As plans went, it wasn’t a bad one, but I had a bad feeling Tess wasn’t here unless Lou was holding her somewhere, away from other people. A locked room, maybe a basement.
The question was, why would he do something like that and what did he want from Tess?
If he even had her at all.
We drove a couple of blocks down and parked on the street, making sure we locked our doors before starting down the street.
Our breath made steam clouds in the frigid air. When we arrived at the house, a few people waved and smiled. Moira got out way more than I did, so the odds were they recognized her before me.
Moira headed over, shoving her hands in her coat pockets. I followed behind and let her charm them.
The first was a handsome young man with light brown eyes covered with wire spectacles and messy hair. He looked like a young scholar at a party he was being held hostage at. “Moira.” He held out a hand. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
They shook as Moira gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Tess finally managed to drag me out of the house. You haven’t seen her around, have you? I might be a little early.”
The man’s brow furrowed. “Tess?” He slowly shook his head. “I’m sorry. I haven’t been inside yet, so she might be in there. She hasn’t been outside yet.”
“I’ll check inside in a few minutes. I see a few other people I know.”
The man glanced at me. When Moira didn’t introduce us, he rolled his eyes and stuck his hand out again. “Martin,” he said. “I run a bookshop downtown. You’re the florist, right?”
“That’s right.” We shook, and I was surprised to feel callouses on the palm of his hand. Martin was more than a bookseller, wasn’t he?
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you outside the shop.”
It took everything I had not to bristle. Yes, I was not very social. No, it was not polite to point it out. “What can I say,” I said with a sheepish smile, “it’s hard to deny the comforts of home.”
To my surprise, Martin’s eyes lit up. “I agree! One of my friends dragged me out tonight. He said there’s a new guy intown that has access to some rare tomes I might be interested in.”
He rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, I have yet to see my friend or the tomes, so I’m not sure I’ll be here much longer.”
Moira was fidgeting and jerking her head toward the door. “Me neither. I won’t stay too long once we find Tess.” I thumbed at Moira. “She’s the real party animal among us.”
Moira rolled her eyes. “Well, let’s find her so we can get this old lady home.” She looped her arm through mine and tugged. “Nice to see you again, Martin.”
“You, too,” he said, but his eyes lingered on me as she dragged me away.
“Martin has the hots for you,” Moira said with an amused hiss when we were far enough away to keep him from hearing our conversation.
“Martin would be a fool to act on that,” I said quietly. “Caelan wouldn’t take kindly to anyone flirting with me.”
Moira glanced at me. “Are you okay with his influence on you?”
I blinked. “What does that mean?”
Moira shook her head. “He has eyes everywhere. If someone steps an inch over the line, he’s going to know about it.”
“I have no plans to step over the line.”
Moira snorted. “I know you won’t, but you’re a hot little commodity, and once word gets out about who your daddy is, you’re going to have man meat beating down your door.”
“If you remember, that has already happened.”
Moira’s grin held a sharp edge. “Yes, and have you noticed how abruptly that stopped?”
My steps halted. “What do you mean by that?”
She tugged me forward again. “You’re a smart girl. It’ll come to you.”
