His smile did strange things to my chest. I’d never seen him smile so big and so much. He must’ve been more worried about this deal than he’d led me to believe. His relief was palpable.
“Congrats!” I hopped off the bed and grabbed the bottle of wine. “Good thing we bought this. We’ll have to celebrate.”
“Not until we eat something. I’m starving,” Daniel said, still grinning like a kid on Christmas. He checked the time. “Speaking of which, we’re officially off work for the weekend. Let’s go down and see what’s for dinner.”
We left the room and walked downstairs to the area where we’d had breakfast, finding it empty. However, I smelled food. Somewhere. Muffled voices came from down the hall, so we followed the sound—and the smells—and soon found ourselves in a large dining room that was quickly filling with other guests.
The long table sat probably twenty or more people and reminded me of the ones I saw in medieval movies, or ones with royalty. Each seat had a place setting: a plate under a bowl and silverware to the side along with an empty wineglass in front of it.
“Hello again,” a pretty brunette said to Daniel. A guy with red hair rested his hand on her lower back. “Daniel, right?”
“Yes. It’s nice to see you again, Claire.”
I arched a brow and looked between the two of them before stepping forward. “I’m Reed. Mr. Sawyer’s assistant.”
“You travel with an assistant, huh?” Claire asked him. “Fancy.”
“Assistant?” I said, feigning shock. “No, I meant to say bodyguard.”
Claire gave a musical laugh. “Aren’t you just too adorable?”
Adorable? Ugh. I wanted to be gorgeous, dammit. Not to her, though. I peered at Daniel from the corner of my eye and found him smiling at me before looking away. Did he think I was adorable too?
Not that it matters.
“I don’t think I ever introduced myself,” the red-haired guy said before shaking Daniel’s hand. “Josh Robinson.”
“Nice to meet you.” Daniel shook Josh’s hand before straightening back up and studying the room. “I didn’t know dinner was set up this way.”
“Yeah, we were surprised too on our first night,” Claire said, taking a seat. Josh sat beside her. “The owners like for the guests to eat like a big family, though other tables are set up over there”—she nodded to some against the wall—“for people who aren’t comfortable eating together. I love it, though. And just wait until you taste the food. It’s divine.”
Daniel pulled out a chair, and I took the one beside him. A tiny sizzle of electricity shot through my veins when our elbows touched, and my body heated when I caught a hint of his aftershave.
Stupid Monty. He had put the idea in my head to seduce my boss, and now it was all I could think about.
Once everyone was seated, Cole joined us and sat to my left. “Evening.”
“Evening,” I responded. “I like the setup.”
“Thanks.” Cole looked like a lovesick puppy as he stared at the only empty seat left at the table, the one right beside him. “Ian and I like it this way, but we understand not everyone does. So if you prefer to eat alone, we can accommodate you.”
“No, this is great. Is Ian going to eat with us?”
Not even a second after I asked the question, a door opened and Ian stepped out wearing an apron and carrying a big pot that he placed in the center of the table. Three people followed behind him with baskets of steaming rolls and butter.
“He cooks?”
“Yeah,” Cole answered. “He mostly bakes. That’s his passion.” That explained the baking supplies he’d picked up at the store. “He makes dessert each night, but he helps with dinner as well.”
Dinner consisted of pot roast with potatoes and carrots. The beef practically melted in my mouth, and the broth had a perfect balance of salt and other spices. I had a hard time suppressing a groan when I took that first bite. Daniel shifted in his seat.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
“Yes.” He looked at me briefly, before saying something to Claire, who sat across from us. Turned out, she worked in advertising too, so they had a lot in common. Josh zoned out as they talked about sales and market trends.
“More wine?” Ian asked me. After bringing the food, he had taken off his apron and took the seat at the head of the table beside Cole.
“Yes, please.”
For dessert, we had chocolate cake that was so fucking good I had to force myself