The Christmas Project: A laugh-out-loud romance from bestselling author Maxine Morrey

‘Hi,’ I said, distractedly. Then pulled my head up again. ‘Wait a minute. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at Michael O’Farrell’s?’

‘I am. And I was. But he doesn’t want me there.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I got there and he opened the door. I get what you mean about the whole gorgeous thing now, by the way. Big, masculine, kind of rough around the edges, and, wow, those eyes – ’

‘Bernice?’

‘Oh. Yes. Sorry. Well, I said who I was, and what I was there for. He asked where you were, so I told him you had an appointment elsewhere this morning. Then he thanked me for coming, apologised that my time had been wasted and offered to pay for a cab to take me wherever I wanted to go. All terribly polite.’

‘That was it?’

‘Yep. Bit odd I have to say. He definitely knew I was coming. I heard you leave the message.’

I was doing my best to stay calm but after everything I’d said to him, after everything Janey had said to him, he was still pulling the same stunt! I searched for his details and stabbed the number into my phone. He answered on the second ring.

‘Michael O’Farrell.’ The languid, gravelly voice floated down the line and if I hadn’t been so mad at him, I might have considered again just how attractive it was. But I was. So I didn’t.

‘Mr O’Farrell, it’s Kate Stone.’

‘Hello Kate.’

I waited for an explanation but the line stayed silent.

‘I wonder if you would be so good as to explain why, when I go to the effort of reorganising our schedule to accommodate you, during a period which I have already told you is busy, you then choose to turn my colleague away from your door?’ I carried on, not actually giving him a chance to explain because, whatever lame excuse he had, I was no longer interested.

‘I have gone out of my way to help you Mr O’Farrell, and you’ve done nothing but be difficult. I really don’t appreciate you wasting my company’s time and, in the circumstances, as it is clear that you have no wish to be helped, I would appreciate it if you could explain the situation to your sister. Goodbye.’

I hung up and realised I’d barely taken a breath. I sucked in some air and made an effort to bring my heart rate down out of the danger range. God, he was infuriating. It was just as well I wasn’t working with him. If my dealings so far were any indication, I wasn’t sure I’d get even halfway through the process before keeling over from a blood clot.

‘You know you didn’t actually give him a chance to speak, don’t you?’

I looked at Bernice. She was chewing the inside of her lip. ‘Maybe he had a good reason?’

‘I’m not really one for excuses, Bernice. You know that.’

‘I know, but – ’

She was interrupted by my phone ringing. I looked at the number on the display and my gaze drifted up to the computer screen where Michael O’Farrell’s details were still displayed.

‘Oh crap.’

‘Is that him?’

I nodded.

‘You could just ignore it.’

‘I can’t. He’d keep ringing until the end of days just to annoy me.’

‘Stone Organisation,’ I answered, pretending I had absolutely no idea who was on the other end of the line.

‘Hello Kate. Michael O’Farrell here. But I’m pretty sure you knew that. It’s just that you called me to ask a question, but then ranted without giving me an opportunity to answer it. So I’m wondering if I might be able to do that now? Only if you have a moment, of course? I know what a busy time this is for you and how in demand you are.’

Sarcastic git.

‘I wasn’t ranting. And, of course, please say whatever it is you would like to say to explain why you’ve wasted everyone’s time.’

Bernice gave me a look. I pulled a face. Normally I was so good at being diplomatic but this man had an infuriating ability to push buttons I didn’t even know I had!

‘Are you done?’

‘Yes. Go ahead.’

‘Thank you. The reason I turned Bernice away this morning, perfectly lovely and efficient as I am sure she is, is that I made a deal with you. Not your colleague.’

‘You made a deal for my company to help you organise your home.’

‘No. My understanding was that you would be the one coming back in to my home. And not once did you ever suggest that it would be someone else. And the fact that you still didn’t tell me you would be sending someone else when you called me, alerts me to the fact that you were, in fact, fobbing me off on someone else because you didn’t want to deal with me.’

‘Of course I wasn’t fobbing you off!’

Across the desk, Bernice did a Pinocchio impression. I turned my chair so that my back was facing her.

‘Or maybe you didn’t think you were capable of dealing with me, for whatever reason.’

‘I am perfectly capable of dealing with you Mr O’Farrell. I just prefer not…’

Oh. Shit.

I could practically hear him smiling down the line as I dropped myself in it. I mentally added ‘smug’ to the list of his unattractive qualities.

‘That’s what I thought. There’s still four hours of the session left Kate. I’d appreciate being able to use that time if you’re available. However, if not, I’m happy to reschedule to a time when you, personally, are able to attend.’

I gritted my teeth and pulled up my calendar. ‘I’m sorry that there seems to have been some misunderstanding Mr O’Farrell. I was under the impression that you were hiring my company and had no preference as to which organiser attended.’

‘I wasn’t aware there was anyone other than you.’

‘Then I apologise for not making that clear, but I can assure you that Bernice is a very competent organiser and I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from all of her clients. I’m very aware of the time frame with you, and as Bernice was free earlier than I today, at a time that fitted in with you, it seemed ideal that she should come over, rather than having to put you off longer.’

‘I’m sure that she is excellent at her job. However, when I said I wanted you last night, that’s exactly what I meant.’

Oh God. I do wish he’d stop saying that.

Across the desk, Bernice tilted her head and raised an eyebrow as colour whooshed up my face.

‘I understand. We’ve obviously already lost some time but I can do the rest of today’s session. If that’s what you wish.’