Guarded Treasure: A Steamy Opposites Attract Adventure Romance by Mae Lovette

Author:Mae Lovette [Lovette , Mae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

She hadn’t the foggiest idea how long she had been searching the reference books by the time she heard the door lightly click, and the sound of Ben’s footfall come up the stairs to the second level of the library. She was sprawled on the floor surrounded by books, her hair tied up haphazardly with a scarf and her glasses perched precariously low on the bridge of her nose. She was just finishing a page when he stood before her. He was so tall, especially with her sitting on the floor, she had to practically look to the ceiling to meet his eye.

“How’s it going?” he said. There was something light and mischievous in his eyes, but his face was still stoney as before. Maybe he was softened by the way the neckline of her gown fell when she was leaning over a pile of books.

“I found the volumes I need, now it’s just a matter of study until I can find the answers and reach a conclusion.” She switched off the flashlight she’d been using to search the two open log books side by side, leaving them in the darkness bathed in the glow of the moon.

He turned silently and stalked away to look out a window at the other end of the balcony.

“Ben,” she said as he seemed to search for something outside on the street below them.

He turned back to her, the tightness in his face replaced with curiosity. She glanced down to the double doors, where she’d seen he barricaded them in with a fire iron.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to find it before we’re caught.” she whispered.

“We won’t get caught, you know these things run into the wee hours of the morning. And all of the servants will be tending to the party.”

“Still, it could take hours more, and I don’t even know how long I’ve searched already. Not to mention, we’ll have to make an appearance back before too long.”

“You found the reference books you need?”

“Yes.”

“How many are there?”

“Just these two. Births and deaths from the right time period.”

Edith gathered the discarded log books she wouldn’t be needing as Ben spoke, only leaving out the two that held the key to the next door.

“Okay,” he said, rubbing his jaw, the rough shadow already growing in there. “We’ll take these two, and you can bring them back to your house. We can hide them there until I can return them to the collection.”

“What if he notices they’re missing?” She stood, propelled by her distaste for wrongdoing, and soothed herself by replacing the books she didn’t need back on their place on the shelf.

“Pimsley is a collector, not a student of egyptology. For him the thrill is in possession, not appreciation.”

Edith glanced at the place left where the two reference books she needed ought to be, their brethren slumped in their absence. When she began to gnaw on her lip, Ben read her expression. As he closed the gap by pushing the book ends until they all stood straight as soldiers, his voice broke into her worried thoughts.

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