Pop Travel (13 page)

Wading through page after page of historic plantations, Cooper paused to sniff the air as a pleasant, flowery scent crept up on him. A slight rustling behind him confirmed his hunch of a woman stealing a glance over his shoulder.
Maybe she’ll keep go—

“Excuse me. But is that
Grand Ol’ Southern Plantations
? I say. I believe my great-great-great-great-granddaddy’s ancestral home is in that book,” she said with a thick drawl.

—
ing. No such luck.
Cooper frowned and kept his head down, not wanting to acknowledge her. He held a hand up to shade his eyes, blocking her like a glare, and scooted the chair away from the sweet-smelling intruder.

“Oh.” He hoped his body language would give her a hint to leave him alone.

“Hee-ya, let me show you.” She reached to turn the page and paused. “May I?”

As if he had a choice. He held up his hands, keeping his eyes averted.

Cooper’s pulse quickened with every second of her presence. Not only did he feel the force of her unwarranted attention, his body reacted involuntarily to her softness pressing up against him, reminding him of the fact he hadn’t been this close to a woman in years.

Cooper squirmed in his seat to escape her arousing touch. Finally giving in to his curiosity, he glanced up and noticed she had electrifying green eyes, which added to his distraction. He transferred his glance to the wall and scooted his chair back to let her rifle through his book. Maybe when she found what she was searching for, she would be on her way.

Flipping over a few more pages, she stood back and put her hand out to present her proof. “They-ah. Isn’t it breathtakin’?”

Cooper gave a curt nod.

“Sure. It’s very nice,” he answered.
You can go now.
He needed to keep working. He didn’t have time to make new friends, no matter how attractive. He forgot how to make small talk and feared he’d be tongue-tied and look like a fool. He scooted farther back to give her room to leave. But she would not take the hint.

“Are you a historian? I’m a plantation buff myself.” She put a hand on her chest as she admired his stack of books and stepped closer to him.

“No. Not really.”
Why won’t she go away? Can’t she see I’m busy here?
Cooper picked up another book and stuck his nose in it. He was running out of cues to give her to show he wasn’t interested.

“You sure have a lot of books there. Were you lookin’ for somethin’ in particular? Maybe I could help.” She picked up another one and leafed through it.

Cooper hated to be rude, but had no idea how to get rid of her in a nice way. Maybe he could go hide in another part of the library or the men’s room and come back later.

“You know, I was just about done. You can look at them.”

Cooper rose from his chair and bumped into her, spilling her bag filled with books and papers all over the floor.
Great. I don’t have time for this
.

“Oh! I’m so clumsy!” she exclaimed. They both bent down and gathered her things.

“Sorry, miss,” Cooper mumbled. He gritted his teeth in frustration at his pimply-teenager nervousness. He couldn’t fathom his awkwardness and concentrated on each item he picked up so he wouldn’t drop them all again.

“It’s Geri. Geri Harper.” Still crouched on the floor, she offered him her delicate hand.

He looked at it.
If I shake hands with her, I’ll surely have to talk more.
But only a jerk would blow her off, so he shook her hand. She had a firm grip, cushioned by smooth, creamy skin. His gaze wandered up her dainty arm to her lovely, sun-blushed face. He blinked. She was stunning. Mesmerized by those intense green eyes, he had to wrestle his name out.

“Uh, Jameson Layton Cooper,” he finally said and let go of her hand. Under her captivating spell, he unintentionally gave his full name. She grinned.

“As in J.L.? Why that’s precious! It’s nice to meet you all, J.L.” She beamed at him as they stood up.

“Likewise,” he replied, not bothering to correct her with his nickname. He’d probably never see her again.

Glancing at his stack of books, he yearned to get back to work and frowned in frustration. Of course he would meet a beautiful, captivating woman during the only case he couldn’t blow off. Not to mention, he could be putting her in danger just talking to her. She finished repacking her bag and gave a little sigh, with a tease of cleavage. Torture.

“Well, I have to be goin’ now. Sorry if I’ve kept you from your work. Thanks for your help, J.L.,” she said.

The flutter of her eyes tempted him again as she slowly turned to leave. Perfect curves, too.

“What is she doing? Is she going?” Mr. Saffioti asked. He looked ready to jump into the imager and spin her around. He was confused and faithless.

Ed put up a hand.

“Just wait a minute, Ray.”

Cooper watched her walk away, relieved. And at the same time, disappointed.
If she’s a plantation buff, she might be able to help me sift through this stuff. Maybe she could save me some time
.

“Uh, Miss Harper?”

Geri winked at the web cam, then turned back to Cooper.

“Oh, she’s good,” Nate said.

They all looked at him.

“Call me Geri.” She grinned.

“Would you have a few minutes? I suppose I could use an expert on plantations. To help me with my research.”

“Why sure! I’d love to!”

“We could go over to the coffee shop. My treat.” Cooper gathered his books.

“That sounds wonderful. I was only goin’ home to study for a quiz, is all. I’d much rather converse about the Old South.” She linked her arm in his.

“Great,” he replied. Her boldness and appeal still made him uneasy, but she seemed eager to help. Spending a little more time with her wouldn’t hurt. If she had any information, it could save him hours of random searching. They walked toward the lobby.

“This is good!” Mr. Saffioti exclaimed. “Now we can see what he’s really up to. It seems you do have things under control here, Ed. You were right. He doesn’t appear to be much of a threat.”

Nate smirked at Mr. Saffioti’s snap judgment of Cooper’s mild manner and clumsy conversation. Always looking for an easy way out. He probably didn’t read the bio.

“Excellent,” Mrs. Jones said with a satisfied smile. She stood up and pointed at Ed. “Be sure to let us know if you discover whether he has any evidence or discovers anything of importance. And I’ll want to see a report from the agent at Mr. Cooper’s office as well.”

“Will do, ma’am.”

Mr. Saffioti and Mrs. Jones shook hands with Ed and said their goodbyes. They followed an assistant back to the FBI transport room to pop back to their offices.

When they were gone, Ed plunked down in his chair with a grunt and gave Nate some final instructions.

“Keep watching Cooper. And let me know what Lipton finds out as soon as he reports in. Good work.”

Nate raised his eyebrows, happy to receive a scarce
attaboy
from Ed.

“Thanks, boss. You got it.”

Walnut Grove, GA
1:00 p.m., Thursday, July 25

ared pulled Miki closer. They kissed with growing intensity on the lumpy couch. Miki lost all common sense in her boyfriend’s embrace, until he tried to lay her down and she felt a spring poke her in the back. She broke free and pushed him away, mad at herself for giving in to his temptation.