Logan’s cell phone rang and he said, “I’m sorry. I need to take this call. Maybe you two can discuss this another time.”
“Go back to the hotel. I’m sure Dr. O’Connor wouldn’t mind escorting me again this evening,” I said.
Logan looked as though he was about to object, when Finn said, “It would be my pleasure. Now, tell me all about Tabiq.”
I smiled and knew there were things best left out. As a physician, he would need to understand the trauma the people had experienced through years of human trafficking and violence, but I needed him to also see the beauty that was beginning to thrive again.
After what seemed like hours talking about Tabiq, the waitress came over and said, “I’m sorry, but we are closed.”
I looked at my watch, still set to Tabiq local time. I hadn’t fully adjusted to the time difference. “I’m so sorry. I guess we got carried away.” Finn reached into his wallet and went to pay for dinner. “Please, let me pay. We invited you here, after all.”
Finn shook his head. “I’ve never let a lady pay for dinner and I’m not about to start now.” He tossed some bills on the table and said, “My car is parked in the lot in the back. I suggest we get you to the hotel before Dr. Henderson comes looking for you.”
As we left the restaurant, I said, “After all that talking, what I could really use is another one of those…what did you call it, a blondie?”
He opened the car door for me and asked, “You want a beer? I thought you said you’re a tea drinker.”
I snickered. “Don’t ever tell anyone, but your Irish beers are so….”
“Smooth.”
“Yes. We don’t have anything to compare to it in Tabiq,” I said.
He laughed. “You might not want to share that information with someone you’re trying to persuade to relocate there.”
Before he closed the door I said, “We could always have it imported.”
He got into the car and said, “Although I’m very tempted to bring you back to O’Malley’s tonight, I can’t. It is late and I have a surgery scheduled early tomorrow. Would you mind if we continued this tomorrow night?”
“You’d like us to meet you at O’Malley’s?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. I’d like to pick you up, take you out to dinner.”
Did I understand him correctly? Was he asking me out? No. That wasn’t possible. He probably just wanted to ask more questions about the job, or Tabiq. “Okay. I’d like that.”
Finn smiled and said, “It’s a date, then.”
Date?
I couldn’t date someone I was about to hire. It was completely unethical. But he hadn’t technically accepted the job yet. Come to think of it, we hadn’t officially offered it to him either, so what harm was there in joining him for dinner?
When I looked into his deep green eyes, I knew I was in trouble. It was going to be extremely difficult to remind myself why I was in Ireland. I turned away and focused on the scenery. It wasn’t enough of a distraction. This was going to be an issue. Not only did I think Finn was perfect for the job, but he had my pulse racing and gave me butterflies like a teenager.
I can’t believe I’m even thinking this, but God, I wish Logan was coming with us.