“Don’t move,” Crane orders, pushing me back out the doors before he pulls a gun out of the back of his coat. “Stay right here until I’m back.”
“Should I call—”
“Give me a second.”
I nod, my heart racing as he slips into the library. I swear an eternity passes before he’s back, his gun now gone.
“Maybe the table just gave out. One of the legs or something,” I suggest as he finally lets me step into the library.
“Someone was in here.” His voice is solemn. “This building needs a security system. I don’t understand why it doesn’t have one. You should have one at home, too. You’re a single woman walking into these places all alone.” Everything about Crane has changed. His demeanor is no longer playful. It’s like a different man stands in front of me.
I don’t remind him that this is Snow Hills. It’s safe—at least I thought it was. “How can you be sure someone was in there?”
“They destroyed all the decorations we laid out to dry last night.”
My heart sinks. “No!” I gasp and rush past him toward where they’d all be laid out for me to collect today. My eyes fill with tears when I see the destruction. All the hard work the children put into them is ruined. “Why would someone do this? It’s the children's.”
Crane doesn’t respond. He pulls me into his arms, holding me close, stopping the tears from falling.
11
CRANE
I survey the damage and hope we can save some of the kids' work. But whoever busted into the library did a good job of wrecking it all.
“It’s all right.” I hug Liza tightly.
“No. They worked so hard.” She sniffles. “Why would someone do this? Should we call Clark?”
“Wouldn’t do much good. Could be teenagers just being assholes.” I doubt that’s the case, but I don’t want to alarm her anymore than she already is. The guy left a little calling card on Liza’s office door. I already cleaned it up and sprayed the whole fucking thing with Clorox I found in the bathroom. But I’ll swing by the hardware later and order her a new door. “You don’t know of anyone who has it in for you, right?”
“For me?” She looks up at me, her lashes teary. “No. I mean, I can’t think of anyone.”
Of course she can’t. There’s no way she has any real enemies. Well, other than me, I suppose. I was sent here to learn her secrets so Mayor McGovern could beat her in the Spirit of the Season competition. No need to get hung up on technicalities, though. Besides, I’m not the one who busted a nut all over her damn door.
“You took pictures of the kids with their work yesterday, right?” I wipe the tears from her cheeks.
“Yeah.”
“Send me those pics. I’ll get to work.”
“You mean … You mean you’re going to remake their stuff?” Her eyes widen.
“As best I can, yeah. Though I don’t know if I can recreate the level of glitter on Anna’s snowman. She went a little overboard.”
She smiles, and I feel like my heart beats more freely. “Anna always does.” Then she shakes her head. “You can’t waste your day here with me. Don’t you have your own stuff to do?”
“I’ll be fine. You just go about your day. I’ll be over here with the glue and the crayons.” I cup her cheek and kiss her.
She sighs against my lips, then wraps her arms around my neck.
I feel her soft breasts pressing against me, the way her body molds to mine. I can’t help myself. I grab her ass and lift her. Her squeal is like fire in my blood, and I run my hand down to her thigh and hike it up on my hip.
Licking along the seam of her lips, I get her to open for me, and then I taste her fully. I want to drown in her, in the way she’s warm everywhere. I’ve never known someone like her. It’s like she short-circuits a part of me, sending me into overdrive when she’s near.
When I finally have to let her take a breath, she licks her lips and runs her fingers through my hair. “Is this really happening?”
“Am I kissing you when I should be doing toddler crafts? Yes.”
She laughs, the sound breathy and sweet. When she runs her hands down my shoulders, and then lower, her gaze flicks back to mine. “You had a gun.”
Fuck. I didn’t even think when I pulled it out. My instinct kicked in the moment I could tell the library had been broken into. Protecting Liza became my only concern.
I set her on her feet. “Yes. I have a gun.”
“Why?”
“Doesn’t seem like a bad idea now that there’s someone breaking into the library, right?”
“That doesn’t answer my question.” She walks past me and starts picking up the books from the display.