Seduced and Enchanted (2 page)

10

Seduced and Enchanted

And completely edible.

From street level, he looked up at the grand entrance of Reading Public Library.

With its steep wide steps and columned entry, the building resembled an ancient Roman temple. He’d been struck by the design the first time he’d seen it and walked in just to look around. Amazed by the architectural detail, he’d figured one Etruscan or three had been involved in the design and construction.

The city of Reading held a great deal of power, as did a few of the older cities in the eastern part of the United States. That was why Reading and the surrounding Berks County were crawling with
Enu
and
Fata
. Which begged the questions, who was this woman and how was she able to block him?

Rio decided he needed to do more study. And what better place to study than in a library?

Still staring up the steps, he debated his options for a minute. Should he walk in the front door and simply ask her out? Or do a little recon first?

His oldest brothers Cam and Nino constantly nagged him about being too impetuous—their words, not his. He wasn’t impetuous. He just knew what he wanted and went after it—without thinking through every fricking possible consequence.

Still, considering how she’d scurried out of the market, away from him, a little recon wasn’t out of the question. After all, he didn’t want to scare her off.

Walking around the side of the building, he tossed his uneaten lunch in the trash can on the corner. He’d get something else later. Then he found a darkened doorway, made sure there was no one around and dissolved his corporeal body into shadow.

Invisible now, he walked up the steps to the main doors and passed through them.

Cool air brushed through him and the musty aroma of old books tickled his sense of smell. Shaking off a sneeze, he looked around.

Damn, this place reminded him of a tomb—where books went to die.

11

Stephanie Julian

But there were more people in here than he’d figured there would be. Several sat at computers in the reference department, two or three browsed the DVDs in front of the desk to the left of the door and another ten or so roamed the fiction section and the stacks.

He didn’t see his pretty quarry anywhere. He figured that would’ve been too easy, and nothing good ever came easy.

Fifteen minutes later, after having checked the first floor, all four levels of stacks and the offices, Rio headed up the stairs to the second floor. It was the only place left and, again, made perfect sense.

She had to be in the children’s library.

* * * * *

Rosie could swear someone was watching her all afternoon.

Whether she was in the children’s library on the second floor or at the front desk on the first floor, she felt someone’s gaze on her. It was weird, but it didn’t feel malicious or creepy. Just…strange.

Not even the constant stream of children and parents who came and went all afternoon dispelled the feeling. On the contrary, it only got more intense during afternoon story time. She was used to having the kids and parents stare at her as she read
Where the Wild Things Are
or
Oh, The Places You’ll Go
.

But this…this new feeling was definitely weird.

Of course it was no weirder than the fantasy she kept having all day. The one starring Mr. Hottie from the Square Deal. The one where he followed her back to the library and was waiting right outside the door to ask her out.

She snorted. That definitely sealed the deal. She’d obviously become delusional.

The guy had probably forgotten about her the second she was out of his sight. A cute guy like that had a girlfriend anyway. Maybe even two.

12

Seduced and Enchanted

At the end of the afternoon, walking downstairs to get the children’s returns, she still wondered why he’d smiled at her. She was a librarian. Hell, she
looked
like a librarian. She glanced down at her purple sweater-and-cardigan set, scarred by a few chalk marks from when she’d redone the schedule for next week. And her knee-length khaki skirt had a spot of glue. She didn’t even know where
that
had come from.

At least she wasn’t wearing orthopedic shoes.

She hadn’t become the complete cliché just yet. Her purple high-top Chucks were comfortable and just eclectic enough to ward off a complete transformation into the stereotypical spinster virgin librarian. She wasn’t old enough to be a spinster. And she definitely was no virgin.

She’d had boyfriends. None she’d wanted to keep forever, but at least no one had ever dumped her for being boring in bed.

Or course, none of them had looked like the lunch hottie. Which reminded her that she hadn’t been able to talk to him without falling over her own feet. She cringed.

“What’s got you so blue, Rosie?” Dottie West asked as she slid another book onto the adult return cart. “Your godmothers okay?”

“They’re fine.” Rosie grabbed a few more books from the pile to put on the children’s library cart. “They called from the cruise ship last night. Fanny’s complaining about the food, Lora has the hots for their waiter and Vivian can’t sleep without her pillow. Business as usual.”

Dottie laughed, a husky chuckle that sounded like dry leaves rustling in the street.

“Yeah, that sounds like your godmothers. So what are you going to do with yourself for the next week while they’re gone?”

Rosie heard the underlying concern in her older coworker’s voice and stifled a sigh.

Jeez, you’d think she was still ten years old and coming in to volunteer with Fanny.

However, she
was
at loose ends this weekend. She’d planned to catch up on her reading, maybe take a drive over to Gring’s Mill for a walk, if the nice weather held. See 13

Stephanie Julian

a movie, if there was anything interesting in the theaters… Mentally running through her weekend plans, Rosie wondered how boring her life could get.

“Oh, I’ll probably hit some bars, pick up a few men, maybe get a tattoo.”

Dottie just smiled. “That’s nice, dear. Have a good time with that.” She wandered off with her cart.

Rosie sighed. Damn, she couldn’t even fool herself. But, truth be told, she really hated being such a good girl.

Back upstairs with her cart, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone’s gaze moved over body—almost languorously, she thought—but there was no point in daydreaming. She had work to do. So much so that when Dottie was ready to leave, Rosie told the head librarian she’d lock up after she was finished.

“Don’t stay too long, dear,” Dottie said on her way out. “It
is
Friday night, after all.

Try to have some fun, though I’d say no to that tattoo.”

So would Rosie. She hated needles. And pain.

She’d just finished shelving the last book when her cell phone rang. She smiled, looking at the number.

“Hey, Christian. What’s up, hon?”

“Hey, babe. You’re still at work, aren’t you? Bad girl. You need to come meet us right now.”

Swallowing a sigh, Rosie shook her head. Her best friend since high school sounded way too happy this early in the evening.

“Where are you, Chris? Sounds too quiet to be The Speckled Hen or The Ugly Oyster.”

Chris’ voice dropped to a whisper. “We’re at Tim’s. He finally asked me over.”

Ah well, that explained Chris’ good mood. He’d been lusting after Tim Reedy for months with an almost pathetic devotion Rosie wished she’d experience just once in her life.

14

Seduced and Enchanted

“Well, then you certainly don’t need me there to interfere. I wouldn’t be good company tonight anyway.”

“Hey, sweetie,” his tone dropped an octave, “what’s wrong? You don’t sound like your normal cheerful self.”

She sighed and laughed at the same time. “Just one of those days, I guess.”

“Oh, it doesn’t sound like just one of those days. What happened?”

Damn, he knew her too well. “Nothing really.”
I’m just a pathetic loser.
“Sounds like you’re having a much better day. You should get back to Tim.”

“Oh no, you’re not getting away that easily. He’s getting changed anyway, so I have a few minutes. What’s wrong, babe?”

Back at her desk, she flopped into her old wooden chair and dropped her head back to stare at the vaulted ceiling. “Tell me the truth, Christian. Am I the most boring person you know?”

“What? What are you talking about?” To his credit, Chris sounded believably shocked. In her mind, she could see his handsome face puckered up in dismay. “What happened, hon?”

“Nothing happened.” And
that
was the problem. Nothing ever happened. “It’s just… I’m a stick-in-the-mud, the most boring person in the world. I never do anything.

I never go anywhere. I never meet anyone. And I’m never going to have sex ever again, because I’m so boring.

“I’m a freakin’ children’s librarian, Chris. I’m twenty-seven years old. I should be out meeting men, sowing my wild oats. When was the last time I did anything impulsive? Anything fun? Hell, I don’t even remember how to flirt. For the first time in my life, my godmothers are gone for ten whole days. The perfect opportunity to have a little no-strings sex, right? But where am I going to spend Friday night? At home in front of the TV. And no, I’m not coming over there to crash your party. You’ve been waiting for months for your shot at Tim. No way will I break that up.”

15

Stephanie Julian

“Whoa, honey, sounds like you need a drink and fast. Are you still at the library?

I’ll be right over—”

“No, Chris. Absolutely not,” she interrupted. She had to be adamant, because she knew Chris. He’d drop everything to come to her rescue, just as he had done all through high school. “I’m just in a pissy mood. I would be horrible company. Tell you what, you’re right. I’m going to get out of here and get a drink. You have fun tonight.”

Chris was silent and she knew he wanted to argue. He took being a best friend seriously. He’d be here if she wanted him.

“Honestly, Chris. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Rosie hoped she could infuse enough cheerfulness into her voice. Why ruin both their evenings with her foul mood?

After a couple more silent seconds, Chris said, “All right, but I’m showing up at your house tomorrow with coffee and donuts. And we’ll discuss this in depth. Love you.”

“Love you too. Have fun.”

She hung up, releasing a huge sigh. Poor Chris. He had to be sick of listening to her bitch about her boring life. Hell, she’d been bitching about it since high school when they’d become best friends, sharing a lunch table.

Neither of them had been part of the popular crowd. They weren’t jocks or brains or goths or any of the other subsets of high-school life. Of course Chris’ open homosexuality had made him more of an outcast than she’d ever been. Still, they’d shared a love of books, theater and movies.

But where Chris was outgoing, she was just so…not.
So do something about it
, a little voice in her head whispered. Yeah, but it wasn’t that easy, was it?

Turning off her phone, she tossed it on the desk, where it landed on the grant papers for the workshops she wanted to give next fall for the preschool story time.

She laughed, a short, bitter burst. She might as well use her time constructively.

* * * * *

16

Seduced and Enchanted

Rio had spent the entire afternoon in the library watching Rosie. The name suited her. She was as delicate as a flower and from what he imagined, she smelled just as good. He’d only gone out for forty minutes when he’d walked up to Sixth Street to the Crystal Palace to get a few hot dogs before his stomach growled and gave him away.

Even though his body wasn’t in corporeal form at the moment, it was still there and it could still feel hunger…and lust.

From the way she kept looking around, he imagined that she felt his presence. He wanted to think it was because they had a connection.
Eteri
rarely sensed the presence of
Fata
in their midst, so he was probably deluding himself. After he listened in on her phone conversation with her friend—he knew he shouldn’t, but he did it anyway—he wanted to ease the hurt he heard in her voice.

She said she wanted fun. He’d give her fun. She wanted sex? He’d fuck her so many times she wouldn’t be able to walk for a week. Even though his body was still dissolved in mist, he was aroused. He’d have a hard-on the second he re-formed. And then he’d give her whatever she wanted.

But how to approach her?

As he pondered that problem, sitting cross-legged on the child-sized table across from her desk, she began to pack up her stuff. Following her down the stairs, he watched as she checked the locks on the front doors, set the security system then walked out the back, locking that door behind her.

He expected her to head for a car, which would have been a problem for him unless he managed to get in the car with her.

But…no. Holy hell, she was going to walk home. Alone. After ten o’clock at night.

Through the city.

Was she
nuts
?

From the library, she headed back to Penn Street then headed east toward City Park. He followed her up Penn Street, fuming the whole way.

17

Stephanie Julian

Christ, did she have
no
sense of self-preservation? Didn’t she know what walked the streets of this city at night?

The answer to that was probably no. Sure, she had to know the city had a thriving drug trade, but most of that was well north or south of Penn. In this part of town, cop cars regularly cruised by and there weren’t that many people on the street. Behind the sports arena though, the neighborhood got lively again. There were bars on the corners and people on the streets and—

And Christ, he was losing it. She wasn’t a child. She was a grown woman—who’d probably lived in the city most of her life. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure no one approached her and follow wherever she was going. Straight home, he figured, especially after that phone conversation.