I pull into Hudson's at 6:15 and drive right up to the valet. I hop out of the car and as soon as I am inside I see Ryan standing by the bar. I push my way over to him and when I am inches away he says, "Glad to see you could make it." I roll my eyes as a wry grin takes over his face.

"Annabeth had her wedding planner drop by for lunch and they ended up strategizing for two hours."

"Strategizing for what?" He asks as I shrug my coat off.

"Her new theme. Charming country wedding is out, elegant navy and silver affair is in." The host calls our names and Ryan takes my elbow while leading me into the dining room. I cover my chair with my coat and drop my purse under the table. As I settle in the waitress hands me the wine menu and I snatch it from her fingers.

"So long day then huh?" Ryan asks as my eyes glide over the reds list and I nod. When I finally select a Cabernet I look back to him and say, "But enough about Annabeth. I literally don't want to talk about her or her wedding once tonight. It's already taken up enough of my day."

He nods and I wave the waitress over to order our drinks. As she wanders off I look around the classy restaurant and the question I've been pondering all day comes back to me, "So why Hudson's? Seems like a far drive for a Monday night."

I watch as Ryan's face flushes slightly and he clasps his hands in front of him. I can tell he's nervous and suddenly an idea makes me nervous. What if Ryan brought me here to propose? What if him saying we needed to wait until after Austin's wedding was all a rouse? Why else would he bring me to a fancy restaurant right after work? I'd never expect it. He'd catch me off guard and he always said he wanted it to be a surprise when he finally did pop the question.

I quickly straighten up and wonder when he'd do it. Could the ring be in my wine glass? He was here before me so he could have planned it all with the waitress. Or maybe he'll do it during dessert, he knows I never turn down a creme brulee.

The waitress comes back and sets my glass on the table. It would be dumb to have put it in my wine seeing it's a dark red and I could choke if I didn't know better. I give the glass a quick swirl under my nose but don't see any gleaming pieces of jewelry swimming inside. I look back to him and he downs a massive gulp of beer. Something is definitely up. He pulls at the collar of his shirt and my heart lurches into my throat. He's nervous.

"Sorry, it's kind of hot in here," he says anxiously and I know this is it. He is going to propose.

Or what if he's breaking up with me? He was vague on his messages today and he didn't text me after. Maybe he drove all the way out here so if I flipped out there would be no Hollis witnesses. What is going on? I look back to him and reply, "You seem a bit nervous. Is something up?"

He takes another drink and right as he's opening his mouth the waitress comes back over. I want to bite her head off for keeping up the suspense but I sweetly say, "I still need a few minutes with the menu." She realizes she forgot to tell us the specials and drones on about soups, lobster and chocolate mousse. I hope my face isn't giving away my hatred for her but all I am doing is willing this chipper woman away. If my heart wasn't beating me senseless I would have pre-ordered the mousse but instead, I smile and wave her off as soon as she's done.

"So anyway," I say immediately after she's out of earshot. "Is something up?" He takes another sip from his glass and I get the urge to smack it out of his hands. Talk man!

"Yeah, I just had an interesting day at work," he finally spits out and I nod. Yep uh huh, I gathered that much from his message.

"Is that what is makin' you seem a bit...flustered?" I bait and he gives me a nervous laugh.

"Sorry, yeah I was thrown for a loop today and I'm just not sure how to go about tellin' you," he mutters. I feel warm again but I don't have to egg him on anymore because he says, "I told you we were bringing in an expert to help track my money laundering case. Well, the agent arrived today and turns out it is someone I know."

I can tell I am going to need more wine for this conversation. I ask, "Isn't that what you and Austin were hoping for? A familiar face?" He nods again but the nervous energy that's oozing off of him is starting to worry me.

"Yeah, so they brought in Agent Dalton. Uh, she's great at what she does but her and I kind of have a...well we kind of have a history."

My body starts to melt into my chair as I feel my face flush red and I am surprised. Ryan has never mentioned a past history with a fellow agent. The waitress starts to come back over and I use the short opportunity to gather my thoughts. After she scribbles down our order I look back to Ryan and I can tell he's trying to gauge my expression. I try to stay neutral as I reply, "Are there still feelings there?"

He quickly shakes his head, "None at all. I never had romantic feelings for her it was more... opportunity than attraction."

"Did she have feelings for you?" I cautiously ask and this time he isn't so quick to shake his head. The hesitation tells me everything I need to know.

"So you're telling me that you are now working exclusively with a woman that has feelings for you?" I snap.

"I don't know if she still does Sawyer. But I want and need you to trust me. I wanted to tell you right away in case Austin said anything...stupid to you." Leave it to Austin to make a crude joke about the new arrangement.

"Does she know about me? Or that you have a girlfriend?" I ask and on this one, I better get the correct answer.

He nods, "She knows I left South Carolina because I had met someone here." That wasn't exactly satisfactory.

"Were you two...hooking up when you first came out here?" I boldly ask and I am not sure why. Austin always teased that Ryan was hardly a lady's man when they went out but he never mentioned if it was because he didn't have to leave the office to find a hookup. Once again Ryan hesitates and slides his watch up on his wrist- a nervous tick I know he has.

"She was never my girlfriend. We were never exclusive so there was no cheating of any kind," he says directly into my eyes.

"Maybe not cheating to you but you left South Carolina for a two-week assignment and then came back to leave again for a woman. I can't imagine she wasn't hurt if she did in fact have feelings for you. Did you break it off with her when you left?"

Once again he hesitates. I'm blown away by this news. Ryan has been pretty candid with me about his past but never once has an office romance come up.

"Look Sawyer, I may not have personally delivered the news to her but the captain made it well known that I was leaving because I had met someone...in much more vulgar terms but the message was still clear. Austin then announced he was leaving for the same reason and we were teased out of the office. She was there the day we left and I haven't heard from her since." He releases a long exhale and then adds, "I was never alone with her today but I am to brief her tomorrow. I am going to tell her I am in a serious relationship still and everything will be professional."

I eye him before saying, "Maybe I need to pop in at lunch. Make myself known." Wearing my best form-fitting dress, teal suede stilettos and red lipstick. My mother would faint she'd be so impressed.

He kills my high by saying, "I'd rather her not know who you are. She's only here until we apprehend the suspect and then she's being shipped back to South Carolina."

"You don't want her to know who I am?" I defensively ask.

"No. I don't. She's an F.B.I agent who has the power of the law at her fingertips. She could pull you over and ticket you for nothing or charge you in a case she wants to close," he says. I look at my boyfriend and want to shake the stupid out of him.

"Ryan, I just want her to know I'm very much real. But not every woman is a crazy jealous stalker bitch. For all you know she could now have a boyfriend. She might not gave a rat's ass about us. You might be giving yourself too much credit," I say with an eye roll. I don't know this woman but I imagine to be an F.B.I agent you have to have a brain and composure. Just because she's a female agent doesn't mean she'll be wicked. Although I'd still like to show up at the office tomorrow just in case.

"You're right. When I clarify my relationship status with her tomorrow I'll gauge her reaction and then decide if it's best to disclose your identity."

"Talking like a real agent there," I say while shaking my head and for once I am delighted to see our waitress. She drops our food down in front of us and we are quiet while we take the first few bites. I watch Ryan fidget with his watch again and I reach my hand across the table, "Ryan I love you and I trust you. You moved across the country to be with me, we are talking about marriage. I'm not worried. As long as this woman knows you are off-limits and you are honest with me every day she's here we won't have a problem."

He nods to me and I watch his shoulders relax. He smiles and says, "I love you too Sawyer. And I promise I won't do anything that would jeopardize our relationship. Ro and I will be strictly professional."

Confusion flashes across my face and I ask, "Ro? Her name is Ro?"

"No, it's Aurora but everyone calls her Ro," he answers. My stomach squirms and I realize I don't much care for Ryan having a nickname for a girl. I'm trying to put my best face forward but suddenly I am feeling like I might just have to make my presence known to her whether Ryan wants me to or not.

"You still never told me why you had to drag me all the way to Hudson's to tell me this," I remind him and he lets out a laugh.

"I figured I should treat you to a nice dinner while telling you I'd be working with an old fling," he says.

"Oh well if that's the reason then I am ordering another glass of wine and definitely getting dessert." The waitress drops by one last time to see if we want to order any dessert and I eagerly order the chocolate mousse. When she sets it in front of me I deflate a little when I now know for sure there won't be any ring tucked inside.