“But not enough to waste salmon-entrée-money on,” her mother said in a breezy voice. “I think we should stick with the sirloin and chicken. Everyone eats chicken. I read somewhere that chickens are the most consumed animal in the world.”

As she scrolled through John’s photos, she didn’t bother telling her mother that vegetarian wasn’t the same thing as pescatarian. Her beautiful librarian filled her screen and captured her focus.

“What we really need to do is to decide on the cake,” her mother continued. “You know what? I need to let you go because I think I remember hearing something about a new black-owned bakery somewhere downtown. I’ll have to Google them. Let’s talk later?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Katherine hung up.

Victoria put down her phone and willed her body to relax. As she went through each photo of John, her mind drifted back to their last tryst. Images of them fogging up an already humid greenhouse with their passionate lovemaking appeared. She opened her day planner, seeking out their next rendezvous. Tomorrow.

Thank god.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

“Seems like you’ve got something on your mind, Dr. Reese.”

Victoria was in the middle of jabbing a box cutter through cardboard when John’s voice hummed like a faraway echo. The steady rhythm of unpacking picture books, counting, and marking numbers was a comforting way to take her mind off what bothered her. When John had told her they were going to the library basement to take inventory of a new shipment of children’s books, she’d been strangely relieved. What may have been considered boring by most, actually calmed Victoria. She hadn’t thought about her mother once.

“Dr. Reese?”

Victoria head jerked around to see John sitting on the floor with a pile of books. He was staring at her. “Beg your pardon?”

His mouth quirked into a lopsided grin. “Pardoned.”

“Did you say something?”

He shook his head. “You looked like you were in deep thought, that’s all. You got something on your mind?”

Quite the opposite. She had zoned out a while ago, completely focused on her task. “Nope.”

“It’s just that you’re very quiet,” he said.

“The job is pretty simple,” she said, ripping open her box. “You count the books, make sure they match the packing list, mark correct on the invoice...then put the invoice in that pile. I could do this all day.”

His low rumble of laughter made her look up from her work.

“What?”