Adam paced the length of the porch. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Why hadn’t he just told her the truth when she’d confronted him about the conversation she’d overheard?
“So she thought I was you,” Jordan said. “She thought I was Nathaniel Quinn.”
Adam stopped at the swing and laced his hands behind his neck. “I’m sorry. I know that wasn’t fair to you.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Jordan had come up on the porch. “That’s probably the only reason she went out with me. Talk about a blow to the ego.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Don’t worry; my self-esteem can handle it. So you told her the truth, and she obviously didn’t take it well.”
“I didn’t tell her. She—she found out before I got around to it.”
He’d literally been minutes from revealing his identity. Although technically he had ended up telling her the truth. In Italian.
He shook his head. All those things he’d said to her . . . His face went hot. He was such an imbecile, thinking he was so clever, telling her what was in his heart. She’d known what he’d been saying all along. Had his words meant anything to her? Or had she only been patronizing him all this time?
“That’s unfortunate,” Jordan said. “Are you all right?”
“Not really.” He’d made her cry. Just last night he’d been ready to throat-punch the guy who’d made her cry, and today he’d put the tears in those eyes. He deserved a beating.
“Want me to talk to her?”
He faced Jordan, hands on hips. “And say what? This isn’t a contract clause you can negotiate or a bad title we can replace. I lied to her. She has every right to be angry with me.”
“Technically . . . You just let her believe what she wanted to believe.”
He flinched. “Technicalities only matter in contracts. This isn’t business, this is a relationship.” One that had been on the precipice of something more than friendship—at least he’d thought it had been. Maybe it was time to be honest with his friend about that too. Why not? Everything else was on the table now.
“Jordan . . .” He drew a deep breath and forced his eyes to meet his friend’s. “I have feelings for Molly.” There. He’d said it.
Jordan smirked. “You don’t say.”
“I know I should’ve—Wait, you knew?”
“Not till last night, if I’m honest. Then today, Molly seemed pretty distracted. I got the feeling she was going to friend-zone me, but then my mom called, and Molly went inside and . . . What happened in there anyway?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Do you think she’ll keep quiet? I should probably talk to her about signing a nondisclosure agreement.”
Funny, Adam hadn’t even considered that. “I thought you wanted my identity revealed.”
“Not like this.”
“That’s the least of my worries right now.”
Jordan’s brows rose. “Really. Because it kind of seemed like the most important thing in the world to you yesterday.”
“Yeah . . .” Adam said, still reeling from everything that had just happened. “That was yesterday.”
* * *
Molly blotted her face with a tissue. After leaving Adam and Jordan on the porch she’d gone up to her room. Levi had been on the phone, making it easy to slip past.
She powdered her face to help cover her blotchy skin and used eye drops to get rid of the redness. But it wouldn’t work if she kept tearing up like this. Darn it.
The vacuum cleaner came on down the hall. She was glad Grace was busy cleaning Jordan’s room. Glad Jordan had already checked out. Maybe he’d be gone by the time she went downstairs to take her shift. Please, God.
But Adam would still be here. She’d have to face him every day. How would she do it? She was so stupid! She’d trusted him. How had she not seen the truth? How had he so blithely let her believe Jordan was Nathaniel Quinn? What was his deal anyway?
She was swearing off men until she figured out why she let herself be so easily duped. Was she just a magnet for con artists?
She balked at the slur. No matter how angry she was with Adam right now, he wasn’t a con artist. Dominic, yes, con artist. But there was something else going on with Adam.
However, it wasn’t her problem. He wasn’t her problem. Her eyes stung again, but she blinked away the tears.
A quick glance at the clock showed it was a couple minutes after noon, so she headed downstairs to take her shift. She’d keep busy and refuse to think about Adam.
When she came downstairs Levi was looking inside the bag she’d left on the flower stand. “What’s this?”
She glanced out the window, relieved that Jordan’s car was gone. Adam’s too. “I guess Jordan forgot them.”
She slipped behind the desk. “How are we looking for the weekend?”
“Great. We’re full up.”
“Great.”
He studied her a long moment, his keys jingling in his hand. “Everything all right?”
“Just peachy.”
He looked toward the porch, then back to her. “You seemed upset earlier. You guys have a fight? Do I need to beat somebody up?”
“Just me,” she mumbled. After all, she was the idiot who kept believing people’s lies.
“What?”
“Never mind. Everything’s fine. I’m good. I’ve got things covered here if you need to go somewhere.”
She busied herself by checking the reservations, waiting for Levi to head out. He’d warned her about getting too close to guests, and he was probably fixing to remind her. He’d been right, after all. She hated to admit it to herself, and she sure wasn’t going to admit it to him.
She focused on the screen and made note of the special requests for tonight—extra pillows and a crib. She sent a text to Grace, asking her to fulfill those requests while she was upstairs.
“You’re sure you’re all right?” Levi was still teetering on the threshold. Maybe he wasn’t going to throw her mistake in her face.
The warmth she felt for him just then produced a convincing smile. “I’m fine, Levi. Really.” Or she would be. Eventually.