Page 37 of Stronger Than Love

I had the engine on and had already started driving when I heard another ping. It would have to wait until I stopped driving.

Oonagh stood in her own world, completely oblivious to the stares she received from men passing her on their way into the hospital. My finger pressed the button to lower the window as I slowed down.

“Hey, gorgeous, need a lift?”

My breath caught as her face lit up and a smile curved her full lips. “That was quick. Was your meeting close by?”

“Nah, I got the time wrong. It’s not until eleven, so I parked close by. You can check out my office while I chat to this client and then we can take you dress shopping.”

She opened the door and slid in beside me.

“How did it go?” I asked while manoeuvring us back into traffic.

“Great, they want me to come back next week for a full tour. They were impressed with my resume and the different aspects of what I’ve been involved with the past few years.”

My lips twitched at the casual way she described the hell she’d lived through.

“You think you’d fit in?”

Oonagh shrugged, chewing the inside of her mouth. “I haven’t really had a home for the past few years, living from a grip bag. Part of me really wants to settle down and find who I am again. The other part of me wants to sign up for another tour.”

“You used to collect crystals from the different places you visited.”

Her cheeks deepened in colour. “I still do. They’re in a box at Mum and Dad’s until I find somewhere of my own, a place that I can call home.” Her eyes met mine briefly. “I used to have my life mapped out. Married by twenty-four and three kids by the time I was thirty. That dream withers and dies in its entirety in a few days’ time.”

“Some dreams just take a little longer to come to fruition.”

She didn’t reply, instead staring out of the window. “Every time I come home, something else has changed,” she commented as we passed some of the new buildings that stretched up toward the clouds.

“City landscapes adapt to the needs of the people who live there. Industry has changed, and so have the buildings for those who work here.”

Oonagh laughed, pushing my arm. “Listen to Mr. Architect.”

I grinned at her self-consciously. Sales pitches tended to roll off the tongue.

“It just feels weird,” she continued to chatter as I drove to my office. “Martin and I were at uni together and ended up in the same medical unit. I didn’t even know he’d applied for Doctors Without Borders until he was on my first assignment. If I get this job, it’ll be the first time I haven’t worked with him.”

The hairs at the back of my neck stood to attention. “Are you close?”

Her lips lifted in the ghost of a smile. “He’s my work brother, filling Niall’s position in my life when I’m away from home. We’ve been friends since I started uni and we were both social misfits.”

I laughed at her description since she was always a bookworm who shied away from friendships with the mean girls of the village. Trust her to find another awkward bookworm to be friends with.

We parked in the basement of the building that housed our offices. I still remembered the first time Callum and I visited here, the butterflies that had invaded my stomach thatwe’d finally made our dream come true. My back straight and shoulders back, I sauntered through our headquarters, silently watching for Oonagh’s reaction.

So many times, I’d wanted to show her what we’d achieved, to share this with her. A smile played on her lips as she took everything in.

“Oh, my God! Look who finally arrived!” Michael bolted from his seat and rapidly closed in on us. My youngest brother engulfed Oonagh in a bear hug that left her arms sticking out and her feet off the floor.

“Hey, Mikey!” Her arms came around him and she squealed as he swung her in a half circle before putting her back on her feet.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes! I thought you were never going to come home!”

“Hey!” I stepped in before he could grab her again.

My secretary Tanya stalked over, her face a mask of disapproval. “Mr. Doherty.” Her gaze skimmed over Oonagh and she wrinkled her nose. “The conference room is set up for your eleven o’clock.”

“Thanks,” I dismissed her with a quick nod of my head. I was well aware that my secretary was attracted to me. No male could miss the signals she sent.

---