Free What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss Page B

taken with him. Rachel shook her head when he held out a hand for her to join them. She needed to reestablish some distance.
    He closed it and her pulse sped up at the heat in his eyes. “Shall we go?”
    “No,” she said firmly, practicing the word. “I promised Kev a dance.” Satisfied that Devin had got the message, Rachel dragged the bemused farmer to the dance floor.
     
    S HE WANTED HIM .
    That was all Devin needed to know to be patient. While Beryl went off to get a recipe from the chef, he sat at their table and ordered coffee, watching Rachel on the dance floor. In one date, he’d gone from indifference to fascination. He wasn’t used to challenge in his relationships with women. He decided he liked it.
    He cast his mind back to his two marriages, the first in his late teens, to an indie rock chick in an all-female band. He’d wanted a port in the storm, but Jax had proved to be as angry offstage as she was on it.
    Ten years later he’d hooked up with a Swedish actress during one of his frequent blackouts. It had been a trophy marriage on both sides, the mirror over the bed reflecting two clichés going through the motions of intimacy. They’d separated after three months.
    There was no point regretting a past he couldn’t change; still, Devin couldn’t help wincing.
    He heard a muffled ringing and tracked it to a cell phone in Rachel’s bag. It wasn’t a model he was familiar with and a text message flashed up when he tried to answer the phone.
    Dnt blow chnce 2 screw a rck str. Trix
    He stared at the message, then replied, Nt tht kd of grl?
    A few minutes passed. R now, rmber our tlk!
    Grimly, Devin returned the cell to Rachel’s bag. He was a trophy date, and the librarian was only acting hard to get. Increase her chances of banging a celebrity, he guessed. The fact that it had nearly worked infuriated him.
    When Rachel arrived back at the table five minutes later, he regarded her coldly. “I’ve settled the bill.”
    “Are you sure you don’t want me to contribute?”
    “Let’s not spoil a great evening.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing.” He pulled himself together—never let them know you care—and steered her toward Beryl and Kev. They left with a promise to visit if they ever got to Matamata. Wherever the hell that was.
    “Close to Hamilton, where I grew up,” said Rachel. She filled the silence on the way home with Wikipedia trivia. If Devin hadn’t known better he’d have said she was nervous.
    But he did know better. His anger grew hotter, barely contained. Outside her house, he handed over the car keys, shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and turned away. “Good night.”
    “I said I’d lend you that book on music and math. Wait, I’ll run and get it.”
    Another ploy. Damn, this woman needed a lesson. “Sure,” he drawled.
    He undressed her with his eyes as she led the way to the house. Rachel opened the door and started groping for the light switch. “It won’t take me long to find it.”
    Devin cut the game short. “I’ll bet.” He stepped inside and spun her around to face him.
    “Wha—”
    In the darkness, he found her mouth. She wrenched away from him. “What on—”
    “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about doing this?”
    She hesitated too long.
    He kissed her again, pulling her close, cupping the nape of her neck with one hand. With a moan, she settled into him and he forgot everything but exploring that incredible mouth—moist, full, bitable.
    Following her lead, he kept it tender, reveling in the contrast between her tentative tongue and the unconscious pressing of those lush breasts against his chest.
    They came up for air.
    “Do you always kiss like that?” she gasped, and he struggled to remember she was using him. And then felt disgusted all over again.
    “Why, are you taking notes?” Backing her up against the wall, he nudged her thighs apart and ground his erection against her. “If you want to screw a rock star, this is