“It doesn’t matter,” she said, sitting on the floor. “We’re already being charged damages for the room.”
“Really? By whom?”
“Marvella. When the bed broke, it scratched up the floor.”
He glanced under what remained of the frame. “Does seem as if she has a point. So, are…you planning on getting pregnant soon?”
“First, I’d have to find the man, wouldn’t I?” She gave him a pointed look. “And I haven’t met the right one yet.”
“Every day brings a new opportunity,” he said cheerfully.
“Thank you for your opinion, which was unsolicited, I believe.”
He grinned, relieved that there was no boyfriend hanging around her. “So, what if your husband of choice doesn’t want kids? I, myself, for example, do not want children. Nor marriage, but that sort of goes with the territory.”
“Then he wouldn’t be the right man, would he?”
“Now that was a very sensible, librarian-style answer,” Navarro said approvingly. “No messing about. No worrying about broken hearts. Just, when I meet the right man, it will all happen the way I imagine it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No.” He returned to sawing, waiting for her to comment further, since he’d obviously given her something to yammer back at him about.
But she sat quietly, watching him.
He kind of liked her watching him. To be honest, he liked having her full attention. “I would have thought a cute librarian like you would have already been dragged down to the secret labyrinth of the book stacks by now.”
“I would slap anybody who tried,” she said, her tone even.
“Oh.” He made a mental note not to get slapped.
“No man with he-man tendencies would be the man for me,” she told him. “I like gentlemen.”
Uh-oh. No one was ever going to accuse any of the Jeffersons of being gentle. “So, how did you say this bed ended up in this pitiful condition?”
“Best as I can tell, it happened the night your brother was here.”
He stopped what he was doing and gave her his full attention. “Last would not break a lady’s bed and then leave her to deal with the consequences of having no place to sleep.”
“Please.”
“You don’t know my brother.”
“I don’t have to. I’ve seen all I need to.”
Navarro had to admit his patience was starting to slide out the window. It was a cursed thing, Jefferson patience. Very rare, very mercurial and, sometimes, very hard to keep under one’s hat. “Did your sister say that Last was responsible?”
“I think she felt that accusing him of the baby matter was sufficient. I, however, feel that he should be held accountable for everything he’s done.”
Okay. Navarro realized that facts had to be faced. He was in a room, developing hots for the only woman on the planet who seemed to be secretly designed as his nemesis. There was no happy meeting point between them; there would be no sweet build up to the happy climax. “Moving on,” he said. “This should be fairly easy to finish.”
“Good.”
He ground his teeth at the “And well it should!” tone. It so reminded him of being in the library with old Mrs. Farklewell. Every time the Jefferson boys were in the school library, they heard a constant litany of “Shh! Shh!” in the tone that only a first-chair violinist and a librarian could muster.
“Well, look who we have here!”
Navarro glanced up at the woman in the doorway. She wore a lot of makeup and seemed very pleased to see him. Marvella.
“A Jefferson.” She fairly crowed. “Cleaning up the mess baby brother left behind.”
The hair under Navarro’s hat started itching. “I’m cleaning up a mess. That’s all I have to say.”
She stroked the black kitten she held in her hands. “And getting acquainted with your future sister-in-law. How nice!”
Navarro and Nina glanced at each other.
“Family time is so important. You feel free to stay as long as you like. Which Jefferson are you, by the way?”
“Navarro, ma’am,” he said automatically, the polite habit coming hard after many years of Mason knocking manners into their heads.
“Well, Navarro, there is a rodeo coming up.” She smiled at him. “You know how I love those Jefferson brothers riding for my salon.”
“I—”
“Someone’s got to pay for this damage,” she said, the expression on her face full of faux concern. “Such a shame to scar up a nice hardwood floor this way. I believe one of the screws even embedded itself in that wall,” she said, pointing. “You know, Last is the first Jefferson brother who’s come in here and treated my home like a shabby saloon. The rest of your brothers seem to prefer the heart-shaped spa.” She shook her head. “But maybe he prefers dry land. Oh, well, no matter. I’ll leave a note at the desk saying you’re to have run of the house while you’re here. Think about my offer.”
She glided from the doorway.
Navarro turned to face Nina. The peach had gone truly pale. Putting the saw down, he sat on the floor. “Holy smokes, she’s evil.”
“On that, we can agree.” Nina nodded at him.
“So we need to play on the same team, against her. Don’t you think?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s what she’s expecting. She wants you and I to band together.”
“To what purpose?”
“I don’t know. Maybe so you’ll pay for the room damages. She can charge you more than me, obviously. Librarians don’t make that much.”
“So I’ll pay the damages.”
She looked at him, her blue eyes hopeful. “It’s nice of you to offer without me having to ask you to pay for your brother’s mess.”
“You know,” Navarro said, “it takes two people in a bed to make something happen.”
“That would be the premise,” she agreed. “And something happened.”
“But I think your theory is too obvious,” Navarro said thoughtfully, trying not to stare at her ankles as she crossed them delicately in front of her. “I think Marvella would rather see us at each other’s throats. Divide and conquer.”
“Elaborate, but possible,” Nina said, nodding. “What would she gain?”
“Two pawns. If there are bad feelings between us, Marvella is free to work her witchery without us being the wiser.”
“You may have a point,” Nina said reluctantly. “In fact, it has always been the enemy’s way to weaken by division, according to many of the great moments in history.”
“Exactly.” Navarro held out his hand. “Let’s shake on working together.”
“I don’t know,” Nina said. “We’re related now, by Valentine’s baby. Shaking seems quite weird.”
But she put her hand in his and, later, after Navarro had time to review his actions, he would often wonder if this was the moment that changed his destiny.
He