Page 19 of Hannah and the Hitman
“He came all this way for you,” Mrs. Metcalf said. Clearly, she was on my team.
“I don’t even knowhisname!”
Mrs. Metcalf turned her beady gaze on me. “She does have a point, young man.”
“Jack Hollister.” I took a step closer to the circulation desk and rested my hands on it. Only a few feet away, the air shimmered with potency between us. It was like on the plane, the draw I felt toward her. It was almost… electrifying. “I do not wish to harm you, Hannah. I came here to take you to dinner. Tonight.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I have plans.”
“What plans?” I asked at the same time Mrs. Metcalf did.
“Dinner at my parents.”
I wasn’t sure if she was making that up, but it didn’t matter. Being with her mother and father weren’t what I had in mind, but murderers couldn’t be choosers.
“Then I shall go with you.”
10
The day couldn’t get any weirder. I broke my favorite mug. I was going to a dreaded dinner. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw Jack park his ridiculously expensive SUV behind mine at the curb. It was definitely the car I’d seen across the street from the library the day before. He had been stalking me!
Shifting my gaze, I looked at myself.
“He drives a fancy car,” I said aloud. “Not fancy, it’s a fuckingMaserati. He wears a suit. On a plane. In the library. He’s hot as fuck. And he wants to join a family dinner.WHY?”
I wasn’t date ready! With bent elbows, I flapped my arms like a bird, trying to air out my armpits.
Before we left the library and while Mrs. Metcalf had very happily kept him company, I’d dashed into the employee bathroom and touched up my makeup–which meant adding colored lip gloss and ensuring none of my mascara had flaked off since this morning.
My outfit was cute, but it in no way matched Jack in a suit. I was the dumpy small town girl and he was the urban Maserati driver.
Jack. JACK. OH MY GOD.
“The guy from the plane is parked behind me,” I said aloud. I squealed, trying not to panic. No one should take my blood pressure right about now.It was the guy from the plane.I still couldn’t believe he’d come up into the mountains from Denver to see me. ME. “WHY?”
I wasn’t exciting, at least not in the good way. Hell, this year had been pretty shitty. No guy wanted to take on my crazy baggage. Proof was Kevin, who bailed when the going got tough. He’d never once come to a family dinner even though he knew my mother through her work. Looking back, I was glad that he hadn’t. It would have been awful.
Tonight, might be awful, too. Jack was going to walk in my parents’ house, learn how bizarre my genes were and run right back to Denver.
A knock on my car window made me jump. There was Jack, squatting down and staring in. The corner of his mouth was tipped up as if my little pep talk amused him. I couldn’t help but stare because he was just that attractive. Dark hair that was cut short on the sides, longer on the top. Piercing gaze. Strong jaw with romance hero stubble. He was rugged, but the suit tamed him. Barely. The combination was… perfect.
And made my nipples hard. And my panties wet.
He was waiting for me.
I opened the door a few inches.
“Coming out?” he asked, his voice deep and rumbly.
I sighed, rolled my eyes. Nodded.
He stood, then backed up so I could open my door.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked in a rush when I was in front of him, adjusting my purse on my shoulder. It was better to come clean and give him the chance right now. No one inside expected him. I was doing him a favor. “I mean, I’m not sure what your family’s like, but mine is really weird. My best friend thinks I’m adopted.”
On the plane, we sat side-by-side. Now, he stood before me, and our height difference was noticeable. I came up to his nose. I wasn’t small. Hell, I was big boned. Or sturdy. Or, per Kevin, overweight. That was only accentuated by the fact that I wasn’t tall.
Jack was over six feet, broad shouldered, and he filled out a suit better than any man I’d ever seen. It was definitely custom made. He even smelled good.