by Mia Archer
When I got there Ethel was in her usual spot at the front desk. She had a worn romance novel out and was concentrating so hard on the thing that she didn’t notice me for a moment. So I leaned over the edge and took a gander at what she was reading. It had a muscular guy with long flowing hair under a black cowboy hat on the front cover carrying what I assumed was a damsel in distress, though she didn’t look like she was in too much distress hanging out there in cowboy’s muscular arms.
I could see where the guy was hot enough, if you were into that sort of thing. Which I wasn’t, but I was sure it was right up Ethel’s alley. And from the way her eyes darted across the page with her mouth open she seemed to really be enjoying what she was reading. I leaned in to catch the words and blushed when I realized some of the things going on in there.
It was enough to make me think those nutjobs who protested the library for carrying “written porn” a few years back might’ve actually been onto something. Not that it was any of their damn business what other people read anyways. Mom had been furious about those protests.
“Is it really still called reverse cowgirl if she’s a captive mail order bride from out east? Seems like the only cow-anything in that scene is the cowboy she’s on top of, and even then he looks like more of a bandit than anything else if the cover is to be believed,” I said.
Ethel shrieked. She actually shrieked! The book went flying in the air and I only just managed to snatch it before it fell to the ground. Meanwhile papers and pencils on the front desk went flying. Ethel turned to regard me with a stare that wasn’t at all pleasant. She moved a hand to her chest which was rising and falling rapidly, presumably from the scare I’d just given her.
“Savannah!” she said. “You could give a woman my age a heart attack sneaking up on me like that!”
“It’s not like I had to work very hard to sneak up on you, though I can see where you’d be distracted by this. It’s pretty hot!” I said as I flipped through the pages and made a production of glancing at some of those pages.
Not that it was pretty hot as far as I was concerned. Burly man chest? No thank you. Not my cup of tea. Not that my preference for chests that were a little more soft and rounded was any of Ethel’s business.
“Besides. I figure if you’ve made it this long then I’m not going to kill you by startling you or anything,” I said.
“You never know, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t try,” she said. “So how can I help you? Did your mom work her way through those books already? That’s a record for her!”
I wasn’t listening to Ethel anymore, though. No, I peered through the library trying to catch a glimpse of the new librarian. I didn’t even know her name and yet I couldn’t get her out of my head. She was the whole reason I was out here in the first place. I just hoped she was actually in here. I glance at the clock and realized it was close to noon.
Damn it. I was going to be really annoyed if I came all the way out here and she was off at lunch or something.
“Looking for someone?” Ethel asked.
I turned back to her and she had a smile on her face that was entirely too knowing for comfort. Like she suspected something.
“Oh I just didn’t get to introduce myself to the new girl the last time I was in here. She was doing stories with the kids. Figured I might do introductions now since you’re not as busy,” I said.
“Really? I don’t see any of your mom’s books on you. Did you come in here just to introduce yourself?”
I blushed. Ethel really did have an annoying habit of getting right to the core of whatever you were trying to do. She had a way of seeing through bullshit and then cutting through it that could be downright annoying.
“Never mind,” I muttered. “It was stupid for me to even come in here.”
“Not at all!” Ethel said. “Here. She’s just about to leave for lunch, but I bet Kirsten’s still back there. Come on.”
Kirsten. The name sounded nice. I rolled it around in my head. Kirsten. A pretty name. The sort of name that I could see attached to such a distractingly beautiful woman.
I followed Ethel. This was it. I was finally going to meet the new girl. And then what? I hadn’t figured out what I was going to do beyond that. Shit. What was I even doing here in the first place? This was all going to end in tears. I just knew it.
But it was too late to stop now, so I let that tingling anticipation take over.
5
Kirsten
My purse. Where the heck did I leave my purse? I really hoped I didn’t leave it out in the library again. Even worse, I hoped no one came by my office and decided to swipe it. I’d gotten so used to living in a small town again, the sort of place where you didn’t have to lock your doors, that sometimes I had lapses even though my time in the city had taught me that you always locked the doors whether or not you thought you were in a safe place.
I opened my bottom drawer and pulled out a folder with proposed budgets for the next fiscal year. None of them were particularly pretty. The same long hours without a raise for yours truly. But on the bright side my purse was under that folder. I must’ve tossed it in there without thinking earlier.
Okay then. It was time to head back to my apartment, conveniently down the street from the library, and heat up some soup or make a sandwich for lunch. The only thing standing between my grumbling stomach and food was Ethel standing at the door to my office with a huge grin on her face.
“Can I help you Ethel? I was about to head off to lunch.”
“Yes you can help me!” she said. “There’s someone you absolutely have to meet!”
That smile on her face only got bigger and broader. She also had a twinkle in her eye that immediately had me on guard. Ethel knew everyone in town, and the last time she breezed into my office with that twinkle in her eye she’d brought none other than the mayor and a member of the town council along with her. It’s not like either one of those guys were technically my boss, but they were still about as authoritative as authority figures got around these here parts and I’d felt like a minnow tossed in with a couple of public service sharks.
“I really do need to be going Ethel, maybe la…”
I trailed off as I realized exactly who she’d brought with her. Orange hair. Striking green eyes. A body that wouldn’t quit and a pretty face that topped off the whole package and left me breathless. Damn!
I sat back in my chair. It was the only thing I could do. I’d suddenly gone weak in the knees, my legs were all rubbery, and it was all I could do to keep it together. Trying to keep everything together and maintaining my balance? Impossible.
Ethel grinned. A grin that was far too knowing for my taste, but whatever. I was far more interested in this girl. Savannah.
“This is…” Ethel started.
I smiled. “Savannah. A pleasure to meet you.”
She blushed. Well that was interesting. I’d assumed she wasn’t into the ladies, a pretty reliable assumption considering the statistical likelihood that she wasn’t, but that blush had me thinking otherwise. Hoping otherwise, is more like it.
“And this is Kirsten,” Ethel finished, looking just a little irritated that I’d interrupted her big reveal of Savannah. What did she expect? She already told me the girl’s name, after all.
“Nice to met you Kirsten,” she said, her face turning almost the same shade as her hair, though more pink than orange.
Savannah took a step forward and held her hand out. I managed to get enough control of myself that I was able to reach out and take her hand, and boy what a handshake that was! I felt an electric shock running through me at her touch. It was warm, firm, and oh so sexy.
Wait. Did I seriously just call a handshake sexy? I really was too far gone when it came to this girl. This was dangerous. Too dangerous by far.
“Very nice to meet you too,” I said. “I hear your mom is one of the biggest supporters of our romance section. Do you like those books too?”
Savannah looked aw
ay for a moment, and when she turned back she’d managed to get it under control. Somewhat. The blush was gone, at least, though the smile was still there. God that smile. I wanted to kiss at the corners of her lips.
“So are you from around here?” Savannah asked.
“Oh yeah. Grew up here in town. My parents live over on Walnut, but I’ve got an apartment over the hardware store down on Main that they let me stay in for dirt cheap. How about you?”
“Yup. Graduated five years ago now. Weird that my reunion’s coming up and all that,” she said.
I laughed. “Yeah? Wait until you’re getting ready for your ten year reunion. Though it’s not really much of a reunion if pretty much everyone stuck around.”
“Yeah, pretty much a thing for everyone that moved off to the city. I was out there for college for four years, but then I came back to take care of my mom.”
So Ethel was right. This girl was just young enough that we would’ve missed each other when we were in high school. Which was a damn shame, but at the same time it’s not like anything would’ve happened back then. I was still firmly in hiding back then, and I was still convinced that any feeling I got from this girl was so much wishful thinking.
I couldn’t help but think that the age thing wasn’t a big deal now, though. We were both adults, after all. Again, not that it mattered since she was probably very straight.
The conversation trailed off just a bit after that. I wasn’t sure what to say. She suddenly looked a little awkward standing there and looking up at me and then down at the floor. That blush had come back as well.
It was an electric moment that felt for all the world like the times I’d run into a particularly hot girl who was into me but neither one of us wanted to make the first move. Wishful thinking, or something more?
“Savannah, dear, have you had lunch yet?” Ethel asked.
Savannah jumped and glanced nervously at Ethel. “Well no, why?”
Ethel looked at me and grinned. “I was just thinking that Kirsten here hasn’t had lunch yet. You haven’t had lunch. The two of you seem to be getting on so well here. Why not go out and have lunch together?”
Everything she said seemed so sweet and innocent. She was playing up the innocent old lady angle far more than usual. I knew that I needed to be on guard whenever she pulled that. Whenever she looked sweet and innocent she was usually plotting something that was anything but. Not for the first time I wondered if she knew way more than she was letting on. The only people around here who knew about my orientation were my parents, but Ethel could be scary perceptive. Almost annoyingly so.
Still, Ethel was on my side, and the idea of sharing lunch with this beauty did intrigue me.
I looked at Savannah and cocked an eyebrow. The blush was back on her cheeks with a vengeance, but she returned the smile all the same.
“I’m up for that if you are,” I said. “Want to go on a lunch date?
I could’ve kicked myself for my choice of words. A lunch date? Idiot! Though both of them would probably think I meant the platonic sort of lunch date. No matter how much I would’ve liked going on the other sort of date, let me tell you!
“Sorry, I mean it’s not a date, obviously. Just a figure of speech, you know.”
Idiot! If they didn’t think there was anything weird about it before they definitely would now what with me stumbling all over my tongue trying to explain myself! Why did I have to be such a goof?
Only Savannah reached out and took my hand again. That electric energy was back. She smiled, and there was no hint of the blush now. Just her beautiful face. Those eyes locking with my own and hypnotizing me.
“Don’t worry. A lunch date sounds just fine to me,” she said.
We stood there holding one another’s hands with our gazes locked together for a moment that felt like it was stretching into eternity. God I could get lost in her eyes forever and a day. I was so distracted that for that moment it felt like we were the only two people in the room.
That moment lasted right up until Ethel cleared her throat reminding us that she was standing right there next to us. Both of us jumped, and both of us pulled our hands away as though we really had been shocked. Both of us turned to Ethel and both of us blushed at the same moment. It was like there was a mirror between the two of us.
“Right then,” Ethel said. “I’ll just have my usual soup at the front desk. Take your time.”
“Wait, I’m the boss. Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to make the schedule anyways?”
“Well yes, but still. Don’t feel like you need to hurry back on my account. I’ll be able to hold down the fort while you two have your fun.”
And with that she turned and disappeared out of my office leaving me alone with Savannah. Savannah who was so warm. I was painfully aware of how close she was to me. I was painfully aware of how tempting it was to slam the door shut to my office and press my lips against hers.
I didn’t do that, of course. I was just really tempted. There was a good chance that would end with a scream and a slap and maybe me being out of my job. I liked being able to make a living even if I wasn’t thrilled at where I had to live to make that living.
I smiled at Savannah. She looked at me and blushed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot. It had me hoping all sorts of things that I probably shouldn't be hoping.
"So are you ready to go?" I asked.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Savannah replied.
And so I walked out with her at my side. My mind reeled at this sudden change of fortune. Just ten minutes ago I figured I’d be going over to my apartment to have heated up chili from a crockpot I'd made up at the beginning of the week, and now here I was going out to lunch with this beauty. Sure it was probably just lunch, just as friends, but still.
Funny the places life could take you in the blink of an eye.
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