Free The Tycoon Takes a Wife by Catherine Mann

and wonderfuland more than a little impulsively romantic. So unwise if she wanted to keep her balance while finding out what made Jonah Landis tick. “I already bought a sandwich on my way in.”
    “Okay, then. Another time.” He looked past her, then over his shoulder, a broad shoulder mouthwateringly encased in his black polo shirt. “Mind if I have a tour of the place before I leave?”
    Her mouth went dry at the thought of more time with him. She eyed the water fountain. “It’s a public library. As in open. To the public. Like you.”
    He traced down the binding of a misplaced Dickens book. “I was hoping for my own personal tour guide. I’m partial to sexy brunette librarians who wear their long hair slicked back in a ponytail. And if she had exotic brown eyes with—”
    “I get the picture, you flirt.” She held up her hand and stifled a laugh. “You want a tour?” She pulled A Tale of Two Cities from the shelf and tucked it under her arm. “Of a library?”
    “I want a tour of your library. You saw my workplace in Spain.” He propped a foot on the bottom step of the ladder. “Now I want to see yours.”
    Could he really be serious here? Could he perhaps, like her, need some additional insights in order to put the past behind him? The whole flirtation could just be his cover for a deeper confusion like she felt.
    And she was probably overanalyzing. Didn’t men say things were a lot simpler for them?
    Regardless, what harm could there be in showing him around the library? She couldn’t think of anywhere safer than here. Now where to start?
    If she took him downstairs to the reception area, shewould face questions later from the rest of the staff. Better to go farther into the stacks.
    She mentally clicked through other areas to avoid. A book-group discussion. A local artist in residence hanging her work. Eloisa discussed the facility’s features by rote.
    Jonah reached ahead to push open a doorway leading into a research area. “What made you decide on this career field?”
    She looked around. Definitely secluded. She could talk without worrying about being overheard, but also she wouldn’t have the same temptations of being alone in her town house with Jonah. “My mother spent a lot of time staying under the radar. I learned low-key at an early age. Novels were my…”
    “Escape?” He gestured around the high-ceilinged space that smelled of books and air freshener.
    “Entertainment.” She shoved a chair under the computer desk. “Now they’re my livelihood.”
    “What about after your mother married what’s-his-name?” Jonah followed, palming her back as she rounded a corner.
    “My mother still liked to keep things uncomplicated.” How in the world had her mother ever fallen for a king? And a deposed king at that, with all sorts of drama surrounding his life? Enrique Medina seemed the antithesis of her stepfather, a man who might not be perfect, but at least had been a presence in her life. Loyalty spurred her to say, “His name is Harry Taylor.”
    “Yeah, what’s-his-name.”
    Eloisa couldn’t help grinning. Her stepfather wasn’t a bad guy, if a bit pretentious and pompous…. And sheknew in her heart he loved his biological daughter more than he loved her. It hurt a little to think about that, but not anywhere near as much as it used to. “While I appreciate your championing my cause, I truly can stand up for myself.”
    “Never doubted that for a second,” Jonah answered without hesitation. “What’s wrong with other folks—like me—throwing our weight in along with you?”
    She simply shook her head. “I thought you wanted a tour.”
    “We can tour and talk.”
    Sometimes she wasn’t sure if she could walk and chew bubblegum around this man. She plastered on a smile. “Sure we can. And here’s my office.”
    Eloisa swept the door open wide and gestured for him to follow her into the tiny space packed full of novels, papers and framed posters from literature