‘Oh! Do I? No, not really,’ I replied too quickly, feeling the flush creeping up my chest. Being a redhead with pale skin had never done me any favours when it came to telling fibs.

Lorcan didn’t say anything but his eyes locked onto mine and told me he knew better. I gave what I hoped was an innocent shrug, which, judging by the way his mouth tipped up far too sexily at the corners, just made it worse.

‘I hope Bod didn’t disturb your work too much,’ he said, thankfully letting the previous subject drop.

‘Not at all. The staff were kind enough to look after my stuff and our seat while I took him out for a walk. It was a good excuse to take a break. They gave me some directions to a place he could have a little run around so we did that and then came back and he had a nap. I was sorely tempted to have one myself. He looked so comfy and content.’

‘You should have done.’

‘I couldn’t,’ I said, laughing, ‘as nice as that would have been.’

‘Not in your schedule?’

The laughter died away and I glanced out of the window at the people passing by the large plate-glass windows, some hurrying, others taking in the scenery, stopping regularly to snap photos or take selfies.

‘No,’ I said simply, flashing up a smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes. Lorcan O’Malley wouldn’t notice that detail anyway. This was why I had my own guards up. Because just when you started to relax with people, they did, or said, something that made you feel foolish. Yes, I was a bit uptight. Perhaps a little too organised but that was how it was. How it would always be because that was what I could deal with and I could do without Lorcan taking the piss. I understood that he didn’t have all the relevant information, but it irked me that he couldn’t just accept this was the way I worked. Accept the way I was.

Silence hovered between us, thick and heavy, replacing the light and pleasant atmosphere of moments before. Bod pricked his ears and looked between us both as if sensing the change. I’d noticed this action before. The dog was a sensitive little thing – certainly a lot more sensitive than his master anyway, that was for sure.

‘You looked busy when I came in,’ Lorcan said.

I waited for the follow-up, some further dig about something or other. ‘Is business picking up?’

I looked up at him.