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weird, but good-looking.”
“I’ll just go show him to his room,” I said, walking toward the parlor.
She grabbed the back of my shirt. “Oh, you’re not leaving me alone in here. I’m coming too.”
“Okay, but let’s hurry. I want to hear if they’re talking to each other again.” I motioned for her to step up the pace.
Liam stood at the front door with his arms folded in front of his muscular chest. Nicolas was nowhere in sight. I’d half expected to find them crossing swords right there in the foyer. Liam grabbed his bag when he saw me.
“It’s just up on the third floor,” I offered.
I was probably asking for trouble by putting them in adjacent rooms.
We made our way up the stairs. I led the way and Annabelle followed behind like the caboose. This guy probably wondered why he needed two women to escort him to his room. A familiar smell circled me as I moved up the steps, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was the aroma coming from Liam? Spicy and warm, with a hint of something else.
We moved past Nicolas’ room. The door was closed, but no noise came from inside. At the end of the hall, we reached the room I’d picked out for Liam. Annabelle stood back as I opened the door. Liam walked through and set his bag down on the hardwood floor.
“Please let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you. You’ve been a gracious host. I’d like to apologize if things seemed awkward downstairs.” He leaned against the tall bed post.
“I wasn’t going to say anything, but…” Well, since he’d brought it up first—“Are you sure you’ve never met Mr. Marcos before? Because it really seems like you have.”
“No. I don’t know him,” he said matter-of-factly. “Some men just feel threatened, I suppose.”
Talk about cryptic. I huffed in frustration. Soon enough I’d be rid of both of them and could put this weird encounter behind me for good.
“Like I said, I’m here if you need anything.” I stepped out of the room more confused than ever.
After leaving Liam, Annabelle and I passed Nicolas’ door. We exchanged a glance. The door was now open.
“It wouldn’t hurt to take a peek and see what he’s doing in there, would it?” I asked.
I poked my head in and looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of place. But where was Nicolas?
“You can’t spy on your guests,” Annabelle said as she moved closer. She spoke the words but didn’t look as if she meant them.
“He’s not in there,” I whispered. “Let’s just take a little look.”
“Are his bags gone?” she asked.
“I don’t see them. Do you think he left for good?” Why did my stomach sink with the thought?
Annabelle stepped into the room. “After that breakfast I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“But he didn’t even pay me yet.” I peered out the window at the river. Unlike yesterday, the water was perfectly still.
Annabelle shook her head. “People can be so nasty,” she said with disgust in her voice. “You should insist Liam give you a straight answer. It’s like my mother always says, nagging works. If you nag him long enough maybe he’ll cough up the details.”
Annabelle’s adoptive mother was over-the-top pushy.
“I can’t nag my guests. That’s a quick way to get a bad review. Do you have any idea how hard it is to recover from a bad review?”
Pluto had appeared next to me, the sight strangely comforting. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of days. The cat looped through my legs, then rubbed his face against my pants. Apparently he hadn’t heard about my cooking and wanted to be fed.
She nodded. “I guess you have a point.”
“And if Nicolas Marcos is gone for good, there’s no point in wasting our energy worrying about him, right?”

Chapter Eight
 
“I have to get to work,” I said as I put the last of the dishes in the washer. “I never thought about leaving strangers alone in the house. It’s creepy.”
“Well, that’s the only thing creepy about this whole situation, right?” Annabelle said