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cheerfully, then disappeared down the block before he could gather his thoughts.
    Ryan stared into the shadows of dusk, hoping for one last glimpse, but she was gone.
    “That was a touching scene,” Rory said, stepping out of the shadows.
    “Have you been reduced to spying to get your kicks?” Ryan asked irritably.
    “Hardly. I just stopped by to see if you’d like a blind datefor tonight. My date has a friend. I’ve met her. She doesn’t hold a candle to your Maggie, but I imagine she could provide a much-needed distraction.”
    “I don’t think so,” Ryan said. He doubted if both Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones rolled into one could distract him tonight.
    Rory grinned at him. “Which says it all, if you ask my opinion.”
    “Which I did not,” Ryan said.
    “Well, I’m offering it, anyway. A woman like Maggie comes along once in a man’s life, if he’s lucky. Don’t be an idiot and let her get away.”
    “I don’t even know her,” Ryan argued. “Neither do you. So let’s not make too much of this.”
    “Are you saying the woman doesn’t tie you in knots?”
    Ryan frowned at the question. “Whether she does or she doesn’t is no concern of yours.”
    “In other words, yes,” Rory interpreted. “So, get to know her. Find out if there’s anything more to these feelings. What’s the harm?”
    Harm? Ryan thought. He could get what was left of his heart broken, that was the harm. Maggie’s words came back to him then.
    It’s called living.
    Ryan tried to balance the promise of those words against the reality of the heartbreak he’d suffered years ago and vowed never to risk again. Bottom line? There was nothing wrong with his life just the way it was. It was safe. Comfortable. There were no significant bumps, no nasty surprises.
    “See you,” he said to Rory. “I’ve got things to do.”
    Rory’s expression brightened. “You going after her?”
    “Nope.”
    “Why the hell not?”
    “Better things to do.”
    “What could be better than an evening with a beautiful woman?”
    “A couple of games of racquetball and an ice-cold beer,” Ryan retorted.
    Rory laughed. “That’s called sublimation, my friend.”
    “Call it whatever you want to. It’s my idea of a great way to spend a few hours.”
    “That’s only because you haven’t been on a real date with a woman who might actually matter to you in all the time I’ve known you,” Rory said.
    Ryan couldn’t deny the accusation. “You live your life. Let me live mine.”
    “That’s the problem, Ryan, me lad. What you’re doing’s not living, not by any man’s definition.”
    Nor by Maggie’s, Ryan was forced to admit. But neither her opinion nor Rory’s mattered. His was the only one that counted, and he was perfectly content with his life.
    At least he had been till a few days ago, when Maggie O’Brien had blown into the pub on a gust of wind and made it her mission to shatter his serenity. From what he could tell, she was doing a darn fine job of it, too.

Chapter Five
    M aggie was beginning to hate the defiantly silent phone at her parents’ house. Ryan was definitely not taking the hint. She’d all but thrown herself at him, and he was still maintaining the same aloof, distant air. Without her fairly secure ego, she might have found it humiliating.
    If she’d honestly believed that he wasn’t the least bit interested in her, she might have accepted that and moved on, but she didn’t believe it. Not only did she know Colleen’s impression regarding his interest, but her own instincts on her last visit to the pub had told her he was attracted to her. She’d seen the immediate rise of heat in his eyes when he’d found her outside, the too-brief flicker of desire before he’d forced a neutral expression onto his face.
    Maybe if she hadn’t quit her job, if she had a million thingsto do, she could have let it go, rather than obsessing about him. The truth was, though, that she was bored with all this time on