his eyes off her.
Mikey led her to the table where there were six chairs. She glanced uncertainly back at Aaron, and he gave her an encouraging smile and moved to her side. “Don’t worry,” Aaron said. “No one expects you to blow them away with your acting. All of us are awful at it, aren’t we?”
Mikey gave a loud laugh that rumbled from his barrel chest. “Speak for yourself.” He turned back to Charly. “He’s awful at it. Tonight will be simple; we’ll introduce the murder and the suspects... everyone at our table, basically. The game will go on every day this week until on the last day, when all our guests will vote on who they believe the murderer to be.” Her chin dropped in sudden concern, and Mikey chuckled. “Don’t look so worried! It’ll be fantastic.”
She glanced up at Aaron and elbowed him. “What have you got me into, you brat?”
Brat? Her words probably did the opposite of what she intended. He felt himself warm up to her even more. She turned from him. Her long lashes lowered as she studied the lavishly decorated table. “This feels like one of those nightmares where I’m in a play last minute and I don’t know my lines.”
“Not at all,” Mikey reassured her hurriedly. He pushed a paper at her. “These are your lines. No memorizing needed... unless you want to.” He gave Aaron a pointed look. Mikey wanted Aaron to memorize, but he’d been a lost cause.
She opened the paper and began to scan through her lines. “Oh no, no,” Mikey said. “Don’t ruin the surprise.”
“You let me read mine,” Aaron said.
“That was before.” What was that supposed to mean? Mikey gave them all folded pieces of paper.
“Wait. Our lines are different now?” Aaron asked.
Mikey shrugged. “Now if you’ll take the seat facing the podium on the stage, I have your nametags there.”
Charly gathered her lacey skirt and sat down at the seat where THE GIRL NEXT DOOR nameplate was prominently displayed on the table. Dominic immediately sat by her, taking the seat that was tagged THE POLITICIAN. She leaned away from him. Aaron sighed. Someone would have to make sure he behaved. Aaron pushed his lines into his jacket pocket and took the other side of her.
“Oh!” Mikey said. “Not there, Aaron. You’re the private investigator; you’ll be closer to the microphone.”
“No, I’m good here.” He switched out his nameplate with the one that said THE GANGSTER in front of him. Mikey’s eyes narrowed, and he sighed, carefully rearranging the nameplates for whatever secret reason unknown to them all. Mikey ended up taking Aaron’s old chair, leaving two empty seats on either side of him. Strangely, Veronica and Darcy hadn’t shown yet.
All around them, filmmakers began to set up cameras. Charly let out a breath. “What are they doing?”
“Oh, did I not tell you there would be cameras?” Mikey chirped. “My apologies.”
She looked overwhelmed, though her dimples pushed against her cheeks as she forced a smile. “I had no idea you were so into the arts, Aaron.”
He wasn’t—not until he’d seen Mikey fall over himself in his excitement at the idea. Aaron would rather write a check to the charity and be done, but he’d never disappoint his best friend. “I didn’t choose the stage; it chose me.” He tilted his head at Mikey, who shrugged.
She broke into a giggle. “You must be good friends. My friend Mollie would totally make me do something like this. She’s a tour guide for the ghost tours.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“It is.” She straightened. “She can show us around if you like.”
“Ghosts?” Dominic asked. He watched Charlize with a lazy look that Aaron didn’t like. In fact, everything about Dominic was bothering him more than it usually did. “Will she take us to the secret tunnels beneath the hotel?” Dominic asked.
Charly hesitated then nodded. “Yeah, Mollie would take a group there. Tomorrow if you like.”
Dominic dropped his voice to a dramatic whisper, “What about a private tour?”
Not a chance. Aaron wasn’t leaving them alone. “Sounds like an excellent idea,” he cut in. “Let’s all do it. Your friend can stop us from ever sleeping comfortably here again.”
She flashed Aaron another grateful smile that made it all worth it. Her dimple was even more prominent now. Wow, he loved everything about this girl. Before he could ask her more about the tour, loud heels cracked against the ground signaling the arrival of another lady in their party.
“Ah, you’ve come!” Mikey stood at attention, as always the