Page 14 of A Merry Irish Christmas
‘What’s funny about it?’
‘Your name’s Mary and there’s no room for you at the inn.’
‘I’m glad you find my predicament so amusing.’
‘Are you? You should tell that to your face, because you look kinda pissed about it.’
She flopped into the chair opposite him despondently.
‘I saw a place down by the beach yesterday that was advertising vacancies.’
‘By the beach?’ She frowned, trying to think where he could mean. ‘The glamping?’ she gasped, horrified. ‘I am not spending Christmas glamping.’
‘I thought it looked cool.’
‘Why don’t you go and stay there, then?’
‘Because I’ve already got somewhere to stay.’ He spread his arms wide, indicating the house. ‘Why don’t you try further afield?’
‘I don’t have a car, and in case you hadn’t noticed, this isn’t exactly downtown Manhattan. Public transport is thin on the ground around here.’
‘You didn’t hire a car?’ He had the nerve to sound put out, as if she’d done it specifically to inconvenience him.
‘I didn’t think I’d need one. I was expecting my whole family to be here, remember? So you know what that means?’
‘Sucks to be you?’
God, he really was determined to be obnoxious.
‘There are two cars outside. Your folks said I could use them while I’m here. Why don’t you take one of those?’
She sighed. ‘Okay, full disclosure, there is one big hotel inDingle that has a few rooms available. But I don’t want to spend Christmas in some random hotel.’ Then a solution occurred to her. ‘You could stay there, though. It’s five-star, very nice.’
‘No. No way. If I’d wanted to stay in a hotel, I wouldn’t have done a house swap.’
What was that about, Mary wondered. But she decided not to ask. Prying into Evan’s private life would do nothing to help her get on his good side – if he had one. ‘This is a big house.’ She raised her eyebrows at him hopefully. ‘There’s plenty of room for both of us. You won’t even know I’m here.’
‘Somehow I doubt that.’
‘Okay, but we don’t have to get in each other’s way any more than absolutely necessary. Come on, it’s Christmas. I don’t want to stay in a hotel either.’
‘Don’t you have any friends or family around here you could stay with?’
‘I’ve tried that, but I’m out of options. No one has room.’
She knew that the O’Sullivans or some of the other neighbours would happily squeeze her in, but they’d already have full houses with all their chickens coming home to roost for Christmas and it wouldn’t be fair to ask them. There was always her aunt and uncle in Ventry. They had a big house and there’d be plenty of room for her. But she’d keep that as a last resort, if Evan absolutely insisted on kicking her out.
‘Why are you even doing a house swap anyway?’ she asked, her annoyance getting the better of her. ‘Couldn’t you find some castle or mansion to hide away in? Why are you so keen to stay here?’
‘I’m not, believe me. We have my evil genius assistant Max to thank for this clusterfuck.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘As soon as it’s daylight in New York, I’m going to ring and tear him a new one.’
‘Why?’ Mary said indignantly. ‘What’s wrong with the house? It may not be as grand as you’re used to, but?—’
‘There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a great house.’
‘Then why are you so mad at Max for finding it for you?’
‘Because it wasn’t supposed to come with a sitting tenant.’ He waved a hand at her. ‘This wasn’t part of the deal.’
