Chapter 8

GEORGE

Finally satisfied with my outfit choice—gray jeans and a plain navy tee (not an outfit that should have taken ten minutes to select)—I grabbed my keys and a light sweater, gave Max a head rub and bounded down the stairs and out into the warm evening air.

Ever since I heard H. M. Stuart would be dropping into Novel Gossip, I’d been buzzing with nervous excitement. He was notoriously private. I’d Googled him after devouring the first Realms book, and the bio on his publisher’s website had simply said “H. M. Stuart is a New York City-based fantasy author.” No social media. No author website. Nothing. It was very unusual these days for authors not to have some social media presence.

Ben had—quite rightly—assumed when the publicist called that I’d be thrilled to meet my favorite author in the flesh and had agreed to accept the delivery on my behalf. The email Ben had sent me about it, the one that had gotten lost in the mountain of unread emails that had been piling up the last few days, had mentioned that the publicist requested we keep all information regarding H. M. Stuart confidential and not make it public knowledge that H. M. Stuart was staying in Sapphire Springs. That request had only served to fuel my interest in him.

When I’d spoken to the distributor on the phone, they’d told me pick-up had been scheduled for Friday afternoon, so my encounter with my favorite author was imminent. At some point in the next two days, H. M. Stuart would be gracing Novel Gossip with his presence.

The high I got at the news had even buoyed me to invite Hannah out tonight. I’d been on the fence all day about whether it was a good idea or not, especially after the unintentionally intimate coffee-making lesson. Now, I was glad I had.

I walked down Main Street trying to think of intelligent things I could say to H. M. Stuart. I hoped he didn’t turn out to be a dick. But I doubted it, based on how perceptive and empathetic his characters were.

As I reached the end of Main Street and crossed over to Dockside Park, I gave up brainstorming discussion points and drank in the scene before me instead. The evening sun was still strong enough to send sparkles over the Hudson River and light the hills on the other side with a golden glow. The grassy park was a lush green. I paused as I spotted the area that had been set up for the movie night. Huh. This is a lot fancier than I was expecting.

Jenny had suggested we attend and purchased tickets for us, and Blake, in typical fashion, had just told me it was an outdoor movie night with food included. She hadn’t even been sure what movie was showing. For some reason, I’d assumed that we’d sit on picnic blankets, enjoying popcorn, pizza, and cheap wine. While I’d been surprised that the tickets were $80 each, this was Sapphire Springs’ first outdoor movie night in living memory, and I wanted to support local initiatives, so I’d forked up the cash without giving it much thought.

Now, it was clear why the tickets were so expensive. A large screen was set up near the river. In front of it were rows of small round tables covered in crisp white tablecloths with candles in the middle. Two chairs sat at each table next to each other, facing the screen. I counted four forks and four knives at each table setting. I raised my eyebrows. It looked like, instead of popcorn and pizza, we were in for a fancy four course meal. A crowd of locals milled around, chatting while waiting to be seated.

“George!” I turned to see Jenny and Blake walking up, hand in hand. Jenny, in a bright-red romper, her long blonde hair out, looked very much like the influencer she used to be. Blake wore navy chinos and a white t-shirt. They seemed happy and relaxed. I grinned. I was so glad they had found each other. Recently, seeing them together had made me think about whether I should dip my toes back in the dating pool, but work had been so busy I’d had no time to even look into it, let alone date someone.

“Hi!” I gave them both a hug. “Thanks for organizing this. It looks incredible.”

Jenny smiled. “I can’t wait! When I was working last night, Sam was telling me about the 1980s-themed cocktails she’s created to pair with the food, and they sound amazing.”

“Oh, great!” Okay, this was going to be a lot fancier than I’d expected. Sam, the bartender at River’s Edge, made a mean cocktail, and I was assuming her involvement meant that River’s Edge was doing the food as well.

Olivia and Amanda approached in the distance, and I waved them over.

“Wow! This is amazing. This would be a perfect date night. Next time I’ll drag Peter along,” Amanda exclaimed as they joined us. It was Amanda’s wedding to Peter last year that had brought Jenny and Blake together.

An uneasy feeling, the source of which I couldn’t place, washed over me, but I pushed it away.

“And here’s Hannah,” Olivia said, nodding toward Main Street.

My heart rate increased as my gaze landed on Hannah walking toward us in navy shorts that ended halfway down her thighs, a white, short-sleeved blouse, and white sneakers. Her hair, which she’d worn tied up to work today, was down. She looked stunning. Damn. She could be a model for J. Crew.

Hannah tucked a stray hair behind her ear as she scanned the growing crowd. As she spotted us, her face broke into a broad grin, and she strolled over. I focused on breathing slowly in an effort to regulate my pulse.

I’d just finished introducing her to everyone when the owner of River’s Edge, standing next to the big screen, started speaking into a microphone. “If everyone could please take their seats, we’ll be starting the event shortly. Seats are allocated. Please refer to your ticket for the seat number.”

Jenny pulled the tickets out of the back pocket of her romper and began handing them out. The unease I’d ignored earlier came rushing back, and this time, the reason was clear. As Amanda had noted, the whole set-up—white tablecloths, candles, two chairs side-by-side—looked extremely date-like. All it was missing was rose petals, and it could be a Valentine’s Day event. And, of course, given I was the only person who actually knew Hannah, it would make sense that we’d sit together. If it’d been Ben, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought—except, perhaps, to chuckle about it with him. But with Hannah, things were different.

The last two days, whenever I had a spare moment, I’d found my eyes drifting in her direction. I’d watched her interact with customers with kindness, efficiently deliver and clear away food and drinks, and talk passionately about books, her whole face lighting up with excitement. There was no point in denying that I was attracted to her. But she was also my employee, and she was married. Two very good reasons why things could go no further. And also two reasons why being seated together under romantic date night conditions was less than ideal.

On the plus side, at least it would give me an opportunity to get to know her better. She’d sent through her paperwork last night, and there was a long, unexplained gap on her CV. The last job she’d listed had been six years ago, at a French café in the West Village. I knew people took time off work for all sorts of reasons and I didn’t want to pry, especially because there’d been no red flags in the two days she’d worked with me, and quite frankly, I couldn’t be too picky at this point. But it piqued my interest.

Hannah had also gotten top marks in her undergraduate English degree at NYU, graduating summa cum laude. It surprised me that, with those results and the work ethic she would have needed to achieve them, plus the student loans she would have accrued, she wasn’t using her degree. I inwardly shook myself. Um, you’re not using your computer science degree either. Remember, George? Perhaps, just like you, she decided she didn’t want to pursue corporate life. Or maybe her husband was loaded or she had a trust fund, and she didn’t need to work. Or perhaps she had kids and had taken time off paid work to look after them. Whatever the reason, my newest employee intrigued me.

Jenny cleared her throat. “George, this is your ticket. I figured you and Hannah would sit together.”

Heat shot up my face as I reached out my hand for them. As anticipated, Hannah and I would be sharing an intimate table for two for the next few hours.

I swallowed, trying to ignore the butterflies that had started fluttering in my stomach.

“Well, should we head over?” I asked Hannah.

“Sure,” Hannah replied.

As we turned, I thought I saw Hannah’s eyes widen as she took in the scene before us in more detail.

“Do you have these movie nights often?” Hannah asked as we walked toward out table.

“No.” I grinned. “In fact, this is Sapphire Spring’s inaugural outdoor movie night. We’re making history tonight.”

Hannah’s mouth twitched. “Well, I feel very privileged to be invited to this momentous occasion.”

We reached our allocated tables and, without thinking, I pulled out Hannah’s chair and stood behind it.

Hannah shot me an amused look, her right eyebrow quirking up.

I blinked, came to my senses and stepped away, my face burning with heat. Good lord, George. You’re worried about this feeling too much like a date, and then you suddenly go all chivalrous on her. This is not the 1950’s. What had gotten into me? Hannah was more than capable of seating herself.

Rather than sitting, Hannah stepped over and pulled my chair out with a flourish. “Madame,” she said, gesturing for me to sit.

She held my gaze for a moment, her eyes twinkling, and then we burst out laughing. The feminist in me appreciated Hannah’s reaction, and I loved how she turned the whole situation into a joke.

If I could keep my uncharacteristically gallant behavior under control, perhaps the next few hours wouldn’t be as awkward as I’d feared.