The construction worker from next door was back at her library again. She'd been researching for her linguistics dissertation while working here for several months and she saw him at least three times a week. He usually went to the history sections and pulled books on any of the various wars around the world, only to come back to the front of the library where she worked to sit down. She'd caught him watching her since he'd first shown up about six months before, working on the reconstruction of some very old, wood buildings on the campus.
At first, it was only a glance or two, now and again, but now she caught him watching her all over the library quite often and noticed him listening when she answered questions for the other students. She herself was a student librarian, having taken up the trade as an income while she completed her dissertation.
One day, while she was working on some paperwork at the Information Desk, he finally approached her. From her time watching him watching her, she'd found him quite attractive; his muscled arms and sun-kissed skin combined with slate gray eyes and an almost shy smiled made her stomach flutter. The latter two she was being treated to for the first time.
"Could you help me find a book? I think it might be in the storage room," he asked politely in a deep, but gentle voice.
She smiled. "Which one?"
He gave her the title and she looked it up in the electronic catalogue. Sure enough, it was in storage. She came around the desk and motioned him to follow her.
The storage room was at the very back of the library, used only for books that had not been checked out in more than ten years. It was very rare for anyone to need a book from the storage room, but it did happen.
She unlocked the door and let him in. Taking the lead, she went over to the manual catalogue; the electronic database only listed the storage room, not the area in it. She spent a few minutes looking for the correct card.
His eyes wandered her body the entire time. She had to fight off a blush, because she was doing essentially the same thing from her peripheral vision.
His arms were relaxed at his sides, with one hand tucked into the pocket of his blue jeans. His chest and stomach were almost visible through his whit tank top. They were just as pleasing to look at as his arms.
She finally located the card and motioned him to follow her again. Again, they would have to go to the back.
When she located the correct stack, she skimmed through the numbers. He waited behind her quietly. She wasn't sure whether it was good luck or not, but the book he wanted was on the floor-level shelf.
Carefully, self-conscious of herself, she bent over at the waist and retrieved the book. When she turned to hand it to him, he was smiling.
"Here you go," she told him.
"Hold on," he replied, flipping open the cover, "I want to make sure it's the one I want before I drag you in an out again."
She was thankful he turned away, because the delicious tone in his voice made her blush. He had somehow made it sound enticingly naughty. She was sure it was just her imagination.
He walked to the table in the aisle way and sat down with the book. For a minute or so he skimmed back and forth from the index to various parts of the book.
"Can I ask your opinion?" He put a finger down on a specific passage. She walked up to his shoulder and leaned on the table to look down at the book. In the process, she brought the top most closed button of her shirt about level with his chin, not realizing that she would treat him to a full view of her cleavage if he looked up.
"Does this passage adequately support the decision it's advocating?"
He looked up just as she started reading the passage. He hadn't realized she'd gotten so close to him and it fueled his resolve.
"It has some interesting language, but for the time period it's accurate. It wouldn't fly now," she shook her head. "It's not a hard enough argument."
She stood up and he joined her.
"I'm writing a critique and this old book was cited as support, but it was dubious." He closed the book on the table. "Look..."
She held her breath; he looked suddenly tense.