Page 55 of Just Say Yes
‘Now that’s a shame.’ Lorcan’s eyes sparkled and Calum immediately turned his laughter into a poorly executed cough. There didn’t seem to be any form of fibbing he excelled at, which was sweet but not helpful in this exact moment.
I gave a sigh to show how unimpressed I was with Lorcan’s infantile humour before continuing. ‘But I would like to see the view.’
‘That’s a shame. It’s currently closed to visitors.’
‘Calum was about to show me, so it’s obviously not, and I’m pretty sure he knows more about this place, and has more authority than you do over who sees what.’
‘Umm…’ Calum began but I was on a roll.
‘So if I want to see it, which I do, then I should be able to. Not to mention it’s my responsibility to know as much as possible about the venue so that I can do my job to the best of my ability.’
‘Is that so now?’
‘It is,’ I said, standing as tall as I could and cursing my injury and my consequent lack of heels, which would have reduced the amount that Lorcan O’Malley with his dark, brooding looks could tower above me. He bent a little closer until his mouth was close to my ear and I could feel the warmth of his breath as his voice, soft, deep and lilting in my ear, whispered.
‘And here I was thinking you were just being nosy.’ He grinned as he stood back to his full six feet five.
‘You’re such a—’
‘I have no doubt that I am whatever you’re about to call me,’ he interrupted as he took my hand. ‘Come on.’
‘Where?’
‘You want to see the view or not?’
‘It would be helpful, yes.’
‘But I thought you said I couldn’t take her?’ Calum said.
‘Only because she’s not supposed to be tramping about on that leg and if you did this, she might thump you, and I reckon she’s probably got a good left hook.’
‘Did what?’
‘This,’ Lorcan said, sweeping me up against his chest, this time without asking.
‘Lorcan! Put me down,’ I said, pushing at his shoulder and giving it a frustrated punch when he wouldn’t.
‘See what I mean?’ he stated, before turning his head to meet mine. Up at his level, our faces were suddenly close and I noticed the scar above his right eyebrow and a deeper one to the side of his mouth that was hidden when he smiled. Right now though, his face was serious and focused fully on mine. ‘Now, do you want to see the views or not?’
I glared at him in reply. ‘Put. Me. Down.’ My teeth were gritted but the words were clear.
‘If you do want to see them, I’ll take you. If you don’t, then I’ll put you down and we can go back to the pub, assuming your business here is concluded for the day.’
‘I’m not letting you carry me all the way out there!’
‘Jesus, woman. I’m not planning to! I’ll be needing to see the doc myself if I do that.’
‘Oi!’ I gave him another thump, this time with more feeling.
‘To be fair, you deserved that one,’ Calum said, his arms folded across his chest.
‘Look. We’re all getting older by the minute here. What do you want to do?’
What I wanted to do was walk out with some dignity, preferably over an unconscious Lorcan O’Malley, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen.
‘The views are beautiful,’ Calum added. ‘It’d be a shame to miss them as you’re here and it’s such a good day. Believe me, people have stayed for a fortnight and not had one day as beautiful as today.’
I took a deep breath and then nodded.
