Hannah and the Hitman

Chapter 6

6

HANNAH

I walked out of the library with Mrs. Metcalf as she told me all about the community nature walk she was going on tonight. Organized by the city, the group was headed to Mallory Cave to watch the bats fly out at sunset to eat their weight in mosquitos and do whatever the heck bats did at night.

“You sure you don’t want to go?” she asked, pulling her sunglasses from her purse. It was a bright, cloudless day. “It’s open to all ages.”

I locked the main library door, then turned. “No thanks.” I went once as a kid with my family, but we’d been asked to leave since Briana tried climbing into the cave and Perry wouldn’t stop talking. “Mosquitos love me. I’d be covered in bug bites in five minutes. Plus, I’ve got a new book.”

She didn’t put up a fight about me wanting to spend the evening reading, or the mosquitos. As a fellow librarian, she understood the power of a cozy couch, sweats, snacks, and an amazing story. I read fast and would be finished before I went to sleep, no matter how late the hour.

“What’s the title?”

Turning from the building, I tucked my library keys inside the little pocket in my purse as we went down the walk. “ Alien’s Runaway Bride .”

I glanced up and across the street. Squinting against the sun’s glare, I saw a fancy SUV with… I blinked. What? No. For a second, I thought it was the man from the plane last week, but there wasn’t anyone in the car.

“–only imagine that plot.” I hadn’t heard half of what Mrs. Metcalf had said. “I’m more of a cozy mystery reader myself, as you know, but you’ll have to let me know how it is. I might borrow it.”

Thinking I saw the middle seat-sitting fake billionaire romance reader set my heart to racing. Suddenly, it was very warm out.

“Hannah?”

I blinked, then pasted on a smile when I realized I’d pretty much frozen in place. “Sorry, I can’t wait to dive into that book.” My voice was high and strained with fake enthusiasm. My reaction to a random parked car was really sad. For a second, I had been blissfully hopeful it had been the guy from the plane. That he’d come through with saying he’d stop into the library, which I knew he’d only said as polite conversation.

If he had shown up, I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or scared. This wasn’t a romance book, it was real life. Mr. Middle Seat wasn’t going to show up in Coal Springs any more than I was going to be matched to a doubly-endowed alien and sent to space and have all kinds of hot sex.

I sighed. Brittany and the box of wine last week only got me stewing on thoughts that weren’t true. I needed to get my head out of the clouds and back to reality. Sometimes, life sucked. Boyfriends cheated and dumped you when you had a serious health issue. Medical bills stole savings and derailed dreams of opening a bookstore.

I had to keep moving forward. Healthy, but very single. No men from airplanes, only living vicariously through a heroine sent to space where she’d be a perfect match for a possessive and sexually-talented alien. She’d have no health issues other than walking funny after being double penetrated all night long. Debt? What was that? Who needed money in space?