When A Man Loves A Woman(8)

At the moment the office was unusually quiet with almost everyone having ducked out for lunch. She’d opted to cover the office since she’d brought her lunch to work. Every now and again she met up with Layla or Sarah for lunch. Although she wasn’t a fan of hospital food, she had to admit that Breeze Point hospital did have wonderful cafeteria food. Sometimes she would scoot over there and meet Sarah at the hospital for a quick lunch and to catch up on each other’s lives. For the next four months Sarah would be on maternity leave from her nursing job. It was such a blessing that Blue was able to financially support the family while Sarah stayed home with Faith. His media business had been hugely successful.

She took a huge bite of her sandwich then reached for her ice tea to wash it down. All of a sudden a noise caused her to swing her gaze toward the door of her office.

Oh Dear Lord, this can’t be happening.

Mac Donahue was standing at the threshold of her office, dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a dark T-shirt.

She began to cough as a tidbit of bread lodged in her throat. Oh please, no. I can’t choke in front of Mac. He already thinks I’m not date worthy. I want to hold on to a smidgeon of my self-respect.

He frowned. “A-are you all right?”

Miraculously, she managed to clear her throat as the piece of her sandwich finally went down the right pipe. She reached for her drink and took a swig. She cleared her throat again.

“I-I’m fine. Something was lodged in my throat.”

He nodded. “You work here?”

“Obviously,” she murmured. Oops. That snarky tone of hers had slipped out. Perhaps she wasn’t over the events of this past weekend. But she couldn’t be flat out rude to Mac. In a strange way they were extended family, even though she barely knew the guy. He was Blue’s brother after all and a member of the fabulous Donahue family. Being rude to him might come back to haunt her.

Mac stared her down. The look on his face wasn’t angry but assessing. As if he was sizing her up. It was strange how with one look he made her feel ashamed. Ashamed of her sharp tongue and for harboring a grudge about the comment he’d made about her at the barbecue. She should be above that type of pettiness. At the end of the day it didn’t matter.

“I want to apologize. For the other day.” He shifted from one foot to the other, appearing distinctly uncomfortable. Whoa! The realization hit her that he was way more unsettled than she was. Which made sense since Sarah was constantly alluding to the fact that he shied away from people and tended to be a bit withdrawn. She couldn’t help but to have noticed his tendency to show away from social events. When a man who looked as good as Mac Donahue kept to himself, women began referring to him as brooding.

Delilah didn’t even bother pretending not to know what he was referring to with his comment. His words from the barbecue still burned in her ears. The way he’d said her name—Delilah Dalton—had made it sound like she was something to be avoided like the plague.

“It was nothing,” she said as warmth flushed her cheeks. She waved her hand in his direction as if to erase the events of the other day. “I’ve already forgotten it. Don’t worry about it.”

He clenched his jaw. “That’s not true. It was…rude. And to be honest, it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with my brothers trying to set me up with every single woman in town.” Mac let out an aggravated sigh. “Being the last of the single Donahue brothers is sometimes a bit difficult.”

A smile tugged at her lips. It seemed they had something in common after all. “Sounds familiar. I get it. Sarah does the same thing to me. I suppose they think they’re saving us from a lifetime of loneliness.”

Mac nodded as if he knew exactly what she was talking about. Suddenly it made her feel as if she wasn’t so much of an oddity. There were others like herself who were constantly being fixed up by everyone they knew. Most times she felt as if she was the sole member of a lonely hearts club.

“So,” he said, drawing out the word as he looked around. “If I had a question about social services would you be the one to ask?”

“Sure. Is there something I can help you with?”

For a moment he simply stood and stared at her. It was completely unnerving. Those gray eyes were piercing. And mesmerizing. His gaze threatened to leave her breathless.

“I’m looking for someone.” He frowned. “Two people in fact.”

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser.

“Okay. Who are they? Were they in the system?” Mac was being extremely vague. She had the feeling he was deliberately holding his information close to the vest.