“creamy poppy seed and she loved the strawberry-spinach salad’s crunchy sweetness. She enjoyed a few bites uninterrupted, grateful she could eat at all with Byron nearby. His knee rubbed against hers and the bite of spinach stuck in her throat. She swallowed then glanced up. Their gazes met and tangled, an entire conversation passed between them, almost without her permission. The earnestness and warmth of his look was a dagger through her abdomen. How could she still love him so much? She knew who he was, what he was. He wasn’t future husband material and never would be. When he was eighty he’d still be smoking hot and still have women crawling all over him. The waitress came to request their drink orders. She nodded to Marissa’s request of a lemon for her water and fawned all over Byron as he ordered lemonade. “She’s”