Page 131 of Light My Fire

We take the car to the building on Michigan Avenue where Loretta’s, one of the best restaurants in the city, sits on the top floor with a stunning view of the city and the lake.

We’re shown to our table and again Brooke gushes about how beautiful everything is. Loretta’s really is a great place, but I almost never come. My friends and family like things simpler and my business associates mostly meet online.

We look over the menu for a few minutes after ordering wine.

I look up. “What looks good?”

She smiles. “Um… I’m not sure.”

“Not hungry?”

She chews on her bottom lip for a moment. Then folds her menu. “Honestly? I don’t know what some of this even is.” She laughs softly. “I like a lot of things. What are you getting?”

I was eyeing the steak. Because I know what that is. Some of the other items come with sauces or are prepared in ways that I’m not sure of either. I lean in and lower my voice. “I don’t know what a lot of it is, either.”

She reaches over and takes my hand. “You know you don’t have to impress me, right? I would be completely fine with a burger or pizza or tacos. In fact, Iloveburgers and pizzas and tacos.”

I feel a little foolish suddenly. She’s a veterinarian. She gets her hands dirty. She cleans upverynicely but nothing about this girl has given me any indication that she needs or wants five-star dining. We ate sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace at the cabin and it was fantastic.

“You lookwaytoo good for burgers,” I tell her, stroking the back of her hand.

She studies me for a moment, then looks back at the menu. “How about we get a couple of appetizers and have our wine? Then we can go find some tacos.” She gives me a grin. “No one looks too good for tacos.”

I’m in love with her.

I realize it in that moment.

I’ve had inklings before, but in this moment Iknowit. She’s so easy to be around. She’s so perfect. She can adapt to absolutely anything. Being snowed in, a pregnant dog delivering puppies on the kitchen floor, three men wanting her, hanging out in leggings and a sweatshirt, or dressing up in a sexy black dress.

She doesn’t care if I’m a millionaire or if Wyatt and Luke are firefighters. She wouldn’t care what any of us do or what we can spend on her. She truly just cares aboutus.

She’s everything.

And suddenly tacos sound amazing.

“Yes, absolutely. That’s perfect.”

The waiter returns and we pick out something with figs and prosciutto—two ingredients we both know and like—and crab puffs.

We sip our wine and chat about nothing in particular as we wait. Still, I feel so close to her. I can imagine doing this every night forever.

When the finger foods arrive, I serve us both and we start to nibble.

“So, I have something to tell you about,” I tell her, suddenly nervous. I’ve been working on this project since two days after getting back to Chicago and it’s coming along quickly. That is definitely something about having money that I really like. If you can pay, people are happy to work faster.

“Okay.” She looks interested.

I hope she finds this as cool as I do.

“I’ve decided to buy a place with some land,” I tell her. “Plenty of room for the dogs. And maybe even more dogs.”

Her brows arch. “Oh, that’s great. Luke said he was going to take one of them. Angel.” Her cheeks get a little pink.

That’s so fucking cute. I nod. “Yeah. But I think I’m going to keep the rest. And… train them for Search and Rescue.”

Brooke stares at me. Then she sets her fork down. “Really?”

“Yeah. Those first few days when I felt like I needed to stay home with the dogs, I watched a bunch of animal documentaries, ones about dogs in particular. The ones that I loved most, and that really stuck with me, were the couple about 9-11.”

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