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The royal blue heel of Veronica’s leather half boot caught on the weave of the industrial carpet and jerked her to a halt She lurched forward, catching herself on a shelf of autobiographies before she could hit the floor
“Oh, God,” she breathed, bent over and staring at the carpet At least she hadn’t landed flat on her face or jalanced up, face already hot with color, but miraculously, they’d turned away from her La
uren was gesturing toward a rack ofVeronica stood straight so quickly that the blood drained from her brain and left her dizzy
She was not going to eous man like the spastic mess of a woht line She wasn’t going tothat could uy into the equation She actually winced at the thought
Nope She was going to be cool, ignore the way his wavy black hair flopped onto his forehead when he laughed at Lauren and pretend his trimmed beard didn’t make Veronica want to pet his face
Hoping to stay half-hidden in the stacks, she waited for Lauren to turn in her direction When that didn’t happen, she waved a hand, hoping she was at least in Lauren’s peripheral vision If she could just get her friend’s attention and lure her away from this bearded wonder
But of course, he was the one who turned toward Veronica As his gaze rose toward her, she slapped her waving hand to her head and pretended she was only s down her hair as she stepped forward She kept her eyes off him and locked on Lauren, and her friend finally noticed her “Oh, my God!” Lauren cried out in the hushed tone she used only at work “Your hair looks a!”
“Do you think so?” Veronica asked, touching the blunt edges at the back
“I love it Did you lighten it?”
Veronica nodded She was naturally blonde, but she’d had her stylist lighten the front to a shade closer to platinu s on such a frivolous expense “I did it for tonight,” she said
“Good idea You’re going to blow them away”
Veronica shook her head and tried to ignore the fact that Hot Guy atching her with a friendly smile “Do you have a minute, Lauren?” she asked “If you’re too busy, I can come back later”
“Sure, I have a minute This is Gabe, by the way Gabe MacKenzie, the latest addition to our little library Gabe, this is Veronica Chandler”