Page 58 of Novel Problems

Eager to get a feel for the rest of the house before Hannah returned, I dragged myself away from the bookshelves and continued my journey. The next room down was a small bathroom with a closet that presumably held a washing machine. I kept going and walked into a modest kitchen/dining area at the back of the house. The kitchen was, in my opinion, woefully inadequate. Occupying only one wall of the room, it had very limited counter and storage space and a small oven that looked sub-par. But the view from the large window of lush green trees and glimpses of the Hudson was anything but. I placed the takeout bag on the counter and stepped closer to the glass.

“The view is my favorite thing about this house,” Hannah said behind me. “Being able to just walk onto my deck and breathe fresh air and be surrounded by nature is incredible. I didn’t realize what I was missing out on until I moved here.”

“It’s pretty spectacular, but then, so is this view.” I turned, grinning as I gazed at her. She’d changed into jeans and a white shirt, but even in the plain outfit, she glowed.

Hannah, smiling, rolled her eyes. “Should we crack open the wine? We could eat on the deck and enjoy the view some more.”

“That sounds perfect given the week we’ve had.”

The last week had been hectic. With the warmer weather there'd been an influx of tourists, which meant we’d been slammed at work. And outside work,Hannah and I couldn’t keep our hands off each other which, while highly enjoyable, meant neither of us was getting as much sleep as usual. I also hadn’t had any time to plan the July and August events calendar for Novel Gossip—something I’d promised myself I’d do this week. While I loved spending every spare minute with Hannah, my lack of progress on the events calendar reminded me of my initial reservations about embarking on a relationship with her. As amazing as it was, was it going to be at the expense of Novel Gossip?

I pushed down the thought as we pulled out plates and wine glasses and loaded up on pad thai, pad see ew, and stir-fried veggies, accompanied by a generous glass of dry Riesling each.

We’d vowed that, tonight, we would have a relaxing, no sex evening and go to bed at a decent hour. The plan had made perfect sense this morning when we both had to have extra coffee to counteract the effects of yet another late night of getting lost in each other’s bodies. But my exhaustion was no match for my attraction to Hannah, and looking at her now, a wave of arousal washed over me. I mentally shook myself.Not tonight, George.

Hannah led me into the next room, a cozy living room with a large glass sliding door leading out onto the back deck. The walls were lined with even more books. My gaze lingered on them for a moment, but the fragrant smell of lemongrass, galangal, and garlic trumped my desire to examine the rest of her shelves, and I followed Hannah out onto the deck. Hannah placed her food and wine on an aged round wooden table, and we sat down on rickety wooden chairs.

I took a gulp of wine, letting my body relax into the chair, which was surprisingly comfortable despite itsappearance. It was another perfect summer evening—warm enough to wear shorts and a T-shirt without being oppressively hot. And being out here, with Hannah, surrounded by fir and oak trees, was incredibly peaceful. I exhaled. After a busy week, this was exactly what I needed. I loved my apartment, but it couldn’t offer me this type of escape.

“This is gorgeous,” I said, smiling at Hannah, who looked as relaxed as I felt.

We both wolfed down the food, chatting about the new books that’d been delivered today and two of our regulars, Jasper and Maya, who’d just gotten engaged. Jenny had practically danced into Novel Gossip to tell us the news. She was taking full credit for getting them together at Amanda’s wedding last year.

The conversation flowed naturally, and even the brief silences while we ate were comfortable. We watched the birds fly away and the sky slowly change color as the sun began to set. I couldn't remember feeling this at ease with someone I’d only just started dating. With Alexis, it had taken me a couple months to be my true self around her. I’d been so in awe of her public persona it had been hard to see past that. But even though Hannah was my favorite author, she was also just…Hannah. Warm, funny, kind, interested in people and ideas. Even Mom, who’d had reservations about Alexis, would surely love Hannah. Which reminded me…

“Hey, by the way, my mom is coming to visit in at the end of June. She’ll be staying with me and will almost certainly hang around the café quite a bit, so while I know it is kind of early for ameet the parentssituation, I’d love for you to meet her.”

“Of course,” Hannah said, smiling. While her smilelooked genuine, she shifted on her chair, and I couldn’t shake the feeling she was worried about something.

The sky was almost dark by the time we’d finished our food and wine.

Once we’d washed the dishes, we collapsed on the couch.

“In light of our vow, do you feel like watching something?” Hannah asked.

While I was tempted to make a bad joke about screwing the vow to see how Hannah would react, I restrained myself.It’s just one night, George. You can do it.“What do you feel like?” I asked.

“Drag Race? I haven’t seen the latest season yet. Or for something completely different, I heard the Beckham documentary is good.” Hannah grinned. “I have to warn you, my viewing preferences are not super highbrow.”

“No judgment here. I binged an entire season ofThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hillswhen that bad snowstorm in January shut everything down. Let’s start withDrag Race.”

We were ten minutes in when Hannah looked at me, slightly warily. I paused the show, concerned.

“Is everything okay?”

“Um, would you mind turning on the subtitles if it’s not too annoying for you? I’m just struggling to hear everything.”

“Of course.” I flicked on the closed captions and relaxed back onto the couch, wondering why Hannah had seemed nervous about asking me the question. I frowned. Maybe she didn’t feel as comfortable with me as I did with her. I hoped not.

“Thank you.” She snuggled in next to me, and I focusedon enjoying Hannah’s body pressed against mine and the queens’ antics onDrag Race, pushing aside my concerns.

After two episodes, we decided to call it a night and began getting ready for bed.

Like the rest of her house, Hannah’s bedroom was small, just big enough for a queen-sized bed, two small side tables, and a dresser. There were no bookshelves to distract me as I tried not to watch Hannah change into her pajamas. Hannah turned to me, looking adorable in a red silk shorts and a matching short-sleeve button-down bed shirt. An image of unbuttoning her top slowly appeared in my mind. I shook it off.Maybe you should take a cold shower.

“George.”

I focused on her face, and my heart dropped when I realized she was chewing on her lip. She looked nervous again. What was going on?

---