It all started when I was bartending at Jim's Tavern. One evening, a man walked in, and I swear it was like the world stopped. It felt like a spotlight shone on him, and I could almost hear angels singing. I thought to myself, "This is the hottest man I've ever seen in my life!" Especially considering it was Jim's—definitely not the place I expected to see someone like him.

We kept making eye contact, but I was too shy to approach him. Honestly, I thought he was way out of my league. Plus, I had just come out of a bad relationship and swore off dating for good. But then, my friend, who was bartending with me, came up and said, "Hey, do you want to go out for breakfast with Brian after our shift?" I agreed, but made it very clear to her that Brian wasn’t going to get "anything" from me!

Well, my friend made me sit next to him, and Brian kindly paid for my breakfast. I barely said a word the whole time, but I did remember to say thank you before leaving. Somehow, we exchanged numbers, and when I got home, I sent him a text to thank him again.

Over the next week, we chatted back and forth while I was away at an EMS conference. I even skipped all the parties to talk with him on the phone. By the time I got back, we had already decided that our first date was a must!

And that, as they say, was just the beginning.