He opened the bag and unwrapped a Bon-Bon, popping it into his mouth.
Kate slipped her phone back into the holster and grabbed the bag away from him with a mild glare.
"Sorry." He held up his hands. "I should know better than to mess with a girl's chocolate."
"I need it for energy." She put the bag back in the briefcase, right next to the rubber bands. "So where did you find the newspaper clipping?"
Tyler gestured to a filing cabinet. Kate pulled open a drawer, sighing with dismay at the sight of the old newspapers and magazine articles crumpled into file folders.
"These aren't even archival quality." She plucked a folder carefully from the drawer. "The acid from the folders is causing all this yellowing."
Yeah, she knew what she was talking about. Tyler's resolve strengthened. His recent lack of sex was enough to explain his preoccupation with Kate's scent and her bra. But he didn't need her to scratch his itch-he needed to get her on board with the library work. Not only could she help him get the job done much faster than he could ever do on his own, she'd do it to a ridiculously high standard that would exceed Warren Stone's expectations.
He shoved away from the desk and walked to the overstuffed bookshelves.
"These aren't even in alphabetical order," he remarked casually, studying the book spines.
"I know." Kate approached to look at the adjoining shelf. "It's a travesty, really. Sugar Rush has such a long and rich history that it deserves to be respected and well organized."
"Exactly what I was about to say." More or less.
"Before my job interview with Luke, I read up on the history of the company," Kate continued, pulling a book off the shelf. "I thought it was so fascinating that your ancestor … wasn't it Edward Stone? Edward is my father's name, too. Anyway, my favorite part of the story is that Edward Stone came to California during the Gold Rush to seek his fortune, but he never found any gold while mining. But he'd learned how to make chocolate from his father, who had once apprenticed at a chocolate factory in Denmark.
"So Edward made some milk chocolate nonpareils and shared them with his fellow miners. They were such a hit that he began selling them at general stores. He made enough money to open the first Stone Confectioners' store in San Francisco, and the Gold Rush miners were his biggest customer base.
"He never forgot that either, which is why so many of the later Stone Confectioners' chocolates have been based on Gold Rush themes-Chocolate Nuggets, the Gold Rush bars, 49er Truffles. Luke told me that was also his inspiration for changing the name of the company to Sugar Rush-he wanted to modernize the brand, but also pay homage to its history in the Gold Rush."
She stopped, giving him a somewhat abashed look. "Sorry for going on about it. I just think it's so neat that these men who came to California looking for gold ended up finding chocolate, which is the gold standard of sweets, as far as I'm concerned. And I love working for a company that has such a colorful … and delicious … history. Though of course you already know all about it."
He didn't, actually. An unexpected shame shot through him. He'd heard about the company history his whole life, and a lot of it had stuck in his mind out of sheer repetition, but he hadn't known, or he'd forgotten, details like the ones Kate had just told him. He hadn't even remembered he'd had an ancestor who'd learned chocolate-making in Denmark.
"I'll be quiet now," Kate promised, shuffling a few books on the shelf. "This is a library, after all."
"You don't have to be quiet." Tyler almost wished she'd keep talking-not only did he like the sound of her voice with its faint, throaty quality, this history thing was sort of interesting.
"From what I understand, Fred knew everything about Sugar Rush and its heritage," Kate continued. "But clearly this company has needed a collections management specialist."
"How do you know so much about library collections?" Tyler asked.
"I have a degree in library and information sciences."
Bingo.
She was a perfect, ripe apple that had fallen right into his lap. And though he had a stab of guilt over the thought of playing her-because she really was a nice girl-the reality was that he had a job to do, and he couldn't do it without her.
"Even with your degree, Luke never asked you to work down here?" he asked.
"He hired me as his executive assistant, not the corporate librarian." Kate slipped another book back into place. "Besides, it was Fred's job for forty-five years. From what I heard, he didn't want anyone encroaching on his domain. Luke showed Fred a great deal of respect by allowing him to run the library as he saw fit. But I don't think he realized it might actually have damaged the collection."