Sparks Fly(Divine Creek Ranch 11)(2)

She grabbed the first stack of books still needing to be returned to their place in the bookshelves and hurried to the young adult fiction section. Between herself and Rowena, the elderly assistant librarian, they had almost all of the books put back within five minutes. She returned to the cart for the last tall stack while Rowena handled the visitors who were checking out books.

Jayne peered at the spine of an art book as she rounded a corner, heard a masculine gasp, and her world went topsy-turvy. Books thumped to the floor all around her as she took a tumble, landing hard on her hands and knees. Good going, klutz!

“I’m so sorry,” a deep voice murmured beside her. Strong hands gently gripped her upper arms, helping her to right herself into a kneeling position. She swept her long brown hair from her eyes and looked up at the man assisting her. Where did he come from?

She hissed when she shifted, noticing the burning sensation in both knees where they rested against the rough, short-piled carpeting. The painful throbbing was forgotten as she looked up and lost herself in the most piercing blue eyes she’d ever seen. The beautiful eyes belonged to a handsome, serious-looking man in his mid-thirties. His neatly trimmed goatee and moustache framed sensual lips that made her fingertips itch to slide across them.

He crouched beside her and assisted her as she gathered the books into a stack, then helped her rise to her feet with his hands on her upper arms again. He was roughly six feet tall and clad in a black T-shirt tucked into faded blue jeans. He wasn’t the type she usually encountered in the library. Soccer moms and play-date groups were more her speed. She noticed that his straight black hair was long, reaching past his shoulders. He looked like he’d be more at home on a motorcycle, rock concert stage, or some exotic locale. That hair. How did I miss him in here?

“I’m sorry I tripped you. I shouldn’t have been sitting at the end of the aisle like that. Are you all right?” He reached out a tentative hand and smoothed back an errant lock of hair from her forehead. Her knees and palms stung and throbbed like crazy, but that was nothing compared to the embarrassed heat that flooded her cheeks because someone had witnessed her graceless tumble.

“Jayne? Are you all right?” Rowena asked from the head of the aisle.

“I—I’m okay. Just clumsy,” she called to her coworker as she slid the tall stack of books onto the bookshelf beside her. She dusted off her hands and hissed when she brushed across a raw spot on her left palm.

He grimaced and gently lifted her hand to inspect the damage. “You’re hurt.”

A tingle zipped up her arm at the contact, and she shyly tugged it from his warm grasp. “I’m really fine, sir. The library is closing soon.” She glanced at him as she reorganized the stack of books, trying to ignore the painful tingle in her hands that warred with the distracting tingle located elsewhere.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t notice.” He held up a book on Japanese art. “I was involved in this book. Are you sure you’re all right? I can help you back to the desk if you need me to.”

Gathering her scattered wits as the throb in her knees increased, she smiled and patted her stack of books. “I still need to put these up. I’m fine.”

He gazed mutely at her for a few moments then nodded. “I’ll be up to the front directly.”

Jayne gave him a hesitant smile and nodded, trying to get the trembling in her hands under control.

He paused and squinted at her. “You look vaguely familiar. Have we met?”

Oh, Lord. I’d remember you if we had, handsome! “No, I don’t think so. I’m relatively new in town.”

Surprising her, he held out his hand. “Seth Carter. Pleased to meet you.” His voice turned her insides to jelly and she felt the tingle again as she slipped her hand in his and he shook it gently, mindful of the abrasion on it.

“Jayne Sheridan. Nice to meet you, Seth.”

He nodded, all the while maintaining eye contact. His serious expression was almost disconcerting as he stared deeply into her eyes. Heat crept up her cheeks at his scrutiny. After a moment, he blinked and a slight smile crossed his lips.

When he released her hand, she lifted the stack of books from the shelf and he stepped out of her way to let her pass. Her hands trembled as she replaced all the books where they needed to be. She straightened a couple of shelves before turning to make her way back to the checkout desk. Rowena flipped two more light switches, casting the section Jayne was in into near darkness.

She rounded the same corner and yelped when she ran right into Seth.

“Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you as I rounded the corner.” Crap!