Page 35 of Novel Problems

It still hadn’t really sunk in that Hannah was H. M. Stuart. Each time I remembered, it took me by surprise, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. My feelings toward Hannah were already confusing enough without her being my favorite author as well. She was so talented and successful. It blew my mind that she was working in my café and spending time with me outside work. Hopefully, I’d sleep well tonight, and then tomorrow, Hannah’s revelation about her alter ego would all feel perfectly fine. If not, talking to Blake about it might help.

Hannah pressed her lips together in thought. I was about to tell her not to worry about it when she spoke. “If you ask Blake not to tell anyone, except Jenny, that’s fine. They don’t strike me as the sort of people who’ll blow my cover.” Hannah winced. “But if you could try to make me sound a little less weird for the whole accidentallyaccepting a job and breaking and entering thing, that would be great.”

“Hmmm. I don’t know about that.” I grinned, elbowing Hannah gently in her side. “A little less weird. Is that even possible?”

“Hey!” Hannah elbowed me back, laughing, mock outrage in her tone. Our eyes locked, sending my heart bouncing.

Goddamn, she’s beautiful.The sun was finally starting to set, sending a kaleidoscope of gold, pink, red, and purple hues stretching across the sky and lighting Hannah's face with a warm glow.How do I keep getting myself into these romantic situations with her?A little voice inside me whispered that now that I’d established she was single, interested in woman and an author rather than my employee, the barriers between us were dropping down. What would happen if I did just reach out, take her hand in mine?

I shook off the idea.Hannah is H. M. Stuart. Is she really going to be interested in me?

“The sun is starting to set,” I said, my voice sounding more abrupt than I intended. “We should get you home before it gets dark.”

Hannah nodded in agreement, demolished the last of her ice cream, and then we turned in unison, starting the trek back up Main Street toward Cherry Lane.

Chatting as we walked, we reached Cherry Lane in no time.

“Here we are,” said Hannah, stopping outside a small front yard full of rose bushes and lavender a few minutes later.

Hannah turned to me. Her thick brown hair framed her face, accentuating her dark eyelashes and pink lips, which were softly lit by the fading sun. Out of nowhere,butterflies swarmed in my stomach. If we were on a date, this would be the moment when we kissed, or perhaps Hannah would invite me inside. But we weren’t on a date. Although…the evening had kind of felt like it. Dinner, a stroll, ice cream by the river, watching the sunset. But unlike the movie night, the romantic elements of tonight hadn’t felt awkward.

Except, perhaps, until now. I’d been staring at Hannah for more than a beat too long, and she’d been holding my gaze. Were her eyes darker than usual, or was it just the fading light? The air electrified. Everything around me disappeared. Everything except Hannah. A delicious shiver shot down my back, and my heart rate picked up pace. Every nerve in my body screamed for contact with Hannah. In a daze, I stepped forward.

And then our lips were pressing against each other. Hannah’s lips were so soft, but the kiss was not. It was hungry, hot and messy. Passionate and raw. I tightened my grip on her waist and tugged at her bottom lip with my teeth. Hannah let out a moan that sent arousal spiking through me.

Good Lord, I’d forgotten how fucking amazing kissing could be.

Eventually we disentangled ourselves, and reality hit.

Shit.

I hadn’t thought this through at all. Where did we go from here?

I stared at Hannah blankly.Words, George. Say something.

I swallowed. “I just wanted to say thanks for all your help the last few days. I seriously couldn’t have managed without you.” I winced at my clumsy words.Well, at least that was something.

An indiscernible expression flitted acrossHannah’s face.Damn.My awkward comment had clearly not gone unnoticed.

“Um, no problem,” Hannah said as she brushed the hair off her pinker-than-usual cheeks with her hand. “Now that Ben’s back and you’ve got Josie on board, let me know what you’re thinking in terms of shifts. I’m super flexible. I could even just come in for a few hours over the lunch rush, given that’s when it's busiest.”

I blinked, as if that would somehow help me digest Hannah’s statement. “So you… You still want to work? I thought since you’d signed the books and cleared up our, um, misunderstanding about your identity, you’d want to be done?”

Hannah shifted her weight on her feet. “To be honest, I’ve been surprised how much I’ve been enjoying it. So if you need me, I’m available.”

My chest tightened. Hannah was still my employee after all.Shit.I just kissed my employee.

I took a deep breath. There was nothing I could do about that now. It’s not like I could fire her—sorry, I got carried away and kissed you and because I have a “no dating employees” rule, your position is terminated—or erase the kiss from our minds. And even with Josie on board, another employee would be an enormous help.

My head started thumping. I should go home and get some sleep before I did anything else stupid.

“That would be amazing,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t betray my confusion. “Well, if you don’t mind coming in from ten to two-thirty tomorrow, that would be great. Does that sound okay to you?”

“Perfect!” Hannah replied, slightly too enthusiastically.

Before things could get even more awkward, I decidedto excuse myself. “Well, we’d better be getting home before it’s too dark. See you tomorrow!”

As I walked back, I realized that I’d forgotten to bake the cake of the day.Shit.It was too late now. Betty would not be happy. I

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