‘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.

‘It’s just become a bit of a habit really.’

‘What has?’

‘Distancing myself from the ownership. It makes life easier.’

‘Do the events of this morning tie into that?’

He gave me a momentary glance. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘These things usually are,’ I replied, in a tone that let him know that I didn’t expect a reply.

‘Yep, that they are,’ he said anyway before turning in on his thoughts once again as the scenery of Ireland passed us by.

* * *