Page 36 of Novel Problems

I took a deep breath of fresh evening air. Hopefully, tomorrow my feelings about Hannah Taylor, aka H. M. Stuart, and the kiss we’d just shared would be a lot clearer. I couldn’t afford to be off my game and lose any more customers.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

HANNAH

“Hannah!”

I turned, holding the dirty plates I’d just picked up from a table, to find Olivia beaming at me.

“We’re going kayaking on the river this afternoon. Wanna come?”

I couldn’t help darting my eyes over to George, who was serving a customer behind the counter.Is she coming too?I’d been sneaking glances at George all morning, replaying last night’s kiss in my head. It had been unexpected and confusing but also amazing. I hadn’t felt that type of heated, intense desire for anyone for a very long time. A thrill ran through me at the memory.

And then, after the kiss, everything had felt incredibly awkward.

I’d walked to work with nervous anticipation pounding through me. To my disappointment, George, although friendly as usual, seemed to be behaving like nothing had happened, just like she had after the kiss last night. Although, to be fair, so was I.

My natural impulse was to avoid awkward conversations, and the idea of sitting down with George to discuss our feelings sent my stomach flipping. But at the same time, I wanted to know what, if anything, was going on between us. However, it didn’t look like I was going to get it this morning. With George focused on training Josie, and me and Ben busy with the weekend crowds, there’d been no opportunity for us to have one-on-one time together. And in any event, our workplace didn’t seem like the most appropriate venue to talk about the kiss.

Not that I knew what to say about it anyway. Things were finally going well. I’d gotten those damn books signed. I was writing again, and I was excited about my new manuscript. For the first time, meeting the July deadline didn’t feel completely out of reach. And if I did, Barb would be safe in her nursing home for at least another twelve months, maybe even longer if this book did well. I also loved working at Novel Gossip and my growing friendship with George and her friends reminded me that I wasn’t as introverted as I often thought. I didn’t want things to get complicated with George and risk blowing it all up. Did I even have time to date with everything else going on in my life? And I couldn’t shake the niggling thought that if my friendship with George blew up, so would my ability to write. After all, it’d been her words that had led to my breakthrough. Last, but not least, in the string of reasons why pursuing a relationship with George seemed like a bad idea, was that I’d just come out of a long-term relationship three months ago. Jumping into something new so soon didn’t seem like the smartest move.

But at the same time… George handed a customer a cookie in a paper bag, a warm smile on her face, and my stomach fluttered. Yep, I hadn’t felt this type of attraction to anyone in a long time. Possibly ever.

Olivia followed my gaze and grinned, thankfully misinterpreting it. “If you want me to talk to the boss, I can. You’ve worked every day since you started. There has to be some kind of labor law that I can threaten George with, especially given that she’s coming too. Jenny and Blake will be there as well.”

I laughed. “I finish my shift at two-thirty today, same as George. Josie should be all trained up by then, so she’s closing with Ben. And I’m not working tomorrow at all, so I don’t think your labor lawsuit will have legs. But thanks for the offer.”

Olivia clapped her hands. “Awesome! So is that a yes?”

I paused for a moment. I’d planned to spend the afternoon working on my book, and I wasnotan accomplished kayaker. In fact, I’d only done it once in my life, with Tania, and it had been an absolute disaster. We’d been in a tandem kayak, and she’d kept getting annoyed because I wasn’t keeping in time with her strokes. She’d ended up insisting, with a huff, that I stop paddling altogether so she could kayak unimpeded by my ineptitude. I winced. When I looked back, there were a lot of red flags in our relationship.

But despite my writing plans and bad past experience, it was perfect weather for kayaking. It seemed a shame to spend a gorgeous warm afternoon holed up inside. I’d also enjoyed hanging out with Olivia, Jenny, and Blake at the pub after the movie night. And while I currently had no idea what was going on between George and me, I always enjoyed spending time with her. In a group setting, hopefully things wouldn’t be too awkward.

“That sounds great!” I said.

I’d work on my book later. Now that Ben was back andJosie was trained, I’d have more time to write anyway. And presumably, I’d be in my own kayak, not at risk of impeding anyone else’s perfect stroke.

GEORGE

Hannah picked up Betty’s empty plate and coffee cup, saying something that made Betty laugh. I’d felt terrible there’d been no cake of the day this morning, especially after Betty rushing to my defense yesterday, but thankfully, Betty had been appeased by one of Romina’s delicious muffins.

Hannah’s outfit of navy shorts, white sneakers, and a white silk blouse flattered her figure and accentuated her dark eyes and hair and pink lips. My gaze lingered on her lips for a moment before I came to my senses.Stop ogling your employee, George!

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

“Do you want to go on your lunch break soon, George?” Ben asked. “The three of us will manage more than fine. So, actually have a proper break this time—don’t just chow down a BLT in the kitchen and run back out like you have the past few weeks.” Ben glared at me.

I smiled. Having Ben, Hannah, and Josie all working front of house with me was an enormous relief. Finally, it felt like my staffing issues were under control.Another good reason not to screw things up with Hannah.

“That would be great, thanks. I’ll see if Blake is free to meet at Builders’ Arms. If she is, I’ll probably head off in fifteen minutes.”

I shot a text off to Blake. A good night's sleep had not cleared up my confused feelings over yesterday’s events,and I was desperate to talk to Blake about it—just not at Novel Gossip, in full sight of Hannah. My phone pinged. Blake could make it. I exhaled.

Twenty minutes later, Blake leaned back against the wall of the Builders’ Arms beer garden. A warm breeze sent dappled light, filtered by the large oak tree overhead, moving in patterns across the bricks.

“No Novel Gossip this time? I wanted to see what the cake of the day was,” Blake said, looking slightly disappointed.

I grimaced. “There was no cake of the day. It was my turn to make it last night, and I forgot.” Romina and I shared cake-baking duties.

---