Page 16 of The Librarian’s Familiar

Charlie rocked back. “I did no such thing. I said if you want to get to know me, you can buy me a drink.” He took a tentative sip. “I didn’t expect you to.”

August huffed. “Well, I did, and the least you can do is say thank you.”

“Um…thank you…but I am running late, so I can’t stop.” He tilted his head in the direction of the library.

“I have nothing planned this morning.” Now that he had the witch against the boards, he wasn’t going to let him wriggle away.

Charlie blinked. “Okay, sure. You can hang out in the library. It’s a public space and all.”

Something was off today. Charlie’s whole demeanor had changed. Had he done the wrong thing in buying the coffee? It wasn’t like a date or anything, even though Charlie was good-looking. Dark hair and dark eyes, and far too confident about, well, everything. That’s what had caught his attention…mostly because of his interaction with Sinclair. And now Sinclair thought they had slept together.

This was a mess.

Charlie started walking, and August followed. “So you really want to know what my magic is?”

No, he wanted to work out why he was so curious about the witch when there were plenty of other new people in town he could obsess over. “I heard you were telekinetic.”

Charlie gave a nod and made a non-committal noise that made August’s skin prickle. There was something unsettling about the witch, and it was bugging him, even though he couldn’t put his finger on what was bothering him so much.

“So you’ve been asking about me, even though you know the Coven appointed me to the job? Do you think they don’t vet people thoroughly?” Charlie juggled his coffee and muffin like an expert and unlocked the door before turning off the alarm. He flicked on the lights as if running on autopilot.

“I’ve never had anything to do with them, aside from medical assistance.” And he didn’t want to go into detail about that either.

“So you don’t know anything about the Coven?”

“I know there’s always a representative here because the prison is so close.”

Charlie put his cup and muffin down on the counter. “I’m supposed to deny all existence of the prison. However, given half the security guards are polar bears, there’s probably no point.”

“Yeah, half my family works there.”

Charlie gave him a tight smile. “Then you know we’re the biggest employer in the region.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“Well, not everybody feels comfortable going to their boss or their boss’s boss…I’m a friendly face.” His smile widened into something more open and engaging. “They prefer to send a witch because there’s so many shifters in town.”

It made his heart beat a little faster. The room became a little warm, and he needed to take his coat off if he was staying.

If.

Charlie pulled off his coat and tossed it over a chair. He then sat and turned on the computer. “So, what else do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. You’re an itch I can’t scratch.”

He lifted one eyebrow and sipped his coffee. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or flattered. But I don’t need your approval to do my job.”

“Which, on the surface, is to be the librarian.”

“Exactly.” Charlie nodded.

August stood there, not sure what to do next. Yesterday there’d been banter, today it was dangerous, thin frost.

“If you’re going to stick around, you might as well sit down instead of making the place look untidy. You standing there guarding my desk will put off patrons.”

August glanced around the empty library. “Does anyone even come in?”

“Yes,” Charlie said as if it was obvious.