After a sip of red wine, Maverick set his glass down and met my eyes. He smiled like he was telling a sweet story.

"Zee, I need to thank you for choosing me back then—broke, from the middle of nowhere," he said. "A rich girl up on her pedestal like you… everyone would’ve thought you belonged with a golden boy like Sean. But you picked me. Not Sean. I’m really grateful for that."

He’d brought up Sean more than once today. For no reason, it gave me the ...