A MAN ON A MISSION. SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN JONATHAN
TEMPLAR BEGINS HIS QUEST FOR AN EXAMPLE OF A PERFECT HERO...
Jonathan finished the last of his coffee and went to
throw the cup in the nearby garbage can. He passed a table
with a woman sitting alone, nursing a drink and reading a
paperback. He glanced down and saw a couple on the cover,
this pair dressed in contemporary Western attire. Another
romance novel. The woman smiled and turned a page.
What was it about these books that had women so hooked?
He reviewed the conversation he'd heard in the library.
There's a hero to die for ... James Noble is the perfect
man ... perfect man.
Women wrote those romance novels and they wrote about
perfect men. If a guy wanted to learn what a woman wanted
in a man ... Who was that author Juliet and Hildy had been
talking about? Vanessa Valentine. Someone with a name like
that had to know her stuff when it came to love.
Jonathan tossed his cup and then retraced his steps to
the library, hoping the women hadn't cleared every romance
novel off the shelves.
Most of the library patrons were gone by the time he
slipped back into the musty room on the lower level, either
back to their homes to wash cars or mow lawns, or off to go
hiking the mountain trails. A few late arrivals browsed the
health and finance sections and one woman was leafing
through a cookbook.
Just his luck, the only other section that was occupied
was the romance section, where two teenage girls stood,
perusing the books. They were cute and skinny, probably
cheerleaders. Darn. He'd hoped not to have an audience.
He hovered over by the magazines and CDs, hoping they'd
quickly move on. They didn't. In fact, it looked like they
were going to camp out over there all day, reading and
filling their paper grocery bags, emptying the shelves.
What do you care if they see you looking through a
romance? They're only high school kids, he reminded
himself. Kids who'd go home and tell their moms about the
dork who'd come in looking for love between the covers of a
book.
"Oh, my gosh, here's a Vanessa Valentine," said one.
No, don't take that.
She handed it to her friend.
"I haven't read this one," the girl said, and dropped it
into her bag.
So much for that book. So much for all of the books if
he didn't make his move soon. He sauntered casually over. A
forty–something woman he'd seen around town had
joined them now, and he was aware of both her and the girls
staring at him like he was some kind of freak as he studied
the titles. He could feel himself beginning to sweat. Just
grab a book and get out of here.
He snagged a book about a vampire and another with a
cowboy on the cover and was about to leave when, suddenly,
he saw it. What was this? Two shelves down in the corner,
just past the woman's thighs ... Yes! One last Vanessa
Valentine.
He bent and made a grab for it just as she leaned over.
Oh, no! Boob graze.
"Excuse me," she said in a tone of voice that told him
he was done here.
"Uh, sorry," he mumbled, and snatched back his hand.
She took advantage of his consternation and snagged the
Vanessa Valentine. Then she scooped another half dozen
novels into her shopping bag.
That left two on the shelf and one of the teens snagged
them. The woman was right. He was done here. Face still
flaming, he walked to the card table where the library
volunteer sat taking money.
She was somewhere in her twenties and dressed all in
black. Even her fingernails were black. She had piercings
all over her face, a collection of earrings running up her
ears, and wore enough eye makeup to give her a head start
on Halloween. Not that Jonathan was an expert on eye
makeup, but hers looked like overkill to him. He liked a
more natural look like what Lissa wore. Liss, always the
gold standard.
But this woman was friendly enough. He'd seen her
volunteering here before. He nodded in return for her
greeting of "Back for more?"
She took the books to total them and noticed the vampire
on the cover of the top one. "Oh, I love this author. Don't
you?"
"I don't know. I've never read her."
"You haven't? Well, you're in for a treat. Her vampire
is really sexy."
Did she think he was into guy vampires? He opened his
mouth to explain that neither guys nor vampires were his
thing, but he found it impossible to wedge the words into
the conversation.
"He's right up there with Sookie's Eric. Gotta love
Eric, don't you?"
Jonathan was aware of teen tittering behind him. His
face began to heat. "Well..."
"I suppose you've read all the Twilight books. Are you
on Team Edward or Team Jacob?"
"Huh?"
"I say vampires win every time. Werewolves just aren't
that sexy."
More tittering produced more burning on Jonathan's
face. "These aren't for me."
"Sure they're not," came a whisper from behind him."
"They're for my sister."
The volunteer's face fell. "Oh."
Okay. She was embarrassed, he was embarrassed. He held
up the vampire. "But I'll have to give this one a try."
"You should," she said, nodding her head and making her
earrings jingle. "You'll like it, I promise."
He paid his buck and got out of there.