Dating the Boss (Blue Harbor #2) - Jaclyn Osborn Page 0,24
sprinkles.”
“With sprinkles?” I grabbed the room key and slid it into my back pocket before walking toward the door. “What are you, five?”
“Five and a half, actually.”
I shook my head and opened the door. Light spilled in through the many windows of the manor, lighting up the area with the staircase beautifully.
“I feel like I should be wearing a ball gown and running dramatically down the stairs in glass slippers,” Reed said, craning his neck as he looked around. His hazel eyes landed on me, and he smirked. “You know, like Cinderella?”
“Never watched it.”
“What?” he asked, shocked. “How is that even possible?”
“I’ve heard the story, of course, but have yet to see the movie.”
“That’s insane.”
“Not everyone grew up watching Disney movies and dreaming of happily ever afters, Reed. Some of us had it harder than others.” My confession stunned me a bit, and I did my best to hide that shock. Clearing my throat, I looked ahead. “You running in heels would be highly amusing, though, I have to admit.”
He cracked a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I didn’t grow up that way either, you know.”
“In what way?”
“An easy childhood where I watched Disney movies and everything was perfect.” A faraway look shone in his eyes. The light hit his face at the right angle, emphasizing his bone structure. It also brought attention to the sadness in his expression. Longing, perhaps. “I did dream of a happily ever after, though. I wanted a prince to ride in on his white steed and sweep me off my feet. To take me away.”
The center of my chest ached. The more we talked over this trip, the more I realized how little I actually knew him. I knew nothing of his life apart from the little glimpses I’d gotten at the office.
“Did that prince ever come?” We were at the bottom of the stairs now, and I turned to face him.
He looked up at me, his light brown hair falling across his brow in a way that made me want to brush it aside. “Still waiting. Good thing I’m patient.”
Was that why he read romance novels and liked sappy movies? He didn’t strike me as the overly romantic type, but maybe that was the point. He escaped with those things because he craved it for himself.
Stop thinking about it. Reed’s personal life was no business of mine.
“Smell that?” he asked, sniffing the air before walking toward the left hallway. “Smells like heaven.”
With him in front of me, I trailed a gaze up and down his slender body. He was like a little spitfire, both masculine and feminine. And damn if he didn’t send my heart racing each time his hazel eyes met mine. I hadn’t been that attracted to someone in a long time. Just my luck that it was someone I could never have, never touch.
Reed led us to the breakfast area.
Round tables were placed throughout the room, each set with silverware and a small vase with a flower in the center. Simple, yet elegant. Large windows let in natural light and also gave a view of the winter wonderland on the other side of them. Guests moved down a buffet where scrambled eggs, biscuits, sausage, and other breakfast food steamed in platters.
“Good morning,” Cole said after walking from the back room and spotting us. His brown hair was tousled a bit, and his lips looked a little puffy. “Grab a plate and help yourself.”
Ian then left the same room Cole had come from, straightening his wrinkled shirt.
Reed grinned. He’d clearly noticed the same as I had. “Morning.”
I nodded to the both of them before following Reed to the stack of plates. He grabbed one, and I did the same, and then we moved down the buffet-styled breakfast bar. He piled sausage links, scrambled eggs, and bacon on his plate, as well as two biscuits and a lemon blueberry muffin.
“Are you really going to eat all of that?” I asked.
“I’m gonna try,” Reed said. “There’s no challenge I back down from, as you should know by now.”
“Oh, I’m well aware.”
I hadn’t been lying when I’d said Reed was a go-getter the night before. When he set his mind to something—at least in regard to work—he didn’t stop until he succeeded.
After pouring us each a cup of coffee, we sat at a corner table, right beside a window with a view of the snowy courtyard. Winter birds stood out against the snow, their bright red feathers contrasting with the white