Free Trouble When You Walked In (Contemporary Romance) by Kieran Kramer

wise-ruler face. “I’m mayor of this town. I want to be around when stuff happens.” Especially when an interesting woman was in charge, a woman he’d never noticed before, a woman who intimidated him .
    “But nothing’s happened,” she said. “I’m not stupid. I know you and Chief Scotty are going easy on us. And I can guess that old Edwina doesn’t want to come down and report on this. She’s biased. She worshiped you in high school and probably still does.”
    “I don’t know about that.”
    “Well, I do.”
    “You were looking at me in high school?” he asked out of genuine curiosity.
    She blushed. “Who wasn’t looking at you? You were the most popular boy. I couldn’t help seeing you everywhere. You were in the spotlight.”
    “Well, now you are, so take advantage of it. Take advantage of me .”
    Oops. That was a dumb thing to say. There was a split second of utter silence. Her pupils widened. And all he could think was that he was in a closet with a hot librarian, every man’s fantasy. Maybe she was wearing black lace panties and a plunging black bra beneath those frumpy clothes.
    “I mean, of course, take advantage of my connections,” he segued smoothly. “I’m willing to share since I’m earning brownie points with my students. Starla must have donated six pies out there. And there’s banana pudding.”
    Cissie studied his face for a second. “Okay. If your boys are going to call the cheerleaders, could they please also call some other girls? You know, some of the ones who didn’t make the squad? And they might as well call up the entire football team. I feel sorry for the second string. They should have a meal, too.”
    “Deal.”
    Fifteen minutes later, a bunch of cars and pickup trucks showed up. A whole bunch.
    It was a party. No doubt about it. The noise level was through the roof. The food was decimated within twenty minutes. Some smart kid had brought a box of big garbage bags—“I told him to,” said Boone—and all the dirty plates and garbage went in there.
    But there was no sign of Edwina.
    “They can’t go yet,” Cissie yelled to Boone over the sound of teen voices. Every once in a while, she heard, “Boom!” from the children’s section. Sally, Hank Davis, and Charles were surrounded by cheerleaders watching the end of Frozen with them.
    “Don’t worry,” Boone said. “They’re teenagers. They don’t want to go home.”
    “Don’t they have homework? It’s a school night.”
    “The football players and cheerleaders all have study hall before practice. A whole two hours to get schoolwork done.”
    “Oh, good.” She felt better about that.
    And then some music came from out back. Cissie peered through the window. Someone had parked a pickup in the dirt parking lot, opened all its doors, and turned up the radio to a hip-hop station.
    “That’s Nana’s truck!” And there was Nana in her red-and-white-striped pajamas, outside chatting with some teens. Many more, both guys and girls, streamed out of the library through the door Cissie hadn’t been able to budge earlier.
    “Who got this door open?” she cried.
    “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Boone said.
    “Outta my way, everyone. I gotta bust a move.” Sally hustled Hank Davis and Charles out the door.
    “Hey, ho … hey, ho,” Hank Davis said over and over, louder and louder.
    “Look at Nana and those kids dance.” Mrs. Donovan put her arm around Cissie’s waist. Together they basked in the refreshingly cold night air wafting into the room. “This is a sit-in?”
    “It was ,” Cissie replied. “It’s a party now.”
    And it looked like fun. She couldn’t have fun, though. She had to protect the interests of the library.
    “Don’t you fret,” said Mrs. Hattlebury. “It’s a sit-in, all right, although I prefer to call it a dance-in now. They’re on library property out there.”
    “Yep,” said Boone. “And they’re raising a ruckus. Someone in the neighborhood is