LITMIR.BIZ

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going on a date with you. The whole town is going to be there.”

      “I’ll be on my best behavior. No one will think we’re together.”

      She wanted to decline. She should decline, Sydney thought as she shivered with expectation. Instead she gave a quick nod. She didn’t trust herself to say anything. She wasn’t graceful when she got into her car and her hands fumbled as she started the engine. Sydney drove away, her gaze drawn to the mirror as Matthew watched her leave.

      What had she done? Curiosity had gotten the better of her. She’d wanted one taste. Just one. But now that she’d experienced the explosive chemistry she shared with Matthew, she wanted so much more.

      His kiss was better than she’d imagined. She brushed her fingertips along her reddened lips. It was better even than she had described in her fake erotic diary.

      She should write down her experiences now so she could clear her mind and focus on her next work assignment. Sydney drove a few blocks and slid into an empty parking spot on the worn cobblestone street. Her hands were still jittery as she reached for her backpack. The pile of notebooks spilled onto the seat and she searched for the one that she’d reserved for her erotic diary.

      It wasn’t there. She froze, her chest squeezing with panic.

      No, no, no! She opened and shut the notebooks, one by one. Where was the diary? She’d just had it. She’d been writing in it at Dawson’s.

      Sydney dipped her head and closed her eyes as the panic washed over her. Dawson’s Diner. She’d lost her erotic writing in the most populated place in Seedling.

      Sydney leaped out of the car and raced down the blocks until she reached the diner. She barely noticed the curious stares she was receiving. It was nothing compared to the stares she would get if someone read her notebook! She bolted inside the diner and glanced around frantically.

      “Hi, Sydney,” Laura greeted with a curious look. “Weren’t you just here?”

      “I forgot something,” she said breathlessly as she hurried through the diner. She spotted the table where she’d been sitting and exhaled sharply with relief when she noticed it hadn’t been cleaned yet.

      “Was it your purse?” Laura asked as she followed. “You don’t have to worry about that. It will still be there. This is Seedling.”

      Sydney didn’t see the notebook on the table or on the seats. She crouched down and looked on the floor. Nothing. Her stomach twisted with dread. “Did anyone find a notebook?”

      “No,” Laura replied.

      It was gone. Her throat closed up with panic. This couldn’t be happening. Her erotic diary—the one that described every scandalous thought she’d ever had about Matthew Stone—was missing.

       If anyone reads it...

      Sydney dragged her hands over her face. No, she wouldn’t think about that. She just had to find it. Immediately.

3

      THE NEXT MORNING Sydney rushed into Seedling Library. The moment she crossed the threshold, she braced herself against the chill of the air-conditioning and the scent of musty books. The outdated dark green carpeting muffled her footsteps as she searched around the circulation desk for the notebook.

      “Good morning, Sydney,” Doris Brown said. Sydney stopped and saw the older woman seated at the end of a scarred wooden table. Doris’s glasses were perched low on her nose as she flipped through a magazine.

      Sydney halted her search and gave a polite smile. She had been in a panic for the past twenty-four hours as she’d searched everywhere for her notebook, hoping she had left it at home or at the office. But she didn’t want to show her concern and have people start asking questions. “Hello, Miss Doris. How are you doing today?”

      “Finished reading a scorcher and now I’m trying to find something else to read.”

      Sydney frowned. “A scorcher? Really? That doesn’t sound like something from the reading circle’s book list.”

      “It’s not. Just something I...picked up.” Miss Doris’s eyes twinkled.

      “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime. Right now I’m looking for Isabel and Laura. Have you seen them?”

      Miss Doris nodded. “They went upstairs.”

      “Thanks.” Sydney hurried to the stairs but paused on the first step when she had the odd sensation she was being watched. Studied. Evaluated. She was all too familiar with that feeling. She glanced around the library but no one was paying attention to her. Sydney gave herself a mental shake. Losing the notebook had made her paranoid.

      She went to the second floor of the library. The high ceilings and large windows made the building seem larger than it was. As Sydney walked past the rows of bookshelves, she noticed very few patrons today.

      She spotted Laura in the last row wearing a bold purple top and black miniskirt. It took a moment to notice Isabel next to Laura, wearing a white sheath dress. Sydney sagged with relief at the sight of them. She had to confide in someone and her two friends were the only ones who would understand.

      “There you guys are,” Sydney said in a fierce whisper as she approached them. “I really need your help.”

      Laura paused in the act of shelving a book. “What’s going on?”

      Sydney glanced around to make sure no one could eavesdrop. “I lost my fake diary. I have looked everywhere and I can’t find it.”

      “Is that what you were so upset about at the diner yesterday?” Laura asked as she continued her task of shelving books. “It’s no big deal. The diary was just a challenge.”

      “No, no.” Sydney waved her hands around. “You don’t understand. The diary sounded very real.”

      Isabel scoffed at that proclamation. “Sure it did.”

      “And I didn’t write it in Victorian times,” Sydney explained. “I took your advice and wrote it as if it was happening in today’s world...in Seedling—” her voice got softer “—with someone from Seedling.”

      “You didn’t.” Isabel’s eyes widened with dismay.

      Laura leaned forward, her arms resting on the book cart. “Did you name names?”

      “No.” But that decision wouldn’t be enough to hide Matthew’s identity. “I called him X but it’s not going to take much to figure out who it is. I described him in detail.”

      “Is it Matthew Stone?” Laura asked.

      Sydney gasped as her heart gave a jolt. “How did you know that?”

      “I see how the two of you are when you’re together,” Laura said. “You light up when he’s around. And he kind of gravitates toward you. It’s more than the fact you are hot for each other. You and Matthew enjoy each other’s company.”

      “Oh, then everyone who reads the diary is automatically going to assume that Matthew is my lover.” Sydney shoved her hands in her hair as the panic fluttered inside her. “The rumors are going to fly. I’ll lose my job.”

      Isabel placed her hand on Sydney’s arm to comfort her. “Matthew isn’t going to be upset,” the librarian insisted. “He’s used to these kinds of rumors. He’s a good guy but he has earned his reputation as the local lothario.”

      Sydney winced. That made it even worse. Matthew wasn’t a playboy and he was trying to prove it. After the last mayor’s sex scandal, Matthew didn’t need rumors circulating about him before he went into an election. She didn’t want to ruin his hard work because of some fantasies she’d written down.

      “So what is in this erotic diary of yours?”

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