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“Work, life, you know how it is, Liam,” Mac said.
“No matter how many rooms you have in your house, you’re only able to sleep in one bed,” Liam said.
“True. True. Which is why I took the night off to enjoy the evening with this lovely lass.”
“Ah, you must be Hope,” Liam said, extending his hand to me.
“Yes. How did you know?”
Liam’s handshake was firm without being aggressive and he looked me in the eye when we did. He seemed to be telling me he respected me and for some strange reason I got the impression he approved of me too.
“He might have mentioned you,” Liam said.
“Liam. Don’t you have a quiz to get back to?” Mac asked, clearly embarrassed.
“I do, but I can still tease you a bit. Did you just come to show off this lovely woman or did you come to play?”
“We missed the start,” Mac stated.
“You can still play, win a round or two. Unless Hope isn’t one to participate?”
“I love quizzes. I’m not very good at them, but I love to play.”
“Hope is being modest. She just graduated with her PhD in literature. I’m sure she will give us a run for our money.”
“Good, then you can join us for the last two rounds,” Liam said and put a piece of paper down between Mac and me.
“Ah, so you are going to play,” Matt asked as he put the drinks down in front of us.
“It seemed like the right thing to do,” Mac replied.
“Care to join us?” I asked Matt.
Mac, Liam, and Matt all laughed at my statement.
“You don’t want him to, love,” Liam said. “He’s horrible, like the worst quiz player I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s right. I’ll show you. It’s best that I serve the drinks.”
“Which you do an excellent job at. Thank you,” I said and lifted my glass and turned to look at Mac.
“Cheers,” I said to him.
“Cheers,” he replied and touched his glass to mine.
Chapter 13
Mac
I was slowly learning that there wasn’t anywhere Hope could be that she didn't look beautiful. Even in the bar, the light hit her hair and face to make her look like a vision. I saw that and then some even as we sat at McCarthy's. It probably helped that she was more relaxed and laughing in a way I had never seen her do before. Not that she was uptight, she was the exact opposite. There was something about seeing her sitting with a beer next to her as she tried to come up with the answers to the questions that made me see her in a whole new light.
The more I saw of her, the more facets of her I realized there were, and the more I loved her. I had seen her spunk dealing with the paparazzi, and then her gumption getting me to come to the bar, and her ease with talking to Matt and Liam. They were characteristics I never would have associated with her, but I could see now that I should have. There was definitely more to Hope Sinclair than met the eye, and I was enjoying every minute of finding out what all those were.
The evening was supposed to be about her, about what she wanted. I wanted to show her that I cared about her and I would do anything for her. I had not counted on her wanting to do the same for me. I hadn’t counted on her remembering that I didn’t like Chinese food and pushed me to show her my favorite restaurant.
McCarthy’s wasn’t really a restaurant, but it was one of my favorite places to go in the city. I had spent many a night and even morning having a drink or two. In the years that I had been coming little had changed including its warm and welcoming atmosphere.
I hadn’t been sure what Hope would think of it and me being there. I had always had the image that I was a businessman, that I was serious about life and what I did. I certainly didn’t look like a man who would let loose in an Irish bar on a Friday night. Even if that's what I did, frequently. As the eldest son in the Bennett family, I knew that people were watching me, noticing what I was doing. I never wanted to give my parents anything to be ashamed about or the gossip columns anything to write about, until now.
