27
The Monday after the mid-term break, Lou was getting ready to meet her friends at Coffey & Cake when there was a ring at the door. She almost gasped out loud, her heart pounding, when she opened it and saw who was standing there.
‘Rob! What the hell are you doing here?’
He smiled sardonically. ‘Nice to see you too, Lou. Aren’t you going to invite me in?’
‘I was just about to go out.’ She frowned, tussling with herself. She wanted to tell him to take a hike, but if he was here to cause trouble, she decided she’d be better off dealing with him now while Jack was at school. ‘But it’s fine, I can cancel.’ She sighed and reluctantly pulled the door open wider. ‘Jack isn’t here,’ she said as he stepped inside.
The living room immediately felt smaller with him standing in it, towering over her. It was disorienting seeing him here, out of context, and she was suddenly hit by a disturbing sense memory of him that blindsided her – the scent of his skin, the scrape of his stubble against her face, the feel of his naked body against hers.
‘It’s you I came to see.’ He looked around. ‘Nice place you’ve got here.’
‘Yeah, we like it.’ She folded her arms. ‘So, what did you want to see me about?’
‘Seriously? I’ve come all this way and you’re not even going to offer me a cup of tea?’
‘Do you want a cup of tea?’
‘I’d rather a beer, if you’ve got one.’ He gave her a cheeky smile.
‘I don’t.’
He glanced towards the counter. ‘A glass of wine will do, then. You did always like your wine, didn’t you?’
‘Fine.’
He took a seat at the table, stretching out his long legs while Lou poured him a glass of wine.
‘You’re not going to join me?’ he asked as she sat down across from him.
‘Too early in the day for me.’
‘Get you, Miss Prim and Proper. Is this your new culchie persona?’
‘This was always my persona.’
‘Nah. You didn’t use to be this uptight.’
‘So what are you doing here?’
‘I was in Tralee last night for a stag do. Hair of the dog,’ he said lifting his glass. ‘So as I was in the area, I thought I’d come and catch up with my old mucker Lou.’ He took a long slug of wine. ‘Well, this is very nice,’ he said, looking around the room. ‘Who’d have thought Tom had it in him?’
‘Yeah. I was amazed when I discovered he’d left me this.’
Rob gave a sly smile. ‘The way I heard it, it was Jack he left everything to.’
Damn! She’d counted on him not knowing that. ‘Who told you that?’
‘I told you I called into the Lettuce Inn recently. They knew all about it.’
She wished she’d kept her mouth shut about the inheritance now. But she’d been so flabbergasted by the whole thing at the time, she couldn’t help talking about it.
‘You know, I’m sure they’d be happy to give you your old job back there. We could be one happy family again – you, me and Jack.’
‘When were we ever that?’
‘Come on. You’re telling me you don’t remember what good times we had?’ He gave her a heated, smouldering look that once would have made her weak at the knees and had her tearing his clothes off. ‘Are you seeing anyone?’
