The only fancy restaurant in town was also the only sit-down restaurant in town, so that’s where I’d made our reservation. Jimmy’s Pasta House did carbs admirably and had candles on the table. It was a far cry from the Michelin-starred places I’d eaten with the last girl in my life, but it felt right for this girl.

My girl.

The soft candlelight made her eyes sparkle as she looked over the menu. “I’m going to have to be careful,” she sighed as she ran her finger down the list. “I borrowed this top from Rachel and I don’t want to get sauce on it.”

“Why would you get sauce on it?” I wondered, eyeing the top appreciatively. I’d have to thank Rachel when I saw her next. It matched the blue of Everly’s eyes exactly.

She glanced up at me with a wry smile. “I’m a total slob when I eat. I should have brought a bib.”

I gave her a quizzical look. “I find it hard to believe you’re a slob.”

“Just when I’m eating,” she corrected, quickly catching my meaning. “I’m definitely way neater as a nurse.”

I leaned back in my chair and set my menu down. “What made you want to be a nurse?” I wondered. “I know your parents have the bakery in town. You never wanted to bake?” Everly ran her tongue across her bottom teeth. “Uh oh. Sore subject?”

She shook her head. “Only to them,” she said with more than a little steel in her voice. “I’ve known I wanted to be a nurse since I was nine years old.”

I whistled softly. “That’s a long time. What made you want to do it?”

She took a deep breath, like she needed to collect her thoughts, and just as she did, the smiling waitress appeared to take our order. I was happy that, in spite of her fear of being a slob, Everly still ordered a big plate of chicken parm. “That’s my girl,” I murmured.

When our orders had been taken, I turned back to her. “Why I wanted to be a nurse,” she said softly, toying with her fork. “I know. I remembered the question.”

“This sounds like a story,” I prompted.

She kept twisting her fork in her fingers, her eyes a million miles away. “I was nine and my stomach really hurt.” She tapped the fork against the table and looked at me, then back down to the fork. I held my breath. “I told my parents. I’m sure I did, although to this day they insist I never said a word. But it hurt so much I was doubled over in school.” The corner of her mouth lifted in a wry, rueful smile. “I got in trouble for walking funny, actually.”

“Jesus,” I growled.

She glanced up and her smile widened until it was genuine. “It was the school nurse who finally helped me. She noticed and pulled me out of the line in the cafeteria.”

“What was wrong?”

“My appendix,” she said, some of that steel back in her voice. “Apparently it was hours from bursting. She noticed me and made sure I was taken care of. She even came to visit me in the hospital.” Everly took a sip of her water as I tried to wrap my mind around what it must have been like for that poor, invisible girl. Clenching my fist under the table, I swore to myself that I’d notice everything about her. “I guess I developed this sort of hero worship of nurses after that,” she said, sounding brighter now, her eyes shining with the opportunity to talk about the work she loved. “I built them up into superheroes with powers like X-ray vision and things like that, so of course I wanted to be just like them.” Her chin jutted out a little. “My mom still insists it’s my own fault for not telling her.”

“It’s not,” I told her flatly.

She cocked her head to the side. “I know that.”

I leaned forward and took her hand. “I know you know it. But I also wanted to make sure you heard it from someone else.”

She lowered her eyes, her lashes casting shadows over her cheekbones. I held my breath and squeezed her hand.

Everly stood up. I was already sliding my chair back to meet her when she took my face in her hands. I met her kiss with everything I had, forgetting the restaurant and the people in the tables around us. It was so easy to lose myself in this girl. I was addicted to her fire and the hell-bent way she kissed me.

When she pulled back, breathing hard, the whole restaurant was silent. Our waitress stood there, stock still, with our meals on her tray. From over in the corner came a slow, sarcastic round of applause.

Everly ducked back down to her seat, but I stood up straight and proud and waved, like I had to countless audiences before.

Then I heard Everly swear. “You okay?” I whispered and sat back down again. I expected her to complain about being the center of attention and I wanted to remind her that that was one of the perks of being my girl.

“Yeah,” she complained, dipping her napkin in her water glass. “But I just got fucking tomato sauce on Rachel’s shirt.”

I clapped my hands and pressed my fingertips to my lips. “You’re fucking spectacular,” I told her. “Where’d I find you?”

She lifted her chin, proud in spite of the wet mark above her left breast. “Right under here,” she teased, touching the tip of my nose.