was the only one who could hear me.
Taking Wasabi’s blink as confirmation, I summoned every ounce of energy I’d gathered and slowly lifted him in my palms. For living humans, picking up an item the size of a rat was a piece of cake. But things were totally different when you were a ghost.
I caught the tip of my tongue between my teeth as I concentrated hard, not wanting to drop my little friend. Inch by inch, I raised him in the air until he was eye level with me. I was standing a few feet behind the director’s back, so I knew she wouldn’t see what was happening.
The moment Bertha turned to face the director, I carefully began moving back and forth, swooping Wasabi up and down as though he were flying or riding an invisible, slow-motion roller coaster.
“Eek!” Bertha’s eyes bulged as she caught sight of Wasabi dipping this way and that. “The rat! It’s right there!”
The moment her eyes darted to the director’s face, I threw myself and Wasabi behind the counter. Lowering him to the ground, I smiled as he touched his nose to my hand, then scampered through the hidden hole behind the printer.
With Wasabi safe, I stood and leaned on the counter, eager to take in the unfolding drama.
“Where?” the director yelped, the fabric of her clothes whirling around her as she turned in circles. “I don’t see anything!”
“It was right there! Flying around behind your head!” Bertha shrieked, waving at the air behind the manager. “The rat couldn’t have gotten far!”
Bertha whipped her head this way and that, searching for the flying rodent. Her wide-eyed expression of determination, combined with the chaotic twisting of her neck, gave Bertha an unhinged sort of vibe. And judging by the deep creases in the director’s forehead, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“Bertha, are you feeling okay?” Tight lines appeared around her eyes and mouth as she watched Bertha’s erratic searching.
Spinning around to face her boss, Bertha shoved at the hair that had escaped from her bun that was twisted tighter than a pair of hipster jeans. “Yes, of course! Why would you ask?”
But even as she spoke, Bertha’s eyes continued to dart toward the ceiling, still searching for Wasabi.
“Because you just told me you saw a flying rat…”
“It was flying!” Bertha exclaimed, little bits of spit flying from her mouth. “I know! We’ll go check the security cameras. Then you’ll see!”
Breathing hard, she stomped toward the cramped office the librarians shared. The director followed slowly behind Bertha, rubbing at her forehead as though already feeling the beginnings of a migraine.
I didn’t bother to join them since I already knew what they would find. Nada. Only an amateur would forget to turn off the security camera before pulling a ghostly prank. Duh.
The last thing I needed was for the rumor to spread that the library was haunted. If that happened, the library would become a hot spot for ghost hunters who would spend all hours of the day and night asking me yes or no questions. Just thinking about it had a shiver skating down my spine.
My thoughts drifted to the hunk from the evening before. See? He was a perfect example of why it was best no one knew I was hanging around.
I’d lost a good chunk of reading time last night because I hadn’t been able to get him out of my thoughts, and I wanted to kick myself for acknowledging him at all. Let’s be real, a man would lead to a whole host of distractions that I didn’t want to deal with.
Sure, I was dead and completely alone, but death had given me the freedom to read for hours. I had zero responsibilities or worries. What more could a girl need or want?
Heck! It was a good thing Wasabi was able to care for himself, because he would’ve joined me in death if I was in charge of keeping him alive. And I certainly didn’t need a man if I couldn’t even handle the responsibility of a pet.
I sighed, trying to ignore the tiny voice in my head that dared to disagree. That was the part of me that devoured every romance book I could get my ghostly hands on, and desperately wished I’d thrown myself in his arms and kissed his lips as though it was the last kiss I’d ever receive.
And it probably had been my last chance at a kiss since he was the only person I’d met in my afterlife who could physically touch me.
In life, my dating experiences had been nothing like the steaminess I’d discovered inside the pages of romance books. Making out on dates had been rather lackluster, and my sex life had been dead long before I died.
So why had I let my last chance at riding the midnight train to pound town walk out the door? I rubbed my face and groaned. For all I knew, he might’ve been unwilling to do a ghost.
Although, he certainly hadn’t seemed turned off by the fact I was among the living challenged.
“Pull it together, Axe,” I murmured, propping my chin up against my palm. “You have a good thing going here, and you don’t want to do something that will screw it up. Dudes are drama.”
It would’ve been a whole lot easier to follow my advice if he hadn’t been so dang yummy.
Shaking my head, I resolutely pushed the naughty images running through my brain into a box and locked them away. I didn’t throw the key away, though. Who knew when a girl might have needed some inspiration for her spank bank?
“I’m telling you, I feel perfectly fine!” Bertha’s loud huff brought my attention back to the melodrama playing out in front of me.
“Bertha, I appreciate how hard you work for us here at the library. I’d rather you take a few days off, than risking you having a breakdown. We all need a little R&R from time to time. There’s no shame in it.” The manager’s voice was gentle but firm, and I couldn’t help but grin.
Once the director made up her mind, there was no undoing it. Bertha would be taking a vacation whether she wanted to or not.
That meant Wasabi was safe from exterminators until she returned. And even then, I doubted Bertha would be so quick to bring up the topic of rats to the manager for fear it would only help to usher her into early retirement.
Wonderful! With that distraction out of the way, I could get back to tackling my Tbr list.
The whoosh of the library’s main door opening caught my attention, and I turned to find Tim, the delivery driver, carrying several boxes.
The library had received a large donation, and the funds had been earmarked for purchasing new books. Using my computer skills, I’d managed to add a few novels to the list before the director had placed the order.
Waiting for them to arrive had been more painful than my death. I rushed to Tim’s side, practically dancing around him in unbridled glee.
“Hi, Tim!” Tilly called out, appearing from between two shelves and hurrying toward the counter.
“Well, hello there, Miss Tilly.” Tim huffed, dropping the stack of boxes on the counter. He shivered. “It’s cold in here today.”
Tilly clicked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head. “Yes, we’ve been dealing with a draft in here for the past few years, but no one has been able to figure out where it’s coming from.”
Grabbing a small handheld device from his belt, he began scanning the packages. “Probably just an old building thing.”
I rolled my eyes and took a step away from Tim. The cold had nothing to do with the library being old and everything to do with it being haunted… by yours truly.
Right after my death, I’d haunted the one bookstore in town, but it hadn’t worked out. The constant chimes from the cash register and the beeps of the credit card machine had nearly driven me to become a screaming banshee. Although, by far, the worst part had been the aromatic scent of coffee that wafted through the bookstore from the tiny cafe setup in the corner of the shop.
Coffee was one of the only things I missed about being alive, and I decided for everyone’s wellbeing, I needed to find somewhere quieter to spend the rest of eternity. Otherwise, I might’ve tried my hand at possessing someone’s body just so I could taste the caffeinated nectar of the gods one more time.
I was much happier spending my days and nights inside the quiet library, even though it meant I sometimes had to wait many months for new releases to make their way into the collection.
As Tilly and Tim continued sharing small talk, I shifted impatiently from one foot to the other.
“Come on,” I whined. “Just admit you have the hots for each other so we can get this show on the road. There’s a book in that box that I’d like to read before I die of anticipation!”
They didn’t respond, not that I’d expected them to since they couldn’t hear me. Sadly, I was forced to endure their awkward attempts at flirting for another ten minutes before Tim tipped his hat and headed out the door.
“Finally!” I sagged onto the counter in relief.
Tilly added to my agony by taking a full five minutes to find her preferred box cutter, but at last, she sliced the tape on the first box. I watched with bated breath as she lifted one book after another from the box and set them on the counter. She had removed half the books from the box when I spotted the book I’d desperately been waiting on.
The latest release from none other than Raven Kennedy.
“Finally!” I squealed, fighting the urge to snatch the book from Tilly’s hands.
The library already had one librarian on a mental health leave. If Tilly started screaming about ghosts and floating books, we’d be down another one.
I clenched my fists at my side and stared longingly as she laid the book on the counter. But the moment she turned to put the empty cardboard box on the floor, my self-control snapped and I snatched the book. Laughing maniacally, I clutched my treasure to my chest and darted toward the archive room.
There were only two guests in the library at that early hour, but I wasn’t worried about them spotting me. I was moving at a pace the human eye couldn’t track.
My speed was a ghost perk that was thoroughly wasted on me. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d run since my death… which was exactly never.
Even when I’d still been among the living, I hadn’t been fond of running. And the last time I’d attempted to run, I’d ended up dead, so look where it had gotten me. But a new book by my favorite author was worth the risk.
Reaching the archive room, I settled on top of the bookshelf I called my bed. I spent the next two hours lost inside my newest BILF—Book I’d Like to Finish.
Completely captivated by the story, it took me far too long to realize something was stroking against my cheek.
“Not now, Wasabi,” I murmured, my eyes still fixed on the page. “Things are just getting steamy.”
I’d expected a disgruntled squeak of protest from Wasabi, but instead, deep laughter filled the room and sent a thrill racing straight to my toes.
Jerking my head to the right, I came face to face with an unfamiliar man. He must have stepped onto the lower shelf because his arms were folded on the top of the bookshelf and he was resting his chin on top of them.
“ Ahhh! ” My shriek was loud enough to wake the dead, but the man only raised an eyebrow in response.
“Boo!” he teased, still chuckling under his breath. “Someone is awfully jumpy.”
“You would be too if strangers were sneaking up on you! And that’s my line!” I snapped.
My irritation at being pulled away from my book was only slightly dampened by the pair of glittering green eyes that were partially hidden by the blond hair that fell over the left side of the stranger’s face.
He was pretty. Almost too pretty. With my mind still filled with romance and a fantasy realm, I couldn’t stop myself from taking a quick peek at his ears to check if they were pointed. They weren’t, which was an absolute shame because the man would’ve made one heck of a beautiful fae.
The infuriatingly alluring man was studying me, and his finger stroked along my cheek again. In life, I would’ve growled at any man who dared touch me without permission, sexy or not. So it had to be the lack of physical interactions I’d had over the past three years that had me leaning ever-so-slightly into his touch.
Realizing how close I was dancing to a whole world of trouble, I sat up and scooted away from him. “Nope!”
The man tilted his head, likely confused by my sudden change of mood. “Something wrong?”
“Yes. I’m living a bookworm’s dream, and I refuse to lose my valuable reading time by getting sucked into a beautiful stranger’s drama.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Aw. You find me attractive, boo?”
“It’s not like you didn’t already know that. I’m sure you’ve been told how good looking you are since you were a kid.” I blushed but lifted my chin, refusing to let him see how much he was muddling my brain and making my stomach quiver. “And don’t call me boo.”
“I’ve never been complimented by a woman as lovely as you though.” The man purred. “If I can’t call you boo, can I call you mine?”
Oh yes.
This man was definitely going to be trouble.