by C. Fonseca
“I do work here.” Alexa tipped her head to one side and stared at Eleanor. “In this particular outfit, I can see why the boy thought you were Captain Marvel.”
“How did you… I mean, where were you?” Eleanor stammered.
Alexa placed her hands on her hips. “Believe it or not, I happened to be passing through, just in time to witness your dramatic rescue.”
Eleanor winced at the slightly sardonic tone in her voice. “Hardly,” she said.
A woman cleared her throat, and they both looked up. Mary the librarian stood in front of them with a security officer just behind.
Eleanor briefly closed her eyes. Had she done the wrong thing?
“Hi, Mary and Jeff,” Alexa said, casually folding her arms.
“Ms Heysen, well done. I must thank you. You’ve probably saved me from having to fill out a lengthy incident report,” Mary said, and Eleanor let out a relieved breath.
“Security glass was supposed to be installed last week, but there’s been a delay,” Jeff said gruffly.
“How on earth did you manage to see the child from so far away?” Mary asked.
“Eleanor is very observant.” Alexa rose from the bench. “We’re off to the Dome. I promised to show her our collection of chess resources,” she said to her colleagues.
Eleanor glanced from Alexa to Mary to Jeff and back to Alexa. What on earth is she talking about?
“Have fun.” Mary winked at Alexa before she and the security officer walked off.
Alexa turned to Eleanor. “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” Eleanor adjusted the backpack on her shoulders.
Alexa reached out and stroked Eleanor’s forearm, causing her muscles to twitch. “We need to go somewhere private and talk.”
“Really?” Eleanor raised her eyebrows in confusion. “Okay, shall we go to the café?”
“It will be too busy now,” Alexa said. “It is lunchtime.”
“Where to then?”
“The chess collection.”
Eleanor eyed Alexa suspiciously, but when Alexa headed for the lifts, Eleanor followed. The lift arrived, and they stood back as a group of patrons exited and filed past them, as though in slow motion. A knot of tension prodded Eleanor between her shoulders.
They stepped into the lift and waited for the doors to close.
“Did you know we have the largest chess collection in the Southern Hemisphere? It includes 13,000 books on strategy, novels featuring chess, and the history of the game. There’s even a leaf from a book published by Caxton in 1483 about the game of chess.”
Why was Alexa rambling on about chess? Eleanor tapped her lightly on the arm. “What do you really want to talk about?”
Alexa replied with a shrug, “Not here, Eleanor. We need to go somewhere private.”
As the doors began to slowly close, Eleanor bravely leaned into Alexa. “The last time we spoke on the phone, you were angry. What’s going on?”
“Hold the lift, please,” a woman called out. Eleanor moved forward with her arm extended and stopped the door from closing. She didn’t have much choice, even though she was impatient to hear Alexa’s answer.
As the woman on a red mobility scooter and her companion entered, Alexa and Eleanor were forced to separate and press themselves against opposite walls of the lift. The doors closed, and the lift soared upwards.
“Thank you,” the woman said softly in a sweet, heavily accented voice. She and her friend smiled and nodded simultaneously, and Eleanor smiled back.
Alexa looked up at the ceiling and buried her hands deep in the pockets of her paprika-coloured jacket. The colour brought out a hint of chestnut in her hair. With her tall, nicely curved figure, Alexa could carry off any style, and Eleanor decided she carried off the chic retro look especially well. Why did she have to look so damned attractive all the time?
Desire flickered in Eleanor like a small flame. Help. Eleanor had to pull herself together. She and Alexa were sharing the lift with two strangers. Anyway, where was this little adventure of Alexa’s going?
Eleanor wasn’t the only one who appreciated Alexa. Their two lift companions were definitely checking her out. She didn’t like it, but she didn’t blame them.
The lift came to a sudden halt, and the doors slid smoothly open. Alexa announced in an officious voice, “The Dome, La Trobe Reading Room, and the MV Anderson Chess Collection, which is here for only one more week until it relocates to the Queen’s Hall balcony.”
This time, it was she who stepped forward and prevented the door from closing as the couple exited. Eleanor could have sworn the woman on the scooter smirked at her.
Alexa took her hand and began tugging her towards some mystery destination for the all-important talk she insisted they must have.
They scurried past lines of shiny silky oak desks and antique swivel chairs. The reading room was illuminated by beams of light from the skylights forming the dome above. It was such an awe-inspiring space that Eleanor would have been tempted to stop and remove her camera from her bag if not for the fact that she was desperate to know what the hell was going on with Alexa. Was she going to serve Eleanor with another lecture even though Eleanor had done as Alexa instructed and cancelled the appointment with Grace?
Alexa’s behaviour was contradictory. Sardonic one minute, playful the next. She appeared to be on a mission, though, dragging Eleanor along in her wake. Anticipation had Eleanor’s heart beating double-time.
* * *
When Alexa had caught sight of Eleanor darting up the reading room staircase, her first thought had been that she’d seen Alexa and was running away—and Alexa wanted to chase after her. Then she’d spotted the child with his foot stuck between the balustrade and had watched Eleanor free him and lift him safely into her arms. Her second thought was that Eleanor moved like a gazelle. She was loose-limbed, agile and so appealing. Alexa’s third thought was that she’d treated Eleanor unfairly. She swallowed hard. It was imperative that she find somewhere to apologise. Right now.
Why hadn’t she thought to get Eleanor signed in, so they could go to a quiet space, back of house? Her mind was churning through the options.
Small fellowship study rooms skirted the domed La Trobe Reading Room. With any luck, one of them would be empty. Alexa marched on. Her pass key would give them access, and they could talk there in private.
Luckily, it was lunchtime and thanks to the library’s strict ‘no food’ policy in the reading rooms, it was almost free of students—their textbooks, laptops, and all their usual fidgeting and bag shuffling—allowing a relatively smooth passage through to their destination.
Just in time, Alexa jumped aside to avoid a briefcase that lay in her path. Two men with a large pile of books stacked between them looked up and shook their heads.
“Hey, no running in the library,” one of them said in a loud whisper.
Alexa stopped to flash her Library ID. “Sorry,” she said, using a contrite tone of voice. With a sharp twinge of guilt Alexa acknowledged she should have known better than to sprint through the reading room.
Eleanor came to a standstill behind her. “You seem to be in a bit of a hurry.”
Alexa agreed; she couldn’t leave things as they were between them and was determined to make amends. She’d been unable to concentrate all morning, knowing that Eleanor was coming to collect the envelope. Witnessing Eleanor’s small act of heroism and her charming interaction with the troublesome child and his father, Alexa glimpsed another layer of her personality. It was impossible not to be impressed by the woman. Gran was right. Eleanor’s heart always seemed to be in the right place.
“Do you actually know where you’re going?” Eleanor murmured, tugging Alexa’s sleeve.
“Right here.” Alexa ducked between shelves labelled Political Biographies and the blue bound tomes of History Records, st
opping in front of a door with an etched glass insert that read, ENTER Without Knocking.
When she peered through the glass window, Alexa sighed with relief. It was vacant. She patted her side pocket and extracted the key-card. “Here goes.” She swiped the card, turned the shiny brass handle, then pushed open the door, leaning in to switch on the light.
Eleanor stood on her tippy toes and snuck a peek over Alexa’s shoulder. “Oh goodie, more bookshelves,” she said, walking into the eerily soundless room.
“And a couple of chairs and a desk. Why don’t you take a seat?” Alexa pushed herself against the door, and the lock engaged with a click. She took a deep breath. They were finally alone.
Eleanor dropped her bag onto one of the chairs and stood beside it, regarding Alexa with an intense, curious look. She seemed to quiver with energy, a coiled spring ready to dash into the breach like a superhero. Superheroes had their antecedents in legends and myth, but Eleanor was no myth, and even though she was no superhero, she was courageous and compassionate in her chosen profession. The flash of vulnerability in her eyes, the tiny faint scar at the corner of her enticing parted lips made Alexa’s knees wobble. She leaned heavily against the door. Eleanor was all human, a maddeningly appealing one.
Eleanor strode towards Alexa, determination flaring in her eyes.
Alexa held up her hand and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Stop, Eleanor. Even though I was mad with you, I was wrong, and I need to apologise. I had no right to keep you from going to the Mahjong game. Last night, Gran gave me a serve about my behaviour. She was right. I shouldn’t have channelled my shock about your discovery into anger against you. I’m really sorry.”
“You were trying to protect your grandmother. You were so upset about what I’d discovered; I should have given you time to absorb the information and let things settle between you and Grace,” Eleanor said. “I’m sorry. Agreeing to go to the Mahjong game was stupid of me.”
“Thank you, Eleanor.” Alexa smiled, appreciating Eleanor’s sincere apology.
Eleanor continued, “As a documentarian, it was automatic that I checked my facts about William before coming to you, but I shouldn’t have gone behind your back and delved into your family history. That stuff is personal, and I had no right to violate you or your grandmother’s privacy. I really am sorry.”
“I really appreciate you telling me that.” Alexa’s heart warmed. Eleanor’s explanation reinstated Alexa’s belief that she was the kind of person who was generally careful not to hurt others, and someone who took responsibility for her actions.
Eleanor rested her hip against the edge of the desk; her pent-up energy seemed to have dissipated. “Are we okay then?” she asked.
Alexa nodded, wanting to kiss the worried frown from Eleanor’s forehead.
“Why did you have to drag me all the way here to apologise? You could have just rung me. I do have a phone.” Eleanor had a cheeky glint in her eye.
Alexa couldn’t explain her actions. When Mary had rung to tell her Eleanor was in the library picking up the package, she’d dropped everything—not literally, of course—and sped to the Cowan Gallery desperately hoping to find Eleanor before she left the building. Now that they’d resolved their differences, with Eleanor so close—now coming even closer—it was impossible to resist her.
Eleanor might have said something, but Alexa didn’t hear it. All she could focus on were Eleanor’s lips curved in a sensual smile and her hands that clasped Alexa’s hips possessively.
“We shouldn’t be doing this here.” Alexa didn’t really mean it. Her body buzzed with anticipation, caught up in her unstoppable gravitational attraction to Eleanor. Her heart pounded in her ears.
“And yet, here we are.” Eleanor’s words came out in a breathy rush. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Alexa grasped Eleanor’s shoulders tightly, stared into wide brown eyes, then squeezed her own eyes shut, afraid of falling into those hauntingly dark pools of swirling emotions.
It was no surprise when Eleanor’s lips collided with hers. They were luscious and hungry, and when her mouth was urged apart, Alexa instinctively curled her lips around Eleanor’s silky tongue relishing the sweet, fiery taste of her.
A little murmur that sounded from the back of Alexa’s throat seemed to urge Eleanor on. Her hands were first in Alexa’s hair, then like butterfly wings at the nape of her neck. The gentle touch of Eleanor’s fingers sent tremors through Alexa’s body.
The door handle prodded into her lower back. It was uncomfortable, but Alexa wasn’t going to move now. She had her hands locked around Eleanor’s neck, and Eleanor’s body was pressed securely into hers.
The urgency of Eleanor’s kiss overwhelmed her, yet made her feel safe. This was impossible. This was scary. Alexa wasn’t ready for this. It was like careening down the middle of a single lane highway at a hundred miles an hour and taking your hands off the wheel. Dangerous.
Eleanor’s hands were everywhere. Caressing, stroking, moving across Alexa’s body. Eleanor traced her fingers up to the swell of Alexa’s breasts and Alexa gasped, breaking the kiss. Their gazes met and held for a few heart thumping moments, and the air seemed to crackle.
“Eleanor. Damn.” Alexa dropped her arms to her sides.
Eleanor’s eyes fluttered in surprise, and their breaths mingled in raspy sighs.
“That’s a hell-of-a-way to apologise,” Eleanor whispered in her ear. “I believe more of an apology is required.”
Alexa turned her face to bring their mouths closer. She was giddy, craving more, and wanted to hold onto that feeling a little longer. She pushed away reason—Eleanor had already obliterated her ability to think clearly.
Lowering her head, she sought Eleanor’s mouth again. She ran her hand through the short hair at the back of Eleanor’s neck, tugging her forward. She couldn’t get close enough. Eleanor’s muscles tensed under Alexa’s touch, and their mouths met in a frantic knee-trembling kiss that had Alexa’s own body awakening in the nicest possible ways.
Eleanor reached under Alexa’s jacket and loosened her shirt, her hand strayed to Alexa’s stomach, and she began undoing Alexa’s trouser buttons.
Oh my God, where was this leading? Alexa groaned in frustration and grabbed Eleanor’s hand. “Hey, stop. We can’t do this in here.”
“Hell.” Eleanor sighed. “Do we have to? You’re a…wow…superb kisser.” She trailed her lips to Alexa’s ear, biting the lobe gently.
Alexa moaned. Her heart was beating at triple time, and she was light-headed. She slumped back against the door. “We can’t.”
“Why not?” Eleanor looked down and pointed to Alexa’s pocket. “What’s that noise?”
Alexa tried to ignore the annoying buzzing sound of the reminder alert on her phone. “Blast, Eleanor, I couldn’t stop myself from kissing you.”
“Actually, I kissed you.” Eleanor placed her hand on Alexa’s forearm. “I couldn’t help it either.”
Alexa stared down at Eleanor’s beautifully shaped, slender hand and thought for a second about where that hand would have been if they hadn’t stopped. She shuddered. There’d never been any doubt that Eleanor would be such a fierce and decidedly intense kisser. The reminder buzzed again. She shoved her hand in her pocket and reached for the phone. Fuck. The workshop.
Her senses were still reeling from Eleanor’s kiss, and she had to leave for a bloody meeting, still warm and breathless—achingly incomplete and wanting.
Alexa sighed deeply. She had to be responsible. “We have to stop, Eleanor. This is where I work,” she said, cringing at the pleading tone of her own voice. “I forgot I’m supposed to be at a workshop this afternoon, and I’m already running late.”
Eleanor stared back at her. “Looks like I’d better go, then,” she said a little sulkily. She shrugged, turned around, and walked across the room to collect her bag.
&n
bsp; Alexa tucked in her shirt and straightened her jacket. “Will you be okay to find your way out?”
The phone pinged, and she glanced at the screen. It was a text from Jac. Alexa huffed in annoyance. She already knew she was late for the workshop. With an irritated shake of her head, she strode straight for the door.
“Yes, no problem.” Eleanor swung her pack onto her back, hesitating before she joined Alexa. “Can I see you again soon? How about tonight?”
Alexa shook her head, again. “I’m so sorry. I can’t. Louise is bringing the car back, having dinner with me, and staying the night.” Alexa couldn’t let her friend down. But still, continuing what she and Eleanor had just started was so tempting.
“How about tomorrow night?”
“That would work… Oh no, tomorrow is Friday,” Alexa said through clenched teeth. “There’s an official work event I must attend.” The wary look in Eleanor’s eyes told her she wasn’t convinced by Alexa’s excuses. Alexa covered her eyes with a hand and rubbed her temples. Why would she be making excuses? Of course, she wanted to see Eleanor.
They stared at each other.
“I’ll ring you—” Eleanor said.
“Ring me—” Alexa said at the same time.
Alexa forced a smile, pulled the door open, and waited for Eleanor to pass through. As she walked into the reading room, Eleanor’s chin was low, and her hands were buried deep in her pockets. Alexa couldn’t let Eleanor leave looking so despondent.
“Eleanor?” Alexa called.
Eleanor stopped and looked back over her shoulder—her eyes narrowed, cautious like a cat.
“See you soon?”
“Sure, Alexa. You know where to find me.” Eleanor’s half-smile didn’t reach her eyes or light up her face like it usually did. She turned on her heels and walked towards the exit.
Alexa smacked her hand against her forehead and swore. She pulled the door shut and walked as fast as she could without actually running towards the staff stairwell. Late again.
She couldn’t change her plans with Louise; after all, Louise was making a special trip to Melbourne—and she’d probably already left Castlemaine. But what about tomorrow night? No way. Alexa and Katherine were representing the library at the Historical Society Auction charity event at Government House. Alexa wouldn’t leave Katherine in the lurch.