finding antique and rare items, the old books of myth and lore that he'd only found passing references to in his other research. For the most part, this collection was nothing but books and periodicals about gargoyles that he could have gotten anywhere—true, many were out of print, but probably still available on Amazon.
But there were a handful of older things, rarer things. He carefully handled a turn-of-the-century picture book, its clothbound cover crinkly with age.
"Is everything you have out on the shelves?" he asked.
"You know, our other visitor asked about that too," Marion said. "I believe there are a number of uncategorized and rare items in the back, but Jess is the only one who knows for certain. She was off yesterday, so she couldn't give our other visitor a tour. He seemed disappointed about that. Jessamy—Jess, dear? Someone's here to look at the weird collection again!"
"I really wish you'd stop calling it that, Marion," a voice said from the other side of the shelves, and then the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen came around the corner, a few feet away from Reive.
She stopped and stared at him.
She was the absolute epitome of everything he would imagine of a sexy librarian. She had brown hair pulled back in a braid, a spray of freckles across her nose, and the hottest white cardigan he'd ever seen, paired with a long brown skirt that reached almost to her feet. She was taller than most women, not more than a couple of inches shorter than he was.
And his dragon reacted to her, rising up inside him in a surge of—something. An emotion he'd never felt from it before.
Mate? was his first, startled thought.
I don't think so? But his dragon seemed oddly unsure.
He had always thought you would know for certain. Everyone he knew who had found their mate seemed sure of it from the start. He had assumed you would recognize them instantly; that was how it was supposed to work.
But he found himself captivated by her, and he had no idea why.
Jess
The hottest man Jess O'Dell had ever seen was standing in the G-J stacks. He'd just turned around from talking to Marion. And so of course Jess did the worst (but most characteristic) thing she could possibly have done, and froze in her tracks, clutching a book in one hand.
Guys who looked like that didn't wander into small-town libraries. They were too busy riding horses in slow motion and rescuing sexy young women (not frumpy librarians) from burning buildings and that sort of thing.
He was dressed in black leather, with a small backpack slung over one shoulder. He had black hair, pulled back in a short ponytail, and eyes of a striking color that she could only describe as amber. His tan face was all clean lines, with high cheekbones and a chiseled nose and a jaw you could cut yourself on. And yet there was also something gentle about it, like a deeply hidden softness that only a select few ever saw and managed to draw out ...
She became aware that first of all, she was just standing there, and second, he hadn't said anything either, and third, Marion was snickering.
Jess, in desperation, fell back on the only script she had for situations like this. "Can I help you?" By putting my hands all over you, maybe? her brain helpfully supplied, but she managed not to say it out loud. "You wanted to see my special collection, right?"
Marion snickered more. Jess glared at her.
Really Sexy Leather Guy looked like his train of thought had been interrupted mid-track as well, though Jess couldn't imagine why, since all he was seeing was Perfectly Ordinary Jess: tall, awkward, broad-shouldered enough to make buying sweaters a pain, with all the natural grace and coordination of a pile of Jenga sticks.
And that wasn't even mentioning her other secret, the far worse secret, the one that had made dating a minefield for her entire life.
"Uh—yes. The ... books? The ones on gargoyles?" He seemed to get himself together, and Jess noticed something she hadn't before, that he looked tired. Really tired. A little bit gray, almost. "Marion said you had more that aren't out on the shelves. I know it's almost closing time, so I won't keep you for long."
"Yes, of course," she said, trying to shake herself out of the spell that seemed to have come over her as soon as she saw him. "Right this way, please. It's in the back."