Page 22 of Just Say Yes
‘You know, for someone so large you have an incredible ability to act like a small child.’
‘Well, everyone has a talent, so they say. And Bod’s a toy poodle. Come on, ask it, then.’
‘Ask what?’
‘The question that’s practically falling out of those scarlet-red lips.’
‘OK,’ I said, slightly unnerved by the fact that this was the second time a man I hardly knew seemed to have the ability to read my mind. I squashed the thought from my brain. Lucky guess, I told myself. ‘If I were to pick a dog for you, it wouldn’t have been the tiniest one in the window, so to speak.’
Lorcan shrugged his broad shoulders, the movement causing Bod to look up at him momentarily, assess the situation and then go back to people-watching.
‘I guess that’s a fair comment, and you’re not the first one to have made that observation. But not everything can be planned. You fall in love with who you fall in love with.’
‘I like his name. It suits him.’
Lorcan looked down, tilted his head so that he could see the dog’s face more, at which point Bod looked up and bopped his nose against his owner’s face, making him laugh, and I watched as once again that transformation spread across him. ‘It does,’ he agreed.
I waited for more. When nothing else was said I prompted him. ‘So?’
‘So what?’
‘How did you end up with Bod?’
‘Ah, I was seeing a girl who works at Battersea dogs home. Bod’s mum was found wandering the streets, heavily pregnant and in a bad way. My girlfriend-at-the-time had volunteered to do a shift watching her. The vet was concerned about how she would cope with the pregnancy and whether the puppies would even survive, bearing in mind she’d clearly been living on the streets. She was just this tiny little thing. Anyway, we had plans, which she obviously had to cancel, so I offered to go along on her shift with my girlfriend. Bod’s mum went into labour about two hours after we got there and there were these two tiny, weenie bundles of fluff. I guess it was love at first sight.’
I reached over and scratched under Bod’s chin. When I stopped he nudged my hand to continue, making me laugh.
‘I can see how easy that would be.’ I looked up and met Lorcan’s warm blue gaze.
‘Yep. You don’t know it’s happening till it’s happened. And there you are, totally and utterly in love.’ He gave a smile, not the usual mischievous one with a hint of sarcasm. This was genuine, soft and way too attractive. ‘And why are you looking me like that now?’ The smile was still there but this time there was humour in his eyes.
‘Like what?’ I asked, dropping my gaze immediately and fiddling with Bod’s ears as he stood up on his master’s lap and put his tiny paws on one solid thigh, stretching his head towards me for more fussing.
‘I don’t know. Sometimes I can read you like a book and sometimes you’re like a diary with the key turned, locking your thoughts away,’ Lorcan said, lifting up the dog with one hand and placing him on my lap. ‘And don’t worry, he’s not going to wee on you.’
‘That wasn’t what I was worried about,’ I said quietly, cuddling the little ball of fur to me. ‘I didn’t know how flying with pets worked and I was concerned about him having to cross his legs for the next however long.’
‘I know,’ Lorcan said quietly. ‘I realise that now, and I’m sorry that I snapped at you earlier.’
‘So why did you?’ I turned to face him, still cuddling the dog to me. I wasn’t angry any more, or upset – just curious. From the little I’d been able to figure out of Lorcan O’Malley so far, he could be cynical and blunt but also incredibly kind. The effort he had gone to to try and find Peyton’s Irish ancestors, for example. And not minding that his date had to cancel on him in order to watch over a poorly dog, instead sitting with her and then falling in love with a tiny ball of fluff. Lorcan was like an onion – only with more layers.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said easily, smiling to show him that I meant it.
‘No, it does matter. The whole thing about Patrick telling me not to bring the dog to our first meeting?’
‘Yes, I did wonder about that. He must know how attached you are to him.’
‘A while ago Bod was sitting on Peyton’s lap in, apparently, a very expensive dress. Peyton, that is, not the dog.’ He flashed that grin and I couldn’t help but giggle. ‘He’s really good. He housetrained super quickly. But this night he began to get fidgety and it wasn’t like him, so I decided to take him home. As I lifted him up he…’ he leant over and put his big hands over the dog’s ears, which effectively hid Bod’s entire head ‘… had a little accident. Peyton was actually fine about it, considering, which was good of her, but I did feel awful. Patrick’s not really a dog person and kind of went off the deep end. We didn’t talk for two days, which is unheard of for us. He never used to be this uptight. I think this bloody wedding is freaking him out more than he lets on.’
‘Are you sure that’s what it is? Maybe it’s something to do with work.’
‘No, he’d have told me if it was.’ There was an air of finality about his reply that prevented me from saying anything more. ‘Anyway, turned out the little man had an infection so he wasn’t his normal self. I apologised again to Peyton the next day after we’d been to the vet and she really was sweet about it, more concerned for the dog than anything else. But I guess I’m a bit touchy about the whole thing and I took that out on you, for which I’m very sorry.’
‘Apology accepted.’
Lorcan gave a glance at his watch. ‘I should think the gate number is up now, so we could make a move if you’re ready.’
I nodded and returned my things to my bag as he packed Bod back into his pet carrier and we headed off to the departure gate.
