Footsteps, I could hear them behind me. Turning right once I hit the street, I broke into a run, weaving between a couple people, crossing onto the other side. I made it around the corner, quick, and saw it: lions, gargoyles, the building had once been grand but now looked dusty, old and in desperate need of repair. A public library. Perfect. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d set foot in one. Had I ever? Time to give it a try.
Bounding up the stairs two at a time, I yanked open the huge front doors and dashed behind the first thing I could find: a large, wooden desk. Huddled there, I realized I wasn’t alone. Next to me were a pair of long, sexy legs in black tights laced into a pair of boots with just enough heel to suggest saucy. My gaze kept traveling on up to a simple black dress that ended mid-thigh. Up and up I caught a glimpse of soft, rounded breasts and long, shiny light brown hair I wanted to stroke and touch, maybe knot in my fist.
“Excuse me?” Huffy, indignant, the woman looked down at me full-on stern librarian. With sweet, full parted lips perfect to taste, lick, and bite. At her neck, her dress had a rounded white Peter Pan collar, fussy and prim. Why did I suddenly have a raging hard-on picturing undoing that dress and easing her on out of it?
“What are you doing?” She knelt down slightly and I caught a scent of her, light and vanilla.
“Hey,” I spoke in a hushed whisper. “I’m trying to hide out for a sec.”
Her eyes widened as she looked at me and realized. “You’re Ash Black.”
Before I had a chance to work my magic, take that intro and make it all happen, the library door opened with a cacophony of voices. They’d found me.
“May I help you?” My mystery woman rose up to her full height, not so large or tall but still, she commanded an impressively haughty tone. With her boot, she nudged me slightly and I eased myself further under the desk. She planted both feet directly at my side, helping to hide my spot.
“Yeah, we’re looking for—”
“A book?” she offered. She was a librarian, I realized. That’s why she sounded and looked like one.
“Is he here?” another voice asked.
“I swore I saw him come in here,” another declared.
“He could be down the other side. I’ll go check.”
“This is a library,” my heroine declared. “I’m happy to help you find a book. But if you’re looking for something else—”
“You seen Ash Black, sweetheart?” one of them asked. I didn’t like him calling her sweetheart.
“Why would you come in here looking for him? That’s ridiculous.” Man, she needed a pair of dark-framed glasses with that tone of voice. So stern. She had a great pair of legs. Her boots ended at her calves, and then her legs just kept going and going, long and lean.
More hustle and bustle, more gusts of cold wind blasting in from the outside. I could tell a small crowd was forming. I didn’t want a crowd. I wanted some time alone, just me and this prim little librarian.
“He’s around here somewhere,” a deep, guttural voice insisted.
“Librarians only behind the reference desk!” She stopped them in their tracks. I liked this one. I couldn’t help it, I’d never been able to stop myself from unwrapping a present right in front of me. I brought a hand up to her leg and stroked her lightly around the start of her thigh, right above her knee. Nothing too naughty, just my thumb grazing the inside of her leg.
She cleared her throat, loudly, took a step away and clamped her feet firmly together. It made me smile. I couldn’t remember the last time a girl had denied me access.
“C’mon, some guy saw him head into a store down the street.” I could hear them start to retreat.
“If you’re from the press, I have a story for you here,” she called after them.
“What’s that now, hon?” I could tell from the tone of his voice, the guy answering already wasn’t interested.
“This library branch may have to close due to lack of funds. Why don’t you do a story on that?”
“Some other time.” I heard the sounds of the door opening and their footsteps leaving.
“If you cared half as much about children learning to love books as you did about stupid celebrities the world would be a much better place!” she called after them.
Yeah, you tell them. Except, wait, did she say stupid celebrities? The door closed behind them.
“Vultures,” she muttered. That was better.
“Is everything OK, Miss Ana?” a child asked.
“Of course,” she offered reassurance. “You go sit tight and I’ll be over in a minute.” She turned her pretty face back to me, entirely displeased.
“The next time you pick a place to hide,” she hissed, “please don’t choose my library. That was very disruptive.”
My face broke into a wide grin. “Are you a librarian?”
“Yes, I’m a children’s librarian.” She looked so proud of it, eyes flashing with indignation.
My grin got even wider. “Are you married?”
“No.” She flushed and turned slightly from me, then murmured, “That’s a strange question.”
A single, goody-two-shoes librarian. Pretty as a picture with a goddamn Peter Pan collar on her dress. Had I told my agent that I didn’t know any good girls? Hold the phone. She was fucking perfect.
Flashing her my most devastatingly sexy Ash Black smile, I set Operation Image Rehab into play. I gave her my trademark smoldering gaze and whispered, “Hello, gorgeous.”
She rolled her eyes and started straighteni
ng papers on her desk. Yeah, I liked this one. I liked her a lot. Now I just needed to get her to like me back.
I wound a hand around her calf, brushing her slender leg with my fingers. She frowned at me and stomped her foot like I was a fly she was trying to shoo away. I smiled up at her, all wicked sin and temptation. I got a blush.
She looked good when she blushed. I wanted to see it on her again. One month together, that’s what my agent had suggested. Now I liked the idea a whole lot.
“Is the coast clear for me to come out?” I asked. “Or would you rather come down and hide under here with me?” I caught her eye and gave her a naughty wink. There was that blush again.
This was going to be one fun month.
CHAPTER 4
Ana
Ash Black. Ash Black. His name kept pulsing in my head with each heartbeat. What was he doing in my library? Under my desk? Touching my leg?
“Who were those men?” My supervisor, Lillian, poked her head around the corner. No, she couldn’t come over! I had a rock star between my legs. Wait, that didn’t sound right.
“Oh, they were just looking for someone. They’re gone now.” I started shuffling some papers, acting natural. I hoped. I’d never been good at pretending anything. I’d never snuck out at night when I was in high school, never cheated on a test. I could still remember the Easter I was five when I’d secretly eaten my cousin’s chocolate bunny. I’d cried so hard afterwards I’d made myself sick.
“They’re gone now?” Lillian craned her skinny neck around a bit more. Boy, did she have the librarian look down. Bun on top, eyeglasses on a chain, deep frown lines from shushing people over the years, I wondered if she’d always looked like that, or if it had crept up on her over time. Would that happen to me?
“Yup. Everything’s fine.”
Except for the large, warm hand snaking its way up the top of my calf, circling its way around the back of my knee. I pressed my palms onto the desk, my eyes fluttering half-closed for a second. Was that an erogenous zone? The back of my knee? Had Stan ever touched me there? Maybe to nudge me over on the couch and make more room for him.