He smirked at her obvious look of approval, noting the small ruby piercing in her nose that caught the florescent lights of the reading room. Her eyes were lined in black, her skin was fair, and though she did not have classically beautiful features, he thought her dramatic looks would be eye-catching even from a distance.

“I saw you Friday night!” she blurted. “I was coming in to meet a friend after her shift. I saw you heading out.”

Glancing away from her toward the door, he brushed at the dark curls that had fallen into his eyes again. “That’s possible,” he noted. “I like working in the evenings here.”

She shrugged. “Well, obviously.”

“Why?” he asked. “Why obviously?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Because you’re here now? Instead of the middle of the day?”

He blinked. “Of course.”

“So what do you do?”

“Me?”

The girl snorted and looked around the otherwise empty room. “Yeah.”

He opened his mouth and almost considered telling her the truth, just to see what the unusual girl might say.

“I do…research.”

She stood, as if waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, she smiled politely and held out a hand. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you.”

He paused for a moment then held out his own hand to shake hers.

“Nice to meet you as well…” He frowned a little. “What’s your real name?”

“Why?”

“I…” Giovanni had no idea why he wanted to know, except perhaps, because she didn’t seem to want to tell him. So he flashed her his most charming smile and cheered internally when he heard her heart speed up.

She rolled her eyes. “My ‘real’ name is Beatrice. But I hate it, so please just call me B. Everyone does, even Dr. Christiansen,” she added, referencing the very formal Director of Special Collections for the library.

“Of course,” he said with a small smile. “I was simply curious. For the record, however, I think Beatrice is a lovely name.” He made sure to pronounce her name with the softer Italian accent it deserved.