Chapter 3
A/N: Sorry, guys, but I'm still feeling pretty down. So this is the only story i had any gumption to work on, since it was a request from a friend. Any reviews would help, since they tend to make me feel better. -DL
He was standing behind the desk the next day when Bailey erupted into the library like a cheerful hurricane. “Afternoon, Jeremiah,” he called happily as he lifted his hand in greeting.
The librarian frowned awfully at him. “Please lower your voice, Mr. Sheffield,” he chided. “And please do not refer to me by my first name.”
Bailey halted by the desk and grinned at him, his eyes sparkling. “Okay, Mr. Porter,” he said, pretending to be all stiff and formal. “I just came in to tell you to meet me out back when you close the library. For our date,” he added in a near-whisper, his eyes conspiratorial.
Jeremiah sighed. “Very well. Is that all?”
Bailey nodded. “Yep. For now, anyway. I’ll just get back to the Kiddy Corner and get it ready for story hour. I'll see you later, Jer...Mr. Porter,” he winked audaciously and strolled away, leaving Jeremiah shaking his head in his wake.
Jeremiah puttered around cataloguing books for a bit, but finally found his steps being drawn in the direction of the Children’s Corner. He told himself that he was simply checking up on Bailey to make sure that he wasn’t causing any trouble; it wasn’t that he wanted to see the man. Not at all.
He walked quietly down the aisle between the rows of bookshelves, and saw Bailey sitting cross-legged on a colorful mat as he read a large, glossy book to the eager circle of listening children. The young lawyer was smiling, his voice rising and falling a little as he read the story. “The train chugged along the tracks, pulling its heavy load. He sighed to himself as he went. ‘I wish I had a friend’, he thought. ‘Someone I could talk to. I’m so lonely...’.” Bailey’s eyes somehow unerringly lifted to his, their sparkling depths smiling at him. Jeremiah felt his abdominal muscles tighten for some reason, and his breath caught a little. He frowned awfully at this reaction. Why did Bailey Sheffield make him feel this way? And what could he do to stop this reaction?
One of the lawyer's eyelids fluttered down in a tiny wink. Jeremiah stiffened in outrage, then he turned and walked away. He gave Bailey Sheffield his back, telling him silently what he thought of his audaciousness. He heard laughter behind his back, and knew that part of it was for him. His lips thinned, and he marched back to his desk in silent, fuming anger. How dared that impertinent lawyer laugh at him?! They were definitely going to have words when Bailey came to pick him up for their date later tonight.
His ire cooled somewhat as he went about his duties in the library, and shelving the books helped to soothe his ruffled feathers admirably. Seeing the books in neat rows on the shelves was a balm for his soul. When he finally looked up and saw that it was time to close the library, he went about herding the few patrons still left in the place out the front door, then he closed and locked it behind them. He saved his files and turned off the computer, did a little dusting and straightening, then fetched his light jacket from his office and turned off the light. He walked toward the back door, trying hard to ignore the way his heartbeat picked up when he thought about Bailey Sheffield waiting for him outside.
He went out the back door, but the small dirt parking lot back there was empty. He felt a rush of disappointment, and ruthlessly quashed it. This was for the best. He'd only have ended up telling the lawyer that he didn't want to date him anyway. He let out his breath slowly, slipping on his jacket and turning away to head for the front sidewalk so that he could walk home.
A car screeched into the parking lot in a flume of dirt. Bailey Sheffield stopped the motor and hopped out of the car, waving. "Sorry!" he called urgently. "I got hung up at work! I've actually got some clients," he added, beaming. "When I noticed the time, I freaked out. I was afraid that I'd missed you. Are you ready to go?"
Jeremiah stared at him. His mouth felt oddly dry, and a sensation of suppressed relief was coursing through him. It made him angry, and he scowled at Bailey. "If I must," he snapped in annoyance.
The lawyer grinned. "Yes, you must," he replied merrily. "You agreed to go out with me at least once, remember? I'm holding you to that promise."
"Very well," he walked toward the car, and to his astonishment the lawyer jogged around it and opened the passenger's side door for him. "What are you doing?" he asked, his scowl deepening.
"Just being a gentleman," Bailey replied, his eyes sparkling.
"Do I LOOK like a woman to you?!" Jeremiah growled, delivering him a scathing black look for his troubles.
To his shock, Bailey's eyes gave him a lustful once-over that made his heartbeat kick up and his groin tighten treacherously. "Not at all," Bailey said with an open leer. "I think you look like one hell of a sexy guy," he added happily.
Jeremiah cleared his throat. "Well, then. Please don't hold my door for me or offer to pull back my chair. I am not a woman, and you are not..." he let his eyes do some traveling of their own, though his look was cutting, "A gentleman," he went on scathingly.
Bailey winced. "Ouch! That burns. Don't be mean, Jeremiah."
"I've told you not to call me by my first name," he snapped in outrage.
The lawyer shrugged. "That was while you were at work. I can understand that. But we're going out on a date together. This is different. You can definitely call me Bailey if you want to."
"I'll pass, thank you," he sniffed.
"Suit yourself. Anyway, get in and we'll hit the road. I made dinner reservations, and I don't want to be late."
Jeremiah climbed into the passenger's side of the car, buckling on his seatbelt carefully. He caught Bailey staring at him, the lawyer's lips quirking slightly at the corners. The brown eyes were dancing. "What?" he asked sharply.
Bailey shook his head. "Nothing," he said as he started the car and drove out from behind the library.
Jeremiah sighed. Why did Bailey seem to find him so funny? He never did anything remotely humorous that he was aware of. The lawyer reached out and flipped the radio on. "You don't mind listening to some music, do you?" he asked Jeremiah belatedly.
He scowled at Bailey to make his irritation known, but only said coldly: "Of course not."
The lawyer turned to a station that played rock music, which made jeremiah's lips tighten a little. He despised rock music, almost as much as he loathed county and western. Seeing his epxression, Bailey grinned. "Not a fan?" he asked lightly.
Jeremiah's lip curled. "Not particularly," he replied tightly.
"Bet you only like classical music," Bailey teased.
This shot was so close to home that it made Jeremiah stiffen in his seat. "And what would be wrong with that?" he inquired icily.
"Nothing," Bailey replied gaily. "Classical music is great."
Jeremiah's mouth thinned. He knew that Bailey was poking fun at him again. He didn't think that he liked the lawyer's constant teasing. "Hey, Jeremiah, I was just kidding," Bailey said just then, making him blink. He glanced over at the lawyer, who gave him an apolgetic look. "I know I can be a bit much sometimes, with all of my jokes," Bailey went on. "But please put up with me for now. I think that you'll find that I'm more standable the better you get to know me."
Jeremiah looked skeptical over this statement, which made Bailey's lips quiver suspiciously. "Anyway, why don't we find something to talk about?" the lawyer remarked. "Maybe something we have in common?"
"I don't believe that you and I have anything in common, Mr. Sheffield," Jeremiah said tartly.
Bailey winced visibly. "Ouch. Come on, Jeremiah. We have to have SOMETHING in common. Even if it's just something little. I know - we both like books and reading! That's a big thing right there!"
Jeremiah had to concede that this was true. "What kind of books do you like to read, Mr. Sheffield?" he asked.
A sigh. "I wish you'd call me Bailey," the lawyer said wheedlingly.
"And I wish that you'd leave me alone. It looks like neither of us will get our wishes fulfilled anytime soon," Jeremiah replied caustically.
Bailey shook his head. "You're mean, Jeremiah," he chided the librarian. "You like me, you know you do."
Jeremiah didn't respond to such a ridiculous statement. After a moment, Bailey sighed again and said: "I like mysteries, especially mysteries with lawyers in them. Like John Grisham novels. I also like historical novels, especially those set in the Reanassiance. I'd have liked to be a contemporary of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth the First. What about you?"
"I enjoy classic literature and books on phsyics, philosophy, and history," Jeremiah said primly.
"See? We do have something in common. We both like books about history," Baiely pointed out eagerly.
"That barely qualifies as having something in common," Jeremiah remarked austerely.
"But it still DOES qualify," Bailey replied firmly. "I'm counting it. That's one in the 'pro' column!"
"And what would be in the 'con' column? Everything else?" Jeremiah said.
"Nope. I think we have lots of pros," Bailey replied lightly.
"Such as?"
"Well, there's the fact that we're attracted to each other," Bailey said promptly.
Jeremiah lifted his nose and stared down it at Bailey in outrage. "What makes you think that I'm attracted to you, Mr. Sheffield?" he asked in outrage.
Bailey grinned whitely. "I think that because if you WEREN'T attracted to me, you never would have agreed to go on this date even if I'd badgered you," he replied confidently.
Jeremiah blew out a sharp breath. "I only agreed to go on this date with you so that you wouldn't badger me anymore, Mr. Sheffield," he snapped.
"You just keep telling yourself that, Jeremiah," Bailey said cheerfully. "If it makes you feel better."
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