His Fair Lady by Kimberly Gardner Page A

like, hey, dude, quit cutting my grass. I told you it was weird.”
    “It’s not. I mean, yeah it is, but it’s funny too.” She laughed, then hugged herself.
    “Are you cold?”
    “A little. The wind’s chilly.”
    As if it heard her, a damp wind blew in their faces. It was one of those winds everyone in Pennsylvania knew well for the thief it was. One minute spring was popping up all over the place, then the next one of these wet wintry winds was slapping your face and tugging at the jacket that seemed perfectly adequate just that morning.
    Mark laughed, wrapped an arm around Josie’s shoulders, and tugged her in close. “C’mere, I’ll warm you up.”
    She snuggled in under his arm and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. “So, does that mean I am like your grass?”
    “I guess it does, yeah. Why, don’t you want to be my grass?”
    Josie said nothing.
    Mark felt a frisson of nerves. What did her silence mean? “Joes?”
    “Hmmm?” Wrapping an arm around his waist, she tucked her hand in his jacket pocket. “Now, where are we going? I’m freezing.”
    “To the library. Is that okay?” Without waiting for an answer, Mark steered her along the brick path that would take them to the library’s imposing stone entrance.
    She kept up with him stride for stride, the wind whipping her hair around her head and howling so loud conversation was all but impossible.
    When they got there, Mark tugged Josie up the two sets of curving stone stairs and under the portico, where they were slightly sheltered from the wind.
    “We can’t talk in here. It’s the library.” Josie dragged her hair out of her face, gathered it in one hand, and held it.
    “Sure we can. I’ll get one of the study cubes.”
    But rather than reach for the door, Mark caught Josie around the waist and pulled her close. He had just enough time to see her eyes widen in surprise before he captured her mouth with his.
    God, her lips were warm and soft and so, so sweet. He plunged headlong into the kiss, losing himself in the smell and taste and feel of her. He fisted his hands in all that thick slippery silky hair.
    For the briefest moment, she remained stiff in his arms, uncertain or unwilling, ; it was hard to tell.
    Please, Mark thought. Please. Then gave voice to his plea. “Josie, please kiss me back.”
    She made a sound, a quiet moan, then her limbs softened, her body went pliant, and her lips parted, letting him in.
    Who knew how long they might have stayed that way—minutes, hours, days—but a long loud wolf whistle split the air.
    “Get a room,” somebody yelled. Laughter and a smattering of applause followed.
    Mark released Josie, and they ducked inside the library, the heat blasting them in the face as soon as Mark opened the door.
    As he turned toward the desk, Josie caught his arm. “I have a class in a half hour, so don’t be long and don’t get the room for longer than that.”
    Mark felt a sudden sinking around his heart he recognized as disappointment, but pushed it away. It wasn’t like Josie was going to let him in her pants in the study room if she wouldn’t let him in the privacy of her own apartment. And besides, they weren’t going there to make out. They were going there to talk about the other night. He was not going to put a move on her. Now if she put one on him…
    Mark unlocked the study room and held the door open for Josie. She walked in ahead of him and dropped her backpack on the table before slipping out of her jacket and hanging it over the back of a chair.
    She looked around. “I think this is the same room I was in earlier with Vi.”
    “Vi? What were you doing in here with Vi?”
    She smiled, and her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Talking about you, of course.”
    Heh heh. That was so not funny.
    “Yeah right. For real, what were you doing here with Vi? Running lines?”
    Josie nodded. “For our Acting Shakespeare class. I told you about it, the scene from Othello? We had to