Deep Within The Shadows (The Superstition Series Book 1) Read Online Free

momentary fright lingered, and so did her shakiness. “Thanks. There was an issue with a couple of students, and then I had to close a window.”
    Caleb frowned and ran a soothing hand down her back. “Are you all right?”
    She fought to get her breathing under control. “I’m fine. You just startled me.”
    She led the way back down the aisle to the stairs and flipped off the lights again.
    Caleb’s hand rested against her waist. “I don’t like you being here until midnight every night with just a couple of other people.”
    “The security guard’s in the building. He checks the offices at the back of the building, and then patrols the library commons after we’re gone. I have to be sure no students are left behind. What if one was still here and startled him? He might shoot them by accident.”
    “I understand why you do it. I just don’t like that you’re doing it alone.”
    The doing it alone part had started out as a means to face her fears. Now she clung to it as a reminder of how far she’d come. “I’ve done this for seven years now, Caleb.” They descended the stairs to the main floor of the library.
    “And just because nothing’s happened in the past, doesn’t mean it can’t.”
    She understood his concerns. And after her scare upstairs… Maybe it was time she let go of that particular demon, or rather her attempt to conquer it. “Okay. From now on, I’ll take one of the others with me while I check each floor.”
    If his grin held just a touch of relief, she ignored it.
    “Got your car fixed.” Caleb leaned against the checkout desk, his lean, lanky frame at ease, yet—not. Since returning from Afghanistan, he seemed poised for action even while lounging against something. He focused on her with eyes blue as a slice of sky, his sun-bleached hair curling along the back of his neck and over his ears, casually flipping her key ring around his finger.
    Miranda swallowed, though her mouth had gone dry. “What was the problem?”
    “I had to replace the fuel and air filters. It’s good you get your oil changed at regular intervals, but you have to have the filters and hoses looked at now and then, too.”
    “I’ll try to be better about getting things checked. How much do I owe you?” She opened the cabinet beneath the desk and retrieved her purse.
    “We can settle up tomorrow. Walk down to The Dish and eat a piece of pie with me. They don’t close until one.”
    Was it fear or excitement that had her heart drumming at her wrists and throat? She bit her lip. “It’s awfully late.”
    Caleb rested his fingertips atop her clenched hand on the counter. A sensation of warmth spread from the point of contact to her wrist. She glanced up into those blue, blue eyes.
    “It’s just pie, Mandy.”
    This was Caleb. The boy who’d looked out for her all the way through high school. He was no longer the sweet young boy from down the street—he was a man. A good man, who had done and seen too much. She wasn’t very good at saying no to him. But she needed to be. To get closer meant he might find out all the things she needed desperately to hide.
    “All right,” she said before she had a chance to think herself out of it. As Caleb smiled, panic spread like wings beneath her rib cage. “It’s just pie,” she repeated. Was she reminding him or reassuring herself?
    “All done,” Vivian said as she returned. “Hello.” The smile she offered Caleb seemed overly bright and flirtatious. Her golden brown hair swung forward around her face and curved beneath her chin becomingly. With her lush figure, she was very attractive to the opposite sex. Miranda had noticed some of the male students’ interest focused on her.
    She studied Caleb’s dismissive attitude as he nodded at Vivian and offered her a brief smile.
    “All set?” he asked, looking back at Miranda. He slid the car keys across the countertop.
    How could she stand around watching for a reason to be jealous and refuse to seal the