Chapter 4 #3
Okay, so the private detective option was a no-go.
I was back to square one, relying on my own ingenuity.
But even Harriet Vane had been able to consult gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey as her investigation had grown more complex.
As I put my phone away with a sigh, my gaze fell on Leo Taylor beavering away at whatever it was he was working on in the business section.
Despite his promise, his feet had crept back up on the seat opposite.
He obviously felt my stare because he looked up and guiltily lowered his trainers to the ground, smiling apologetically at me.
I frowned back, an idea starting to form.
I dismissed it immediately; I wasn’t that desperate.
But then I started thinking about that horrible feeling of humiliation, that desperate embarrassment I’d had in the pit of my stomach since realising the truth about my ‘relationship’ with the man pretending to be Brian James.
Nothing could ever be as bad as that. And if swallowing my pride meant I’d save even one other person from going through what I had, then it would be a worthy price to pay.
After all, as I regularly told my library users, there was no shame in asking for help.
Leo stood up as I slowly approached him, still debating with myself whether this was the right course of action.
‘Look, I’m really sorry,’ he said quickly. ‘I know I shouldn’t have done it. I get so deep in thought that I’m not even aware I’m putting my feet on the chair, that’s the honest truth. I can’t guarantee I won’t do it again, but I promise I’m really, really trying.’
‘You certainly are,’ I said.
He smiled in acknowledgement of the insult. ‘Please don’t throw me out again,’ he said. ‘I’ve got nowhere else to go really.’ I thought I saw a frown briefly cross his face before his features returned to his usual infuriating grin.
‘You’re skating on thin ice,’ I said, mirroring his teasing tone. If my plan was going to work, I needed to get him on side. ‘But as you seem to have made yourself so comfortable in here, it would be cruel of me to turf you out now. How about we start again?’
I held my hand out.
He looked surprised, but didn’t hesitate to take it.
I’d assumed he’d be the type to have a crushing grip, needing to assert his dominance even in something as simple as a handshake, but I was wrong.
His grip was firm but in a reassuring way, his palm pleasantly warm against my perpetually cold fingers.
‘I’m guessing that peace is declared,’ he said.
‘Perhaps. Look, can I buy you a coffee after the library closes?’ I asked. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’
He raised an eyebrow in surprise at my question and looked silently at me for longer than felt comfortable.
‘How about G&D’s on Little Clarendon Street?’ I said. ‘My treat. I might even stretch to an ice cream, if you ask nicely. I’d like to pick your brain.’
He put his head on one side, as if trying to work something out.
‘How intriguing. Well, as there’s ice cream involved,’ he said eventually. ‘That sounds like an offer I can’t refuse.’
I tried to pretend that I wasn’t watching Leo for the rest of the afternoon, as my plan percolated at the back of my mind.
But I couldn’t help wondering how he would take my proposal.
The worst thing he could do would be to laugh it off and refuse, but, I told myself, I was now a dab hand at coping with humiliation.
It was clear Leo already had a pretty low opinion of me, so I couldn’t make things worse.
‘How are you doing, pet? And have you got the next one in this series?’ Doris’s queries drew my attention back to the work I should have been concentrating on.
‘I’m down, but not out. I’m still feeling pretty stupid about the whole thing, but I’ll get over it.
’ I forced a relaxed smile. ‘And yes, the new one arrived this morning, as it happens. If you give me a few minutes to put the protective cover on and make sure it’s properly registered in the system, it’ll be all yours. ’
‘Marvellous. I know I need to pace myself because I’m going to run out of her books soon. It’s a real shame that her writing pace can’t keep up with my reading one.’
‘You do average a book a day, Doris. It would be an awful lot to ask of an author to keep up with that. But maybe we should lock her in a comfy basement with only a computer in front of her, then she’ll have no excuse not to provide you with reading material?’ I suggested with a grin.
‘That’s seriously tempting. Shame I don’t have a basement,’ said Doris. ‘Now are you sure you’re alright, pet? We could do with one of my romance heroes avenging you.’
‘Sadly, there’s a shortage of those types around here.’
‘Sometimes heroes are lurking where you least expect them to be,’ she replied, laying a soft hand on mine.
It took me quite a while to convince her that I was going to be okay, but I was touched by how much she cared. Once she was safely on her way, my gaze automatically drifted back to the business section, which was now empty.
‘Great, now what?’ I muttered irritably under my breath.
Leo could have just said no to the coffee rather than taking advantage of my distraction to do a runner.
He hadn’t seemed the type. But then again, I’d thought that Brian James was perfection.
Clearly, I needed to work on my ability to read between the lines.
I marched across to reshelve the weighty tomes on business analysis which Leo had naturally left all over the place, then noticed the piece of paper on the table.
‘Had to make a couple of calls. See you in G&D’s at half four.’
All was not lost.