Page 66 of Just Say Yes
‘The wedding.’
‘Oh. Yeah. Right. Sorry. I’m sure I will. And Calum can’t stop raving about you. I’ve already had four messages from him singing your praises.’
‘Aah, that’s very kind of him. He’s lovely.’ I paused for a moment, considering what I was about to say and decided just to say it. ‘I can see why you hired him.’
We rolled to a stop at a red light in a small town as two nuns crossed the road in front of us. There was something slightly surreal about the scene, and for a moment I forgot the conversation I’d begun.
‘What do you mean?’ Lorcan was studying me. ‘Hired him?’
‘Yes. As the castle’s manager.’
Lorcan was still looking at me and a car behind us beeped him, alerting us to the fact the light was now green.
‘Shit,’ he mumbled, thrust the car into first and pulled away, lifting his hand to the rear-view mirror in a signal of apology.
‘How long have you known?’ he asked.
‘Only since yesterday afternoon when you disappeared off.’
I saw him give a small headshake. ‘Calum talks way too much.’
‘He did mention that his mother says the same thing.’
This, at least, extracted a huff of laughter from him. ‘That’s a woman with a good head on her shoulders. Talks a lot of sense even though I think she despairs at times of her son having any.’
‘I think he has plenty, and clearly so do you otherwise you’d never have put him in that position. The manager of any establishment can make or break it, which you’re obviously well aware of.’
‘He’s very good at his job.’
‘So I could see. So why all the cloak and dagger stuff?’ My mind drifted back to the meal we’d had with Patrick and Peyton. ‘You even went out of your way to make sure Peyton didn’t let on. When I asked if you knew the venue well she’d been about to say that of course you did, as it was yours. You interrupted her and, lovely girl that she is, she went along with it.’
‘It just saves hassle.’
‘And what hassle, exactly, would that be?’
He looked awkward, clearly searching for a tactful reply.
‘Would it, by chance, be the hassle that poor little me with my leaking roof and business hanging on by a thread may try and seduce you, thinking you’re some sort of rich aristocrat?’
A deep bubble of laughter bounced around the interior of the car. ‘One, I’m definitely no rich aristocrat, so whoever thinks that would be in for a big disappointment.’
‘And two?’
‘And two… don’t take this the wrong way.’
‘Whenever someone says don’t take this the wrong way it usually means that said person is about to insult the other in some way.’
‘Not at all.’
I set my features to haughty and waited.
‘OK. It’s just that, well, you’re not really the seductress type, are you, to be fair?’ He waited a beat. ‘On a scale of one to five, how pissed off at me are you now?’
‘Honestly, I don’t really care whether you think I could seduce you or anyone else. I’m more than capable of making my own money and don’t need to get it from a man. In any case there have been plenty of opportunities to meet other far richer, far more handsome and far more charming venue owners than you.’
‘Is that so now?’
‘Yes.’ Well, it was – sort of. Frankly I had no idea how much money Lorcan had in the bank. He drove a swanky car back in England but, let’s face it, there have been plenty of bankrupt people driving around in their posh cars up until the minute the vehicle was put on to the back of a low loader. As for other owners, well, there I might have been telling a tiny fib. Lorcan O’Malley was definitely the best-looking venue owner I’d ever met. But there was no way on God’s green earth I was telling him that.
