‘You sure?’

‘Of course, come on. You’re already soaked.’ I put my hand on his elbow and ushered them in as he briefly turned to beep the car locked and we hurried up the front path. Closing the door behind us, I took the umbrella through to the boot room again and set it dripping on the tiled floor before returning to my guest, who was also dripping.

‘Stay there,’ I said, before heading upstairs and rooting about in the back of the airing cupboard. Returning, I handed him a towel and a tee shirt and swapped them for the dog, whom I wrapped in a blanket. ‘It might be a bit small.’

Lorcan rubbed his dark hair from sodden to merely damp with the towel. ‘If it’s yours, it’s definitely going to be a bit small.’ He had a point. A size eight shirt was not going to fit a six-foot-five man who was built like the proverbial brick outhouse.

‘It’s not mine.’ I gave him a tight smile.

He held it out. It was definitely a man’s tee shirt, and he raised one dark brow in question. I ignored him and instead took the dog through to the kitchen and popped him down on the floor while I knelt and made a makeshift bed from a big cosy blanket, leaving his owner to change his shirt in peace.

‘I can hang your shirt in the airing cupboard if you—’ My words dried up as I turned and saw Lorcan in the tee shirt I’d given him. To say it was snug was an understatement. The previous owner, although tall, had definitely not had this man’s bulk. Not only was it stretched impossibly tight across his pecs, his biceps were almost bursting the seams and the too-short hem exposed the merest hint of a flat, tanned stomach and a line of dark hair leading to places I had no right even acknowledging, let alone thinking about.

3

‘Fits perfectly, thanks.’

The laugh rippled out of me and his eyes crinkled as he joined in.

‘I’m sorry. It’s all I have, but you can’t sit in that sodden shirt for the rest of the afternoon.’

‘It’s fine. As you say, it’s dry at least.’

‘Do you want me to hang the shirt somewhere?’

‘No, but thanks. I’ll sort it when I get home. You’ve done more than enough.’

‘It’s no trouble.’

He smiled down at where Bod was now snuggled into the blanket, his eyes closing as I drifted my hand over his soft fur.

‘You’re very kind, although if you have a bag or something I could put it in so it doesn’t drip everywhere over your floor?’

‘Give it here. I’ll put it in the airing cupboard. It will hopefully dry off enough in there by the time we’re done today.’