Love Between the Pages: 8 Romances for Booklovers

by Bird, Peggy

  This time her body pressed in to his. She wanted him to kiss her, right here in Fitch’s with everyone watching. She stood still against Matt’s chest and fought it. It wasn’t desire. That was too nice a word for what was coursing through her. It was lust, plain and simple. Raw lust ran through her, and she flushed hot with it.

  She closed her eyes and stepped back, reaching for her beer. She took a sip and looked back at Matt. He stared at her, a smile playing about his mouth. “Wow, this is a great beer.” Jade said taking another sip.

  Matt grinned wider. “Mmm, great.” He paused to take a drink of the topic of discussion. “You’re sure you don’t mind going on a wild goose chase with me?”

  Jade considered for a moment then shrugged. “What the heck. I always wanted to be a part of a Scooby-Doo caper.”

  “Daphne?”

  Jade snorted with derision. “Uh, no. Velma.”

  Matt nodded slowly over the rim of his beer. “Hot.”

  Jade managed a smile and waggled her eyebrows at Matt. “Hmm, you have untold depths.”

  “Oh, you have no idea.” He gave her a look that melted everything south of her waistband, and she was pretty sure the temperature in the bar spiked about a billion degrees. Plus, her mouth was suddenly very dry. She took a big sip of her beer, which went down the wrong way, leaving her coughing and sputtering. Suave. Matt patted her on the back until her coughing subsided.

  The two women standing behind Matt turned to watch Jade’s choking fit, pausing long enough to eye Matt with interest before turning back to their conversation. This somehow left Jade feeling like she didn’t measure up. She could see the scene through their eyes, and all of her insecurities flared to life. She could easily imagine Matt in a James Bond tuxedo with a cool blonde on his arm, sipping champagne that cost hundreds of dollars a bottle. What was she doing here? More to the point, what was he doing here? With her? All of the reasons why this was a bad idea flooded her mind, and she stepped back out of Matt’s reach. He dropped his arm, slid his hand in his pocket, and leaned against the drink ledge.

  Jade pulled it together enough to actually look Matt in the eyes. He was watching her carefully.

  “Where did you just go?’ He reached over and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

  She shook her head. “On a little head trip.”

  He smiled down at her. “Have fun?”

  “God, no. Don’t go there—it’s a bad neighborhood.”

  Matt took another drink of his beer. “I don’t know. I might like the neighborhood.”

  Jade laughed. “Nah, it’s pure anarchy and chaos with some tap dancing lemurs thrown in.”

  “Okaaay, so we’ll leave your internal monologue alone for now.”

  “Yeah … so, what’s our plan? Split up to look for clues? Participate in a musical chase montage and then unmask Mr. Withers?”

  “Actually, I do have an angle.”

  Jade smirked. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Because you’re aware of my innately clever nature?”

  Jade rolled her eyes.

  Matt barreled on. “Your dad’s notes seem to be mostly from travel diaries and business ledgers, plus some letters between other guides from the area written after Cartwright’s death. In fact, most of the research I’ve come across so far has been from these types of sources. But all of these sources only speculate as to the fate of the treasure. They cite evidence of its existence, and they speculate that it was buried. The problem, as I see it, is that the only people who know for sure where the treasure was put to rest are the Native American tribal members who buried it. Most of their history is oral, and what was recorded was by white settlers who were basically playing a huge game of telephone. By the time the facts were actually written down, they were distorted.”

  “Yeah, I’m with you so far, Sherlock.”

  “I thought we were the Scooby gang.”

  “Yeah, I was going to go with that … but I realized after the speech you just gave that you are Velma, and I would have to be Scooby or something. Not interested.”

  Matt just stared at her for a beat before continuing. “I started to think that we need a new approach, something outside the box a little.” He waited for her response, which in this case was a raised brow and a head tilt. He took that as a go-ahead. “There are two angles that haven’t been explored. I had a research assistant out of London, someone I’ve worked with before, track down both provenance papers for most of the pieces in the treasure and letters from Adam Cartwright to his mother. Either one may provide us clues as to where the treasure was buried.”

  The blonde behind Matt bumped her hip into him, and when he turned to look, she smiled and purred an effusive apology. It was pretty crowded in there, so Jade did her best to ignore the incident.

  She shook her head. “I don’t see how. Neither of those sources would be likely to have information about how an unrelated Native American tribe would think or behave.”

  Matt lifted his eyebrows.

  “What? I went to college. I’ve done research before.”

  “So has everyone else who searched for the treasure … but with no results.”

  “Okay, so we work outside the box. What are we looking for?”

  “I don’t know.” Matt shrugged. “But we’ll know it when we see it.”

  The two were standing close again, speaking in low tones. Jade noticed some of the bar patrons glancing their way. She couldn’t tell whether they were just curious about a new face at Fitch’s, or whether they were curious about their conversation. Maybe it was her imagination, but for some reason she felt like carrion circled by vultures.

  Some of the glances were from men. Those looked less than friendly. The women, on the other hand, were more than friendly, with toothy smiles and pronounced eye contact. The blonde behind Matt eyed him and whispered something to her friend. The friend giggled. Matt was ignoring it all, but it was starting to piss Jade off. What? Am I invisible?

  Jade mumbled to herself, “Okay, enough is enough.” She smiled brightly at Matt. “Come on.”

  Matt gave her a confused look. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him to the pool table at the other end of the room. It was crowded, and she had to weave her way through the shoulder-to-shoulder people, glancing back at Matt as they went along. He was smiling slightly, but the look in his eyes was wary. They got to the table at the exact moment that the Wilson brothers were leaving. Jade waved to the twins who were younger than her but had gone to the same school. Surprisingly, there was no one queued up, and she and Matt got the table immediately.

  “Do you play?” Jade grabbed a rack and began to gather the balls in it.

  “No. This really isn’t my game.” Matt threw Jade an apologetic look. “Did I miss something?”

  Jade kept her voice low enough so only Matt could hear her. “Probably. You’re just going to have to go along with me here.” She finished racking the balls, and hung the triangle back on the wall where a row of pool cues was hanging. She grabbed one and handed it to Matt.

  Matt took it but was shaking his head. “No, you don’t understand. I really don’t play.”

  Jade stepped in very close to Matt, pressed up against him and whispered, “Don’t worry. I don’t need you to play pool, and you’ll do fine at what I do need you to do.” She smiled her best flirty smile at him and hoped she didn’t look maniacal.

  Matt’s eyes grew speculative. “Mmm hmm. And what might that be?”

  “Chalk your stick.”

  “Uh, is that code for something?”

  Jade spoke loudly so that the women nearby could hear. “Is this what you want, honey?” Jade reached behind Matt to the wall rack where the cues and small cubes of chalk were lined up. She had to rub up against him to reach the chalk, but that was better for the show. She slowly slid the chalk around the tip of the cue Matt was holding and then rubbed herself against him again to return the chalk to the shelf. Matt, trooper that he was, didn’t compl
ain once.

  Jade sauntered up to him. “Tell me to turn around and bend over.”

  Matt stared at her, speechless.

  She hissed at him. “Come on, Connor. Snap to. And make it look believable.”

  Matt blinked, but the command in Jade’s voice had him moving. He slid his free hand to her hip and turned her body away from him and toward the pool table. In one smooth move he crowded her to the rail of the table and stepped up tight behind her.

  She turned over her shoulder and beamed a smile up at Matt. “Okay, good.” She caught a glimpse of Fitch, who might’ve been smirking behind the bar. Anyone else who was watching seemed to be buying the show.

  Matt took advantage of his position and pushed in closer, if that was possible. He leaned down over her, tucked her hair behind her ear, and whispered, “Anything else I can do for you?” His breath tickled against her ear.

  For some reason, her voice came back breathy as she gave him his next order. “We need to break.”

  “Uh, honey,” he leaned in to whisper again, but punched up the volume on the endearment so that those around them could hear it. Jade smiled. He had caught on to the game quickly and it pleased her that he played along without needing an explanation. He trusted her. Completely. The last time she had trusted anyone that way, she had been falling in love. The thought had her reeling, and she swayed back into Matt. He slid his arm around her torso to steady her.

  “Are you okay?”

  Jade took a deep breath and nodded. It scared her, but she couldn’t expect trust from him and not give trust in return. She kept her smile firmly pasted on her face and stared at the table in front of her. Focus. “We need to break.”

  Matt whispered, “Yeah, about that. I really don’t play pool.” Matt’s hand rested lightly on her ribcage, and she imagined all sorts of places it could explore from there.

  “It’s okay, just put the cue ball—that’s the white one … ”

  His jaw was against her temple, and she could feel him smile. “I know what a cue ball is.” Matt stepped up, bracketed her feet with his, and pressed her forward until her hips were up against the table. She put her right hand out on the rail to keep from being laid out flat on the felt. Taking his time, Matt reached around her for the cue ball. His chest curved around her back. In front of her, the pool table was solid and cold; behind her, Matt was solid and warm.

  “Great, it goes behind the … ”

  “Head string. I know the rules. I just can’t play.” Matt leaned down to put the cue ball behind the head spot.

  “Okay, I’ll do the aiming. You just put some, uh, thrust into it.”

  Matt chuckled. “With pleasure.”

  Jade smiled to herself. She loved Matt’s quick mind, his charm, his easy and playful nature. And, let’s face it, the man was easy on the eyes. She could feel him behind her and … Okay, Sawyer, keep your mind on the game.

  Jade took the cue stick from Matt with her left hand and then shifted it to her right. She knew she handled it with an ease that spoke to her skill as a player. She debated whether to risk a glance to the other side of the room to see if she had an audience, mostly to check and see if some of the other women were finally getting the hint. It would’ve given her a great deal of satisfaction to see a look of jealousy on the women’s faces, but she decided that it was enough to impress Matt with her ability as a pool player.

  Jade raised the cue and dropped her eye level down toward the table to make the break. This forced her hips back and into Matt. Specifically, into his arousal. Matt quickly shifted his body to the side, which had the unfortunate effect of bumping his hand into the butt of the cue. Jade smiled in anticipation as she drove the cue stick back to take her shot. What she didn’t anticipate was Matt knocking the back of the stick right up toward his own face, and though the force was not that great, the angle and aim were perfect.

  The thwack would’ve been satisfying if Jade had been trying to injure Matt. It was followed by a grunt and a spurt of warm blood that landed in flecks on Jade’s forearm. She was confused for a moment and began to turn toward Matt, bringing the pool stick down suddenly as she pivoted. She nearly smacked Matt again, this time in the crotch. Luckily, his fast reflexes saved him further bodily harm as he deflected the shaft of the pool cue to the side.

  While his right hand was busy saving his nether parts, his left was cupping his nose, attempting to staunch the flow of blood. Jade gasped at the sight that met her as she turned, blood dripping down between Matt’s fingers onto his gorgeously chiseled chin. It seemed an awful large amount of blood, and some of it was flowing from the bottom of his hand down his wrist. The room flashed hot, and Jade felt suddenly nauseous. She swallowed hard and heard Matt speaking, but it sounded far away.

  “Are you okay?”

  Jade nodded weakly and wondered why he was asking her that. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? She did feel a bit dizzy though, and using the pool stick for balance, slid herself down to the ground. It struck her as funny that she was still holding on to the cue, and she started to giggle, which almost caused her to smack Matt with it again. Matt caught the stick and laid it on the ground next to her hip. Some of the noise in the bar had died off, and Jade could feel the other people in the bar looking at her. She was still feeling woozy and only vaguely heard her name being called as people asked if she was okay. Matt was the one with the bloody face, and they kept asking about her. She giggled harder.

  She heard Matt call for a wet cloth. She laughed until he bent over her to press her head down between her knees. A drop of blood landed with a splat on the floor between her feet and suddenly breathing seemed to take all of her focus. Fitch came over with the cloth but rather than place it over his nose, Matt used his free hand to scoop Jade’s hair up and over her shoulder and then took the cloth and draped it across the back of her neck. It felt cool on her hot skin. She noticed a scuff mark on her shoe that looked like a profile of Elvis. She giggled again. Matt gently caressed the back of her neck, and something in her chest loosened so that she could take deeper breaths.

  • • •

  Fitch came back with a dry cloth for Matt. He took it and absently mopped the blood from his face. His focus was on Jade, who seemed to be alternately hyperventilating and giggling at her shoes. He had hoped to charm her on this date to make up for the previous one. He grinned at his absolute failure. He was usually better at this.

  God, he wanted her to like him. He sure as hell liked her. Matt thought about the way she had grabbed his hand and pulled him across the bar to play pool. He thought about the confident way she had bluffed Stacy the other night. He remembered the way she had run to make sure Adele and Beatrice were okay when she heard Adele’s shouting. He thought about her chopping firewood on the lawn. Yeah, he really wanted her to like him.

  He hadn’t been this concerned with impressing a woman since college … God, back then he had thought he was so in love. It was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. Matt froze. Where the hell had that thought come from? This was supposed to be fun and sexy. Instead, he was nursing a bloody nose, and she was practically passing out. His worry for her had his stomach twisted in knots, and on top of that, he thought he might be falling in love with Jade on their second date? Very suave, McLaughlin. He shook his head and chuckled. Jade’s head came up quickly to look at him.

  “What are you laughing at? I broke your nose.”

  Matt shook his head at her. “It’s not broken.”

  “Are you sure? That’s a lot of blood.” Jade dropped her head back between her knees. “How do you know?” she continued weakly.

  “I’ve broken it before. It’s not broken. What were you laughing at?”

  “I have Elvis on my shoe.”

  “Really? Where?” Matt tried to get her attention off of his bloody nose. The more focused she was on other things, the easier she seemed to breathe. He could feel the tension in her, and more than anything he wanted it gone. He wanted to be the one to
do that for her.

  “Here. In profile.” She gestured to the toe of her right shoe. She licked her thumb and reached down to try to rub the scuff mark.

  Matt reached for her wrist to stop her. “Don’t lick off Elvis! That’s a special scuff mark.”

  She was still talking to the floor. “Well, it’s not Jesus or anything. If it were Jesus, or Mary, I wouldn’t lick it off.”

  “Still … it is Elvis.”

  Jade stopped rubbing at her shoe. “Yeah. How did you break your nose?”

  Matt sighed. “I’d rather not say.” He pulled the cloth away from his face and touched the back of his hand to his nose. There was only a little bit of blood and Matt could tell the flow had slowed. Good.

  “Was it traumatic?” Jade blurted. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business. I don’t mean to be nosy.” She looked up at Matt’s swollen nose, realized what she had said, and clapped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean that.”

  Matt laughed and pulled her hand back down. “It’s okay. You can ask. It was more embarrassing than traumatic.” His hand stayed on hers, and he could feel her small fingers, cool against the inside of his palm. He had the overwhelming urge to kiss them, but didn’t. He dropped her hand and brought the cloth back up to his nose.

  Jade smiled. “Now I really want to know the story.”

  Matt thought he detected a distinct glint in Jade’s eyes and the color looked like it was starting to come back into her cheeks. He smiled at her. “How are you feeling? Can you stand?”

  Jade took a deep breath. “Yeah, I think so.”

  Matt stood up and gently pulled her up with him. He slid his hand up to her shoulder to steady her as she stood.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” Matt grinned and slid a sidelong glance toward the pool table. “Do you mind if I take a rain check on that game of pool?”

  Jade laughed, and it was a full, vibrant sound with none of the breathiness of before. Matt laughed with her, relieved.

  She grabbed his free hand and pulled him toward the door. “Let’s get out of here.” She pulled the damp bar towel from her neck and dropped it at the bar.