“Hell, no, I’m not!” Mario veered sharply around a parked van. “She needs some help looking for a job, that’s all.”
“Yeah, sure. Listen, Mario, thanks, but no thanks. I know this is your mission in life, but I have no interest in getting taped to your dash. Forget it.”
“But I only thought-”
“Nope. Nix. Nyet. Non. Negative. Not going there, Mario. You’d better dig deep in your Bag o’ Bachelors and come up with another candidate, because I’m so not meeting the woman you picked up at the airport.”
“How can you make a statement like that? Sheesh. And I didn’t even tell you about the tuna!”
CHAPTER TWO
THE PEARSON HOTEL LOBBY wasn’t much bigger than Hannah’s living room back in Phoenix, and there were exactly two armchairs available. She probably should have guessed that her room wouldn’t be ready at eight-thirty in the morning, but she hadn’t spent much of her life in hotels and wasn’t totally familiar with the routine.
Both lobby chairs were occupied, one by an elderly man reading a newspaper and the other by a young woman filling out a job application. So Hannah stood, being careful not to jostle her duct-taped suitcase. The desk clerk had offered to keep the suitcase in a storage room, but Hannah was afraid it wouldn’t survive being manhandled by a bellhop. She hadn’t seen a bellhop, but this was a New York City hotel, so there had to be a bellhop somewhere on the premises.
Well, this was awkward. The desk clerk had predicted it might be another hour or two before a room became available. She could feel the hum of the city just beyond that lobby door, and she was desperate to get out there and take her first New York City walk.
On the drive in she’d spotted some homeless people who probably could use her tuna. At this point she could use some of that tuna, herself. The peanuts and Coke she’d had on the airplane had worn off quite a while ago. But she had no can opener and she’d also promised herself a hot pretzel from a street vendor once she hit the pavement.