by Jacie Floyd
“Thank you very much. I’m sure it was a lot of work.”
“Oh, no. With a few calls to the church ladies, things fall into place. I know you’ll be swamped in the next few months, but I have a few ideas for the library if you’d be interested in discussing them. I’m quite an avid reader, and I’m looking forward to the reopening.”
“I’d love to discuss your ideas. Maybe in a month or two when some of the more pressing projects are underway. It would be ideal if we could form a Library Guild or Friends of the Library organization for some of the locals to get involved and make their suggestions known.”
Claire gave her a sympathetic look. “You might find it slow-going if you want the ‘Sunnysiders’ to help.”
“Well, yes, so, far I haven’t had much, um, encouragement. But perhaps you can convince some of the others to participate.”
“I can encourage them. Sometimes they take my advice, but I’m not really accepted here either. Asking Myrna Hopper to help was a step in the right direction, but that could still backfire on you. If you want the others to be on a committee, it will be better for someone like Mick, Bert, Barb, or Zach to make the suggestion.”
Harper couldn’t hide her surprise. “How can you not be accepted? You’re married to the mayor, if nothing else.”
“‘Nothing else’ is about right. I’m originally from Indianapolis and then met and married Mick when we both were at IU. They still think I’m an evil temptress who tricked one of their golden ones into mating outside his species. Some of them tolerate me, but the fans of Louise Downing, Mick’s high-school girlfriend, will forever resent me for being here.”
“His high-school girl friend. Really? Forgive me for asking, but how long ago was that?”
“Twenty-eight years since high school, twenty-two since Mick and I have been married.” She smiled, but lowered her voice. “Watch yourself. They have long memories, and they hold a grudge.”
Rachel joined them. “Now, Claire, don’t be filling Harper’s ears with unfounded stories. Let her get to know everyone and judge them on their own merits.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re one of the local princesses.” Claire’s humor mildly cloaked the truth. “But you’re right. Hopefully, Harper’s experience will be completely different from mine. There are many wonderful benefits to living in a small town like Sunnyside.”
Rachel held an empty plate, and Kate moved in to offer to bring her more snacks. The four women chatted, but when Rachel’s cup was empty, Kate took it and refilled it. When Rachel laughed, Kate laughed.
At one point, someone asked Kate if she was mad at her boyfriend or proud of him for hitting the home run that beat her team. How could they be so blind to Kate’s true interest?
A commotion occurred near the entrance of the room when Zach arrived. Smiling, he headed straight toward Harper, Kate, and his sister, a move that could have been interpreted in several different ways. Harper’s heart lurched and her palms began to sweat.
Chapter Fifteen
From her spot on a blanket on the courthouse lawn, Harper thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks display that night. Years ago, she’d gone with friends to the Navy Pier to view the annual display in Chicago. But it had been awhile since she’d viewed an all-out pyrotechnic event. Despite an attack of eagle-sized mosquitoes, she thoroughly enjoyed the tradition occurring in big cities and small towns all across the country.
Her greatest pleasure came from Zach lounging beside her on the blanket. Occasionally, his thigh, foot, elbow, or hand grazed against her skin in little out of the way places that caused shivers of excitement. As she gazed at the grand finale where spinners, fountains, and starbursts filled the sky above them, he casually draped his arm around her shoulder. The escalating physical contact, combined with the flickering illumination, took her to another level of awareness. Just when she couldn’t get past the idea of cupping his face in her hands and leaning in for an explosive kiss, the cheers and applause of their companions broke the spell.
As the others discussed their next move, Zach stood and reached out to help her up. Although she didn’t need the help, she relished the personal contact. His hands were strong and long fingered with the sensitivity common to his profession.
“We’re going to the Lucky Dog.” Brady leered at her just a little.
“That’s a treat you haven’t experienced,” Zach added as Kate linked her arm through his.
As if that move was fooling anyone.
“Brady claims he can beat me at pool,” Zach went on. “Although he never has before, I’m willing to let him have a shot at it. There’s a first time for everything.”
“How about it, Harper? Want to come watch me beat the stuffing out of Zach here?”
“You probably should come, Harper,” Josh said. “You haven’t lived until you’ve wasted the best part of an evening drinking beer and watching these two lunkheads try to relive their glory days in the grimy surroundings of the Lucky Dog.”
After having been on display all day, Harper was exhausted and ready to go home. Especially ready because of that single syllable word. Home. A nice long soak in her new claw-foot tub sounded like heaven. “Maybe next time.”
“But you’re coming, right, Rachel?” Brady asked. “At least stop in for a drink. My victory won’t be nearly as much fun without witnesses.”
“Not me, thanks.” Standing right beside him, her cool response was so frosty it might have arrived from a distant planet. “I promised to help teardown the band-booster’s booth.”
“Did you?” Kate dropped Zach’s arm like a hot potato. “I forgot about that. I said I’d help with that, too. Come on. I’ll walk with you. See you later, babe. Come on over to cook out at my place tomorrow night.” Gripping Rachel’s forearm, she planted a kiss on Zach’s cheek and headed in the other direction.
Blind. These people must be blind.
“You ready to pack it in too, sweetie, or do you want to go to the Lucky Dog?” Susannah asked Josh. “We both have early hours tomorrow.”
“Let’s head home.” He wrapped an arm around the shapely blonde. “Maybe watch a movie at your place.”
“What about you, Liam?”
“I’m done, too.” He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “I better check in at the club and make sure everything’s okay.”
“The club’s open tonight?” Brady asked.
“Always,” Liam grunted.
“If everyone else ditches me, I might stop out at the club later,” Brady tossed empties into a trash can.
“I’ll be there.” He helped Harper fold her blanket. “Call me this weekend if you plan to go fishing,” Liam said to the guys with a wave. “Come on, Harper. I’ll make sure you get home safe. My car’s parked near the library, and everyone else is going in the opposite direction.”
“Good idea. Bye, guys. Thanks for letting me join the party tonight. See you tomorrow?”
“I’ll be heading back to St. Louis first thing,” Brady said.
Zach winked at her and smiled. “I’ll stop by the library at some point.”
Brady turned to Zach. “It’s just you and me, buddy. Still want to play?”
“Let’s get this over with. It’s been a long day, but it shouldn’t take me long to clean your clock.”
Brady didn’t beat Zach at pool, but he came close. They normally played the best two out of three. Tonight, Zach had won the first game by a slight margin when Brady moved to hung up his queue.
“Giving up already?” Zach asked.
“You’ve got other things on your mind.” Brady racked the balls. “I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“What things?”
“Dunno.” Brady was good at playing dumb. “You big, smart doctors contemplate things well beyond the mental capabilities of the rest of us.” He took a swig of beer. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it has something to do with the hot new librarian. And if you’re not thinking in that direction, then tell me ‘cause I j
ust might take a shot.”
“You know Kate and I are tight.”
“Not that tight,” Brady muttered. “Not as tight as you pretend. But if you want to keep that fiction going, does that mean the new librarian is open for business?”
“No, you jerk, she’s not open for business with you or anyone else.” Zach couldn’t stop his kneejerk reaction, but pulled up when he noted Brady’s smirk. “It’s not like that. And what makes you think she’d be interested in you?”
“If none of my friends have first dibs, I’m happy to take her out for a spin and see what happens. If it’s not already too late.”
Zach raised an eyebrow but kept his mouth shut.
“She seemed to get along with Liam real well. I noticed they kept laughing together. And she kept looking at him. And he did leave when Harper did, even though he used the club as an excuse. I mean, it might be open, sure, but how much business are they getting on the Fourth of July?”
After stewing in silence for a second, Zach set his beer down with a thump. “You’re right. I don’t want to play pool anymore. See you around.”
Brady was just yanking his chain, but Zach decided it would be a prudent move to check on his new neighbor. It would be the right thing to do. If only to make sure she wasn’t getting involved with the wrong guy at the wrong time.
She didn’t know anything about the guys in town, and some of them were just plain bad news. Brady wouldn’t be able to make a commitment to a woman that lasted longer than a week, even if they offered him a million dollars. He had the attention span of a flea when it came to life in general and women in particular. Zach should really see if the guy wanted to be treated for his ADHD.
And Liam, hell, Liam was just a nanosecond away from self-inflicted self-destruction. Harper couldn’t want to get involved with that hot mess now, could she?
Brady and Liam were his friends. He’d known them forever and would lay his life on the line for either one of them, just as they would for him. They’d seen each other through hell and back more than once. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t see them with a clear eye. And just like he wouldn’t want Rachel getting involved with either one of them, the new librarian was sort of under his protection, too. Sort of.
Frowning, he was annoyed with himself for even thinking that. He wasn’t her brother, her father, or her guardian. He was in no way responsible for her. He didn’t want her under his protection. He wanted her under him, all right, but naked and in his bed.
Like Brady, he was incapable of making a long-term commitment. But maybe she didn’t want anything permanent either. Like Liam, some days it took all his energy to outrun the demons of his past. With Harper’s recent breakup, she didn’t seem to trust guys much in the first place. So maybe she wouldn’t be expecting much from him.
The town would unanimously rise up against Harper if they thought she was getting involved with Zach, but he was a smart guy. Surely, he could figure out a way to keep things hot and steamy but light and easy at the same time. And on the down-low. Definitely that last one. Yeah, sure, maybe he could figure out a way to make this work to benefit them both.
Hurrying in the direction of Harper’s house, he’d turned onto Oakley when he spotted her up ahead, striding along with her distinctive walk. Her bare shoulders and long legs gleamed in the moonlight, temptation personified in a sizzling red halter and denim mini-skirt.
Ever since he’d first laid eyes on her today, he’d been fixated on the way that clingy little halter revealed her shoulders and back and allowed peeks of her bare skin between the hem of her top and the waist of her skirt. Yep, he fantasized about raising the bottom edge of that halter and pressing a kiss right there, in the sweet spot beside her belly button. And in the hollow by her hipbone. And from there, he’d progress to twenty other sweet spots, front and back.
“Hey, wait up.” As he called out to her, he warned his dick to forget about sweet spots for the moment. He needed to maintain a mildly happy-to-see-her arousal instead of a full-blown raging hard-on. “Did you get lost on the way home?”
Harper stopped and waited for him to catch up with her. “I detoured by the library to make sure everything was okay.”
“Good idea.” He took her arm in his hand just for the pleasure of touching her. “Any disturbances?”
“No, not really, just...”
“What?” Entranced, he watched her face and expression as the light and shadows played over her in the glow of the streetlamp.
“There was someone skulking around the side of the building.” She looked over her shoulder like the someone might still be there. “They took off when they saw me.”
“Skulking? Really?” He could see she was serious or he would have chuckled over the dramatic word choice. “Young, old? Man, woman?”
Frowning, she shook her head. “I don’t know. They startled me as much as I startled them. I didn’t expect to stumble over anyone. I’ve just gotten in the habit of going by whenever I’m out.”
“Did you let Jimbo know?”
She scrunched her mouth to the side. “And say what? There’s not much to report.”
“I’ll call him.” He pulled out his cell. “Just a heads-up on a possible intruder at the library, Jimbo. You might want to increase the patrols on the building... Yeah, I know tonight was busy, but by tomorrow... Okay, that’ll have to do... How’s Maisie?... I saw her with Jillian at the ball game... Yeah, thanks. It was a good hit, but come on, Morris floated that pitch right over the plate... Next year it’ll be your turn. Right. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“That sounded fruitful.” She cocked her head and waited for him to deny it.
“Maybe not, but at least he’s up to speed.”
“That makes me feel a lot better.”
Zach returned his hand to her elbow, guiding her up the driveway. “Do you feel unsafe?”
“I shouldn’t, I know. It’s much safer here than in downtown Chicago, but sometimes I do get a creepy feeling like I’m being watched or something.” She gave a little involuntary shiver.
“Believe me. I have that feeling, too. You are being watched. Everyone is always watching. All the time. You get used to it.”
“I guess so.” She looked up at him. “What are you doing here? I thought you were playing pool with your buddies.”
“Buddy. The others all bailed. It turned out to be just me and Brady, and he got tired of losing.”
“Barring any medical emergencies, are you done for the night? Do you want to come in?”
He looked up and down the street. “I’d love to, but that would only draw unwanted attention to you.”
She climbed the steps to her porch, and he stood his ground on the walk, clearly visible to their invisible audience. His voice lowered to a stage whisper. “This is going to sound crazy, but I’m going to leave now. I’ll cut through the backyard like I’m going home, sneak back down the alley and come in through your screen porch.”
“That does sound crazy. Is this like reverse stalking?”
“All the people on Oakley are watching us. Brianna’s peeking out her window right now if you want to wave at her, and at least four other people have found some excuse to check something on their porches or in their yards. And look, there’s even old Mrs. Jameson pretending to get something out of the trunk of her car.”
“And you don’t want to be seen going in my house?” She drew herself up tall with feigned umbrage. “That’s a little insulting, isn’t it? You don’t need to bother coming back.”
“Believe me, it’s no bother.” He smiled, sexy and appealing. “There’s something I want to discuss. What do you say?”
“Intrigue, I like it.” She released an exasperated sigh. “I say okay. I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”
“Turn on your living room lights, maybe your bathroom, and even the bedroom is okay, but don’t turn any on in the kitchen.” Fixing his eyes firmly on hers, he tried to communicate with a look how desperately he wanted to kiss he
r. But there were all those eyes boring holes in his back.
“Seriously? Is all this subterfuge necessary?”
“Oh, yeah. See you in a few minutes, as soon as the coast is clear.”
When had his life been reduced to this?
Bemused, curious, and a little hopeful, Harper turned on a living room lamp. Unlocking the door to the back porch, she returned to the kitchen, and waited in the dark. Jeez, how whacked was this? How long should she wait? What did he want to discuss? If she knew what was good for her, she would just turn out the light and go to bed.
Last night, when she’d pounded her pillow and turned it over for the tenth time because she couldn’t get him out of her head, had thoughts of her been keeping him awake, too?
Did he want to kiss her as desperately as she wanted him to?
Focus! He had something he wanted to discuss with her.
Discussion sounded more mundane than intriguing. She’d only wait a few more minutes.
When he finally tapped on the backdoor, she was waiting right beside it, developing a definite case of second thoughts.
Subtlety escaped her. “What’s this all about?”
“Don’t you know? It’s about this.” Cupping her face in her hands, his mouth came down on hers.
The kiss was light and teasing while he waited for her reaction. She appreciated the restraint, but it wasn’t necessary.
She wanted so much more.
Stretching up on her toes, she pressed the soft parts of her body closer to the hard planes of his. She needed tongue and teeth. She needed to deepen the contact between them and, most of all, she needed out of these clothes.
But, wait. What? This was not like her. Sure, he was good, gorgeous, tempting, and, apparently available, but this was so fast. Too fast. Did she really want him or was she just lonely? Was she feeling insecure in a new location and needing the big old shot of confidence he could provide? Did he really want her or was he just sex-deprived?
With her hands on the back of his neck, she rested her forehead against his chest. His fingers slid beneath her halter and held the weight of a breast in his palm.