Leather Bound Read Online Free Page B
Author: Shanna Germain
was having trouble focusing on anything beside those warm eyes and that dimpled smile.
Think of Molly Bloom, I told myself. Think of Hester. Think of Lolita.
No, wrong ones.
Thinking of literary characters was my usual trick in getting through panicky situations, but every time I thought of one now, it was a woman and she was not exactly doing innocent things in the recesses of my brain.
I had to break eye contact and look over his shoulder, to the street outside where normal people were doing normal things. A woman walked by with a white dog the size of a teacup curled in her arms. A couple stood arm-in-arm just outside the window and kissed briefly, his lips touching hers with a familiarity that made me feel like a voyeur.
Looking away, I forced my gaze to land on his, taking in his unusual eyes, his attentive expression. After a long moment, the air righted itself so that I could breathe and then again so I could talk. Soon enough I could even stick my hand out, worrying only a little whether I’d been sweating.
‘I’m Janine Archer,’ I said, quickly, before he could take my outstretched hand and render me speechless yet again.
He spoke as his hand settled in mine. His skin was as warm as I’d imagined, a soft heat that seemed to sink into my palm. His fingers were firm, confident. He didn’t shake my hand so much as hold it, tight and secure, as though it was an important package that had been given to his care.
He’d said something.
‘I’m sorry?’ I said. I hadn’t heard him at all. What I did hear was Lily giving a quick, sharp laugh behind me and then trying to hide it with a cough.
‘I said …’ He enunciated each word carefully, as though I was eight, but a smile played lightly at the corners of his lips as he spoke. And besides, I guessed I deserved it. I was certainly acting like I was eight. Or at least eighteen. ‘I’m Davian Cavanaugh.’
‘I’m Janine Archer,’ I said. Again.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You told me.’
This time, Lily didn’t even bother to try and hold her laughter in, damn her. Did I mention she’s the world’s loudest laugher? I wanted to turn around and pinch her earlobe or hide her away in the back room. Or something. It was impossible to be angry with her, though, once she started laughing. Shaking my head, I smiled apologetically at our potential customer.
‘Please excuse us,’ I urged. ‘We’re usually far more professional than this. It’s just been … one of those mornings.’
I fully expected Lily to make some kind of crack about me smelling like sex. Then I
would
have to kill her and stuff her into the back room.
She was blissfully quiet. For once.
Davian lifted his brow into a high arch, his expression clearly stating his disbelief that we were typically more functional than this. I couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t exactly seen us at our best. The old me, or rather the young me, would have written this entire conversation off as a disaster and fled the room with her cheeks burning and tears threatening to fall. But this was the new me, the adult me, the me who had a business to run and bills to pay.
Think Scarlett O’Hara.
That worked. I straightened my back and let go of Davian’s hand.
‘So, what book are you looking for, Mister Cavanaugh?’ I asked. ‘If it’s rare, first-edition, banned or signed, I guarantee I can find it for you.’
He took a moment to look around the store, letting his gaze linger over the shelves before he turned slowly back to me. I was struck again by the caramel swirls of his eyes, the way they seemed to radiate heat.
‘It’s none of those things, actually’ he said. ‘The book I’m looking for doesn’t exist.’
CHAPTER 2
I barely missed a beat.
‘Luckily for you, books that don’t exist are my speciality,’ I said.
If he’d expected me to balk or turn down his offer, he didn’t let his surprise show.
‘I’ve heard that about you,’ he said.
Which caught me all
Think of Molly Bloom, I told myself. Think of Hester. Think of Lolita.
No, wrong ones.
Thinking of literary characters was my usual trick in getting through panicky situations, but every time I thought of one now, it was a woman and she was not exactly doing innocent things in the recesses of my brain.
I had to break eye contact and look over his shoulder, to the street outside where normal people were doing normal things. A woman walked by with a white dog the size of a teacup curled in her arms. A couple stood arm-in-arm just outside the window and kissed briefly, his lips touching hers with a familiarity that made me feel like a voyeur.
Looking away, I forced my gaze to land on his, taking in his unusual eyes, his attentive expression. After a long moment, the air righted itself so that I could breathe and then again so I could talk. Soon enough I could even stick my hand out, worrying only a little whether I’d been sweating.
‘I’m Janine Archer,’ I said, quickly, before he could take my outstretched hand and render me speechless yet again.
He spoke as his hand settled in mine. His skin was as warm as I’d imagined, a soft heat that seemed to sink into my palm. His fingers were firm, confident. He didn’t shake my hand so much as hold it, tight and secure, as though it was an important package that had been given to his care.
He’d said something.
‘I’m sorry?’ I said. I hadn’t heard him at all. What I did hear was Lily giving a quick, sharp laugh behind me and then trying to hide it with a cough.
‘I said …’ He enunciated each word carefully, as though I was eight, but a smile played lightly at the corners of his lips as he spoke. And besides, I guessed I deserved it. I was certainly acting like I was eight. Or at least eighteen. ‘I’m Davian Cavanaugh.’
‘I’m Janine Archer,’ I said. Again.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You told me.’
This time, Lily didn’t even bother to try and hold her laughter in, damn her. Did I mention she’s the world’s loudest laugher? I wanted to turn around and pinch her earlobe or hide her away in the back room. Or something. It was impossible to be angry with her, though, once she started laughing. Shaking my head, I smiled apologetically at our potential customer.
‘Please excuse us,’ I urged. ‘We’re usually far more professional than this. It’s just been … one of those mornings.’
I fully expected Lily to make some kind of crack about me smelling like sex. Then I
would
have to kill her and stuff her into the back room.
She was blissfully quiet. For once.
Davian lifted his brow into a high arch, his expression clearly stating his disbelief that we were typically more functional than this. I couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t exactly seen us at our best. The old me, or rather the young me, would have written this entire conversation off as a disaster and fled the room with her cheeks burning and tears threatening to fall. But this was the new me, the adult me, the me who had a business to run and bills to pay.
Think Scarlett O’Hara.
That worked. I straightened my back and let go of Davian’s hand.
‘So, what book are you looking for, Mister Cavanaugh?’ I asked. ‘If it’s rare, first-edition, banned or signed, I guarantee I can find it for you.’
He took a moment to look around the store, letting his gaze linger over the shelves before he turned slowly back to me. I was struck again by the caramel swirls of his eyes, the way they seemed to radiate heat.
‘It’s none of those things, actually’ he said. ‘The book I’m looking for doesn’t exist.’
CHAPTER 2
I barely missed a beat.
‘Luckily for you, books that don’t exist are my speciality,’ I said.
If he’d expected me to balk or turn down his offer, he didn’t let his surprise show.
‘I’ve heard that about you,’ he said.
Which caught me all