Page 95 of Better Luck Next Time

“What?” Adalia asked.

“Hidden doors,” the man repeated slowly. “Someone could stash a body literallyanywhere. I saw it on the news. The big plant room. The pool table room. The dining rooms. They’re everywhere.” His eyes grew wider as he spoke, although from his tone, it was unclear whether he feared that the mustached man was truly a murderer or if he’d been considering the possibility of hiding a body himself.

“Robert,” the woman next to him snapped. “Those doors lead toother rooms. You can’t very well hide a body in the butler’s pantry.”

Adalia leaned closer and said in a near-whisper, “I don’t know. I’ve seen enough true crime Lifetime movies to know it’s actually possible.”

The man’s mouth formed an O, and he turned to stare at the front of the line. “Which guy did you say was the ax murderer?”

“He’s already gone inside,” Finn said.

The man and woman whispered between themselves—something about visiting the shops and gardens before circling back to the house—and left the line a couple of minutes later.

Finn leaned into her ear. “We’re two people closer to the entrance now. I’m not sure if I should be impressed by your skills or frightened of them.”

“It was an unintended consequence.” She glanced up at him, their faces inches apart. “And you should be both.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Did you really learn that watching Lifetime movies?”

She lifted a brow. “I’m a woman of mystery, Mr. Hamilton. Stick around and find out.”

“Trust me,” he said in a husky voice. “I intend to.”

A shiver ran down her back, pooling in her core. If she didn’t want to see the house so very much, and with him, she would suggest that they skip the line and return to his place to do scandalous things.

They played ‘Who are you?’ with a few more people, Finn making his characters more and more ghastly. Adalia knew it was because of her earlier statement, and she loved it. She’d only told a few other people about her game. A few had called it ridiculous, others had made a half-hearted attempt to play, and one person had even called it mean-spirited, which wasn’t at all her intent. They weren’t talking about the people they chose, not really. It was about imagination. Aboutcreating. And she did think Finn was a creator, whatever he said. He liked building something out of nothing, or using an existing foundation to make a much taller building. She even saw it in his approach to the game. He seemed to get more into it with each new round.

They finally made it inside, and Adalia was instantly blown away by the architecture and grandeur. A staff member was taking photos of the visitors, which they were told they could pick up later (probably for an obscene price), and Adalia and Finn exchanged a look and shrugged.

They posed pointing at each other’s shirts, making wide, cheesy grins.

“Make sure they can see your fanny pack,” he said through his smile.

“Only if your bro bag is on full display,” she insisted.

The attendant gave them the slip of paper to claim their photos, and they moved along.

When she discovered there was a travelingDownton Abbeycostume exhibit, she was giddy with excitement. The house was memorable all on its own, full of paintings and sculptures, of design choices both inspired and hideously ugly, but she eagerly sought out the costume displays, Finn watching her with a strange look on his face. Almost like he was trying to soak in her reactions to everything. To soakherin. She read every placard from the costume exhibits aloud to him, and since she’d seen every season ofDownton Abbey, she explained the context for each particular costume.

“That’s the dress Lady Sybil wore when she seduced Tom the chauffeur…”

“Sounds like a soap opera,” he said with a grin.

“That’s because it was,” she said, giving him a playful whap. “A glorious one with fancy costumes and stodgy accents.”

There was no dungeon, of course, but there was an underground bowling alley and pool, plus a basement kitchen. They kept pointing out locations someone could use to hide a body.

“That cabinet looks big enough,” Adalia said, pointing to one in the kitchen.

“It would have to be a small woman,” Finn said with a contemplative look. “It’s too small to fit a man’s body.”

The family behind them looked startled, and the mother steered her tandem stroller in a wide arc to get around them.

“I bet I could stuffyourbody in there,” Adalia said, trying to stifle a smile.

“Really?” he said with a grin. “Too bad we’ll never know since it’s roped off.”

She gave him a playful look. “Rules are made to be broken, you know…”

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