Chapter 25

GEORGE

“I’ll just change out of my work clothes. Make yourself at home.”

Hannah hung her bag on a hook next to the front door and disappeared into a room on the left. We’d officially been dating for a week now and it was my first time inside Hannah’s house, so my curiosity was high. Holding the paper bag of takeout we’d picked up from Pok Pok on the way over here, I commenced some light snooping. Well, she did tell me to make myself at home…

I peered in the room opposite—a study. This must be where the magic happens. An antique wooden desk looked out over the cottage garden in the front yard, a laptop, notepad, and pen on top.

I still hadn’t quite come to terms with Hannah being my favorite author. Thinking about it brought on pinch me, this is kind of amazing feelings mixed with a slight sense of unease. I’d shrugged it off, telling myself it’d take some time to get used to, especially since I knew Hannah only as Hannah, not H. M. Stuart, first.

A large bookcase covered the wall behind it. I wandered over, unable to resist examining its contents. Books about writing craft. A lot of fantasy books. But also an eclectic collection of other genres, from romance and thrillers to literary fiction and non-fiction books about gender theory and feminism. I smiled in approval.

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 its appearance. 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 a meet the parents situation, I’d love for you to meet her.”

“Of course,” Hannah said, smiling. While her smile looked 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 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills when that bad snowstorm in January shut everything down. Let’s start with Drag 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 focused on enjoying Hannah’s body pressed against mine and the queens’ antics on Drag 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?

“Yes?” I pulled on my boxers.

“Remember how you said you were interested in having more author events at Novel Gossip?”

My body relaxed. This line of conversation was intriguing but didn’t sound too concerning. Although, it did bring on a twinge of guilt about my failure to organize any events this week.

“Yes?” I tilted my head, putting on my best encouraging expression to try to put Hannah at ease.

“Well… I hope you don’t mind—I didn’t want to tell you in case they said no—but I reached out to Chris Chen to ask if they’d be interested in doing one at Novel Gossip.”

I froze. Hannah knows Chris Chen and invited them to Novel Gossip?

“They said they could come Thursday if that would work? They can do afternoon or evening. I know that’s soon, but their schedule is pretty full with book launch activities. Would you be interested?”

“Are you fucking serious?” I stared at Hannah in shock.

“Yes. Is that okay?”

My heart ached at the nervous waver in her voice. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Of course it’s okay. It’s incredible! Chris Chen is my second-favorite author—after you, of course.” I ran my thumb down Hannah’s cheek and kissed her. “And Thursday is perfect. It gives us enough time to get organized and get the word out.”

“Okay, good.” Hannah smiled at me.

My chest expanded as I gazed into Hannah’s eyes. Goddamn, she was wonderful. I’d just been worrying about my lack of events, and she’d organized one for me. But Hannah’s reticence at raising certain topics of conversation with me was concerning. I desperately wanted Hannah to feel as comfortable with me as I did with her and to be able to talk to me about issues that were bothering her.

“Hey, babe. Is everything okay?” I asked, my voice low. “I got the impression you were nervous when you asked me to turn the subtitles on earlier and again just then when you told me the amazing news about Chris. You know you can ask or tell me anything, right?”

Hannah gave me a soft, slightly ashamed smile. “I know. I’m sorry.” She exhaled. “I usually feel so comfortable with you, but I clearly still have some hang-ups from living with Tania. She used to complain about me putting the subtitles on because she found it distracting. And there were a few times when I tried to do something special for her but totally missed the mark. And she wasn’t afraid of letting me know.” Hannah sighed. “Sorry, I know you’re not Tania, but I think I’ve still got some residual anxiety hardwired in from that relationship that will take a while to disappear.”

I smiled back at her, relieved, and then leaned closer to her, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“I get it. These things take time to get over. And now that I understand where it’s coming from, hopefully it will make things easier for both of us,” I said.

“Damn, George O’Grady. Could you get any more perfect?” Hannah asked softly.

She took off her glasses, placed them on the side table, and turned back to me.

I leaned back in, kissing her again, my hands finding their way under her silk pajama top and caressing the bare skin of her back. Our kisses deepened in intensity, our mouths hungry for more.

“If we keep this up, some vows are going to be broken tonight,” I mumbled in between kisses.

Hannah gently pushed me down on the bed, straddling me. She bent over, her lips tracing my jawline to my earlobe. She gently tugged at it with her teeth, her warm breath sending electricity shooting down my body.

“Well, in the scheme of vows that could be broken, I think this is one of the better ones. That is, if you’re feeling up for it, of course,” Hannah murmured near my ear.

“I am always up for it,” I said, my breath ragged, as I flipped her on her back and kissed her collarbone, my hands running over her soft, warm skin. All my exhaustion had vanished, replaced with pulsing desire.

“How do you feel about toys?” Hannah panted.

I grinned. I loved that Hannah felt comfortable enough with me to raise the topic. “I feel very positively about toys. What were you thinking?”

“Well, I have a selection…in the gray box under my bed.”

I rolled off Hannah and flung myself over the side of the bed, just managing to keep my lower body balanced on the sheets. I peered under the bed, spotting the box just a few inches away. I gave it an excited yank and nearly fell off the mattress.

Feeling a little bit like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning, my body buzzed with anticipation as to what would be in Hannah’s sex toy box.

After my near fall, I carefully pulled the box, which was promisingly heavy, onto the bed and opened the lid. Hannah lay on her side, a tentative smile on her face as she watched me explore its contents.

Dildos in various sizes and colors, a harness, and a number of vibrators, ranging from small bullet and suction models to a gigantic magic wand, handcuffs, silk ties, a blindfold, and feathers. Wow. I was not expecting such a collection. I took a deep breath, trying not to get too excited at the thought of trying out all the toys with Hannah.

Something at the bottom of the box caught my attention. “Um, Hannah, what’s this for?” I pulled out a small, curved piece of rose-gold plastic with a very thin tube and a small cone-shaped silicon at the end, inspecting it curiously. Was the cone thing the world’s tiniest vibrator? I frowned. It didn’t look very appealing or easy to control, with tiny little switches that would be difficult to maneuver while in the throes of passion.

“Oh my god!” Hannah yelled, snatching it out of my hand and staring at it with wide eyes. I jumped, nearly losing balance and toppling into the box. “How the hell did that get in there?”

All sorts of random explanations ran through my head. It was for an unusual kink that Hannah was ashamed of. One of her toys had broken, and this was a missing part.

“Um, what exactly is it?”

“It’s my hearing aid,” Hannah said, grinning. “It won’t give you an orgasm, but it’ll help me hear yours even louder—once I recharge it, that is.”

I straddled her, picking her hearing aid out of her hand and placing it on the side table, and then leaned down so my face was only inches from hers. “Well, in that case, I’ll just have to focus on making you come tonight—so loudly the whole damn town will hear it.”