* * * *
Church bells a few blocks away chimed one o’clock as Seth parked his Harley outside the Divine Memorial Library, not kidding himself about the little wave of anticipation that centered in his chest. He was excited about the prospect of seeing Jayne, if only for a few brief minutes.
He reached in his leather saddlebags and retrieved the library books he’d checked out the day he’d met her and walked up the sidewalk.
The air-conditioning was a welcome relief from the blistering heat as he breezed in through the automatic sliding doors. The library was quiet, except for a sweet sound that was music to his ears. He followed Jayne’s voice to a large meeting room, off the central corridor that led into the library, and found her, perched in a small chair, surrounded by a large number of children, from toddler age on up to elementary school ages, all of whom were paying rapt attention to her story.
Hello, beautiful.
She was dressed in a teal-blue silky shirt that covered all her gorgeous pale skin but clearly accentuated her curvy body. The artist in him liked how the shade contrasted with her own coloring. She’d swept all of her wavy mahogany hair up into a loose knot at the back of her head, leaving tendrils loose here and there in a way that made him want to release the knot and see it fall around her shoulders.
She was scheduled to have her first tattoo session the following day. He’d worked on bare skin for years, but the thought of working on Jayne’s ignited his libido in a way that no other woman ever had. His hands shook just thinking about it.
She spoke in a funny character voice as she told the story of a dragon searching for his home. He smiled as she switched to a different character voice and he leaned against the doorframe to listen for a minute.
As she held the book up for them to see the picture, she glanced up and saw him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her as her eyes glowed with welcome, her cheeks a soft shade of rose. He listened for a minute until she tripped over her words and he realized he might be making her self-conscious.
She nodded when he gestured with his thumb that he was going into the library and then he slipped away to return the books that were due back that day. He visited the art books department again and found several books that he’d been interested in but forgotten about. His meeting with Jayne that first evening at the library had distracted him.
“Did you find everything that you needed, sir?” the elderly librarian asked from behind the desk as she took his card and checked his books.
He replied to her, not even sure of what he said as he listened for Jayne’s voice, wondering if she was through with story time yet. The librarian spoke of the weather and who-knew-what-else as she stacked his books neatly and handed them to him. He thanked her when she was done and went in search of Jayne.
Outside the meeting room, he looked over the heads of several moms with strollers who stood around the doorway and smiled as Jayne reached the crescendo of the story.
“…and he spread his magnificent, sparkling dragon wings and soared into the sky!”
All the children gasped in wonder as she showed them the picture and cheered for the dragon who’d found his home. All the children converged on her at once, chattering about the story. She happened to glance up as she hugged a little girl with blonde ringlets and grinned at him. It was obvious the children loved their beautiful storyteller and he couldn’t blame them.
There was no way he’d get a word in edgewise with that crowd. He had an appointment in less than twenty minutes, so he pointed at his watch, indicating that he was pressed for time. She waved with regret in her expression, and nodded as she moved the group of kids toward tables set up with some kind of craft. At least he’d gotten to see her. He’d have to be happy with that.
* * * *
Jayne watched with disappointment as Seth turned toward the main entry and left. A soft sigh escaped her. Bye, handsome. I want to kiss you…all over.
She noticed that several of the moms who had brought their kids to the club were craning their necks as they watched him walk away. Jayne felt a little streak of possessiveness when one of the moms made an obviously complimentary remark about Seth’s handsome face or muscular physique to the others.
With Kookie Kid’s Klub done, she returned to her desk, trying to remember what she’d been working on before Rowena had come in with Daisy’s bad news. Something niggled at her subconscious as she discussed sending a small bouquet of flowers to Daisy to wish her well. She gasped as her heart jumped up into her throat.
My book! Where is it?
Placing her fingertips on the now-cleared desktop she’d been sitting at, Jayne asked, “Rowena, what happened to the book with the red paisley cover that was lying here earlier when I got up?”