Almost Summer (Fool's Gold #6.2)(8)

“Eek.” She took a step back. “You’re the sick British guy, right? Because if you were a strangler or a thief, you wouldn’t have stopped for coffee. At least, I hope you wouldn’t.”

“If by sick you mean ill, then that is me.” He held out his hand. “Alistair Woodbury.”

She hesitated, then shook his hand. “Annabelle Weiss. I’m a friend of Paige’s.” She held out a couple of books. “Paige called me yesterday and said you were feeling better. She asked me to bring by a couple of books for you to read.” She shrugged. “Paige said you were at that awkward stage. Healed enough to get bored, but not so filled with energy that you could do much of anything.”

An unexpected kindness, he thought. Not only Paige for asking but her friend for being so obliging. “Thank you so much for taking the time to drop these off.”

“You’re welcome. One is a history of the area. It’s interesting.” She smiled. “I have a minor in Maá-zib studies, so I’m biased. They’re the women who first settled here. A matriarchal society. Very powerful. Fool’s Gold is still matriarchal, just so you know.”

“You’re saying I should watch myself?”

“Exactly.”

“I will make sure these books are returned to you.”

Annabelle shook her head. “Not to me. To the library. I work there.”

She was shapely with eyes that teased and a very attractive smile. “You don’t look like the librarians I remember,” he told her.

“We’ve changed. There was a whole press release issued about it, but we didn’t get much media coverage.”

He stared at her. “You’re teasing me.”

“Just a little.”

Paige teased him. He had to say the women in this town were intriguing. Although his interest in Annabelle was merely academic, while his interest in Paige was designed to get him into trouble.

Annabelle glanced at her watch. “I need to get going. I’m meeting my friends for breakfast. Heidi gets up before God to milk her goats and Charlie likes to eat before going to the gym.” Annabelle wrinkled her nose. “She works out every day. What’s up with that?”

“People are odd creatures.”

“You got that right. Okay. It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

With that, Annabelle turned and left.

Alistair carried the books to the table and sat down. The first was a novel—a thriller by an author he enjoyed. The second book was, as promised, a history of the area, with an emphasis on the Maá-zib tribe. He leaned back and started to read.

Some time later, he heard footsteps on the stairs. Paige walked into the kitchen.

He would guess she hadn’t been awake long. Her skin was still flushed from sleep and her eyes were slightly unfocused. With her long blond hair hanging down loose and her feet bare, she’d shifted from healing angel to sexy temptress.

Her jeans and T-shirt shouldn’t have been appealing, yet he found himself mesmerized by the way the denim cupped her curves and the soft, worn T-shirt was tight across her chest.

“Morning,” she said, sounding sleepy. “Sorry. I’m not a morning person. Give me a cup of coffee and fifteen minutes and I’ll be human.”

She reached for the coffeemaker, but he beat her to it and poured.

“Sugar? Cream?”

“Just black,” she said with a sigh. “Hey, you’re a medical professional. Maybe you could hook me up with an IV. That would be great. I could get my caffeine undiluted.”

She sipped, then blinked. “Wait a minute. You’re up. Are you feeling better?”

He was close enough to be able to inhale the sweet scent of her skin. He wanted to move that last foot or so and take her in his arms and kiss her into passionate wakefulness.

“Alistair?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes. I’m feeling better.” Much better, he thought, enjoying the sensation of being attracted to a charming woman with a delightful smile.

“Good. You should probably take it easy today,” she said. “Tomorrow is the start of the Spring Festival. You’ll want to see that for sure.” She grinned. “I know you’ve traveled the world and all, but there’s nothing quite like a Fool’s Gold festival.”

“How fortunate that I’m here right now.”

“Actually we have them all the time. That’s why we’re good at them. But the Spring Festival is one of my favorites.”

“Then it shall be my favorite as well.”

She sipped from her mug. “You’re just so British.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No. But it might be a little bit dangerous. Because it’s, you know, sexy.” The second she finished speaking, her eyes widened and she slapped her free hand over her mouth. “I did not just say that,” she mumbled.

“I’m afraid you did.” Now it was his turn to smile. “I find the news quite excellent.”

“You do?”

“The queen would be very proud.”

[line space]Alistair spent much of the morning reading in “the garden” as he called it. From Paige’s perspective, he hung out in her backyard, which was good. She could avoid him while keeping an eye on him at the same time.