Brenda Harlen – Baby Talk and Wedding Bells (страница 7)
“Looks...cozy,” she said.
He grinned. “Too cozy?”
She narrowed her gaze, but he suspected that she wouldn’t turn away from the challenge. A suspicion that was proven correct when she sat in the chair closest to the fire.
The flickering flames provided light and warmth and the soft, comfy seating around the perimeter of the room provided a much more intimate atmosphere than the straight-back wooden chairs and square tables in the center. Braden relaxed into the leather seat beside Cassie and set his muffin on the small table between them.
“Are you going to let me apologize now?” he asked her.
She eyed him over the rim of her cup as she sipped. “What are you apologizing for?”
“Whatever I said or did to offend you.”
“You don’t even know, do you?” she asked, her tone a combination of amusement and exasperation.
“I’m afraid to guess,” he admitted. But he did know it had happened the previous morning, sometime after Baby Talk, because her demeanor toward him had shifted from warm to cool in about two seconds.
She shook her head and broke off a corner of her brownie. “It doesn’t matter.”
“If it didn’t matter, you wouldn’t still be mad,” he pointed out.
“I’m not still mad.”
He lifted his brows.
“Okay, I’m still a little bit mad,” she acknowledged. “But it’s not really your fault—you didn’t do anything but speak out loud the same thoughts that too many people have about my work.”
“I’m still confused,” he admitted. “What did I say?”
“You asked if working at the library was my real job.”
He winced. “I assure you the question was more a reflection of my interest in learning about you than an opinion of your work,” he said. “And probably influenced by a lack of knowledge about what a librarian actually does.”
“My responsibilities are various and endless.”
“I’ll admit, I was surprised to see so many people at the library yesterday. I figured most everyone did their research and reading on their own tablets or computers these days.”
“To paraphrase Neil Gaiman, an internet search engine can find a hundred thousand answers—a librarian can help you find the right one.”
“My mother’s a big fan of his work,” Braden noted.
“I know,” she admitted. “Anytime we get a new book with his name on it, I put it aside for her.”
“She’s a fan of yours, too,” he said.
Her lips curved, and he felt that tug low in his belly again. There was just something about her smile—an innocent sensuality that got to him every time and made him want to be the reason for her happiness.
“Because I put aside the books she wants,” Cassie said again.
“I think there’s more to it than that,” he remarked. “How long have you known her?”
“As long as I’ve worked at CPL, which is twelve years.”
“Really?” He didn’t know if he was more surprised to learn that she’d worked at the library for so many years or that she’d known his mother for that amount of time.
“I started as a volunteer when I was still in high school,” she explained. “And in addition to being an avid reader, Ellen is one of the volunteers who delivers books to patrons who are unable to get to the library.”
“I didn’t know that,” he admitted. “Between the Acquisitions Committee of the Art Gallery, the Board of Directors at Mercy Hospital and, for the past year, taking care of Saige three to five days a week for me, I wouldn’t have thought she’d have time for anything else.”
“She obviously likes to keep busy,” Cassie noted. “And I know how much she adores her grandchildren. Ever since Ryan and Harper got custody of little Oliver almost three years ago, I’ve seen new pictures almost every week.
“Of course, hundreds of pictures when Vanessa was born, and hundreds more when Saige was born,” she continued. “And I know she’s overjoyed that Ryan and Harper are moving back to Charisma—hopefully before their second child is born.”
“You’re probably more up-to-date on my family than I am,” he admitted. “I don’t even know my sister-in-law’s due date.”
“August twenty-eighth.”
“Which proves my point.” He polished off the last bite of his muffin.
She broke off another piece of brownie and popped it into her mouth. Then she licked a smear of caramel off her thumb—a quick and spontaneous swipe of her tongue over her skin that probably wasn’t intended to be provocative but certainly had that effect on his body and thoughts.
“I only remember the date because it happens to be my birthday, too,” she admitted.
He sipped his coffee. “As a librarian, how much do you know about chemistry?”
“Enough to pass the course in high school.” She smiled. “Barely.”
“And what do you think we should do about this chemistry between us?” he asked.
She choked on her latte. “Excuse me?”
“I’m stumbling here,” he acknowledged. “Because it’s been a long time since I’ve been attracted to a woman—other than my wife, I mean.”
She eyed him warily. “Are you saying that you’re attracted to me?”
“Why else would I be here when there are at least a dozen coffee shops closer to my office?”
“I thought you came to the library to return the train Saige took home.”
“That was my excuse to come by and see you,” he said.
She dropped her gaze to her plate, using her fingertip to push the brownie crumbs into the center.
“You didn’t expect me to admit that, did you?”
“I didn’t expect it to be true,” she told him.
“I was a little surprised myself,” he confided. “When I found the train, I planned to leave it with my mother, for her to return. And when I dropped Saige off this morning, I had it with me, but for some reason, I held on to it. As I headed toward my office, I figured I’d give it to her later. Except that I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
She wiped her fingers on her napkin, then folded it on top of her plate.
“This would be a good time for you to admit that you’ve been thinking about me, too,” he told her.
“Even if it’s not true?”
He reached across the table and stroked a finger over the back of her hand. She went immediately and completely still, not even breathing as her gaze locked with his.
“You’ve thought about me,” he said. “Whether you’re willing to admit it or not.”
“Maybe I have,” she acknowledged, slowly pulling her hand away. “Once or twice.”
“So what do you think we should do about this chemistry?” he asked again.
“I’m the wrong person to ask,” she said lightly. “All of my experiments simply fizzled and died.”
“Maybe you were working with the wrong partner,” he suggested.
“Maybe.” She finished her latte and set the mug on top of her empty plate. “I really need to get back to work, but thanks for the coffee and the brownie.”
“Anytime.”
He stayed where he was and watched her walk away, because he’d never in his life chased after a woman and he wasn’t going to start now.
Instead, he took his time finishing his coffee before he headed back to his own office—where he thought of her throughout the rest of the day, because he knew he would be seeing the sexy librarian again. Very soon.
When Cassie left work later that afternoon, she headed to Serenity Gardens to visit Irene Houlahan. Almost three years earlier, the former librarian had slipped and fallen down her basement stairs, a nasty tumble that resulted in a broken collarbone and femur and forced her to sell her two-story home and move into the assisted-living facility for seniors.