The Random Acts of Cupid (Christian Romance) (2 page)

Elise wasn’t going to waste time trying to convince Britney or explain her method of matchmaking. Over the years, Brittney had occasionally tried to get Elise to use her skills in the direction of her current crush, but most of the time, Britney didn’t care what Elise did. However, since the paper had run that article, Britney had developed a renewed interest in Elise’s activities, and when Ryan Jenkins had caught Britney’s eye, that interest rapidly bordered obsession.

It was too risky to set up her friend. If the match didn’t go well, then Britney would end up blaming her. Elise had to be very careful if she wanted to continue being an anonymous cupid. Already the story was becoming almost an urban legend around campus, and the Seattle area in general was starting to take notice.

She couldn’t handle the thought of being caught, not to mention that, though her success rate was extremely high, the couples she’d set up over the years might resent that she had meddled in their lives. It was probably better for them to believe they’d been brought together through a little magic. The reality wouldn’t be nearly as romantic.

“No, Britney,” Elise answered flatly. “I will not set you up.” Making sure she had Britney’s undivided attention, she looked right into her friend’s eyes and repeated in no uncertain terms. “The answer is no.”

Intense anger flashed over Britney’s face. Without a word, she loudly dropped the books she’d been holding onto the desk, turned, and walked away.

Elise sighed and turned back to her computer. From their looks, to their personalities, to their likes and interests, she and Britney were opposite in so many ways; it was amazing that they were such good friends. Whereas Britney was tall, blonde, and outgoing, Elise was petite with dark brunette hair and an incurably shy personality. Elise had often appreciated that Britney forced Elise out of her comfort zone, challenging her to dance through life instead of always stand in the corner. But at other times, her friend grated on Elise’s normally calms nerves.

Despite the fact the Elise felt Britney was wrong, she still didn’t like having Britney mad at her. She would have to try to find a different way to make it up to Britney later. As bad as she felt about hurting her friend, she would not match her with Ryan Jenkins. That would be a recipe for disaster, especially since Elise had seen no indication that the man even liked Britney.

After spending the next few minutes trying unsuccessfully to get back to work at her computer, Elise gave up in frustration. She’d always hated to have someone mad at her, and now this situation with Britney was making it impossible to concentrate.

Needing a break, Elise left the computer and picked up the books Britney had left on the desk. She might as well reshelve them since Britney obviously wasn’t going to finish the task. She caught the eye of another librarian and signaled that she would be away from the reference desk for a bit. They definitely weren’t busy, and if by chance anyone needed help, Elise knew that Sheila would take care of it. The library normally used work-study students to do the reshelving, but sometimes Elise liked to do some of it herself. It often added the variety and mental break she needed during the day.

Elise glanced across the room at the object of Britney’s affections. Ryan Jenkins was seated at a table in one of the study areas, focused on his laptop and blissfully ignorant of Britney’s devotion. Elise knew very little about Ryan Jenkins, but from what she did know, he was probably way out of her friend’s league.

Elise had seen him several times at church but had never actually talked to him. The church they attended was very large and boasted a healthy singles group. Though Elise was very involved and enjoyed the church functions, she preferred to keep to herself and fly under the radar. Besides, from the way the other women drooled over Mr. Jenkins, he didn’t need any more female admirers.

Elise did have to admit the attention was understandable; the man was gorgeous. He was tall with black hair and what seemed to be a perpetual tan. Elise had never been close enough to see the color of his eyes, but she had been fortunate enough to see him smile once. Though several yards away, she’d still been blinded by the flash of brilliant white teeth and breathtaking dimples.

Ryan didn’t attend the singles functions often enough for Elise to have gleaned a complete profile, but she did know that he worked at the University and was a graduate student. She thought someone had mentioned his field was Law. He certainly looked the part of a lawyer. Whenever Elise had seen him both at church on Sunday morning and when he came in to the library, he was wearing a suit, which of course made him look more dashing, more desirable, and in Elise’s mind, more unapproachable.

There was no way she was going to set Britney up with him. Historically, Britney seemed to pick either guys that treated her badly or guys who were quite unattainable. And Ryan Jenkins might be the pinnacle of the unattainable variety.

Drat! Britney had given her Anthropology books. That meant she was going to have to go all the way up to the third floor to return them where they belonged. Sometimes Britney’s immaturity was maddening! Elise was sure that Britney had known exactly what she was doing when she’d left those books.

As she marched up the grand staircase to the third floor, Elise rehearsed an angry tirade in her head. Not that she would actually ever have the guts to lecture Britney, but her friend really needed some direction in her life that didn’t involve chasing after men. It was almost as if Britney kept expecting to meet the right guy who would solve all her problems and carry her off into the sunset.

Elise and Britney had been roommates in college, but whereas Elise had stayed with a field until she’d gotten a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, Britney hadn’t taken college seriously and changed her major about five times. Both of them had worked at the library while students, and when Elise got her graduate degree, she was hired as a Research Librarian and Information Services Coordinator. Elise had done well in her position, and her duties now included other responsibilities. The rumor was that Elise would be promoted into her boss’s position when he retired in a couple years.

Britney, on the other hand, had stayed in the same minimum wage library assistant position that she’d had in college. She hadn’t graduated with a degree, yet she still took random classes with no clear purpose. It almost seemed as if she was stuck. She didn’t know what she wanted out of life and was seemingly content to spend her parents’ money while she waited for that Prince Charming to come rescue her.

Britney occasionally went to church with Elise, but she could definitely not be said to be dedicated to her faith or her church. In fact, Elise often suspected Britney only came to church to check out the male selection. Seeing Ryan Jenkins at church had only intensified Britney’s crush on him. After all, she had been scoping him out at the library for months.

Though Mr. Jenkins came in fairly frequently, Elise had never seen any evidence that he liked or was attracted to Britney in any way. Ellise would often cringe as she witnessed her friend find some excuse to interrupt the man’s studies or find ways to ‘help’ him. Mr. Jenkins never approached Britney or instigated a conversation, but he always seemed polite and didn’t seem overly bothered by Britney’s antics. However, Elise still hadn’t seen that spark of interest that would indicate he thought of her as more than just a library employee.

Heading toward the bookshelves, her eyes caught on a group of people occupying one of the study rooms.  The window along the front allowed her to easily see the students seated around the table. As she checked the numbers and carefully slid the books alongside their siblings on the shelf, she was also able to unobtrusively watch their study session.

This particular group of six students had been meeting regularly this semester, studying for their upper division history class. Though Elise was familiar with them, she couldn’t say that she really knew anyone in the group. But she actually knew plenty about them. After all, this wasn’t the first time she’d spied on them, though Elise really disliked the term ‘spying.’ She was closely observing with the motive to help. That really couldn’t be termed ‘spying,’ right?

With satisfaction, she saw the girl with long brunette hair, Shelby, steal a glance at the blond guy, Clay. Then, about a minute later, she saw Clay’s eyes light up when Shelby said something. Now she knew for sure that she’d been right. Those two did like each other!

Elise had been watching them interact for weeks. The furtive glances and smiles passed between them had made her suspicious. With a few more observations and well-worded questions when each of them had come for help, she’d learned their names and gathered that each of them was single and more than a little shy. Clay didn’t seem to realize that Shelby was just as attracted to him as he was to her, and vice versa.

Elise put the last book on the shelf with a smile. It was time to put her plan in motion. If she could arrange for Clay and Shelby to have an ‘accidental’ date, she was sure they would be able to overcome their reserve and make a connection. She’d had her eye on the two of them for a while. Valentine’s Day was in just a couple days. If everything went according to plan, Clay and Shelby would be a couple by February 14
^th
.

As she went back down the stairs and returned to the Reference desk, Elise saw Oliver Purdue trying to talk to Britney. Elise smiled in amusement as Oliver followed Britney around the staff area like a puppy dog. Oliver was another library employee and also happened to be hopelessly enamored with Britney.  He’d had a crush on her since he started working at the library about a year ago. Elise felt sorry for him. He really was a nice guy, and Elise wished Britney would give him a chance.

But even though Britney knew he liked her, she found him intolerably annoying. Also unforgiveable to Britney, was that he was about two years younger and looked the part of a typical nerd. He wore glasses, was always a bit over-dressed for work, and had a great fondness for computers.

Elise had tried to tell Britney how nice and thoughtful Oliver was, but Britney had no desire to look beyond the stereotype. Instead, Britney was frequently rude and condescending to the poor man, and yet, to Elise’s amazement, he cheerfully kept trying to earn Britney’s favor.

Attempting to focus on the report she was working on, Elise tried to mentally push all the people and problems aside. Five minutes later, she had succeeded in burying her mind to all but the words in front of her.

“Excuse me.”

Elise startled, literally jumping several inches off her chair at the sound of a deep, unexpected voice. Turning, she found the tall, gorgeous Ryan Jenkins standing at her desk.

Her shocked brain immediately registered the fact that his eyes were hazel—an unusual, heart-quickening shade between brown and green. And then she realized those beautiful eyes had lit with amusement—at her.

Trying to gracefully cover her ridiculous reaction, Elise rose from her seat. She really should remember not to get so engrossed in her work. She was, after all, a Research Librarian. Part of her duties was to help those needing assistance with research-related questions. She tended to let the quiet calm of the library make her a little too oblivious at times.

“What can I help you with,” Elise asked smoothly, trying to figure out what to do with her hands and their sudden urge to fidget.

“It’s Elise, right?” he asked. “Or maybe I should say Miss Hutchins? I remember seeing you at church.”

He remembered her! No one ever remembered her from anywhere! Most of the people she graduated high school with had never even realized her existence.

“Elise is fine,” she said simply. “And you’re Mr. Jenkins, correct?”

“Ryan,” he replied. Then, apparently satisfied with the pleasantries, he continued. “I had ordered a book from another library. Would you mind checking to see if it’s in route? I thought it would be here by now.”

“Oh, sure.” Elise took his University ID and typed the information into her computer. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Clay passing by on his way to the doors. As he caught her eye and raised his hand in his customary friendly wave, Elise stopped him, signaling for him to come to the desk.

“I have that group study room scheduled for you tomorrow as well, is that correct?”

“I guess,” Clay replied. “If Donovan scheduled it, then I’ll be here. Same time?”

“Yes, that’s what’s scheduled.”