There was a drift of citrus aftershave and a door opened and shut behind her. A cool hand brushed the top of her arm and she spun around. Liv recognized the man immediately.

Marlon wore a tweed waistcoat, a pink tie and a gold hoop through his ear. His auburn beard looked more orange in real life. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else for a moment.”

Liv smiled. “Essie Starling? You’re supposed to be meeting her.”

“Yes,” he said. “How do you—”

“I’m Liv.” She held out her hand.

As he shook it, Marlon’s eyes flicked to her lapel. “Marvelous. Great to meet you.”

Liv deftly unpinned the badge and slipped it back onto the table. “Just making sure it fastens properly,” she said. “Essie likes me to test these things.”

“I bet she does. How was your journey?”

“Fabulous, thanks. On time, and very smooth. And they served hot nuts with the ice cream in business class.” She had been dying to tell someone about that extravagance.

“I love airplane food, too. Can’t get enough of those tiny toothpastes. I have a full collection of eye masks.” Marlon smiled at her for a few beats too long. “So, is Essie around?” he said.

Liv pulled a sympathetic face and hoped it wasn’t too dramatic. “She’s not feeling too well. I’m afraid we won’t see her tonight.”

Marlon frowned. “Oh, that’s bad news. What’s wrong?”

Liv hadn’t planned what excuse to make. She rubbed between her eyebrows.

“A migraine?” he deciphered and stroked his beard. “How awful. I have some little aromatherapy samples that might help. I could pop up to see her...”

“No,” Liv blurted.

Marlon’s eyes widened.

“She needs to rest.”

“Yes, of course you’re right. We need her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow. The book festival’s always hectic. Remind her to be on the stand at 10:30 a.m., will you? Meg wants her to meet some bigwig overseas publishers. And then there’s the big dinner.”

“Dinner?” Liv said, as if the other things weren’t enough. “Big?”

“It’s a fancy annual thing. Essie will be the guest of honor. She’s turned down invitations for the past umpteen years, so everyone’s excited she’s joining us.”

Liv’s legs felt even weaker.

Marlon placed a hand on her forearm. “You’re doing a great job, coaxing her out of her cave. Whatever magic you’re casting, it’s working wonders.”

She mumbled that it was nothing.

“Shall we grab a beer together? Have you eaten?” he said.

Although she was starving, Liv wanted to get back to the safety of the suite. Gilding the truth was proving exhausting. “No, sorry,” she said. “Essie has things she wants me to do.”

“Well, tell your boss I said hi. I hope she feels better soon. Are you heading back to the lobby?”