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The sweet gesture touched her somewhere that hadn’t been reached in a very long time. “Thank you, Zander. This is lovely.”
“No. You are lovely. Thank you for being with me tonight.”
She smiled at the compliment.
“How was your week?” He picked up his fork.
“Busy, but nice. I practiced a few pastries. New combinations I invented. The guests loved them. How about yours?” She frowned when his phone rang. He answered it and told whoever was on the other end he was busy and would call them back later.
He hung up and resumed their conversation. “My week was good. Little Red is healing nicely, and the kits are growing like weeds.” Slowly the awkwardness that had started with their little spat faded away and they talked in earnest.
Four times he got text messages, responded to them, but didn’t leave. She was impressed that he was taking her conditions seriously.
When they finished their main courses, he slipped into the house and came back with two small servings of strawberry shortcake. He placed them on the table with a flourish. “For you, my Canuck. Because you said Canadians like their strawberry shortcake.”
“What a shame, I was craving that classic American apple pie.” She winked.
“Next time. This meal was challenging enough.”
She reached out and grasped his hand as he sat down. “Thank you for this. You went to a lot of trouble, and I appreciate it. It means a lot to me.”
“You’re very welcome.”
His phone was blessedly silent for the rest of the night. She actually felt like their relationship was going well. She couldn’t help the niggle of doubt that said all good things must come to an end.
Chapter 19
Two days later, Heather sat in one of the inn’s Adirondack chairs overlooking the ocean and basked in the romantic glow of their dinner. She grinned as she worked on the menu for the inn’s long weekend meals. She had already approved extra staff for the event. She’d need servers for both inside and outside as well as a couple of extra line chefs. It was early afternoon and the air was quite cool. She wrapped her shawl tighter and picked up her pen.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Zander’s voice came from behind her.
“Oh! You startled me. I didn’t hear you over the waves and the seagulls.” She smiled up at him. Good morning.” King raced by to chase seagulls up and down the beach. He just ran from one to another barking without doing them any harm. They seemed to enjoy teasing him by flying close and swooping off again.
Zander handed her a steaming mug topped with whipped cream and bent to brush a kiss across her cheek before he sat in the white chair beside her. “Steaming mochaccino for a steaming woman.” His wink went straight to her toes.
“Thank you!” She paused. “Did you talk to Derrick?” she asked. It still worried her that she might lose her job if things went bad between them. If her boss walked by and saw them kissing, there could be trouble.
“I talked to Derrick, Jacob, Lexi, Ella, my mother, my receptionist, and my assistant. They are all okay with this relationship going forward. Jeremy, on the other hand, wants you to dump me and date him.”
“Oh my gosh!” She covered her face. “You asked him?”
“Not really no. I’m just yanking your chain. But it was clear from the second he set eyes on you that he wanted you for himself.”
“Maybe for a moment. But once he believed you and I were together, he only flirted to annoy you. The moment you left; all flirting stopped.” She grinned. “You were funny. And cute. Your jealousy was flattering.”
“Jealousy is not a nice quality.”
“If jealousy goes overboard, it isn’t good, that’s for certain. But just a touch is nice. It showed that you care.”
“It’s him I don’t trust. Not you.”
His frown was adorable. “You have nothing to fear from Jeremy. He was the perfect gentleman.”
“How about we talk about something else?” Zander growled.
She reached out and patted his hand. “Aside from his culinary skills, Jeremy is nothing to me.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to fight him.”
