A Buckhorn Bachelor

“Thanks.” Copying her, Adam removed his sneakers and lowered himself beside her. Their arms brushed. The slightest of breezes brought the sweet fragrance of her sun-warmed skin to his nose. Every part of his body noticed.

Trying to ignore the sudden awareness zinging through his blood, he asked casually, “You supervising, too?”

“Nope. Just enjoyin’.” When the breeze picked up, parting the leaves of the overhead branches and letting in the blistering sunshine, Isabella wrinkled her nose and squinted her blue eyes. “Sure is hot today.”

Adam peeled his damp T-shirt away from his chest and nodded agreement. Heat and humidity left his khaki shorts limp. More than his shirt was sticking. “Low nineties.”

“Swelterin’.”

“Typical for this time of year.”

“Mm-hmm.” Suddenly she grinned.

“What?”

Lifting one lightly freckled shoulder, she said, “Just struck me funny, that’s all.”

Not following, he looked at her face, and smiled at the amusement there. “What did?”

“Me shootin’ the breeze with you.” She leaned a little closer until her shoulder deliberately bumped his again. “Buckhorn’s most wanted bachelor, pausin’ from his prowl to visit with little ole me. Ya gotta admit, it’s amusin’.”

With her tilted toward him that way, her face turned up to his, Adam suddenly thought about kissing. Hot, tongue-twining, consuming kissing.

With her.

Damn.

Since he’d known Isabella, he’d never once thought about getting his mouth on her.

At least, not seriously.

From the day she’d moved to his town, they’d been friendly, sometimes working together on school fundraisers or serving together on committees. Sure, he always enjoyed her company, but the fact that they saw each other within their careers at the school made anything more than friendship dicey.

Or at least that’s how he usually figured it.

Now...not so much. “Issy,” he teased back. “You flirting with me?”

Instead of denying it, as he expected, she lowered her lashes and gave a lazy shrug. “Honin’ my skills for later, ya know?”

What the hell did that mean? “No,” he said, trying to wade carefully. “I don’t know.”

“You’re a big fibber, Adam Sommerville. You know in a few hours when the sun sets and the stars come out, you’ll be findin’ yourself some company. The glasses didn’t fool me. You were scopin’ out the prospects.”

Had he really been so obvious? Rather than deny it, he asked the obvious question. “What does that have to do with you?”

Wearing the slightest of devilish smiles, she stared out at the crowds. “I’ll probably be doin’ the same, that’s all. I figure by ten at the latest, the guys left will be the available ones who’d be interested. So I might try my hand at the pick-up game.”

The pick-up game.

Why the hell did that annoy him so much? He wasn’t her keeper, he had no claim on her, and...to heck with it.

Adam yanked off the sunglasses and frowned at her. “If that’s your plan, why are you flirting with me?”

Indolent, and somehow sexier because of it, she sighed. “You weren’t listenin’? Already told you I was honing my skills.” She wrinkled her small nose. “Bein’ a librarian means I know a lil bit about a lot, but pickin’ up company isn’t in my repertoire. Knowin’ you aren’t interested makes you safe for...” She looked up at him and smiled. “Practice.”

Of all the... Feeling strangely annoyed, Adam stretched out to his back and folded an arm over his eyes. “You’re nuts, Issy.”

“Celibacy can do that to a woman.”

From his eyebrows to his toes, Adam stilled. Plunged into curiosity, he lifted his arm away and stared at her. “Celibacy?”

She gave a self-deprecating grin. “It’s been a mighty long time, that’s all I’m sayin’.”

He searched her face, a face he knew well, and saw no signs of teasing. She meant what she said.

Isabella, librarian extraordinaire, planned to get laid. Tonight. With some bozo from the carnival.

How long had she been without?

Adam thought back over the time he’d known her. Isabella had dated a few times, but he couldn’t recall her being in any serious relationship. She stayed super-involved in the school, hyper-serious about kids reading, and she put in plenty of free time assisting disadvantaged kids and those with learning disabilities.

She stayed active, with work, charity, kids.

Just not with men.

So many times he’d wondered why she wasn’t married with a few kids of her own. Anyone who knew her also knew she’d be an amazing mother. Smart, dedicated, friendly, caring...and now that he allowed himself to dwell on it, he had to admit she was cute.

Or maybe more like smokin’—in a seriously sweet and approachable way. It was her accent and teasing wit that made “cute” come to mind. That, and her understated wardrobe...fit for a librarian.

He reminded himself that her proximity at work remained an issue. Only at the moment, sitting here with her in the hot sunshine, breathing in her scent, that didn’t seem to matter much.

To be honest, he could admit the friend vibe had originated with her. From day one, she’d relegated him to “work pal” status, without ever really giving him a chance to decide if he wanted to go for more.

And now that he thought about it, that sort of burned his ass a little. He wasn’t a masochist and wasn’t into chasing disinterested women, not when there were enough of the other kind to keep him busy. So then why-

“You do seem to wander off inside your own head, don’t ya?” To take the sting out of that criticism, Isabella half smiled.

But it stung all the same. “I was just thinking.”

“No, Sugar, you were daydreamin’.” She lazily fanned her face and throat. “There’s a difference.”

Sugar? Adam knew she often addressed the kids that way. And when looking for new funding for her much-loved library, everyone was her “Sugar.” But him?

First time.

She could easily charm students, parents, and the school board alike. But before now, she’d never openly attempted to charm him.

Suddenly the idea of a casual hookup with some other woman didn’t interest him. Nope.