“Your trip go okay?” Harrison asks. There’s some hesitancy in the question that’s my fault. I took my friends’ surprise at my career choice as personally as I took my father’s disapproval and made my job a topic we didn’t discuss.

“Yeah, fine,” I reply. “Long.”

“Long? You used to be gone for months.”

“I know.” I can’t imagine it now. The weeks I spent away from Evie were hard enough.

“Hey!” Suddenly, she’s here, sinking down in the booth beside me and sliding over so she’s almost in my lap.

I give her a quick kiss and a pointed look. “Tell me you didn’t take the bus here, Evie.”

“I didn’t take the bus here,” she parrots.

“I told you to text me!”

She rolls her eyes. “I knew you were already here. You can get up at four thirty and drive me to work in the morning, if you want to be my chauffeur that badly.”

“No news on your car?”

“Nope. The garage left a message earlier. It won’t be ready till Tuesday now.”

I push my half-full beer away. “Looks like I’ll be getting up at four thirty, then.”

Evie’s expression softens. “You don’t have to do that.”

“You’re not taking the bus, Evie.”

“Fine.” She caves. “Only so you stop making that face.”

“What face?”

“That pouting puppy-dog face.”

“I do not have a pouting puppy-dog face.”

“Yes, you do. I look at your face more than you do.”

I smirk before I lean down and graze my lips against her ear. “You’re usually looking lower, baby.”

She lets out a breathy, small gasp that immediately has me hardening.

Noah makes a gagging sound from across the table. I forgot he was here, honestly. Evie captures every ounce of my attention. “Seriously, you two?”

I don’t think he could actually hear what we were saying, but I’m guessing our body language didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination.

“Calm down, Noah. We were talking.” I squeeze Evie’s thigh as she reaches out and takes a sip from my beer.

Noah has been far more accepting of our relationship than I ever expected he might be. I try not to push him.

She glances at me, smirks, and then takes another sip of my beer.

“You can order a drink,” I tell her when she settles back against the back of the booth.

“I have to work tomorrow.”

“I know.” I trail my fingers along her leg.

Evie usually stays at her place—alone—on nights when she has to work the next day. Both because her place is closer to Charleston General and because neither of us gets much sleep when we’re in bed together.