Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,21

speech around her.

“I thought you and Nick got on well these days,” Leana remarked.

Lexie shrugged. “We get on fine, I guess. Why?”

“I can’t believe you hang out with Nick, but you still question his motives for helping Grace.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Nick’s a helper. He’s one of those people who sees someone in need and is compelled to help them. If someone falls, he will pick them up and carry them home. It’s because he’s got a heart of gold, not because he’s trying to impress anyone.” She took a sip of her drink then wiped her lips. “You should be impressed, though. It was really sweet of him.” She walked out from behind the bar, rolling her eyes slightly at Lexie. “Shame you’ve never been impressed by sweet guys.”

“Yeah.” Lexie swallowed hard and went to ask the group at the end of the bar if they needed another round.

It was fairly irrational how much she kept thinking about the incident with Nick. The fact that he’d been so annoyed with her left her feeling uneasy. At one point she even picked up her phone and contemplated messaging him. But she couldn’t think what to say and there was a chance she was worrying about nothing. Nick probably hadn’t given it much thought.

Her heart rate increased when he walked in the door just after nine.

“Hi,” she said from her spot behind the bar. Her dad had remained sitting with his friends, and Leana had taken another load of dirty dishes into the kitchen.

Nick’s cheek twitched as he took a seat on a stool at the bar and asked for a beer. “I knocked on your door,” he said. “I decided you’d probably be here if you weren’t at home.”

“That’s a sadly accurate reflection of my social life these days.”

A blush crept up his neck and settled on his cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought I’d try here since you weren’t at home. I wanted to apologise for this afternoon. Sorry I snapped at you.”

“You don’t need to apologise. And I really didn’t think you helped Grace just to try and impress me …” She kept her eyes on Nick, looking for any sign that there might be a flicker of truth to it.

“Good.” He grinned. “Damian’s quite a jobsworth, isn’t he?”

“Aye.” She forced a smile as she passed him his pint. “He can be a bit set in his ways.”

“Tim looked like he was used to it.”

Lexie nodded. “It’s definitely not the first time Damian’s gone off about something. Tim’s really chilled. He just wants a quiet life.”

“Was Grace okay?”

“Yeah, she seemed all right. Her mum’s a nurse and she thought it just needed ice and rest.”

“That’s good.”

“Hello!” Leana said, reappearing from the kitchen. “I’ve been hearing all about your heroics.”

“It really wasn’t heroic. I gave a kid a piggyback for ten minutes, that’s all.”

Leana reached over and squeezed his cheek. “Well, I’m proud of you.”

“Get off!” he said, swatting her away.

“How’s the house coming on?” she asked.

“It’s okay.”

“Sorry we bailed early on Friday. When the place is finished you should have a house-warming party.”

“Maybe,” he agreed with a smile. “But I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath for that.”

Chapter Ten

On Wednesday evening Lexie was manning the bar alone. Her dad had been down a couple of times to check on things. No matter how quiet it was or how much she told him she was fine on her own, he couldn’t help but come and check from time to time. At just after ten the pub was quiet, except for the sound of Douglas gently singing in the far corner. Another regular sat at the end of the bar and had been chatting away to Lexie for the past hour.

She was glad of the distraction when Logan walked in with a weary-looking Nick.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lexie asked as Nick slouched heavily against the bar.

“That house is going to kill me.” He put a hand on his shoulder and massaged the joint. “I thought ripping out the kitchen would be the easy bit.”

Logan quirked an eyebrow. “It was easy.”

“It was gross,” Elspeth said, following them in and joining them at the bar. Leana and Alasdair were with her too.

“Have you all been helping?” Lexie asked as she began pouring drinks for them.

“Elspeth did nothing,” Logan said, then ducked out of the way when Elspeth reached over to slap his arm.

“I took some wallpaper off. I just got freaked out by the mice, then I couldn’t