He grinds his teeth, his gaze flicking from the computer to me. “How did you find out all that information anyway? Police records aren’t supposed to be accessible to the public.”
“Now, Blaise, let’s not play dumb with each other after we’ve been so bluntly honest so far.” I pat his arm then sling the handle of my bag over my shoulder. “After digging up all the dirt on my family, I’m sure you can figure that answer out for yourself.”
He frowns. “Well, maybe I’m a little bit slow, so please enlighten me.”
I shrug with a haughty grin. “Guess you’ll never know then.”
I swing around him, feeling pretty good about myself, even though I’m late to class. But seconds later, as I’m hurrying down an aisle of books, I trip over my own feet and knock several rows of books off the shelf, causing a scene.
Awesome.
I scramble to pick them up and shove them back on the shelves so I can get to class.
“Can I help you?” The librarian, a thirty-something-year-old woman, appears on the aisle beside me. She takes one look at the mess and frowns. “Don’t just shove them all back on the shelves. There’s a system to it.” She crouches beside me and snatches the books from my hands.
“I’m sorry.”
She slips a few books onto a shelf. “Shouldn’t you be in class? Or do you have a pass? If you don’t, I’m going to have to write you up for after school detention.”
“I have a pass,” I lie automatically.
Her skeptical gaze settles on me. “Can I see it?”
“Sure.” I pretend to reach for my back pocket, preparing to haul ass out of there, figuring since I’m new here, it’ll be really hard for her to figure out who I am, when a voice stops me.
“Hey, Ms. G., Hadley’s actually helping me this period.” Blaise materializes behind the librarian—Ms. G, I’m assuming.
Ms. G.’s eyelashes flutter as she cranes her neck to look up at Blaise. “Oh, I didn’t know that. Thank you for letting me know.”
“No problem.” He dazzles her with a smile, not the smirk he’s always throwing at me. “Do you need any help cleaning that up?”
She flashes him a flustered smile. “No, I think I got it. Thank you, though, for the offer. It’s so nice of you.”
“Anytime.” He winks at her then scoops up a handful of books and places them on a shelf. Then he arches a brow at me, taunting amusement glittering in his eyes. “You coming?”
I don’t want to accept his help. I want to run away or simply declare I’m ditching. But my desire not to get detention wins.
Nodding, I rise to my feet. “Yeah.”
Flashing me a toothy grin, he nods for me to follow him out of the library.
Once we make it into the hallway, I turn to head in the opposite direction as him, but he skitters in my path, nearly sending me tripping over my feet.
“You know, most people would thank me for coming to their rescue,” he says, crossing his arms.
“You didn’t come to my rescue,” I retort. “I totally had that handled before you showed up and flirted with poor Ms. G.”
His lips kick up into a half-smile. “She didn’t seem to mind.”
“So? That doesn’t make it right.”
A smug smile plays at the corners of his lips. “Are you jealous?”
A snort escapes me. “Oh, my God, are you being serious right now?”
“You know, it’s been a long time since someone laughed in my face.” His tone is low, but not threatening, just confused.
“That you know of.”