The other three broke into laughter. “Uh oh, this one has gotten under his skin big time,” Kyle said. “She is a pretty little thing, isn’t she?”

“Hot is more like it. Damn, look at those legs. It’s always the quiet ones.” Of all the brothers, Marc was the one who seemed to revel in female attention the most. He watched Maggie with a sly smile. “How come I never noticed her before?”

“You’re three years younger than we are. Plus, she’s not the tight jean wearing, belly button ring kind of girl you usually chase.” Matt turned to find Shane back at their blanket, drinking a cider and staring in the direction of Maggie Wright. “We’d better get back over there before he pops a vein.”

In marked contrast, Maggie was having the time of her life. Alex Parsons was a nice guy and it was a treat to have a man pay that much attention to her. And when Alex leaned over and kissed her quickly on the lips—just a peck really—Sam walked by with his new girlfriend. He’d nearly fallen over himself as he’d done a double take. It wasn’t like she wanted him back, but it was nice for him to see what he was missing.

“So, Alex, how do you like working at the library?”

“Oh, well I don’t think I ever imagined being a librarian when I was a kid. But I do love it. The job here was a stroke of luck really, I’d been trying to decide whether or not to go to grad school and I got the offer.” He shrugged. “But I found out that I love it. I may still go back at some point but for now, I’m really happy where I am.” Alex took her hand in his. “It’s really great to turn young people on to books, knowing I’m opening up new worlds for them. I bet it’s like that for you as a teacher.”

Maggie’s eyes lit up. Teaching was her great passion. “It is. I’m so lucky to have two tracks. The advanced placement history class is filled with kids who are very disciplined, high achievers. They want to be there. God, the work they produce is amazing! They’re a joy to teach. My other class is just your every day sophomore history class. There are so many kinds of kids in it. Some are just biding time until they drop out, some just barely scraping by. But my favorites are the ones who start out bored and then I introduce something that totally excites them and they become history buffs.” She felt shy suddenly as she’d revealed something so important to her. “I know it’s goofy but I love it. Last year, I took my AP class on a trip to Washington, DC and I think that they were more excited than I was to see the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”

“Are you cold?” he asked Maggie when she’d shivered a bit.

Maggie stood up. “A bit. It started out so warm. I just need to run back to the car to grab my jacket and an extra blanket to wrap us up in.”

“I’ll come with you,” Alex said, standing with her.

“Okay. Thanks.” She gave him a smile and caught the keys Liv threw her way. Maggie liked the way he held a gentle arm around her waist as they walked. Not too much, just enough to let her know he wanted to touch her.

After grabbing her jacket and the extra blankets, Maggie locked up. Turning back around, she ended up nose to nose with Alex.

“You smell really good.” Alex’s warm, cider scented breath caressed her face. He tucked a wayward curl back behind her ear.

“Thanks. That’s why I wear it back.”

Alex took her chin gently between his fingers and tipped it up. Slowly, he brought his lips to hers. He was warm and gentle and the kiss only lasted a few short seconds. Maggie blinked up into his face and smiled. He hugged her quickly before walking back to their blanket.

Back on the hill, Alex sat behind her, pulling her into the warm shelter of his body. Wrapping the fleece blanket around them both, he left his arms encircled about her as well. Warm and content, Maggie leaned back against him and they watched the sky for the fireworks.

Afterwards, it was with regret that Alex helped pack up the blanket and their possessions. He didn’t want the date to be over. He didn’t like the idea of having to say goodnight to Maggie. He’d liked seeing that she was cold and then taking care of her. She needed someone to take care of her. He could see that. He also knew she was a lady and he wanted to take it slow to show her that he appreciated that.

Back at the car, Liv and Shaun kissed quite deeply at the driver side door and Alex burned with embarrassment and anger on Maggie’s behalf. Maggie shouldn’t have to be exposed to that sort of thing. But clearly Olivia was her friend and had way too much influence on Maggie’s life. After they’d dated a while, Alex would know how to best deal with Olivia’s bad influence and help Maggie make better choices with her friends.

With an internal sigh, he smiled at her instead and held her door open. “Can I call you, Maggie? I’d like to take you out again.”

“I’d like that.” She dug out a pen and some paper from her bag and wrote out her phone number and handed it to him with a smile. “I had a really nice time tonight, Alex, thank you.”

He leaned over and kissed her again, still gentle and brief. He wanted to show her what a total gentleman he was. She gave him a small wave and got into the car and finally that slut Olivia stopped kissing and joined her.

“That went well, didn’t it!” Liv said as they drove away. “First of all, Shaun is a great kisser! Second of all, did you see the double take that Sam gave when he saw you with Alex? Man that was perfect. Lastly, did you notice Shane Chase staring at you all night like he was a hungry wolf and you were a T-bone steak?”