Kate Hoffmann - A Fare To Remember

She gazed at him dreamily. “Something like that.”

“I’m not quitting my job, Hannah.”

“You should.” She covered a yawn. “You’re a fantastic kisser.”

HANNAH KNEW SHE NEEDED sleep when she started babbling things that were better left unsaid. Fortunately, before Zach could ask her what she meant about quitting his job because of the way he kissed, which must have made her sound like a lunatic, a horn bleated right beside them.

“That would be Mario.” Zach kept his arm around her as he guided her over to the waiting cab. “Time to get you to bed.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She was tired, but not that tired. She wanted a bed, all right, and Zach in the middle of it. It wasn’t going to happen, not tonight, at least. That was for the best. She intended to be in New York for the rest of her life. She didn’t have to have sex on her very first night. Their outstanding kiss was memorable enough.

“Hi, Mario,” she said as Zach handed her elegantly into the backseat of the cab. “Thanks for picking us up.”

“Glad to do it.” Mario’s wide grin was reflected in the rearview mirror. “Whatcha been up to?”

“Zach took me for Thai food.”

“Nice.”

“It was nice.” Zach got in and closed the door. “But this woman’s exhausted.”

Mario chuckled, obviously in a very good mood. “Tried to do everything in one day, did you, Hannah?”

“Sort of. Zach’s going to teach me how to whistle for a taxi.” She settled back against the seat with gratitude.

“You know, New York Survival Skills 101,” Zach said as he climbed in beside her. “But not tonight. She’s had enough for one day.”

“Right.” Hannah had sort of hoped Zach would put his arm around her after he climbed in, but he didn’t. She could understand it, though. It wasn’t as if they were going to make out in the back of Mario’s cab.

But then Mario took off with his usual speed, throwing her into Zach’s lap. “Whoops.” She reached for the armrest to steady herself, but Mario whipped around another corner and she was thrown against Zach again.

This time Zach wrapped his arm around her and held on. “I’d forgotten that the ride is wilder in the backseat,” he murmured.

“No problem.” She was grateful for Mario’s driving if it meant being close to Zach for the trip back to her hotel.

“How’d the tuna go over?” Mario asked.

“Some liked it and some didn’t.” Hannah paused to see if Zach would add anything, but he stayed silent, letting her control the conversation. She gave him points for that. “One guy said the can would make a good puck for street hockey,” she said.

Mario laughed and shook his head. “It takes all kinds. And that doesn’t mean he won’t eat the stuff after he’s banged the can around for a while. You did a good deed, bringing the tuna.”

“Most definitely,” Zach said.

Life didn’t get much better than this, cruising through the heart of Manhattan, tucked against Zach Evans while both Zach and Mario agreed that her tuna was a good idea. She’d anticipated loving a lot of things in New York, but she’d never imagined a cab ride would be near the top of her list. Or that a kiss would rank higher than a view from the top of the Empire State Building.

“Here we are.” Mario pulled up in front of the Pearson.

“I’ll just see her to the door,” Zach said.

Mario nodded. “I’ll wait.”

Hannah considered protesting, but she really did want Zach to walk her to the door. Even with Mario there, Zach might give her a quick kiss. He might not, but unless he walked her to the door, there was no chance.

“Thanks for a great evening,” she said.

“It was fun. I just thought of something. Do you have an interview tomorrow morning?”

“No, fortunately. The first one’s at two. I’ll have time to get some different clothes.”

“I’ll only have about an hour at lunch, so-”

She met his gaze. “You don’t have to do this. I can shop on my own.”

“I want to. We can meet at a coffee stand run by a friend of mine.” He pulled out another business card from his wallet and scribbled an address on the back of it. “I’ll be there about noon.”

“Then so will I.” She took the card and smiled at him. “Thank you, Zach. For everything.”

“I had a great time.” He reached up and tucked a daisy more securely into her hair. “See you tomorrow.”

“You bet. Bye, Zach.” It looked like he wouldn’t kiss her, after all. Well, she could live with that. She turned toward the door.

“Hannah.” He caught her by the shoulders and spun her around. His kiss was softer and sweeter than the first one, but because it was unexpected, it still took her breath away.

“Tomorrow,” he said with a tiny smile. Then he walked back to the cab and got into the front seat with Mario.

Heart thudding, she watched the cab pull away and followed the zigzag path of its red taillights until she couldn’t distinguish them from the others going down the street. Finally, taking a deep breath, she pulled the lapels of Zach’s coat closer together and started toward the front door.

Zach’s coat! She hadn’t thought to give it back to him. And being the considerate guy he was, he hadn’t asked. But that meant that he didn’t have her cell phone number if he should need to cancel tomorrow’s shopping trip.

Then Hannah smiled to herself. After that quick kiss, she didn’t think he’d cancel. She thought he might be as eager to see her as she was to see him.

What a coincidence that Mario’s networking contact had turned out to be a guy who seemed so right for her. That was amazing, considering the millions of people living here. Then again, what if it hadn’t been pure coincidence? She remembered the pictures on Mario’s dash. They’d all been couples. What if…no, that was too crazy, even for a place like New York City.

MARIO ARCHED BOTH EYEBROWS as he glanced over at Zach. “Dinner, huh?”

“Yeah, and I’d thank you not to gloat about it. This was a matchmaking deal from the beginning, wasn’t it?”

Mario cut in front of a limo. “Maybe.”

“Just as I thought. And you swore it wasn’t.” Considering how the evening had turned out, Zach couldn’t get very upset.

“All’s fair in love and war.”

Zach sighed. “Yeah, you win. She’s hot, and I’m…attracted to her. I won’t deny it. But she’s a dreamer. I don’t see her lasting more than a few days in this town.”

“Really? How come?”

“Here’s a prime example. After dinner we ran into my boss, and just like that, she thinks I should quit my job.”

“So you can get another one that pays better? Because so help me, if this is yet another woman after money, then I’m hanging up my-”

“No, she’s not another Adrienne. She’s the exact opposite of Adrienne, in fact. She wasn’t the least bit worried about the consequences if I quit. She just thinks I should get far away from Drake Medford. Never mind that I could end up on a street corner selling pencils.”

“You wouldn’t do that, would you? Quit, I mean.” Mario sounded worried.

“Not in a million years.”

“That’s good. Quitting your job is not a wise move.”

“I know that, but she doesn’t.”

“Ah, she’s new in town. She doesn’t know how tough it is to make a living here. She’ll wise up.” Mario landed on the horn as someone dared to swing in front of him. “Were you able to help her get any interviews?”

“We’ll see. The person with the best contact happens to be Ed.”

“Ah. And you don’t want to ask him for help.”

“Come on, Mario, would you?”

“Probably not. Maybe she’ll do fine without that contact. I take it you’re going to see her again?”

“We’re meeting at noon at Iris’s coffee stand.” Zach told Mario about the sage and the sprinkler incident. “I’m going to try to steer her toward more subdued stuff. I think she’ll interview better if her clothes aren’t so bright.”

Mario smiled. “I kind of like that about her.”

“Me, too. But I think she’ll have a better chance if she looks more like a New Yorker.” Zach pulled out money as they cruised to a stop in front of his apartment building.

“Nope.” Mario held up his hand. “My treat.”

“Hey, you have to stop doing this. You’ll go broke.”

Mario adjusted his Giants cap. “Don’t worry about it. I could quit tomorrow and be fine.”

“I suppose if you were careful, you could.” The thought had never occurred to Zach. “I figured you drove a cab because you wanted a bigger nest egg for retirement.”

“Nah. I love the job.” His cell phone rang. “Gotta go. Keep me informed, okay?”

“Sure, Mario. And if I didn’t, you’d probably find a way to tail me, knowing you.” With a grin, he climbed out of the cab.

So Mario loved his job. Zach envied him. These days he dreaded going into the office, especially tomorrow, when he’d be moving into Ed’s spot. Maybe he should take Hannah’s advice and quit. Then he could follow Mario’s example and drive a cab.

MARIO USED HIS HANDS-FREE device to answer his cell phone. He knew who it was. He’d called Iris on his way over to pick up Zach and Zach’s mysterious companion. She was probably dying to know who it had been.

“So? Who was he with?” She spoke in her normal tone because she was using the phone in her apartment instead of her cell.

“It was Hannah, the woman I’m trying to set him up with.”

“Bueno! But you don’t sound very happy, amigo.”

“Well, I hope I didn’t make a serious mistake this time. I wanted her to slow him down some, get him to smell the roses, but instead this woman’s advising him to quit his job! I’d hoped he’d fall in love, not end up in the poorhouse.”

“See what can happen when you go messing with people’s lives?” There was no bite to her comment, though.

“Ah, it’ll probably be okay. Zach’s too sensible to do something so irresponsible.” Mario heard a whistle and eased over to the curb.

“He is sensible, that one.”

“You’ll get a look at the two of them together tomorrow. They’re coming by the coffee stand at noon.”

“Will you be there?” Iris sounded as if she’d like that.

“Not right then. I have to sleep sometime. But I’ll see you early, like usual.”

“Bueno.”

Mario savored the wealth of enthusiasm in that two-syllable answer. One of these nights he should just take the evening off and ask her out. But he hadn’t dated in a while. A long while. He was chicken. “Got a fare. See you later.”

HANNAH HAD TAKEN THE TIME to wash out her yellow sundress and hang it to dry before going to bed. She’d originally liked the dress and it was collecting some amazing memories, but she was the kind of girl who enjoyed changing her look. She could hardly wait to get some new duds. At least the warm sunshine felt great on her bare arms and shoulders.

Carrying Zach’s coat over her arm, she stepped off the bus within half a block from the address Zach had given her. The sound of Latina music made her homesick for Arizona as she walked over to the source of the music, the coffee stand where Zach had promised to meet her. The olive-skinned woman running it was doing a brisk business.

Whatever she was serving smelled delicious, and Hannah decided to buy something for both her and Zach, since she was a little early and he hadn’t arrived yet. They wouldn’t have time for a real meal, and she wanted to treat him to some food after all the help he’d been. She had another reward in mind for later on, if all went well. The hotel had decided to give her a suite, and she felt the urge to share it.

She stood in line and finally came face-to-face with the woman working there. “What smells so good?” she asked.

The woman smiled, revealing beautiful white teeth. Her colorful earrings jangled as she nodded enthusiastically. “Everything, señorita.”

“Ah. Habla español?” Hannah felt more at home every minute. Some of her best friends in Phoenix were Hispanic and she’d soaked up the language.

“Sì!” The woman seemed delighted to discover another Spanish speaker, and before long they were chattering away.

Once names were exchanged, Iris became even friendlier, and in about thirty seconds Hannah figured out that she’d been expected at the coffee stand. Even more interesting, Mario had been the one to alert Iris. The two seemed to know Zach very well, and Hannah’s suspicions grew. She tried to think of the Spanish word for what she wanted to ask, but couldn’t.

Finally she decided to switch to English. “Iris, does Mario like to play matchmaker?”

Iris clapped her hand over her mouth and her cheeks got very pink.

Hannah stared at her. “He does.” Suddenly all that had happened made perfect sense.