He straightened up, keys in hand, to see a tall, gorgeous woman in front of him. He recognized her right away from her wide smile and her braided hair – after all, he’d scoped out the website for the B&B before he booked it to make sure it was the kind of place he could get some privacy, and the owners had put their photo up on the ‘About Us’ page, smiling and blissful. She looked exactly as happy here as she had there, and while Max was pleased she was welcoming, he’d been hoping to sneak inside without meeting anyone.
She stuck out her hand, offering a firm handshake. “Hi, I’m Natasha. You must be Max.”
He nodded and shook back, trying not to let his irritation at having his quiet time interrupted show on his face. “Nice to meet you.”
“We just got back ten minutes ago,” she went on, opening the front door and ushering him in. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”
He shook his head, sending out a silent plea to anyone who would listen to deliver him from the trials of making small talk. It wasn’t like he hated other people or anything – he just really liked having his time be his own, especially when he wasn’t expecting anyone else to be around.
And perhaps his prayer had been answered, because there was a tall, blond man in the corridor, his face almost obscured by the enormous pile of boxes he was carrying. From the way Natasha called out to him and his cheerful reply, it was clear that he was the co-owner of the B&B.
“I can find my way from here,” Max said, holding up the keys awkwardly, in what he supposed was an indication that he wascapable of unlocking his door. “You said that the staircase was down the end of the corridor, right?”
“Oh, I can show you up, it’s no trouble at all,” Natasha said breezily, and Max cursed inwardly. “Kieran’s just putting away some of the supplies we just picked up. He’ll be out of our way in a jiffy.”
Kieran, however, wasn’t putting away the supplies.
No – he was just staring at Max with a strange look on his face. It didn’t seem like an expression that suited him. His general demeanor a moment ago had been pretty happy-go-lucky, but now he seemed almost… guarded. Like Max potentially posed a threat.
Which he didn’t, unless you counted the threat he was going to certainly pose to the bakery’s supply of cakes, pies, and cookies. He fully intended to eat his weight in sugar while he was here.
Other than that, though, Max was mystified. He’d never experienced anything quite like this before. Sure, he was a tall guy, but he was pretty inoffensive. And Kieran certainly looked like he could look after himself.
“What’s going on, babe?” Natasha asked Kieran, looking surprised. Clearly Max’s hunch that this was out of character for him was correct.
Kieran blinked a little. It was almost like there was something he was trying to figure out about Max, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
But then he shook his head and smiled. “No, it’s nothing. I just thought for a moment you were someone I used to know.”
You’re a terrible liar,Max didn’t say, but he didn’t really care. As long as Kieran wasn’t going to hold him up with small talk trying to find out whether they’d known each other in a past life, that was the main thing.
Natasha pursed her lips. “Right. Well, if you’re done scrutinizing our guest, let’s show Max upstairs.”
Obviously she wasn’t buying Kieran’s excuse either, but she was willing to let it go for now. Grateful thatthatparticular weirdness was out of the way, Max followed Natasha and Kieran to the staircase that was tucked away down the end of the corridor.
“We’ve only just opened these rooms to the public after doing some renovations,” Natasha said, as they made their way up the stairs. “This staircase is new, and it only leads to the two rooms on your floor, so it’s nice and private.”
Private is good,Max thought.
“It’s a nice staircase,” he said out loud, making an effort to keep the conversation flowing. There was a reason why he wrote for a living, rather than doing anything that involved talking.
Apparently this was the right thing to say, though – Kieran’s pride shone through in his voice. “Thanks! We designed and built it ourselves, with some help from our friend Calvin. He managed to source us some mahogany as well, so we were able to make it exactly how we wanted.”
“I don’t know if I’d do it again, though,” said Natasha with a light laugh. “Trying to fit a staircase into a space that didn’t already have one is a challenge I’m happy to only face once.”
“We had to close the B&B down for a couple of months while we did everything,” said Kieran. “We’d gotten so used to having people here that it was really strange to have the house empty again. It’s great to have more company now.”
Maybe Max’s reticence was showing on his face, because Natasha laughed again. “Don’t mind Kieran! He’s just a big old chatterbox. You must’ve had a long drive to get here, so we’ll get out of your hair as soon as we’ve shown you to your room.”
“No, it’s no trouble,” he murmured, even as he tried to psychically project his gratitude to her. He normally wasn’t quitethisreserved, but hehadbeen on the road since 7:00 a.m. All he wanted to do was crash out for a bit.
“Here we are!” Natasha said, and Max unlocked the door.
“This used to be the attic,” Natasha continued. “We were just using it for storage, but it felt like a shame to waste it. It’s actually a really lovely space.”
“And definitely not haunted,” Kieran added.
As one, Max and Natasha turned to look at him.
