Tempted Again (7 page)

“Well, that’s great then. You two already know each other.” Sally reached for the vibrating cell phone at her waist. “Sorry, I have to take this. Excuse me for a moment.” She moved away, leaving them alone in the foyer between the four upper apartments.

“So we’re going to be neighbors, huh?” Connor
grinned at her as if able to read her tumultuous thoughts. “I’m guessing by the panicked look on your face that you didn’t know I lived in this building.”

“I’m not panicked.”

“No?”

“No.” She was, of course, but she’d rather eat bugs than admit that to him. “Everything is not always about you.”

“Fair enough.” He shoved his aviator-style sunglasses on top of his head so he could fix her with a don’t-lie-to-me stare. “So what were you thinking about to make you look so panicked?”

“My thoughts are my own.”

His grin widened. “That’s the first time you really sounded like a librarian. All prim and proper.”

“Librarians are not all prim and proper any more than cops are all boorish buffoons.”

“Just me, huh?”

“What?”

“You’re calling me a boorish buffoon.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Of course not. But it
is
what you meant, right?”

“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I might incriminate myself.”

“Was that ex-husband of yours a lawyer or something?”

“Or something,” she muttered. Brad was actually in middle management at a telecom company but he had plenty of lawyer friends.

“Did you pick up a lot of legalese from him?”

“I learned a lot from him. Some of it good. Most of it very bad.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Are you?” she said. “Why?”

“What are you insinuating now?” Connor demanded. “That I want bad things to happen to you? I don’t. Why would I?”

“Not bad things, no. You’re indifferent,” she said. “You could care less, so why pretend otherwise? It’s too late to pretend to be polite.”

“Hey, I am very polite. Ask anybody.”

“I don’t have to ask anybody. I already know from my own experience with you that you’re not polite or even nice, because someone with either of those sterling character traits wouldn’t have done to me what you did.”

“So basically you’re telling me that I suck.”

“That would be a pretty accurate assessment, yes.”

“That was a long time ago. I could have changed.”

“I doubt that.” She went on the offensive. “Why do you care what I think about you?”

“Who says I do?” he countered.

Marissa bit her tongue and mentally reviewed her options. Could she ask Sally to tear up the lease she’d just signed a few minutes ago? She’d have to have a reason. Cold feet? She certainly couldn’t tell her new landlady the truth.

“Don’t let me scare you away,” Connor said.

His words were a challenge she couldn’t resist. “You couldn’t scare me away if you tried.”

“Oh, I probably could. But I don’t plan on trying, so you can relax.”

Right. As if she could ever relax around him. There was no way she could afford to let her guard down. She had to stay alert, stay aware and stay away.

Well, that last one was going to be more difficult given the fact that he lived next door, but she’d manage it
somehow. Because that’s what she did. She managed. She coped. And, yes, she cried. But only between coping and managing, and only for short periods of time and in total privacy.

Actually those crying jags had gotten shorter but it was getting harder and harder to keep them that way, given the stress of living with her parents. Maybe if her self-esteem hadn’t already been in the basement she wouldn’t have been as bothered by the situation at home as she was.

But it was what it was. Her entire life lately was what it was. It certainly wasn’t what she’d planned or dreamed or hoped for.

“You somehow don’t look reassured by my words,” Connor said.

“I wasn’t thinking about you.”

“Weren’t you?”

“No. As I said before, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”

“That’s good to know.”

“You should also know that I have no intention of changing any of my plans because of you.” She discounted the one Kroger parking lot incident. “This was my hometown long before you ever showed up and it will continue to be my hometown long after you leave.”

“What makes you think I’m leaving anytime soon?”

“I didn’t say it would be soon. But that is what you do. You leave. You move on.”

“So did you. You left and moved on.”

Yes and look how well that turned out, she thought to herself.

“Just so you know, I don’t plan on leaving Hopeful anytime soon,” Connor said. “What about you?”

“I just got here and already you’re trying to get rid of me?”

“I don’t want to get rid of you. Far from it.” He deliberately eyed her from head to toe. “You liven the place up.”

“Are you saying Hopeful is boring?”

“No.”

“Then why does it need livening up?”

“I didn’t say it
needed
livening up. I said that you liven the place up. Two different things.”

“I’m done trying to decipher your words. I have to get to work.”

“Me, too.” With a sweep of his hand, he indicated that she should go first. “After you.”

Was he? Was he “after” her? Trying to get her interested in him again? Because there was no way she was going to do that. He could tease and tempt her all he wanted. He could bat those memorable eyes at her and flash his bad-boy grin and she would remain immune.

She had to if she wanted to survive.

*  *  *

By the time Connor arrived at police headquarters, word had already gotten out about his new neighbor. “Hey, I heard the new librarian in town just moved in your building.”

The comment came from his administrative assistant, Ruby Mae Rivers, otherwise known as the department’s version of
TMZ
without the videos of the stars. But her contacts made her a woman constantly in the know about everything there was to know.

Ruby Mae’s short salt-and-pepper hair never changed from day to day. Nor did her raspy voice. In her mid-fifties, she was a mother of five and grandmother of ten.
She ruled them, and the people in the department, with an iron fist.

“News travels fast,” Connor said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Some of the employees got their daily dose of caffeine from the Cups Cafe but not him. He liked his coffee hot and strong. None of that fancy frappucino shit for him. His family already didn’t approve of him working in a small town. If he started lining up for fancy coffee, they’d be sure to disown him. He wasn’t sure how they’d know, but somehow they would.

Sort of the way his mom could always tell when Connor and Logan were roughhousing in the living room, using her pillows as footballs to launch across the room, occasionally knocking over lamps and smashing them.

Growing up, Connor had spent time split between two worlds. The one his mom and grandmother created, and the more dysfunctional one his dad had.

“The mayor wants to see you ASAP,” Ruby Mae said.

Connor thumbed through his messages. “Anything going on that I should know about?”

“Not really. The hottest news is about you and your new neighbor.”

“What’s hot about that?”

“I just meant it’s the latest news.” Ruby Mae shuddered as he took a gulp of his coffee. “I don’t know how you can drink that dredge.”

“My granddad used to tell me that cop coffee put hair on your chest.”

Ruby Mae’s laugh was as deep as her voice. “A good reason for me to avoid it. How’s your granddad doing?”

“He’s doing great. In his mid-seventies and as ornery as ever.”

“I suppose you’re going to say that’s because of the cop coffee.”

“Nah. It’s because of good genes.”

“Oh.”

“And cop coffee.”

She returned his grin before reminding him, “The mayor is waiting.”

The village hall municipal offices took up the other half of the building.

“You wanted to see me?” Connor said.

“Yes. Thanks for coming.” The mayor indicated Connor should take a seat across from his massive desk. “I spent the morning with the school board and administration regarding your at-risk youth program.”

“What about it?”

“They want you to work with another program. You know, sort of join forces.”

“What other program?”

“One suggested by Marissa Bennett. Apparently she had a lot of experience with young adults in her previous library job.”

Connor was really pissed off. This program was special to him. He didn’t need Marissa messing it up for him. “What does she plan on doing? Having them read a bunch of books to turn them around?”

“She wrote up a proposal for the board.” Mayor Bedford handed it to him. “I suggest you read it and then the two of you should work together to make the new program work.”

“There was nothing wrong with the old program. With
my
program.”

“Nothing is so perfect that it can’t use a little
improvement. Why don’t you go on over to the library now and meet with Marissa?”

He’d rather poke bamboo shoots beneath his fingernails. “I have a prior engagement.”

“Oh, right. You’ve got that presentation at the Hopeful Meadows Senior Center today. What’s the topic again?”

“Avoiding scams and identity theft.”

“Right. My aunt Gert is a resident there. She’s really looking forward to the presentation. Well, you’ll have to schedule your meeting with Marissa for another time then.”

“Yeah.”

“The sooner you two get together, the better.”

Connor had no intention of getting together with Marissa. He’d done that once back in college and it hadn’t worked out well.

“I hope you don’t take this as an insult against all the work you’ve been doing in the outreach programs,” the mayor said. “Two heads are better than one.”

Connor doubted that. Especially when one of those heads belonged to Marissa. He didn’t think clearly when he was around her.

Connor arrived at the senior center in a bad mood that got worse when the conversation immediately turned to his private life. He started his presentation professionally enough with the line, “I’ll be giving you some tips to help you avoid scams and ID theft issues.”

The mayor’s aunt Gert interrupted him “I heard that you and the new librarian are moving in together.”

“You heard wrong.”

“Is that why she was driving in the parade?” Gert continued. “Was she trying to get your attention?”

“No,” Connor said. “She just made a mistake.”

“Trying to get your attention is a mistake?”

“She doesn’t want my attention.”

Gert frowned. “Why not? You’re a good-looking fellow. She’s single now that she dumped that no-good husband of hers. What’s the problem? It’s not like there are a lot of choices for a divorced woman.”

“Maybe she’s looking for a younger man,” the woman sitting beside her piped up with. “One of those hottie college boys.”

“Why would she want a boy when she can have a man?” Gert retorted.

“You know they say a male’s sexual peak occurs when he’s eighteen and then it’s all downhill after that. Is that true?” Both women looked at Connor for an answer.

He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. “If you don’t have any questions about scams and ID theft, I’m leaving.”

“You’ve scared him,” the woman beside Gert scolded her.

“He’s a cop. He used to work in Chicago. I doubt he scares easily. Isn’t that right, Sheriff?”

It was at moments like this that Connor wished he’d stayed in Chicago.

*  *  *

“How does it feel to be back home again?” Roz asked Marissa once the two of them were seated in Roz’s office later that afternoon, “Are you settling in okay?”

Marissa nodded. “I just signed the lease on an apartment today.”

“I know. Sally called and told me.”

“Right.”

“Small towns.”

“I know.” Which had made it difficult keeping her relationship with Connor secret all those years ago. Now she was so glad that no one else knew about their history.

“I wanted to talk to you about that proposal you had regarding young adults at risk in our community. The school board reviewed it at their meeting and they’ve given it the green light.”

Marissa blinked. “I can’t believe they moved that fast. I thought it would take months and months.”

“Karen Griffith, the school guidance counselor spoke very highly of your plan. She was behind you one hundred and twenty percent. But there is one small catch. You’ll have to work with Connor Doyle and the program he already has in place.”

“Argh.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. I…umm…I just had something stuck in my throat. What do you mean, work with Connor?”

“The board wants you both to integrate your programs together.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Actually Marissa was positive it was the worst idea since NBC put Jay Leno where they did before returning him to the
The Tonight Show
.

“Well, the library budget certainly doesn’t have any funds to do this on our own,” Roz said. “We have to work with the school district and the mayor’s office. That’s where the funding is coming from. And their decision is that you and Connor have to make it work. Unless you don’t think that’s possible for some reason?”

What could she say—that he’d been her first lover and then dumped her? That he was a thorn in her side? That she was still battered and bruised from her divorce, still grieving the loss of her marriage and the vows she’d made? That working with Connor when she was still so vulnerable was emotionally dangerous for her? Of course she couldn’t say any of that.

“Is there a problem?” Roz asked.

“I didn’t anticipate that my program would be mixed with someone else’s.”

“I understand.”

“The two programs are not similar. I did study his program before coming up with my own.”

“I know you did. In an ideal world, you’d both be able to do your own thing. But that just isn’t possible in this economy. And with these conditions, more kids than ever are at risk. You two will just have to suck it up and do your best. Can you do that?”