Lorcan let out that deep, rumbling laugh again and I turned my attention hurriedly back to the dog. Falling for the dog was one thing. Falling for his owner was quite another. Sensing he’d gone, I looked up to watch Lorcan striding across the café. God, he looked good in a suit. I mean, he looked good in everything. He was just one of those annoying people that did. But today, in that dark blue suit that matched his eyes, all set off with a crisp white shirt, he was – objectively – hot. Subjectively, he was off the Scoville scale.

‘That, however,’ I whispered to Bod as I shuffled him a bit to get him off my bladder, ‘is purely between you and me. OK?’

Bod looked at me and I swear to God, he smiled.

25

‘So, what’s the plan for the rest of the week?’ Lorcan asked as we each tucked into a steaming bowl of Irish stew, accompanied by soda bread, which I’d never had before. This was apparently unacceptable and he insisted on me having some.

‘I’m meeting with the dress designer on Wednesday night. I’ve worked with her before so I know everything’s going to be fine, but I just want to see the dress in the flesh, as it were. I might then be able to tie in some aspects of it with the décor and so on.’

‘Didn’t Peyton have a photo of her in it?’

‘Yes. She sent me that but it’s not the same as seeing it for myself.’

‘You’re a stickler for the details, aren’t you?’

‘It’s the details that pay the bills in this job.’

‘I suppose it is.’

‘I’m sure it’s the same with event hosting at the castle.’

‘I’m sure it is, which is why I leave all that to Calum.’

‘Not a details man, then?’

‘I have to be in my job. Like you, it’s the details that can be the reason a project is a big success or an expensive flop. That’s why I make no attempt to micromanage Calum when it comes to Ballalee Castle. He’s more than capable and he has a great team backing him up. I’d only mess things up if I went poking my nose in. Not to mention he’d firmly and not that politely tell me where to go if I tried.’

‘Really?’ I asked, laughing.

‘To paraphrase Shakespeare, he may be little, but he is fierce.’

‘He clearly has a knack for what he does and gets things done, judging by the photos in that album. Also, by the fact you’re happy to leave him to it. You don’t strike me as a man who suffers fools gladly.’

‘Definitely not if they’re going to lose me money, and Calum’s certainly no fool. So what time are you booked in to see the dress woman?’