by Jacie Floyd
“I’ll take now.” He set the kitten on the floor and cradled Harper’s face with his hands. His kissed her so gently she would have cried if she hadn’t been so turned on.
“I thought you would.” She linked her fingers behind his neck.
“Let’s go.” He took her hand in his and stood. “Our first time will be in the bed. After that, all bets are off.”
“What about Calliope?”
He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it in sexy disarray. “She’ll be all right on the screened porch for a while.”
Lifting the cat in his arms, he deposited her on the porch, making sure the outside door was latched and the door to the kitchen was closed. “Problem solved.”
Kissing Harper, he guided her down the short hall. As soon as they reached her room, pulling her shirt over her head as they went. “No bra. You look amazing. And it saves time.” His gaze lingered over her appreciatively and then his fingertips feathered across three small scars on her abdomen. “Appendicitis?”
She swallowed and nodded. “Yes, Doctor.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Don’t worry. This isn’t a medical examination.” He removed his shirt, but with his hands at the band of his jeans, he said to Harper, “Take off your shorts. Now, babe, come on. Synchronize.”
“We’re not a water ballet.” She laughed, thrilled to see his urgency. “Where’s the romance?”
He puffed up with mock outrage. “You want romance? Now?” He leaned his forehead against hers and took a deep breath. “I’ve been waiting for this all week.” Settling his hands at her waist, he pulled her a step closer. Need vibrated between them like an electrical storm. “You’ve been in my head for so long, you’re all I breathe.”
“Good start.” If he could attempt romance, so could she. If he could attempt to slow down, so could she. But she unsnapped his jeans and sent them south. The action seriously hindered her slowing-down process. “Just so you know. Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, I imagine you moving inside me. At the grocery. At the library. Jogging.”
Bending forward, he trailed kisses down her neck to the sweet curve of her shoulder. “When I’m examining patients, I devise previously unknown sexual positions for us to attempt. When I’m discussing zoning laws at council meetings, I invent words to describe the way you’ll melt on my tongue. Making my rounds, I picture you under me, writhing sensually and making sounds of desire and satisfaction no woman has ever made before.”
“Will these new positions and sounds be named after us? The Harper Variation? The Zach Innovation? The Lilting Librarian?”
“I was thinking more like The Simmons Sideways or Harper Upside-Down Cake, but I’m willing to improvise as we go along.” Fingers drifted up her sides to tease the sensitive curves of her breasts. “I have to have you. Now that you’ve agreed, now that you’re ready, I really, really have to have you. Immediately. I have to touch you. Kiss you. Lick you. Suck you. Eat you. Drink you up.”
As he recited the list, he demonstrated each action on the sensitive spot beneath her ear. Simultaneously, he pushed her shorts and panties to the floor. “I want to absorb your body into mine, make you so close to me there’s no space in-between. I’m a desperate man, Harper. Imagination only gets a man so far, and I’ve imagined you every way I know how. And that’s it. That’s all the romance I’ve got in me. Will that do?”
By then, Harper was engulfed in his heat, in the focused attention of his passion. No one had ever wanted her this much. And she’d never known that being wanted this much was such an aphrodisiac.
Now that they were both naked, she looked her fill. Wanting this moment locked into her memory bank forever, she soaked him up, imprinting his impeccable physique on her corneas, embedding the memory of his rippling muscles in her frontal cortex, and implanting the depth and breadth of his chest and shoulders in her heart of hearts. Almost breathless, she wrapped her hand around his commanding erection. He defined perfection. Hard and fit, bronzed and enormous. He was...everything. Too much for words. Only touch could do that body justice. She shivered with anticipation and directed him to the bed.
After their frantic disrobing, Harper expected Zach to be just as eager with the rest of it, but his actions were tender. So tender. Enthusiastic but patient as they stretched out on her airy duvet. He crawled on top of her, laying full length along her body, clasping her hands at their sides, and kissing her gently. On and on he kissed her as their bodies conformed to one another.
Focusing on her breasts, he plumped them up in his palms. He lavished attention on her nipples, sucking and licking first one and then the other. She moaned and pressed her hips upwards, pulling his hips against hers. With a low growl, he returned his lips to hers. As their tongues tangled again, his finger slid inside her moist heat and found her magic spot. He matched the rhythm of his tongue to the slide of his invasion inside her. The intense sensation almost caused her to levitate off the bed. As he had predicted, she writhed beneath him, doing anything necessary to move and explore while emitting sounds she’d never heard herself make before.
Her hands explored the hard contours of his back and glutes. She scraped his taut skin with her fingernails. When he bit her lip, she slapped him on the butt. “Quit teasing. You said you had to have me now and that was hours ago.”
“It wasn’t hours ago.”
“Za-ach.” The word sounded like a plea. “If you don’t touch me right now, I will.”
Intrigued, he lifted an eyebrow and one side of his mouth. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“This time, I’d rather have you do it.”
“Me, too. Hang on.” He grabbed his jeans off the floor, found the condom packet, ripped it open, and sheathed himself before returning to her. “Harper.” Her name sounded like a blessing. His shoulders blocked out the light from the lamp as he positioned himself over her.
He slid his hands up and stroked her nipples with his thumbs. “Ready?”
“So ready.” She lifted her hips and slid the tip of his cock inside her.
“Let me all the way in. I want every inch of me stroking every inch of you.”
The pleasure was almost too much. She whimpered and closed her eyes as they moved together with smooth deep strokes. Up and up they went until she exploded, tightening around him and pulling him with her. She gasped, and they rode the aftershocks together, savoring every tingling sensation, until he slowed and stopped before finally collapsing onto her chest.
“Wow.” She could barely catch her breath. “I know it’s unfair and uncouth to make even implied comparisons to former lovers, but, wow. I think I’m speechless.”
“I know.” His smile caressed her neck. “Memorable.”
“This is definitely worth sneaking around for.” She leaned up on an elbow. “But how will it work?”
“I’m not sure it will. I’ve never tried to get away with much.” He trailed a fingertip around her aureole, tweaking and watching its response. “By day, we’ll be friends and business associates who exchange heated glances, lusty looks, and the occasional surreptitious pat on the ass. By night, I’ll sneak in the back door and we’ll enjoy one another in every possible way.” He leaned in to suck the nipple he’d been teasing.
“Won’t your family know you’re not spending your nights at home?”
“Rachel frequently fixes dinner for Dad or drops by to see him, but she goes home afterward. Dad turns in about nine to watch TV in his room, and Josh spends every waking minute at the hospital, sleeping, or with Susannah.”
“What about your patients?”
“I’ll always have my phone. If I get called out, no one will know I was here when I took the call.” He turned her to her back and sent his hands trailing down her stomach. “You have a problem with any of that?”
Not when he was driving her out of her mind with his touch, she didn’t. But would she have a problem with it tomorrow, or next week, when they passed by one another like casual acquaintances? Maybe, but
for now, she’d take their relationship one day at a time and treasure each one. She sucked in her breath when his touch circled her belly button. “No problem at all. Except…”
“What?” He arched his brows, and his body became rigid, as if he were girding himself against a tough question, unfavorable observation, or last-minute objection.
“It’s my turn to be on top.”
His eyes lit up and he turned to his back with his arms spread wide. “Climb aboard.”
Chapter Seventeen
In the blistering heat of July and August, the library renovations proceeded quickly with no more major disruptions. Since this was Harper’s biggest personal and professional challenge to date, she was determined to get the library reopened by the end of October. Long hours at work were followed by mountains of paperwork, at-home consultations with Andrew Berkman, and long nights of bliss with Zach.
Running into one another—accidently or on purpose— turned any day into a treat, but they carefully kept their intimacy under wraps. It became part of the fun to slip secret flirtatious comments into their public conversations and indulge in the occasional physical contact that would go undetected by the prying eyes of the town busybodies.
One day a perfect, lush peony was left on her desk. Another time a basket of green beans appeared on her back step. Some mornings, Zach slipped out of her bed, went home, exited his front door, and silently fall in step beside her for an early run. She craved his company but tried not to dwell on how much those unexpected interactions affected her.
As August marched on, she grew accustomed to the quiet streets, scent of freshly mown lawns, the sizzle of burgers on the grill, the sounds of birds chirping, and church bells ringing.
Goodness, yes, she could hear actual church bells ringing, signaling joy and order and memories from summers with her grandmother.
While many of the townspeople still gave her wide berth, the men and women that had been hired to work at the library were starting to look favorably upon her. Less suspiciously anyway. After further inspection, it turned out that the destruction at the library was not as extensive as they originally appeared. The renovations were going more quickly and less costly than expected.
At a council meeting that Harper had been specifically invited to attend, Nelson Whitherford’s absence was notable, Jimbo reported that Nelson’s construction buddy, Hugh McMahon, had caused most of the damage. After one of McMahon’s employees had been picked up on a drug charge, he had revealed his participation in some of the library destruction based on orders from Hugh. Hugh was being pressed to rat out Nelson.
“I guess that explains his absence today,” Daniel said.
“Not entirely,” Mick noted. “You’ve been on vacation and might not have heard the news yet, but he skipped town.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No,” Jimbo said. “Hugh had been holding strong, not ratting out his cousin, but Nelson freaked yesterday, cleared out his bank account, and sneaked out of town in the dead of night. Mary Jo’s screaming her head off that he took all their money and left her and the kids behind. She’s being cooperative in the investigation now, so we’ll find him. She thinks he’s headed for their condo in Tampa.”
Jimbo praised Harper for her help in the investigation and encouraged the council to hire an independent auditor to scour the books for additional illegalities. That had been a good day for her.
Between Zach and work and trying to win over the townspeople, she didn’t have time to dwell on her past or miss her mom, Fiona, and Nathan. They kept making noises like they’d come for a visit soon, but she kept putting them off. And she didn’t have time to dwell on the ones she didn’t miss either—like her father and her manipulative ex-fiancé. The less she thought about them, the better. Especially these days, when she practically fizzed with excitement over her new job, home—including her own sweet pet!— and incendiary love life.
After a few weeks, enough of the restoration on the library had been completed to allow Harper to begin work on library programs and community outreach.
Intent on playing nice with one of the women who could make her Sunnyside-life easier, Harper reached out to Myrna Hopper. To lessen any possible awkwardness, Harper chose to wear subdued clothes and hold their meeting in the newly renovated Young Adult section instead of in Myrna’s former office. It wouldn’t be helpful to lord her new position over the woman who had lost it.
“This is an unusual color.” Stepping into the space designed to appeal to teenagers, Myrna twitched her nose at the lime green walls. Probably in her late fifties, the woman’s drab jacket, brown slacks, and black flats made her appear two decades older.
Harper beamed and pretended to take the comment as a compliment. “Isn’t it? I wanted something vibrant for the kids. When we have the rest of the books, computers, and furnishings in place, it will tone down the color, but it should look current to the age-group that will be using the room.”
“The teenagers don’t use the library much anymore.” Myrna stepped over to the table Harper had prepared for their talk. “They prefer to do their research at home on the Internet.”
“They do, don’t they? That’s a common problem to all libraries. Could we get around that by encouraging some of the teachers to require at least one library resource for certain types of papers?”
“That might work,” Myrna reluctantly agreed.
“But once we get them here, we need to be able to draw them back. Andrew envisions this a place that offers them more than reference materials for their term papers.”
“Like what?”
Now it was Harper’s turn to hesitate. She never knew what new ideas would step on the toes of the locals. “There doesn’t seem to be a lot for teenagers to do in town, so we want this to become a meeting place. Something like a community center. One of the first things I’d like to do is create a teen advisory board to determine what would interest them and draw in other teens. You know the kids who live in Sunnyside. I hoped you could provide me with names of students you think would be willing to participate.”
“What would they need to do?” Pursing her lips in disapproval, Myrna clutched the strap of her pocketbook.
“Advise about the kinds of books, movies, and music they’d like to have in the collection, of course, but I hope they’ll provide input into what kind of programs would be beneficial to them. I see us a resource for expediting college applications, using the reference section as a storehouse for scholarship information. I’d like to offer a variety of book clubs for the kinds of books that appeal to teens. Everything from Harry Potter and Twilight to Survivor Games.”
“We didn’t have the funding to do those kinds of things before, but now you have cash in the coffers and it’s the schools that are hurting.” The older woman’s face relaxed just a little bit from outright disapproval to merely judgmental. “Many of the afterschool programs have been cut in the past few years. Maybe we could recreate some of those. What about having a computer lab they can use to work on joint projects?”
“Absolutely! Can we interest some of the teachers or staff at the high school to participate in that, too?” Harper tapped a few notes into her iPad even though teens usually knew all about computers. It was the adults who were behind on their technical skills and could benefit from a computer lab. She didn’t want to discourage her predecessor, but Harper hoped to present innovative concepts to kids who were bored and disenfranchised with the current state of the town. “Plus, let’s think outside the box with new ideas that will surprise the teenagers and make them realize we aren’t just an old moldy place where they have to be quiet.”
Myrna squared her shoulders at that, perhaps feeling Harper’s description of an old-school library was a reflection of the woman herself. “Like what? Online gaming competitions? Comic book clubs?”
Harper recognized Myrna’s sarcasm but took the comments as genuine suggestions because, really, the woman had finally come up with something origi
nal. “Yes! Exactly like that. See? You do know them better than I do. What other kinds of activity would spark their interest? Encourage them to come here and bring their friends? I want them to think of this as a good place to hang out. Maybe begin with a diversity team or a multi-cultural celebration.”
“I doubt if green paint is going to inspire all that.” Looking around at the vibrant wall color again, Myrna shook her head. Preparing to leave, she retrieved the tote bag she’d stowed under the table. It had a colorful, creative picture on the front. Primitive and edgy. It looked familiar and original, but Harper couldn’t come up with the name of a designer currently creating bags in that style. Her mother would disown a daughter who couldn’t identify an up-to-the-minute trend on sight. And Harper didn’t like to judge, but it was much more current and chic than the rest of the older woman’s ensemble.
Harper laughed. “You’re right. It won’t. The paint is just a first step. Creating the Advisory Council is a second. If you could think about names of suitable teens for that and some ideas of projects for them to consider, that would be a huge help. Then I’d like to consult with you about some projects for adult patrons, too, and even the senior citizens in town. If their kids and grandkids are going to be here, we want the grown-ups to feel welcome, too.”
Myrna pursed her lips and grudgingly unbent another inch. “I’d love to see the library become a meeting place for the whole community. I don’t have much time to volunteer, but I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Thank you.” Harper beamed at her and jumped up. “That would be wonderful. Think about it, kick some ideas around, and let’s plan to meet here again next week. The library where I worked in Chicago had some fabulous outreach programs. They’re more suited to an urban setting, but some of them could be adapted for a rural area. We can invite others who would be willing to participate as well. Here’s a list of a few people who have offered to help, but the invitation would probably be better coming from someone they know and respect like you than from me.”
