Free Forbidden by Lauren Smith

Verne. I was wondering if I could look at it before the buyer picked it up. I’m a huge fan, but couldn’t afford the edition.”
    The clerk’s eyes lit up. “A Verne fan! We don’t see too many of those these days. I’d be happy to let you take a peek at it.” The woman winked. “Come, let’s get it out.”
    Each of the books inside the rare-edition glass cabinet had a strip of white paper with a name scrawled in black ink tucked inside its front cover. The lucky owners, Kat guessed.
    “Here we are.” The woman crooked one index finger onto the top part of the spine and tugged gently so it slid free of its neighbors.
    “This is part one. Dropped from the Clouds . At the buyer’s request we’re locating the second and third parts, The Abandoned and The Secret of the Island .” The clerk held out the red leather book.
    Kat took it, holding it with reverence. Dark gold letters displayed the title on the cover. Beneath was a gold etching of a hot-air balloon drifting over a calm ocean as though ready to crash into the sea. Someone lucky was going to be taking this home. A pang of envy shot through her, making her feel guilty.
    There was something magical about old books. The detail and artistry that went into their creation, with their gilded edges, engraved illustrations, and eye-catching covers, made each of them a treasure. In today’s world, there was so much less magic, less wonder in the small things, like the beauty of books. It made her old-fashioned, yet she couldn’t help but appreciate the book for what it was, an icon of an era lost forever.
    “Lovely, isn’t it?”
    She nodded, carefully opening the book, studying the title page as she spoke. “How much is the buyer paying for it?” The number was going to make her cringe, but she couldn’t resist asking.
    “About £1,000.00. He was most insistent we find the others, as well.”
    Doing the math in her head, Kat winced. That was more than $1,500 dollars for one book. With great reluctance, she returned Dropped from the Clouds into the clerk’s hands.
    “Anything else catch your fancy?” the clerk asked.
    Kat shook her head. Her class, European History 1600 to 1800, started in half an hour, which left her no time to browse.
    “Do you mind if I asked who bought Dropped from the Clouds ?” she asked the clerk.
    The woman nudged her glasses up her nose an inch, hesitating to speak, as though she was considering if she ought to respect the buyer’s privacy.
    “I have a friend, a man named Tristan Kingsley. I thought perhaps he might be the one who bought it,” Kat clarified. Tristan had no reason to buy it. Still…his flashing blue-green eyes crossed her mind, teasing her with memories of the previous night. She knew it was him. It wasn’t a coincidence that the first edition, which had been at G. David’s for a year, was being bought the day after Tristan had stood in her bedroom and looked at her battered, well-loved copy.
    “Er…well, I’m not permitted to disclose our client’s information, but I can say that if it was your friend, he has excellent taste.” The clerk gave her a small but knowing smile.
    Oh, wow . He’d really done it. The question now was, why? What would he do with a first edition of Jules Verne, other than give it to her? She couldn’t accept a gift like that, it was way too expensive. And she couldn’t help but wonder what his reason for buying it for her was. Did he always buy things for the women he claimed he was interested in? Did he expect her to sleep with him after getting a gift like that? It was all too confusing. She didn’t know what the protocol was for a girl to do when getting a gift like that. As she headed to class, she struggled to come up with a plan.
    Nothing could take that sexy Brit out of her head. And that was a bad sign, since she knew she shouldn’t see him again. But what would she do when he gave her the Jules Verne book? Shove him out the door and tell him good-bye when she