Pleasures of the Night(52)
“Where’s the nearest library?”
“Hell if I know.” She opened a drawer, pulled out the phone book, and slapped it onto the counter. “Here ya go. Knock yourself out.”
Shit. Aidan caught up the book and turned, almost knocking over the elderly woman who had come up behind him.
“Excuse me, young man.” Stooped at the shoulders and wearing hot pink sweats with a matching headband in her gray curls, she gifted him with a bright smile.
He grinned at her use of the appellation “young man,” considering he was easily several centuries older than she was. “Entirely my fault,” he said, steadying her with a hand at her elbow.
“Well, aren’t you a looker?” she murmured with a wink. “Would you help me carry out my Mathilda? She’s been sick lately and when I move her carrier, I jostle her too much.”
Aidan bent and slipped his hand though the handle of the cat cage at their feet. “It would be my pleasure.”
“You should keep this one around,” the woman said to Stacey.
“Yeah? Tell him that,” Stacey retorted. Then she smiled warmly. “I’ll be calling you Monday morning, Mrs. Laughin, to see how you and Mathilda are doing.”
“Talk to you then, honey.”
Aidan held the glass front door to the clinic open and gestured for Mrs. Laughin to precede him out, but once they stepped outside, she urged him ahead of her.
“Don’t wait for me,” she said. “I’m so slow it’ll cramp those long legs of yours. That’s my car over there, the yellow Hummer.” The horn sounded once and the taillights flashed as she disengaged the alarm. “You can just set her on the floor.”
Following instructions, he had Mathilda settled securely on the passenger floorboard in no time, then he returned to Mrs. Laughin and offered his arm.
“Dr. Bates is a pretty thing, isn’t she?” she asked, shooting him a not-so-innocent sidelong glance.
“Yes, she is.”
“I think she’s single. Hardworking. Smart. Got great taste in decorating, too. Best-looking vet clinic in town. And Mathilda loves her.”
Aidan’s grin widened. “Mathilda has great taste.”
“Yes, she does. I can always tell when a solicitor is at the door, because she piddles on the entryway tile.”
Choking back a laugh, he opened the driver’s side door and watched as a custom step lowered from the undercarriage, enabling her to get up into the vehicle without his help. She surprised him by holding out a hundred-dollar bill.
“I don’t want that,” he said.
“Take it. I got plenty. My dear Charles, bless his heart, made us rich.”
“I still don’t want it.”
“I ogled your ass.” She shook the bill at him. “Take the damn money or I’ll feel guilty for doing it. You don’t want to make an old woman feel guilty, do you?”
Laughing, Aidan took the money, determined to give it to Stacey as a credit to Mrs. Laughin’s account.
“Dr. Bates has a nice heinie, too,” she said.
“Yes, she does,” he agreed.
She beamed at him as she pushed sunglasses onto her face. “I knew I liked you. Now, go buy yourself something nice or something for Dr. Bates. Women like gifts. It was money well spent for me. Haven’t seen an ass as fine as yours in a very long time.”
“Thank you.” He waved as she pulled out of the parking lot, then turned in a circle, carrying the ridiculous hope that he would spot a library nearby. He didn’t, of course, but he did spot a mass transit bus roll by with a Discovery Channel advertisement emblazoned on the side.
He was willing to bet he could purchase the items he wanted, rather than borrow them. After all, he knew where the stores were, which was more than he could say for the library. Whatever his next move, he needed to make it quickly. Everything seemed to be working against him today, but he wasn’t giving up without a fight. He’d be damned if the night came and he had nothing to show for his efforts.
Returning to the clinic, he stopped by the desk. “Where’s Lyssa?”
“With a patient.”
He set his elbows on the counter. “Can you give me an inch? Please.”
She stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. “Exam One.”
“Thank you.”
Reaching the paneled door with a gilt-framed sign that said “Exam One” attached to it, Aidan knocked lightly and waited.
It swung open a moment later, and just like the first time he’d seen Lyssa sprawled upon golden sand beneath him, he felt as if he had been sucker punched in the stomach. Blond, curvy perfection with dark eyes that went from professional coolness to melted desire just from the sight of him. He caught the door frame for balance and breathed in harshly.