LIAM
(A Trace Brothers Novel Book 1)
SIMONE GREY
LIAM (A Trace Brother’s Novel Book 1)
Copyright © 2019 by Simone Grey. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All character in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
BlurbHe's a control freak used to getting what he wants. She's a good girl who's not looking for love.
Liam Trace thinks he has everything figured out. As the CEO of several successful businesses, work has always been his first love. His family and the occasional hook up are all he needs in life.
Or so he thinks.
Then Ava comes bursting into his life and everything changes for this former playboy.
Ava Richards thinks she has everything figured out. As a librarian she's surrounded daily by her one true love, the written word. Disillusioned after a failed relationship, she's vowed to steer clear of them. Everything is going according to plan.
Until she meets him.
Her carefully constructed world is about to be turned upside down…
Chapter 1
AVA
They’re here again.
The same two college students that have come in here at least three times a week over the last two months. And at least once during each of those weeks I’ve caught them in a compromising position. One time they were making out in the computer room on top of the copy machine. Another time I found them making out in the fantasy section against a stack of Game of Thrones books. Last week, I caught them in the in the back of the children’s section of the library.
You would think they wouldn’t show their faces here anymore after getting caught and being asked to leave so many times. But no, they keep coming back.
Although I could never see myself attempting something like that, I do admire them in one aspect. They clearly have a lot of passion and love for each other. It’s almost palpable. It’s the kind of connection I envy yet I know I will never have.
“They’re here again” Claire whispers to me. Her blond curls bounce as she takes a seat at the desk next to mine.
“I know, I saw them too.” I shift around in my chair trying to get comfortable.
“You would think they would use the library on campus instead of coming all the way over to this one. Unless they got banned from that one, which is entirely possible,” Claire says before taking a sip of water.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they did get banned.”
“Ah, the wonders of being young and in love. You know, my husband and I never tried anything in a library, but we were almost caught getting busy in a movie theatre once.” Her eyes are cast upward with a faraway look in them.
“The movie theatre? Really?” I ask laughing
Claire is in her late sixties and has worked at the Riverdale Library for over thirty years. With her long curly blond hair, clear blue eyes, athletic build, and the prominent laugh lines around the corners of her eyes she looks much younger. She was the first person I met when I started working here a little over a year ago and she is easily the coworker I talk to the most.
“Oh yeah. There are so many stories I could tell you from back in the day.”
“Shhh!” Looking to my right I see Walter glaring at us over the top of his cubicle with a finger pressed to his lips.
Claire rolls her eyes and whispers, “I’ll tell you about it later.”
I nod before going back to my current project. Working around books has been my dream for as long as I can remember. Reading helped me through some of the toughest times in my life. When you grow up in the foster care system, like I did, it’s easy to feel invisible and forgotten. The kids I lived with found different avenues to release whatever emotions they were feeling.
I found books.
Of the three foster homes I lived in, I always made it a priority to find a library. Anytime I needed an escape, which was often, I would go to the closest library to me.
The smell of books, old and new. The texture of the pages. The feeling of holding a paperback or hardback in my hands, it became like home to me. More of a home than anyone I’d ever lived in up until I turned eighteen and was able to go away to college.
That’s why it was a no brainer for me to major in library science and take a cataloging position at The Riverdale Library.
The large two-story brick building can be easy to get lost in if you don’t know where you’re going. Before I started working here full-time, I volunteered for two years while they upgraded the entire building. Even though the construction has been done for over a year now the place still fills new. The circulation desk sits in the middle of the floor when you first walk in. Behind the circulation desk is a wood partition that separates the staff work area and the breakroom.
To the right of the circulation desk are where several large and small study rooms are gathered. Some have glass windows and others have none to give people extra privacy. Next to the study rooms sits the nonfiction section, magazines, music, CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks. On the left side of the circulation desk is the children’s section, teen section and an area for all the different programs, including the children’s program I run here every Wednesday.
I’ve just finished cataloguing another book when my phone vibrates with
