Page 28 of Just Say Yes
‘Not to worry. It’s sorted now, that’s the main thing.’
He nodded and gave a wide, friendly smile before turning around and lifting the last remaining key from a small board behind him.
‘Here you go,’ he said, handing the key to Lorcan. ‘You know where everything is.’
‘Oh! It’s my room, actually.’
The landlord looked at me and Lorcan took the key off him. ‘It’s her room, as she says.’ Then, turning to me, ‘Come on, I’ll show you up. Gerry’s got enough on his hands here.’
‘Thanks. That’s grand, Lorcan, and welcome to Ballalee, miss. I hope you enjoy your stay.’
I nodded in thanks, my throat already sore from my in-air exploits and then shouting over the noise of the bar. I’d rather not have had Lorcan O’Malley showing me to my room, but it seemed it was going to be the quickest way of getting there so I went along with it. As I reached for my case, he lifted it by the handle, then took my hand with his free one.
‘Hold on.’ With that, he headed back into the crowd, making a pathway with his broad shoulders. I gratefully followed in his wake until we got to the other side of the pub and the bottom of some narrow stairs.
‘Ladies first.’ He quirked a brow as I glanced up at him, his face still inscrutable, the smile he’d had for his friends – and earlier for me – now nowhere to be seen. The man he’d been on the plane, kind, patient and calming, had disappeared behind a distant exterior. I knew I was probably partly responsible for that but I couldn’t help it. I was tired, embarrassed and out of my comfort zone with the feelings his platonic attention had caused and unfortunately Lorcan had got the brunt of my reaction earlier in the car.
The stairs creaked and groaned as I mounted them, looking at the old black and white pictures decorating the walls as I did so. Images of the village centuries ago showed that, from what I’d seen on the drive in, it had changed very little in all that time.
‘Sorry,’ I said, realising I was probably keeping Lorcan from his friends.
‘No problem.’
I continued up the stairs. I could look at the rest of them tomorrow when I didn’t have an unnerving Irishman behind me.
‘This is you,’ he said, pointing to a door at the end of a corridor so narrow I had to flatten myself against the wall as Lorcan stepped forward. He was already having to stoop. These places certainly weren’t built for men of his size. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, signalling for me to go in first before following me in.
‘It’s beautiful,’ I said, looking around, unable to stop the smile I turned to Lorcan with. The room was in a cosy cottage style, with an overstuffed armchair in one corner, an inviting-looking bed dressed with a handmade quilt, all lit with a soft glow from the single bedside lamp the owners had left on. It felt welcoming, homely and perfect.
Lorcan merely nodded and I reined in my own smile. ‘Well, thank you for bringing the case up. You should go back to your friends now.’
He took a step towards me, his eyes locked onto mine, dark in the intimately lit room. His hand reached out and gently took my arm, sliding down until his hand circled my wrist. I wanted to pull away, tell him his Irish charm might work on everyone else in the village, from the reactions I’d seen so far, but I was immune to it. But I couldn’t. Images of him being so attentive on the plane, holding my hair, rubbing my back, telling me I was safe, swam around my traitorous mind. His hand momentarily tightened around my wrist and my heart sped up, before he continued, taking my hand tenderly in his. He bent, close to my ear, his warm breath sending sparks of fire throughout my body.
‘This is yours,’ he whispered as I felt cold, hard metal in my hand. The key.
Lorcan stood back straight, only able to do so in the middle of the room where the pitch was highest. He gave a wicked smile as if he could read my thoughts and I could have kicked myself. But only after I’d kicked him first. At least once.
‘Thank you,’ I said, pretending he’d had no effect whatsoever and, by the look on his face, utterly failing. ‘If you don’t mind leaving now, I’d like to get some rest. Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight, Maddie.’
I was already turning away and attending to my luggage when the door closed and I sank down onto the bed, giving my heart rate time to return to normal once again. Lorcan O’Malley was good-looking – that was, unfortunately, undisputable. But I needed this job – with no complications. Especially not in the form of dark, dangerously sexy Irishmen.
10
I shook my head, as if to shake out the ridiculous feelings that had flooded my body at his touch, and unzipped my suitcase. Having packed light, I was organised, showered and in my pyjamas fifteen minutes later. The noise of the pub drifted up through the rafters, but I didn’t mind. There was something soothing about it, rather than annoying. Grabbing my hairbrush, I began to sort out the tangles my hair had accumulated whipping in the wind as we’d gone to collect the hire car. A few ouches and winces later, I’d got them all out and the brush glided through the hair I’d carefully straightened after my shower this morning. Suddenly that all seemed such a long time ago. Perhaps I was more tired than I thought. The day had certainly had its trying moments. I sat down on the bed and sank back into its wonderfully soft comfort just as my stomach gave a loud growl. I’d only had a juice for breakfast and then ruined my good intentions by the hot chocolate and slice of cake but, as it was, that hadn’t stayed in my system all that long anyway so I reckoned I could probably discount those calories. Suddenly I was starving but, glancing at the time on my phone, I knew the kitchen would be closed, plus there was the small fact I was now wearing Snoopy pyjamas and it wasn’t exactly the sort of place that did room service. My stomach let out another loud, complaining grumble and I curled up into a ball, hoping to be able to ignore the pangs long enough to get to sleep.
A knock at the door made me jump and I stared at it for a moment before reaching out for the light, pushing myself back up from the bed and padding over to the door. I turned the key and pulled it open a crack to find Lorcan on the other side.
‘I thought you might be hungry.’ He indicated the plate he held in one hand that had the most mouth-watering-looking sandwich on it.
‘Oh!’ Manners kicked in. ‘Thank you.’ I pulled the door open further, hiding myself behind it as he entered, putting the sandwich and a large, steaming mug on the desk that stood to one side of the window. ‘There’s a chamomile tea there too. Soothes the nerves and should help you sleep.’
See? This was what was so damn annoying about the man. One minute he was a teasing, full-of-himself pain in the arse and the next minute he did something thoughtful and caring.
‘Thank you. That was very kind.’
‘I’ve also changed the cake-tasting to the afternoon. I didn’t think, after today, you’d much feel like doing that at ten o’clock in the morning. Calum is going to meet us at the castle on Sunday now we’re not rushing.’
