Deceptions. Cynthia Eden

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СКАЧАТЬ almost a caress, and it made her nervous. Edgy. But then again, Mac usually made her feel that way.

      He’d started coming into the library a few weeks ago. The first time she’d looked up and seen him standing on the opposite side of the checkout counter, her jaw had dropped. Sexy. That was the only word for Mac, with his dark hair, that hard jaw, his sensual lips and—

      Sirens.

      Sirens were screaming outside. The cops were responding way faster than she’d anticipated.

      “Elizabeth,” Mac pushed. “Are you okay?”

      She forced herself to smile. “Fine. I’m glad you were here.” That was probably one of the most honest things she’d said in months. If he hadn’t shown up, just what would she have done?

      Mac didn’t release her. “Do you have any enemies, Elizabeth?”

      She kept her smile in place. “I’m a librarian. I try really hard not to make too many people angry.”

      He kept staring at her. No humor softened his face. Right. This wasn’t the time for humor.

      She let her smile vanish. “Thank you.” Her voice was softer. The sirens were louder. “I owe you a serious debt of gratitude.”

      He let her go. “I’ll collect on that debt.”

      What?

      “Later. For now, let’s go meet the cops before some uniform comes in here with guns blazing.” He steered her toward the main door. “Watch out for the glass.”

      It crunched beneath their feet.

      * * *

      “HE DROPPED THE knife when he was running.” Mac hadn’t wanted to tell Elizabeth that fact; at least, not right away. He just hadn’t wanted to scare her too much.

      But the cops had finished their sweep in the library, and now they were searching the road—and the exact spot where the would-be attacker had fled.

      “There,” Mac said, pointing. “I didn’t touch it in case there were prints left behind.”

      “A knife?” Elizabeth said, her normally husky, sexy voice turning into a sharp cry of fear. “What? He had a knife?”

      Yes, and that fact had fury surging inside Mac. The cops hadn’t seemed overly concerned when they’d first appeared on the scene. He’d heard them muttering about kids and pranks. And he’d known they needed to get to the knife ASAP.

      One bent and carefully inspected the knife. “A switchblade,” he said, and he glanced up at Mac. “You sure the guy dropped it? I mean, it’s really dark out here and—”

      “He dropped it,” Mac said flatly. “So get it checked for prints.” When some bozo hid in a vacant library, waiting with a knife, the cops should know that meant trouble.

      From the corner of his eye, Mac saw Elizabeth take a step back. Her hand was near her mouth and, if there’d been more light, he was sure he would have seen horror reflected in her warm brown eyes.

      Elizabeth Snow.

      He remembered the first time he’d seen the new librarian. He’d been there to study the newspaper archives, looking for any stories that might have hit when his mother first came to town, so long ago. Those records hadn’t been digitized, but there were microfiche copies in the library. It had been his first venture into old-school research.

      And his first glimpse of Elizabeth.

      Her hair had been loose around her shoulders, a dark curtain that framed her heart-shaped face. She’d been laughing when she turned toward him, but as soon as she glanced into his eyes, her laughter had stopped.

      Don’t stop. His immediate thought. Because he’d liked the sound of her laughter.

      Red had stained her high cheekbones, and her full lips had still been curved into a smile when she asked if she could help him.

      In so many ways, so many.

      The police lights were flashing around them, and he saw her trembling hand tucking her hair behind her ear. “He came after me with a knife?”

      The uniforms shared a glance. “We don’t know exactly what his intentions were, ma’am,” one said carefully. “Maybe the guy thought he could rob you, possibly get some money from the cash register inside.”

      “There is no cash inside. We charge for overdue books, that’s it. There’s not enough money in there worth stealing.” Her arms wrapped around her stomach. “And he called my name.”

      Which meant, in Mac’s book, that the attack had definitely been personal. He edged closer to Elizabeth. Something was going on here, something that he was missing. When he’d asked her if she had any enemies, her voice had hitched a bit when she replied.

      Lie.

      So he couldn’t help but wonder: Just what sort of enemies would a sweet librarian have? And Elizabeth was sweet. She smelled like cinnamon, and he pretty much wanted to damn well gobble her up. He’d seen her reading to the kids, leading them in story-time dances. He’d seen her too much.

      Hell... I’m the one turning into a stalker.

      “And why were you here, Mr. McGuire?” one of the cops asked as if reading his thoughts.

      “I—”

      “He was turning in a book,” Elizabeth said quickly. “And I am so very glad that he was.”

      Mac shrugged. “It was overdue.” A total lie. He’d just wanted to see her.

      “I’ll waive that fine,” Elizabeth said, for some reason choosing to go along with his story as her fingers brushed his shoulder. Mac couldn’t help it—he tensed at her touch. It seemed as if an electric current shot right through him. There was just something about Elizabeth...

      Her hand dropped.

      She backed away.

      Something about her, but the woman is not interested in me. He’d tried to ask her out before. A time or two. Or four. She’d shot him down every time.

      He guessed that a rough and ready ex-Delta Force member wasn’t her idea of proper date material. Too bad. She should know that opposites could definitely attract.

      “I called the library’s director,” Elizabeth said. “She’s coming to make sure the window is secured. She said the alarm team would be here soon, too.”

      He glanced to the left. As if on cue, a blue SUV was pulling up. When the interior lights flashed on, he recognized the woman inside—Cathy Waite, the director.

      “I have to talk with her,” Elizabeth said as she hurried off.

      Mac didn’t follow her. Instead, he stepped closer to the cops. “When a man stalks a woman in a building like this, with a knife at the ready, that’s serious damn trouble.”

      “W-we’ll СКАЧАТЬ