Jack glanced down as if surveying himself. “More suitable than my uniform, yes?”
Stella’s thoughts shifted to slo-mo. Jack Mathis was just as handsome in street clothes, if not considerably more unsettling for appearing so normal. At least when he wore the uniform and said he was a man from a book, her brain attempted to accept it. NowJack Mathis looked like a regular guy, albeit a distractingly good-looking one, which immediately put Stella on the defensive. Was he just a regular guy? Someone Arnie “brought out” for her to have a chat with?
Jack extended the mug farther. Stella reached out and wrapped her hands around the warm ceramic. “Yes,” she finally said. “You look more suitable. Thanks for the coffee.”
Jack sipped from his mug and watched her. “Did you rest?”
Stella stared at the steaming liquid. Was she really going to have a normal conversation with this guy? Neither of them mentioning how bizarre it was for him to still be here? “Not the greatest night’s sleep I’ve ever had. I didn’t really think you’d be here today.”
“I don’t expect so,” Jack said.
“How did you get out of the library without setting off the alarm?” Stella asked. “Did Arnie give you the code? How did you get back inside this morning?”
“I didn’t leave last night,” Jack said simply.
Stella exhaled and put her mug on the desk. “Seriously? You expect me to believe you spent the night in here?”
“Do you have a minute? Let’s sit.” He walked around the desk and slid out a chair for her. He waited for her to sit down before he sat in the rolling chair near her and scooted his chair closer. “Let’s start with the easier question. How’s Arnie?”
She crossed her legs at the ankles and lifted her mug only to set it down again. “The nurse said he was resting better now, but he experienced shortness of breath last night, and his blood pressure was high. They adjusted his medications, and they’re leaving him on the breathing machine for now. The medication adjustment and the oxygen seem to help. She said he might be in there for as long as a week. I know Arnie, and he’ll follow their directions to a T. I bet he’ll be out of there sooner. I know he wants to come home.”
Jack’s smile sent a rush of comfort toward Stella. “Hearing that he’s resting well and aiming to come home soon is the best news I’ve heard all day.”
“All day? Been up long?” Stella asked, unable to stop her smile. “It’s only seven.”
“I’ve been up for hours,” he said, then drank more coffee. “Waiting for you.”
Stella straightened in the chair. “Why?”
Jack put down his coffee. “There’s no reason to be scared of me.”
A nervous laugh bubbled up her throat. “I’m not scared.”
“Your expression says otherwise.”
Stella tried to relax her face. “I just don’t know if you’re a creep or not.”
Jack’s laugh charmed her. “A creep? I’ve been waiting for you to get here because I assumed you’d have questions.”
Goose bumps rose on Stella’s arms. “I do have questions, but none of them seem like they’ll cover the entirety of this situation’s strangeness. I’m having trouble accepting what’s happening here. None of this makes any sense.”
Jack nodded. “That’s a fair response.”
But even as she shared her disbelieving thoughts, she also knew there had been other odd things happening in the library during the last week, things she couldn’t explain and Arnie had shrugged off. Like the people in the archives the night she fell and the teenage boys teasing her the night she slept in the library. What about the books people returned that seemed connected to the library sightings? Could all of it be part of something extraordinary?
What if the man before her really was Jack Mathis? Quick, delicate flutterings, like leaves rustling in a breeze, shivered through her. She remembered the initial excitement she’d felt when she and Wade had first stumbled into a relationship. Thebubble of anticipation rising within her now was similar. How many times had she daydreamed about Jack? Embarrassment flushed her cheeks. Hundreds, probably thousands of moments. She might have swooned if she wasn’t so hesitant to believe this could all be true, that some sort ofmagicexisted in the library. The kind of magic that brought dreams to life.
Her palms started to sweat. With one more lurch toward reality, she asked, “Who are you? I mean,really. Did Arnie find you somewhere and ask you to dress up? To pretend to be from one of my favorite novels? You can be honest with me. I don’t know how much he’s paid you, but I’ll keep it a secret. I don’t want you to be out the money, but this charade doesn’t have to keep going.”
Jack leaned back in the chair and slid his palms down his thighs. “You want this situation to be logical. You want all the answers to fall into place andmake sense, but why? What are you afraid of, Stella?”
“I’m not afraid,” she said defensively. Insecurity stabbed at her solar plexus. She closed her eyes, trying to find a place of safety within herself but hearing only the echo of her dishonest words. “Afraidisn’t the right word.”
Jack sat up straighter and waited for her to continue.
“Yes, I want this to be logical, and yes, I want this to make sense, because those things are safe and ordinary.”
Jack’s gaze focused on her. “And you want ordinary because that’s what you are?”
