"Excuse me."
"I'll be right with you, sir. Just let me close this file." Andy closed the book order he'd been working on and glanced up. He literally did a double take. The man looking back at him from across the reference desk was gorgeous. At least, his upper half was anyway.
When Andy just stared back at him, not saying anything, the guy tilted his head and smiled. "Could you tell me where the cookbooks are?" He had the sexiest brown eyes...
"Um ... cookbooks, right?" Andy snapped out of it and pushed up his wire-rimmed glasses. "Oh. Yes. In the 640s. Let me show you where they're at."
Andy got up from behind the desk, waited for the man to join him and then led the way toward the shelves. He asked over his shoulder as he walked, "Is there any particular type of cookbook you're looking for?"
"Actually, I need something on barbeque. My sister and her husband are coming to visit and I thought I'd try that. I'm really a lousy cook. Well, really I don't cook at all. But I thought I could handle something on the grill. You cook?"
Andy gave a snort. "Hell, no. But I do know how to order take-out." He stopped in front of the cookbook section. The guy following him obviously wasn't expecting him to stop so abruptly and ran in to him.
"Oh. Sorry."
"That's okay. It happens all the time." Turning toward the shelves, Andy gestured broadly with both hands. "Here are the cookbooks." He paused, looking closer at the book spines. "And here are the barbeque books." He pointed to a smaller section, then leaned over and pulled out a couple of the newer ones.
Andy straightened. He turned while absently running a hand through his wavy blond hair, brushing it off his forehead. He looked up at the other man's face and gave a little intake of breath when their eyes met. The man noticed and offered him a slight smile.
Andy handed him one of the books. Still holding his gaze, the guy took it and let his fingers touch Andy's, lingering there for a couple of beats. Being fair-skinned, Andy blushed to his roots.
"Could you help me find something on marinating kabobs in particular?"
"Oh. Sure." Andy cleared his throat and tried to recover. "Let's look in the index and see if we can find anything." As he flipped to the back of the book he glanced up. The man was standing so close that Andy could feel the heat of his body. He was looking at Andy and not even pretending to pay attention to the book. Andy's stomach did a little flip and he felt another blush creeping up his neck to his face.
Not bothering to step back, the guy gave Andy an engaging smile and held out his hand.
"My name's Nick Marshall, by the way. I work in the high-rise next door."
Andy juggled the book he was holding so he could shake hands.
"I'm Andy Griffin. Nice to meet you."
)
