Second Chance (6 page)

She broke off at the sound of a muffled chuckle.

“Wha—oh, God,” she groaned, suddenly realizing what she’d been saying about oiling the sheath and lubrication and a big rod and
oh dear did she really go on about yanking on it?

He was pink now with suppressed laughter, but finally calmed down enough to say, “I apologize. At heart, I think I’ll always be a fourteen-year-old boy. But at least I’ve managed to learn a few things about doors and such since I’ve been that age that I might be able to help you out.”

He stepped forward, coming so close to her that she actually backed up against the door, feeling her heartbeat speed up. She stared at him, transfixed, her lips parting as his body stopped just inches from hers and his head leaned down, down—

“Um, is it okay with you?”

“Yes,” she sighed, feeling her shoulders sway forward, moving to meet his, but before she could tip her head back and push up on her toes, he turned away and slid a small flashlight from his jacket pocket, flipping it on with a grin. “Brought it back in with me.”

Of course. She realized, quite belatedly, that she was still standing in front of the door, blocking him from being able to look at it. He’d been asking her if it was okay for him to get by, not to kiss her.

Like she’d been daydreaming about earlier. Like she wanted him to.

She was
such
an idiot.

She ducked her head to hide her embarrassment, then moved away so that he could stand directly under the doorframe and shine the light up. “Ah, yes. There it is. The, um, rod is slightly misaligned from the socket. Ahem.” He was clearly stifling a laugh. “Maybe an overzealous kid hit the door too hard, or something.”

He pushed against it and tried to push the rod up, but it still wouldn’t move. “Damn, this thing is too far out of joint.” Maybe, if I put all my weight into it and you slide it into place, we can get this closed.” He gestured for her to move forward.

She had to stand right next to him, her arm brushing his hip as he pushed against the wood. Wow, he felt good. And, oh, he smelled good, too. She caught a whiff of a clean, outdoorsy scent coming off of him as he pushed and she was finally able to slide the rod home.

“Done! I don’t think I’ve ever put this much effort into getting a shaft into a hole,” he said, deadpan, and she couldn’t keep from letting out a loud peal of laughter.

By the time they had calmed, both their cheeks were pink from laughing. She threw the bolt on the left door and sighed with relief. “That one was much easier, thank God. When I leave later I won’t have to call a passing WWE wrestler to help.”

“Hey, no. Never. I mean, unless you want to call a wrestler. Otherwise, you know, you can always call me.”

Collin Morgan. Always coming to her rescue.

Kiss a man who saves you…

Now she
really
wanted to kiss him. But would he welcome it, or be unpleasantly surprised?

Buzz buzz buzz.

A loud vibrating noise sounded in the space between them. He gave her an apologetic look and slid his phone from his pocket. She caught a glimpse of the name on the screen. Rebecca.

Oh thank God she hadn’t done it. Rebecca was probably his girlfriend or maybe even wife, even though he wasn’t wearing a ring. She would have been so ashamed if she’d made a move.

She stepped away from him just as he rejected the call. Probably didn’t want to have a private conversation with her listening in. She pasted a smile on her face and pointed to her office.

“Come on. I’ll get you set up with the computer so you can get out of here.”

Chapter Six

Ten minutes later, Collin emerged from Marnie’s office, feeling like he’d just entered some parallel universe where everything in Wilford operated as though it were still a 1950s small town.

Marnie arched a brow at him and gave him a curious look. “Any luck?”

He shook his head. “I called three places and all of them are shut down because of Halloween. Two of the guys are taking their kids out trick-or-treating and one of them is at a Santería ceremony.”

Okay, maybe not completely 1950s.

She let out a surprised laugh. “They actually said that?”

Collin nodded, laughing then, too. “I know. I’m not sure whether to be frustrated or amused or a little afraid, but maybe I’m all three. Never mind, though. I can call someone to come from the city, but it’ll just take a while. Do you mind my imposition for a little longer?”

“Not at all. In fact, I’ll be finished soon. Why don’t I drive you home?”

He’d almost kissed her earlier, against the main doors to the library, just before sense had kicked in and made him behave like a gentleman. Half an hour alone in a small space with Marnie? Probably not the best idea. He shook his head. “Thanks, but—”

“It’s the least I could do. You’ve helped me so much today. Driving you home is no problem.” She had such an earnest, almost pleading look on her face, that he felt bad saying no. Certainly he could keep his thoughts clean for the span of a car ride.

He raised a brow. “Are you sure?”

She grinned in response.

Fuck. He was fucked. The car ride was going to be torture.

“Positive. Besides, I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to since high school. I’ll just finish putting these away.” She gestured to the cart of books that needed reshelving, “and then we can be on our way.”

“Do you want some help?”

She laughed. “I’m sorry. No offense, but I think it will go faster if I just do it. There’s a pretty strict system when it comes to reshelving.” Her eyes twinkled as she looked over at him. “That’s why they call it library
science
.”

He smiled. “Fair enough. How about I just follow you around and keep you company, then? Or annoy you. I’m not sure, really.”

He hadn’t even realized he’d been hoping she tell him that she
wanted
him around, until she ducked her head a bit and said the words, a bit shyly, “You never annoy me.”

Damn.

It made him want her even more.

He grabbed the cart, grateful for something that could occupy his hands, so he wouldn’t reach out and touch her and likely make a fool of himself. He nodded with his chin, gesturing for her to lead the way, which she did so a bit awkwardly.

She probably wasn’t used to someone else driving the cart. The thought made his smile even bigger. “So, what made you become a librarian?”

She looked back at him over her shoulder, and his blood started pumping a bit harder.

Christ, she was so sexy.

“You probably don’t remember me in high school, but I was a pretty solitary kid.”

His eyes dropped to the curves of her hips and bottom, barely outlined by the fluttery skirt she was wearing, so different from the skintight spandex numbers that the women he dated usually wore, and yet it made him hotter than he’d ever been.

“I remember.” His voice had gone low and guttural, and the only indication that she might have noticed that change was a slight—very slight—stutter in her step as she walked forward.

She led him to the row between two shelves and helped him guide the cart into the narrow space before pulling a book from the end. She spoke as she searched for its place. “I was alone a lot, growing up, and I found a lot of comfort and escape in books. My mom had tons of them, since she was an English teacher and all, and we would come here on the weekends and get books that would carry me through the week. Do you remember the former librarian?”

Collin gave a mock shudder. “How could I forget? She hated me.”

Marnie snorted. “She hated everyone. If there was ever someone less suited to being a librarian than her, I don’t want to meet that person. But she knew everything, and she was a great resource for books, if you knew how to ask exactly the right question.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean, as much as she was curt and unpleasant with actual people, she
revered
books. If I asked her what she thought
I should read, as a thirteen-year-old girl who liked math, she would scoff and point in the general direction of the reference section. But if I came from another direction and asked her which
books
were worthy of
being read
, that had this kind of plot, or that kind of characters, she would start waxing lyrical, even going with me to find them.

“I like the idea of helping other people find their own bit of magic. Books can fill a void and be your best friend, or the sister you never had, or a boyfriend or—”

“A father.” He couldn’t resist saying it, and Marnie blushed. Shit. Had he overstepped? He’d just wanted her to know that he understood. That even though his family had stuck together, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, either. He rushed to explain.

“My mom could probably use books. She misses Ireland a lot. I mean, she likes it here, but everyone is still back there. Her sisters and brothers and all her school friends. She’s the only one. Her father died a few years ago and she went back for the funeral, but after she came home she wouldn’t say a word about it, almost like she was in too much pain from having experienced the reunion in the first place.”

“Do you miss it, too? Ireland, I mean.”

He breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t chastised him for getting carried away a minute ago. “I don’t remember it well enough now, I guess. Maybe someday, I’ll—”

Bang!

A loud, metallic sound reverberated through the library.

What the hell was that?

He looked at Marnie, who was pale-faced and shaking, the book in her hand threatening to slip from her fingers.

He grabbed the book and set it back on the cart. “I’ll go check it out. Stay here.” On impulse, he brushed a kiss on her temple, and it was as though the contact sparked something in her, because she sputtered to life, her cheeks going bright red and endearingly attractive.

“You don’t have to. I’m sure it was nothing.” She was gripping his arm, her eyes almost imploring, as though she were…hiding something?

No. He was imagining that. He had to be. She was probably just scared—for herself and for him. His face softened. “Let’s go together. Come on.”

He took her hand, and for a moment all he could think was
This feels right
.

And then he led her out of the stacks.

Chapter Seven

There was no doubt in her mind that Bill was the reason for that loud bang. He had to be the
least
subtle ghost she’d ever known. Not that she’d known any others, but still. What a nuisance.

Collin paused at the circulation desk, a long, wraparound partition, and let go of her hand. She tried not to sigh in disappointment. It had felt so good to be taken care of, even if it was just the reassurance of a warm, strong grip.

“I think it came from my office.” She gestured through the doorway and followed him as he strode toward it. They rounded the circulation desk and walked into the office, and what she saw there nearly made her groan in annoyance.

The bottom drawer of her desk was open, pulled out along its entire length.

What was Bill up to?

“Oh, well, that explains it.” She tried to make herself sound casual, like this kind of thing happened all the time, but she was looking all around the room, trying to see if Bill would appear so that she could tell him to cut it out, already. “The box I found in the attic—or, I mean, the archives—is in this drawer. It must have banged against the side when the drawer slid open.”

She stepped forward and pulled the lovely wooden box out before sliding the drawer shut, snapping it tightly.

“Okay…” He frowned. “That would explain the banging sound, but how did the drawer slide open, in the first place?”

“Uh. Maybe I didn’t shut it all the way. I’m not sure. Things here are a little old. Broken. You know.” She knew she was acting strangely, but what if she told Collin about the ghost and he thought she was crazy? Or worse, what if Collin thought she trying to play a stupid prank on him?

She didn’t think she could bear it if he ended up thinking she was some kind of creep.

He was still frowning down at the drawer, but before he could ask any other questions, his phone buzzed again, and he pulled it from his pocket to look at the screen.

“I’m sorry, it’s my assistant. I have to take this.”

“No problem.” And definitely a relief.
Saved by the buzz.
She walked out of her office, still carrying the box, as he began speaking.

“Rebecca. Hi. What’s going on?”

Ah. So that’s who Rebecca was.
Relief washed through her even as she chided herself for eavesdropping. She set the box on the circulation desk, intending to sit there while Collin finished his call in private, but to her surprise, he followed her out of the office, listening to whatever Rebecca was saying on the other end.

He pulled a chair out for her and gestured for her to sit down, then he leaned against the desk. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back in the city. My car broke down—” He paused for a moment, listening. “Yeah, I know. I was telling Marnie that I just had it serviced.” His eyes flicked to hers, held. His gaze warmed, the air between them heating, as they looked at one another. “She’s the librarian at the Municipal Library. Yeah. Yeah.”

Had Rebecca asked him anything else about her?

Collin winked, and she shook off the feeling. But then he straightened, his posture becoming less languid and easygoing, and his face seemed to harden. “Don’t move the site inspection. We’ll have the plans approved by then. De Lorenzo is just playing his usual games, trying to hold out for tickets to the playoffs. I’ll take care of him.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face, and suddenly looked weary. “I haven’t heard. What happened with the Granger deal?”

All of his attention was focused on the phone conversation.

Which happened to be the moment that Bill decided to appear on the other side of the desk, just behind Collin.