Five Minutes Late (23 page)

“Peggy, have you seen Sigmund Freud’s couch?” asked Grandpa Frank.

Peggy giggled. “Why? Did he lose it?”

They both laughed as Ellie and Cedric stood there watching.

“Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the exhibition by the front lobby? There’s something I would like to share with you that I think you will find very fascinating.”

“I would love to.”

And just like that, Grandpa Frank and Peggy were gone, leaving Cedric and Ellie together.
 

Alone.
 

Ellie glanced down at their hands, still locked together. “Can I have my hand back now?”

“Oh. Sure. I didn’t realize I was still holding it.” He grinned. “How awkward.”

Right.

A waiter walked by with a tray of wine. As if Cedric and Ellie were both on a synchronized wine-drinking team, they simultaneously grabbed a glass of wine from the tray and took a sip.

They were silent for a few moments until Cedric decided to jump in.

“So.”

“So.”

Cedric grinned. “You drive me crazy.”

“Me? What did
I
do?”

“All you have to do is be yourself, that’s it. That would drive any man crazy.”
 

“What does that
mean?”

“Have you seen yourself? God, can we start with that hair of yours? Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to run my fingers through it?”

“Uh. No.”

“Well, about a thousand times or so, okay?”

“Huh.” Where did that come from? Ellie stared at his hands for a few seconds imagining them running through her hair.
 

“Did you know your eyes are closed right now?” asked Cedric.

Pickles!

“Of course I do,” she lied, as she opened them.

“Right.” Cedric laughed.

“You seem different this evening.”

“I do?”

She nodded. “Something’s changed.”

“And do you like the change?”

Ellie shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

More silence.

Ellie eyed him from head to toe. “What is it?”

He shrugged. “Maybe I finally know what I want.”

Ellie blinked. It sounded like he was talking about her.

 
“Stop looking at me that way,” said Cedric.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re licking your lips.”

Ellie retracted her tongue. She had no idea she was doing that.

Cedric continued, “It makes me want to kiss you and break that world record we discussed.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, but first we need to talk. Seriously.”

Way to be a buzz kill, mister.
 

“Do we?” she answered, taking another big gulp of wine.

“Yes.” He raised her two gulps of wine. “I’m tired of not knowing what is going on between us and jumping to conclusions. Let’s just get this out in the open right now.”

“Uh … okay.” She took another sip of wine. And another.

“We have some sort of a chemistry. A connection. Do you agree?”

“Uh …”

“A simple yes or no would be fine.”

“Yes.”

“Good. But whatever
this
is, isn’t going to happen unless we clear up a few things. Let me just spit it out. Number one … Are you seeing your ex again?”

“No.”

“Do you plan to?”

“No.”

“Do you still love him?”

“No. And wait! Hang on there. Why do you get to ask all of the questions?”

“God, you’re so sexy when you pout.”

“I don’t pout!”

“If you say so. By all means, fire away.” He stood there with a smirk on his face.
 

Such a cute smirk.
 

“You told me you didn’t believe in online dating …”
 

“That wasn’t a question.”

“I wasn’t finished. Haven’t you ever
heard of dramatic pauses?”

“Is that what that was?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Very nicely done.”

“Thank you.”

“But, back to the online dating thing … I misspoke. What I should have said was … online dating
probabl
y works for a lot of people, but
I
am not one of those people.”

“Right. So … I saw your dating profile online. Explain
that
.”

“Piece of cake,” he said, smiling.

“Trying to think of a good lie?”

“Not at all. I know that question is related to why you were in such a stinky mood that day at the library.”

“Stinky mood? You mean the day you turned into Austin Powers on crack?”

“Okay, I admit, that was horrific, but let’s focus on one issue at a time. Back to the online dating thing. My friend, Tony, signed me up for an account and put my info on the website. He called it an “intervention.” I called it stupidity and told him to remove the profile from the website. He did. Next question.”
 

“So, just to clarify, it wasn’t you, but Tony?”

“Correct. Never even logged in, not once. I did however threaten bodily injury to my best friend if he didn’t remove it, sort of stupid considering he has a black belt in karate.”

“The owner of Vela Veggie, I heard she was married. Are you having an affair with her?”

Cedric first stood there with his mouth open. Then he tilted his head to the side before laughter rumbled from his chest. “Victoria? Not. Even. Close. She’s the wife of one of my best friends, Michael. I was there that night to say happy birthday, that’s all.”

Cedric pulled the wine glass out of Ellie’s hand and set it down on the cocktail table, along with his wine glass, and then turned back to her, moving closer.
 

Ellie gazed over at her wine on the table and then back over to Cedric. “What are you doing? I wasn’t finished with that.”

“We’ll get back to it in a moment. It looks like we are getting this cleared up faster than I thought, and I was just preparing things for our first official kiss, which should be happening momentarily.”

Ellie tapped her fingers on the side of her leg and bit her lip. “First kiss?”

“Of course. And I wouldn’t want to spill any wine on that beautiful dress of yours. This particular kiss won’t be fifty-eight hours, though. I hope that’s okay.”

“I …”

“But it’s going to be a damn good one.”

Cedric moved closer.

Ellie blinked. “Okay, first of all … not gonna happen. And number two, you already kissed me once.”

She had no idea why she said that; all she’d been thinking about was another kiss from him.

“The other kiss didn’t count since I prefer not to be assaulted directly afterward.”

Ellie laughed. “Oh … that. I’m sorry, but—”

“No need to get into it. I think we’re good. Are we good?”

“Well …”
 

“Good.”
 

Cedric took another step closer and she licked her lips. He put his hands on her waist and let his fingers slowly glide to her lower back. He pulled her forward and now they were completely touching, body to body.

Every nerve in Ellie’s body tingled in anticipation. Why was she so nervous? It was like it was her first time. There was nothing to prevent this from happening now. They had crazy chemistry and the misunderstandings had been cleared up. She was ready now, she was sure of it. He was staring at her lips and she was certain it was going to happen any second. But why was he taking so long?

She let out a deep breath. “Are you going to kiss me or what?”

Cedric laughed. “You have to have patience.”

“Forget patience.” Ellie grabbed his neck and yanked him downward until their mouths met.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Cedric closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment as the woman he’d been thinking about practically twenty-four hours a day latched on to his body like a straitjacket and kissed the hell out of him. He pulled her closer and took control of the kiss—he liked to be in the driver’s seat.
 

Based on what now poked Ellie in her abdomen, he was pretty sure there was no hiding how he felt.

Cedric had a major breakthrough and had let another woman back into his heart. He was past the point of no return. He wasn’t shutting her down and he wasn’t running.
 

He withdrew from the most amazing, sensual kiss of his life, smiled, and waited.
 

Ellie smiled. “What?”

“No slap this time. Things are looking up.”

Ellie poked him in the chest. “I have a feeling you’ll never let me forget that tiny slap.”

It sounded like Ellie was going to keep him around for a long time, and he was definitely okay with that.

Cedric smiled. “Tiny? Just the sight of your hand gives me anxiety. You may have to start wearing gloves.”

“You big baby.” Ellie gave Cedric another kiss on the lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

Did Julio tell her about the check? That was supposed to be anonymous.

“For distracting me. I was up for a promotion that I wanted and found out yesterday that the chances were very slim. I won’t bore you with the story, but what I’m trying to say is, I’m happy. Things happen for a reason and if I’m meant to stay librarian for a while longer, that’s okay. I do love my job.”

“That’s a good attitude to have, but it’s not over until it’s over.”

Cedric grinned and Ellie cocked her head to the side, analyzing him.

“Friends,” said Peggy, now back up on stage, talking into the microphone. Ellie and Cedric turned toward the stage. “This evening wouldn’t have been possible without the help of someone very special. She put in countless hours helping me get everything in place. I just wanted to acknowledge Ellie Fontaine at this time and say thank you!”

Cedric applauded with the guests as Peggy waved Ellie to the stage.

“Excuse me,” said Ellie.

“Of course,” said Cedric.

“Don’t go too far, though. Now that we’ve broken the stranglehold on our relationship, I want to go for that world record.”

Cedric smiled as he watched Ellie join Peggy on the stage. He liked the way that sounded, “our relationship.” She was something special.

Ellie was greeted on stage with a bouquet of flowers, followed by a hug and kiss from Peggy, who returned to the podium. “Ellie has been my support system at the library. She started out as a motivated intern, was a part-time librarian for three years, and a full-time librarian for the last five years. Many of you know I’m retiring and I’ve had a wonderful time managing the library for the last three decades. But it’s time to pass the baton, so to speak. And it gives me
great
pleasure to present to you the new Branch Manager, Ellie Fontaine!”

“No.” Ellie stood there like a deer in headlights as the guests cheered and applauded. A deer with its mouth open.

“Yes, Ellie. Congratulations. You’ve earned it and we know you’ll do a fantastic job.”

Ellie covered her mouth with her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Peggy hugged Ellie again as Cedric whistled and cheered, along with the other guests.
 

He made his way toward Ellie and met her on the side of the stage as Peggy approached the podium again. “Please join us on the second level for coffee and dessert.”

Ellie wiped her eyes and smiled before jumping into Cedric’s arms.

Cedric kissed her and grinned. “Congratulations, Miss Branch Manager.”

“Thank you.” Ellie let out a deep breath. “I don’t understand what just happened. I didn’t think I was going to get the job. This doesn’t make any sense.”

Cedric wiped a tear from her cheek. “Life is unpredictable sometimes.”

Ellie laughed and nodded. “Or maybe all the time.”

Grandpa Frank approached and hugged Ellie. “That’s my girl. Congratulations.” He kissed her on her forehead next to her bump. “You know your mother would be proud of you.”

Ellie smiled. “Thank you.” But her smile vanished quickly as she put her hand over her heart, startled from the decibel-crushing noise getting closer by the second. She was pretty sure an African elephant had entered the museum and was charging her. She turned and watched as Julio ran directly at her, his arms waving in the air, screaming.

“Ellie, you did it! Congratulations!”

Julio hugged everyone, saving Cedric for last. He whispered into his ear. “You rock.”

Peggy came down the stairs from the stage and smiled at Grandpa Frank. “Ellie, I want to introduce you to the new division manager before she leaves. Can you excuse us for a moment?”

Ellie turned to Cedric and caressed the side of his arm. “I’ll meet you upstairs for dessert.”

“Sounds great,” said Cedric.

Cedric made a pit stop in the bathroom before heading upstairs. As he came out of the bathroom, his thoughts were still on Ellie and what an amazing woman she was. Kind. Intelligent. Funny. Beautiful. She had everything he wanted in a woman, and now that they cleared things up, nothing was going to stand in their way.
 

Except maybe the asshole approaching him.

“Cedric Johnson,” Vlad said.

“In the flesh,” said Cedric.

Vlad stared at the injury on Cedric’s forehead. “Jesus Christ, you too? You and Ellie join some type of weird fucking masochistic cult or something?”

“Can I help you with something?”

“I saw you kissing Ellie.”

“And what, you want to wrestle again?”

Vlad ran his fingers through his hair and moved in closer to Cedric so that they were almost eye to eye—he had Cedric in height by maybe an inch. He let out a stinky, alcohol-infested breath. Tequila.
 

“Don’t fuck with me,” said Vlad. “Stay away from her or you’ll be sorry.”

Vlad cracked his knuckles, obviously thinking it would intimidate Cedric. He couldn’t be sure if Vlad was drunk, and he didn’t want to test it. But Cedric wasn’t going to be bullied either. He knew what he wanted now.
 

Ellie.
 

He was clear about that and nobody—especially Vlad—was going to stand in his way.

“You’re threatening me,” said Cedric. “That’s sweet.”

“You should take my warning seriously.”

“Or else?”

“Or else I’ll snap your legs off and shove ‘em down your throat.”