Emma had decided we should walk the short distance to the Boston Harbor Hotel. It gave us time to talk a bit more and get to know one another.
“Where are we going to eat?” she asked.
“If you don’t mind another round of Italian, how about here?”
She glanced up, laughing as she looked back at me. “Pasta Beach?”
“They’ve got amazing food.”
“Well, with a last name like Maggio, I’m going to have to trust you on this one.”
I motioned for her to head into the restaurant.
An hour later, after a few glasses of wine and a hot meal, we’d talked about everything from our childhoods to where we wanted to see ourselves in five years.
“You didn’t mention anything about marriage in your future,” Emma stated after she had finished off her wine and set the glass on the table. Her finger ran along the bottom of the glass as she waited for me to answer.
I shrugged. “I’m not opposed to getting married. It’s just, I have Noel to think about, and the last thing I want to do is bring someone into her life who won’t be there for the long haul. She is my number one concern.”
Emma smiled. “It is obvious you love her fiercely.”
“I do.”
She chewed on her lip and looked down at her hands.
“Ask me, Emma.”
Her head jerked up and she wore a surprised expression. “Excuse me?”
“It’s clear that you want to ask me something, but you’re not sure how to.”
A crooked smile played over her face, and I felt a strange tightness in my chest. I nearly lifted my hand to rub it away.
“With it just being you, aren’t you ever afraid…I mean, with your job and all?”
I sat back. “Every time I hear the alarm go off, I’m scared to death.”
“Yet, you still do it?”
Nodding, I replied, “I do. I love my job.”
She grinned. “A Navy SEAL, now a firefighter. Something tells me you love danger in your life.”
I laughed. “I guess you could say that. You never did say what made you become a librarian.”
“Oh, that,” Emma said with a little shrug. “I was…no, I am, a book nerd. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved reading. Everything from romance books to biographies. The feeling of being able to escape the real world has always been something I’ve craved. I knew in high school, when I spent most of my time in the library, that I wanted to be a librarian. I wasn’t very popular in school, so it was my safe place. If I’m being honest, my true dream is to maybe someday own my own little children’s bookstore.”
Frowning, I asked, “Why did you need a safe space?”
Her cheeks turned pink. “I was teased a lot in high school by other girls. As you can see,” she motioned to herself. “I’m not exactly the type who tried out for cheerleading. Most of the girls didn’t like me, and if a boy talked to me, it was usually because he needed help with his homework or had a question about something we were doing in class. I don’t really know why the girls didn’t like me. I clearly wasn’t a threat to them.”
I shook my head slowly as I stared at her in disbelief. Leaning forward, I said, “I can tell you why they didn’t like you. They were jealous of you.”
Her eyes went wide before she started to laugh. “Jealous of me? Nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Emma, I don’t know what you see when you look in the mirror, but I can tell you what I see. A very beautiful, intelligent, and hot as hell librarian with a body that would make any man fall to his knees.”
The pink turned to bright red. When she crinkled her nose, I wanted to destroy any person who ever made her doubt herself in any way.
