He's No Angel (Heaven Can Wait Book 1) (5 page)

Instead she sat, pinned in place by those eyes, and apparently struck dumb by them as well. Not exactly a moment of shining brilliance.

He moved forward, stopping when he stood directly in front of her desk. She planted her feet firmly on the floor to fight the urge to give her wheeled chair a mighty shove backwards. Good thing, because all that would have accomplished was crashing into the bookcase behind her.

He looked about to speak, but then he frowned and peered at her with a quizzical expression. “Are you okay, Emma? You look… flushed.”

She barely stifled a groan. Clearly she was still blushing and therefore looked like she harbored an infectious disease. Perfect. At least the question jerked her from her mute stupor. “I’m fine, Mr. Gallagher. It’s merely warm in here. Is there something I can do for you? I’m afraid you’ve caught me at a bad time-- ”

“Actually, yes, you can do several things for me.” He gave her a smile that she’d bet her last dollar made panties melt like ice cream in a blast furnace. “First, you can call me Liam. Mr. Gallagher is my dad. Or my brother. Also belonged to my grandpa. So that name’s pretty well taken.”

Emma blinked behind her glasses. He had a brother?  Good God, there was another one like him at home? She barely resisted the urge to snatch up her legal pad and fan herself. Talk about a biological miracle of epic proportions.

“As for the second thing you can do for me, you can accept this.” He set the long box on her desk. “For you.”

Emma stared at the box and pretended her heart didn’t skip a beat. “What is it?”

“Best way to find out is to open it.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “As library director I can’t accept gifts-- ”

“It’s not a gift.”

She cocked a brow. “It certainly looks like a gift.”

“True. But it’s not. Which you’ll discover when you open it.”

She should tell him to scram. She knew it. Instead she stood then slowly lifted the top from the box. Her breath caught at the sight of a dozen fat peony blooms in a rainbow of pinks, ranging from the palest blush to the deepest fuchsia, nestled in a bed of ivory tissue paper and baby’s breath.

“Ohhh,” Emma whispered. She reverently lifted a gorgeous magenta bloom from the box, held it to her nose and breathed in the delicate fragrance. “Lovely.” Before she could stop herself she added, “Peonies are my favorite flowers.”

“I know. That’s why I bought them.”

She forced herself to lower the beautiful flower back to its resting place then regarded him through narrowed eyes. “And how do you know they’re my favorite flower?”

“I told him,” came Barb’s voice from behind the closed door. “And that your favorite color is pink.”

Emma briefly closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Boundaries. She and loveable, irrepressible Barb were going to have to have another chat about boundaries in the work place.  Yet, just like their last chat on the subject, Emma suspected it wouldn’t do any good. Barb was Barb and that’s all there was to it.

After clearing her throat Emma looked at him with her best repressive librarian expression. “I thought you said these weren’t a gift.”

“They’re not. They’re a bribe.”

“Oh? You have overdue book fines you want to me to forgive?”

“No.” One corner of his mouth quirked upward. “But it’s good to know that if I did, flowers would do the trick.”

“Actually, they wouldn’t do the trick at all.”
Oh, they so would, you big fat liar,
her inner voice whispered.

“Okay. I’ll make sure I return my books on time. The bribe concerns our dinner date tonight.”

Emma frowned. “We don’t have a dinner date tonight.”

“I know. Which is why I’m here. With flowers. Your
favorite
flowers. To correct that situation.” He dipped his chin and shot her a look that was all big puppy-dog eyes and winsome gorgeousness. So unfair! “Have dinner with me tonight.”

The fact that his offer was so tempting really annoyed her. “Thank you for the invitation, but I don’t-- ”

“Date firemen. I know. I’m asking you to make an exception in my case. Thus the flowers.”

“You seem to know a lot about me, Mr. Gallagher-- ”

“Liam.”

“Fine. Liam. How do you know I don’t date firemen?”

“I didn’t tell him that,” came Barb’s voice from behind the door.

“It’s a small town,” he said with a shrug. “Word gets around. It’d make my day if you told me that particular rumor was false.”

“Go ahead, make his day,” came Barb’s voice from behind the door.

“Excuse me for one moment, please,” Emma said. She rounded her desk and marched toward the door. She heard a commotion on the other side of the wood panel. By the time she’d yanked it open, Barb was halfway to the check-out desk, the heels of her sensible shoes tapping a quick staccato against the tile floor.

“You’d better run,” Emma muttered. Oh, yes, she and her admin were going to have a nice, long chat. Just as soon as Emma got rid of her unwanted visitor. She turned around and gasped when she bumped into her unwanted visitor’s very broad, very hard chest. She sucked in a quick breath, enough to notice that he smelled
reeeeally
good. Like warm skin and freshly showered man and clean laundry. Then she jumped back as if he’d burned her. Which he might very well have done since she suddenly felt as if she were on fire. She could actually feel the red blotches forming on her chest and neck. Oh, yeah, this day just got better and better.

“So is it?” Liam asked.

Good grief, she’d completely dropped the conversational ball. “Is what… what?” She inwardly winced. Considering she was the valedictorian of her high school class and graduated from college
Summa Cum Laude
, it wasn’t often she felt like a complete idiot. A fool-- sure. A social flub-- definitely. But not an idiot. Yet she felt like one now. And a
blotchy
idiot to boot. She took absolutely no comfort in the fact that this guy was surely accustomed to women acting stupid around him. She just hated being one of them.

“The rumor that you don’t date firemen. True or false?”

He’s the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen. Say false.
“True. So while your gift was very thoughtful, I’m afraid I can’t accept it.”

“Bribe. And even if you don’t keep our date tonight, I’d really appreciate it if you’d keep the flowers.”

“There’s no date-- ”

“ Because I don’t know how to take care of them. I don’t even have a thing to put them in.”

“You mean a vase?”

“Right. I don’t have one. If those flowers go home with me, they’ll die.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “A horrible, grisly, slow, painful death.”

She pressed her lips firmly together for several seconds to squelch the sudden urge to smile.  Uh, oh. Clearly it would be very easy to be charmed by this man. She had no intention of letting that happen.

Stiffening her spine, she said, “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting coming up.”

“Sure, no problem. What time tonight is good for you?”

“Good for me for what?”

“For dinner. Our date.”

“I didn’t accept your invitation.”

“I’m sure you meant to. How does seven sound?”

“You’re presuming an awful lot.”

“No, I’m just an optimist. And I’m upping my game. I tried the subtle approach with you the last few times I came in here and got nowhere. So here we are-- at Plan B. And just in case you don’t like Plan B, I feel it only fair to warn you that there’s a Plan C. And D. And E, F, and G if necessary.”

Emma studied him for several long seconds. His regard didn’t waver. He just kept watching her steadily through those amazing eyes, waiting patiently for her answer while a myriad of emotions swirled through her. Annoyance at him for not just accepting her refusal and walking away. Irritation at herself for being flattered and tempted. And genuine confusion at his motives. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I want to take you to dinner.”

“Why? Did you lose a bet or something?”

Confusion clouded his gaze. “Why on earth would you think that? There’s no bet. Just the fact that I find you incredibly attractive and want to get to know you better. And since my attempts to talk to you here haven’t yielded any results-- understandable as you’re on the job-- I’d like to take you to dinner. Simple as that. Just two people sharing a meal. Totally ordinary, nothing scary. Happens between people every day. So, does seven o’clock work for you?”

“I’ve already said no.”

“I’m hoping you didn’t mean it. Why don’t you look at the flowers again and think about it some more? Especially if you’re still leaning toward ‘no.’”

“You really think I can be bought with flowers?” Unfortunately she stood in grave peril of totally being bought by those flowers. But
he
didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t know. I hope so. I also heard you play the piano but since a Steinway would have been really difficult to wheel in here, I figured the flowers were a better choice.” He shot her a grin and a wink. “The Steinway is Plan B.”

Okay, the grin was devastating enough, but a wink, too?
Totally
unfair. Seriously. He should not be allowed to walk around without wearing sunglasses. “Again you seem to know a lot about me. I’m not sure if I should be flattered or creeped out.”

“Definitely go with flattered.”

Darn it, she was. She didn’t want to be, but she was. “How do you know that I play piano?”

“Dave Pearce is my best friend. He told me.”

Understanding dawned. “Melanie Pearce’s husband. She and I have chatted a few times.”

“Right. And as I said, small town, word travels fast. Especially about newcomers.”

“What else do you know about me?”

“I know you had a bad breakup with a fireman so you’re avoiding me like the plague.”

“True. Which would be much easier if you’d simply cooperate.”

“I know. But for some reason I just can’t. Here’s how I see this: some jerk treated you bad and because he was a fireman, I’m scum by association. I get it. I once dated an accountant who scared the bejeezus out of me with her constant talk of audits-- and not the good kind.” Humor danced in his eyes. “You’d definitely have a hard time convincing me to date another CPA, let me tell you.”

Emma truly had to struggle to keep a straight face. “There’s a good kind of audit?”

“You’d think so, but apparently not. So, regarding your aversion to firemen, I understand. But you’re lumping me in with a guy who, I feel it necessary to point out, I’ve never met-- just in case you’d skipped over that important fact. I’m not him. I’m me. Just a guy who wants to take you to dinner and get to know you better. If after we share a meal you decide I’m scum, at least you made an informed decision. I mean, other than the fact that I’m a fireman, what do you know about me?”

I know you’re gorgeous, amusing, charming, and have heartbreak written all over you.
“Nothing.”

He shook his head and made a
tsking
sound. “Given how we’ve already established how things go in a small town, we really need to fix that. Which we can do tonight. Over dinner.”

“You’re very persistent.” Flatteringly, er, annoyingly so.

“Yes.”

“Are you always?”

“Sometimes. It depends on how badly I want something.”

“Liam, I find it difficult to believe that I’m your type, so why are you pursuing this?”

For several seconds he didn’t answer. His gaze roamed her face, his eyes reflecting both desire and a hint of confusion. “Because four weeks ago I walked into this library, took one look at you, and for the next ten minutes the only word I could even think of was
wow
.”

“Surely you’re not expecting me to believe that you’ve never thought wow when you’ve looked at a woman before.”

“No. I have. Just… not like that. And when something happens to me that’s never happened before, well, I want to know why.”

He reached out and lightly clasped her hand. The sensation of his palm against hers sizzled a bolt of heat up her arm.

“Do you feel that?” he asked softly. “Because I sure as hell do.” Emma tried to look nonchalant while he studied her, but an actress she was not. “You feel it, too,” he said. “I can see it in your eyes. Tell me you feel it, too. That I’m not totally nuts here.”

She gently pulled her hand away. Not because she really wanted to, but because… well, surely she was supposed to.

“Fine. I felt something. It was annoyance.”

“No. It’s attraction.”

Darn it, she felt her defenses washing away like a sand castle facing an incoming high tide. “You realize I’m a total nerdy geek,” she said.

“Yup. And that you probably have all sorts of fancy college degrees. And that I don’t.”

“And that I wear glasses.”

“Yeah. I think they look… ” His gaze once again roamed her face. When his eyes met hers, his were filled with such unmistakable heat Emma had to brace her knees to keep from wilting. “… perfect on you.”