‘You don’t owe me anything, Maddie. And you heard Peyton yourself say I was to bill it to her daddy.’

‘I did.’

‘So there you go. Nothing to thank me for or, God forbid, be beholden about.’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, can you not just accept a thank you?’

‘I can, but you have a funny way of thanking people.’

‘Excuse me? I most certainly do not.’

‘Ah, yes, you do. You ever read any Jane Austen?’

‘Of course. Have you?’

‘Of course,’ he shot back. ‘You know when Darcy asks Elizabeth to marry him the first time, then mentions her terrible connections and recites a laundry list of objections?’

‘Yes.’

‘Your thank you was kind of like that.’

‘Oh, it was not.’

Lorcan didn’t answer, just looked down at me with those eyes, and that face and a ridiculously sexy curve of a smile.

‘It was not!’ I said again, turning away so that there was no chance of him seeing the flush I could feel on my cheeks.

‘So, I guess you and I need to work out our long weekend to Ireland.’

‘Perhaps you could refer to it as a business trip, as that’s what it is? I’d hate anyone to get the wrong idea, should you mention it.’

‘And who would I be mentioning it to?’

‘I don’t know. Anyone.’

‘Are you trying to find out whether I have a girlfriend, Miss Madeleine?’

I let out a huff of air. ‘Most certainly not.’

‘Ahh, so there’s someone your end you don’t want getting the wrong idea?’

‘No. That’s not it, either. Not that that’s any of your business. I just like to make sure everyone is on the same page.’

He scratched the day’s growth now darkly shadowing his jawline. ‘Oh, don’t worry. Everything is crystal clear. I’ll pick you up on Friday afternoon. I saw your calendar was free. We can fly back Monday. Sound good?’

‘Excuse me. That was just my work calendar you saw. I do have a life outside work and that calendar is far more full.’

‘Is it, now?’

The hint of disbelief in his tone infuriated me. ‘Yes, it is. Look.’ I pulled up the social calendar on my phone and thrust it in his face.

‘That’s a hell of a lot of colour coding. Also, don’t you ever believe in having a day off? Leaving room for spontaneity or just simply doing nothing?’

‘No, I don’t. And I can rearrange things – I just didn’t appreciate your disbelieving tone.’

‘Why does it matter if I believe you or not?’ He tilted his head in query.

‘I… err…’ I cleared my throat.

‘It doesn’t. Obviously. And yet you felt the need to thrust proof of your apparently thriving social life in my face. Interesting.’

‘No, it’s not. It’s entirely uninteresting. I just—’

‘Like to be right.’