Page 16 of The Secret Librarian

Avery relented and picked up the drink, taking a sip.

As much as she didn’t want to accept it, she also needed something to do to give her time to right herself, not to mention settle her nerves.

She had no idea what she’d done wrong, what she’d said to give herself away, but somehow she was being too obvious, and all she’d done was walk into a hotel bar.

Had this man followed her? It suddenly seemed too much of a coincidence that they’d bumped into one another again.

‘Can I give you a tip?’ he asked.

She glanced up at him, wondering if he’d had too much to drink or whether he was always in the business of talking too much to women he met at the bar.

‘I’m not sure what advice you think I need when you don’t even know my name, but certainly, go ahead. You seem rather taken with speaking your mind.’

‘It always pays to ask the doorman on the way in who’s ordered champagne,’ he said, his voice low as he leaned in closer to her. ‘You see, whoever orders a celebratory drink was the winner of today’s battle.’

Avery’s heart started to beat a little faster as she interpreted what he was telling her. Why was he not even being discreet about it! ‘You’re a spy?’ she asked. He’s a British spy?

‘No, my dear, I’m a journalist ,’ he said with a wink. ‘And you are ...?’

‘A librarian,’ she said, hearing the shake in her own voice.

‘Am I the first person you’ve told your cover story to?’ She bristled at his laughter. ‘Because you’re not terribly convincing, even though part of me thinks you could be telling the truth.’

‘I am a librarian! I’m in Lisbon to collect publications of importance for the Library of Congress, to ensure we preserve history.’

He shrugged. ‘You say you’re a librarian, you’re a librarian. Just like I’m a journalist. We all have to be something in this town.’

Avery took a gulp of her drink and regretted it almost immediately. It made her feel giddy the moment she swallowed it.

‘I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re trying to insinuate, or why you’d think I have a cover story,’ she said, anger tainting her voice. ‘But I’m the most librarian of librarians. I have a degree from an Ivy League university, I’ll have you know, and I’m very proud of it.’

She cringed. The most librarian of librarians? Why couldn’t I have come up with something more compelling than that!

‘Better,’ he said, downing his drink and ordering another. ‘You sound far more convincing when you’re cross, by the way.’

Avery’s fingers tightened around her bag and she went to turn, but the British man straightened and reached out, his hand covering her elbow for just long enough to stop her.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s been a long day and I couldn’t help myself,’ he said, holding out his hand to her. ‘James Anderson.’

She stared at his hand for a moment, tempted to turn on her heel and leave him standing there, but she was in a strange city with no friends, and she was inclined to at least introduce herself. Not to mention Tom still hadn’t found her, despite the fact she was one of very few women in the bar.

‘Avery Johnson,’ she said, pressing her palm into his and appreciating how gently he shook it. She couldn’t stand a man with a rough grasp. ‘ Librarian ,’ she said, receiving a chuckle in response.

‘You’re not even lying, are you?’ He laughed.

That made Avery laugh, too. ‘I’m truly not! When I said I was the most librarian of librarians, I was being deadly serious!’

‘Well then, Miss Avery the Librarian, who might be the only person telling the truth in this entire hotel, what do you say we have another drink and start over? I fear that I’ve spent so long away from home that I’m starting to lose my manners and expect that everyone is telling lies.’

She sighed and took another little sip of her drink.

‘So, what brings you to the Hotel Avenida? Have you been before?’ he asked.

‘I’m supposed to be meeting a—’ She stopped herself before she said colleague . ‘A friend. But I haven’t located him yet.’

‘Ah, well, perhaps I can keep you company until you find said friend,’ he said.

‘You’re British?’

‘Guilty as charged. American?’

Avery nodded.

‘This bar is full of Brits, Yanks, Germans and Japs,’ he said.

‘Heck, there’s probably a few Russians as well.

It’s the only place in Europe that you’ll find enemies smiling politely under the same roof, which is why I’m used to finding almost every word that comes out of most people’s mouths here to be a complete and utter fabrication. ’

Avery digested what he was saying, looking around and immediately trying to pick out the Nazis. She’d known before she came that Portugal was home to the enemy as much as it was to the Allies, but actually being in a room with them was most unsettling.

It was as she was glancing around that Avery saw an elegant blonde woman holding on to the arm of an equally good-looking blond man.

She recognised her as the bookstore owner, and him as the rather intimidating man who’d walked in while she was there.

Avery turned, about to ask her new friend if he was acquainted with Camille, when a hand clapped over her shoulder.

‘Avery! You made it!’

Tom was standing there, a drink in hand and a big smile on his face, looking like the happiest man in the world now that he’d set eyes on her.

‘I thought I was never going to find you,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe how busy it is here.’

‘Well, I heard there was a very attractive American at the bar, so I knew where to look,’ Tom said, before turning to James, who was facing the bar now, his focus very much on his drink as he stared into it. ‘This a friend of yours?’

Avery gestured to James. ‘Just a gentleman who’s been keeping me company while I was alone,’ she said. ‘James, this is Tom. Tom, meet James.’

The two men shook hands, and she stood rather awkwardly as they made small talk.

‘I expect I’ll see you around,’ Avery said. ‘Thanks for the drink.’

‘Watch out for those Nazis,’ James murmured, and she shook her head and laughed, not sure whether he was teasing or being serious.

Avery took Tom’s arm when he offered it, happy to keep hold as they navigated their way to the far corner where his friends were waiting to meet her.

She glanced around as they walked, looking for Camille, but she must have been tucked away out of sight because Avery couldn’t spot her blonde head anywhere.

‘Avery, I’m very pleased to introduce you to this raucous bunch,’ Tom said. ‘Although I caution you to forget them all after tonight and never see them again without a chaperone.’

That made all the men around the table erupt into laughter, and Avery politely shook each of their hands and sat where they made space for her, trying her absolute hardest not to look back to the bar to see if James was still sitting there staring into his drink.

‘I’m more than happy to walk the lady home,’ James said, proffering his arm a few hours later when it was almost time for the hotel bar to close.

Tom was a little unsteady on his feet, but seemed determined to make the most of his last night in Portugal, and despite not knowing James, Avery felt walking with him was preferable to making her way alone.

She also had no interest in joining her group to gamble – they had supposedly arranged a car to take them to the Hotel Palácio Estoril and then the nearby casino.

Portugal was proving to be an entirely different world to anything she’d ever imagined, so she was thankful James had noticed her predicament.

‘You’re certain it’s not an imposition?’ she asked.

‘I’d be grateful for the company, truly.’

Avery gave Tom a quick kiss goodnight on the cheek and took the arm James offered, and after pausing briefly to make small talk with the doorman, they were walking the cobbled streets towards her apartment, the night air so fresh it made Avery want to gulp down mouthfuls of it after the thick, pungent smoke in the bar.

‘There’s something magical about Lisbon at night, don’t you think?’ James said. ‘I’ve still never quite got used to it, and I’ve been here for months.’

‘I can’t believe the twinkle of lights,’ she said. ‘It’s as if the rest of the world is sleeping, and yet Lisbon is alive.’ Avery laughed. ‘Sorry, I sound like a young girl transfixed with the magic of it all, don’t I?’

‘I’ll never forget how enchanted you looked when I first saw you,’ he said.

‘There’s something innocent about seeing a person enjoy something as simple as lights, and in a world as dark as the one we’re currently living in?

There’s something rather refreshing about it.

Reminds me what we’re fighting for I suppose. ’

James stopped walking then and took off his jacket, placing it around her shoulders before she could protest.

‘I don’t expect you to be cold so that I can be warm,’ she said.

‘Well, that’s where we differ in opinion,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Besides, I have four sisters.’

‘You’re telling me you’d give up your jacket for them?’

He snorted. ‘Not a chance! I’d let them freeze. But I’d expect their young men to give up theirs if they were walking with them at night.’

Avery wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the night air, or a combination of both, but she had the most overwhelming urge to drop her head to James’s shoulder as they walked.

‘How long are you in Portugal?’ she asked, instead.

‘As long as I need to be,’ he said. ‘And I’m not trying to be cryptic. I honestly don’t know. You?’

‘At least a year, I think,’ she said. ‘But I suppose none of us really knows what will happen with the war or how things will change. My father thought our boys would be home by Christmas, and now he thinks it’ll be before next Thanksgiving, but I tend to think he’s being overly optimistic.’

They walked in silence for a long time, their steps quiet.

She realised that this was the very first time she’d been alone with a man at night, especially one she barely knew, but she felt oddly comfortable.

Even with Michael, they’d never really been together alone.

They were always on a double date or at home with her parents or his.

Being alone with James felt different, more grown-up somehow.

She suddenly felt a long way from the naive girl who’d left New York.

‘Thank you for walking me home tonight,’ Avery said, as they neared her apartment. ‘I certainly didn’t expect it.’

‘I think your friend was rather too inebriated to be trusted with your safety,’ he said. ‘He’s certainly going to have a sore head come morning, but his loss was my gain.’

‘Well, I guess this is goodnight,’ Avery said, reluctantly letting go of James’s arm as they reached her door. ‘This is me.’

He took the jacket from her shoulders, which immediately made her shiver, and then he reached for her, his hand gently closing over her bare shoulder as he leaned in to kiss her cheek, his skin soft as it brushed hers.

‘Second rule of being a spy, Avery,’ James whispered, his cheek hovering next to hers.

She went still, feeling the warmth of his breath on her skin.

‘Don’t let another spy find out so easily where you live.’

Avery shook her head as he took a step back, watching a smile play across his lips as he held up his hand in a wave.

‘I told you, I’m just a librarian,’ she said, but this time when she said it she started to laugh, which made him shake his head as if she’d given herself away.

‘Avery, can I be frank with you?’ he asked.

She nodded.

‘For all my teasing, this can be a dangerous city. Don’t let the parties and twinkling lights fool you into a sense of safety. You must keep your wits about you at all times.’

Avery swallowed as his eyes met hers, not liking the seriousness of his tone. If he’d wanted to scare her, he’d succeeded.

‘I wouldn’t want anything untoward to happen to you, that’s all.’

They stared at each other for a moment longer, before he shook his head and took a few more steps backwards.

‘Goodnight, Avery the librarian,’ he said, standing beneath a street light as he put his jacket on, his eyes still never leaving hers.

‘Goodnight, James the journalist,’ she replied, unlocking her door and going through it before she did or said anything she might regret.

But when she was on the other side of it, she pressed her back to the timber and closed her eyes, her heart beating fast as she thought about the man who’d brought her home.

He was obviously a rogue, a man who talked to single women at hotels, probably on his way now to warm his lover’s bed after bidding her farewell, so she knew nothing could come of it, but she certainly wasn’t minding the flutter in her stomach when she thought about the way he’d so boldly kissed her cheek, or the touch of his fingers against her shoulder.

But what he’d said to her about staying safe had rattled her, despite her excitement, especially when she’d received no such warnings during her training.

And she couldn’t help but wonder whether he was actually a spy or not.

Were they all spies? Had the hotel truly been full of them?

Was she really in jeopardy if she was walking the streets alone?

Upstairs, as she slipped out of her dress and put on her nightgown, she also thought about the woman from the bookstore, and wondered just how she fitted in with the mysterious crowd at the Hotel Avenida.

She’d been drawn to Camille in her bookshop, despite how blunt the French woman had been, but Avery was starting to understand that she needed to be less trusting and more suspicious in Lisbon.

After all, what had James said? Something about enemies all smiling politely under the same roof?

That meant she shouldn’t trust him, either, no matter how much she was drawn to the handsome Brit who’d so chivalrously walked her home with his jacket draped around her shoulders.