Page 82 of Just Say Yes
‘No, darlin’, you don’t, which is a great shame as when you do, it’s a beautiful one.’ I stared at him and he gave a tiny shake of his head, a grin sweeping across his face. ‘And as much as I’d like to find out why you don’t smile more often, I better get going for this meeting.’
‘Go, go!’ I said, almost bundling him towards the door. ‘Don’t you dare lose the deal now.’
Lorcan turned and stopped as he got to the door. My own momentum took a moment to catch up and I slammed into his broad chest and immediately halted.
‘Whoops. You all right?’ he asked, gently wrapping his hands around my upper arms and standing me back a couple of steps.
‘Fine, fine. Sorry. But you mustn’t be late.’
‘I won’t be,’ he said, still not moving. ‘But I meant what I said about finding out why you hide that beautiful smile.’
‘You’ve got all the blarney, haven’t you?’ I said, laughing. ‘Even Fiadh said you always had the right lines.’
‘That she did. But sometimes the right lines are just the right lines. It doesn’t mean they’re not sincere.’
Bodily, I turned him around and then opened the door. ‘If you mess this up, I will never forgive you and I will also persuade Peyton that all the best men this season are wearing bottomless chaps.’
‘That’s OK. My arse is one of my finest attributes, so I’ve been told.’
To be fair, he had a point. He did have a great bum. Of course he did.
‘Seriously, you’d have an answer for the devil if he popped up in front of you.’
Stepping out onto the doorstep, Lorcan turned around, laughing now. ‘My mam said that to me many a time when I was growing up.’
‘And probably whenever she sees you now too.’
‘Possibly,’ he replied, grinning now and looking far too handsome for my own good. ‘She’d love you.’
I didn’t know what to say as a swirl of emotion engulfed me at his words, so I gave a brief smile and made a point of looking at my smart watch to check a notification. Lorcan had a habit of being able to read me and I didn’t want to afford him that chance right now. Or see the tears threatening in my eyes as I thought how much my own mum would have loved him too.
‘I’d better go,’ Lorcan said, his own face more serious now. ‘Message me where to pick you up tomorrow for the designer.’
I nodded – I clearly wasn’t going to win on that front. Still it would only be for half an hour at the most as Izzy, Rob and I were going out to dinner afterwards.
Lorcan turned to leave, then quickly faced me again. ‘Did I say something wrong?’ he asked. ‘More than usual, I mean,’ he added, with a self-deprecating one-shouldered shrug.
‘No,’ I said, reaching out and laying my hand on his forearm, feeling the solidity of it, the corded muscles under my fingertips. ‘Really.’
His brow remained creased as his gaze dropped to my hand and he placed his own over it. ‘I saw your face, Maddie. If I caused that,’ he said, ‘I’m sorry.’
I squeezed his arm. ‘I promise you didn’t. Thank you.’
His gaze lifted and met mine. ‘It’s true though. You’re a complete pain in the arse but I think Ma would like that.’
‘I’m only a pain in your arse. Everyone else thinks I’m fabulous,’ I teased.
‘Is that so?’
‘Of course.’
‘Must just be me, then.’
‘Must be.’
‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He glanced down. ‘And look after that leg.’
‘I promise. Now go and save our schoolhouse before I go off you again.’
