The Intern (The Dalton Family #4)(74)

Within a few seconds, the door opened, and a man dressed in a suit with slicked-back gray hair greeted us. “Declan, my man, it’s great to see you.”

He reached his arms out, and they man-hugged, slapping shoulders before they separated.

Declan turned to me. “Freddy, this is my girlfriend, Hannah. Hannah, this is Freddy, the owner.”

I heard nothing after girlfriend.

A word we’d never used between us in the two weeks we’d been hanging out since Jackson Hole. We hadn’t given us a label—us just seemed to be working. But I couldn’t deny the sensations he had just drawn from my body, how those simple letters had caused a burst of tingles to hit my chest.

Over and over.

Freddy held out his hand, shaking mine. “Hannah, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’ve heard lots of things about your eating habits.” He smiled.

I glanced at Declan. “My eating habits, huh?”

“Let’s get you inside and set up,” Freddy said, pressing his back against the door to give us enough room to step in.

Since I was unsure of where to go, I stopped a few feet into the hallway, Declan directly behind me, and we let Freddy pass.

As we made our way down the narrow hallway and through another door at the end, Declan’s hand went to my lower back. It stayed there, even when I stopped walking, taking in this new space we had stepped into. It was a kitchen. Not a busy one that ran the entire restaurant. This was an intimate, private room with a cooking station in the center and a large cooler in the back, a table set up along the side that I had a feeling was for us.

A woman dressed in chef’s attire stepped out of the cooler with a mixing bowl in her hand, smiling as she walked toward the island.

“Hannah, Declan, I’d like you to meet Alex,” Freddy said as he brought us over to her. “Alex is our pastry chef.”

She shook Declan’s hand and then extended her hand to me. “It’s very nice to meet you both.” Her grin was so warm as her eyes met mine. “Hannah, I understand you love to bake.”

My heart was pounding as I nodded. “I do.”

“Then, you’re in the right place.” She rubbed her hands together. “I’m going to be doing lots of that for you tonight. In fact, a little later, I’d really like for you to join me in preparing a course, if that’s something you’d be interested in doing?”

“Are you kidding?” I felt my fingers on my chest, but I didn’t remember putting them there. “That would be so fun. Thank you.” I turned to Declan as he stood behind me, his eyes already on mine. “You did this?”

He held my cheek, like two other people weren’t in the room. “Dessert is much more important to you than dinner.” He gave me a quick but passionate kiss, his hand staying on my face longer than his lips had.

“I’m going to leave you guys to it,” Freddy said. “Enjoy yourselves and please let me know if you need anything.”

We thanked him, and Alex brought us over to our table. It was set for two, a black tablecloth covering the top with rose petals and tea lights between the plates.

“I’ve paired all six dessert courses with wines,” Alex said. “Ones with notes that I believe will work well with the flavors I’ve chosen.”

She went to the cooler, returning with a bottle. “The first is going to be a prosecco from a vineyard near Valdobbiadene, Italy. It’s a full body with hints of apple and orange.” She opened the bottle, pouring some into each of our glasses. “I’m going to serve this with an apple and orange sponge cake that has a cinnamon glaze with toasted, sliced almonds.” She set the bottle in an ice bath and went to the counter she’d previously been working at, bringing over two plates. “I garnished the cake with a bit of spiced pear jam. I know it sounds heavy on the fruit, but the cinnamon will provide the needed balance, and the nuts add a really great texture to the delicate sponge.” She paused, allowing us to soak in her description. “Bon appétit.”

I waited for her to return to the island before I looked at Declan and whispered, “I literally don’t even know what to say right now, but I’m in absolute heaven.”

Even the table had carefully constructed details, like the napkin that had been folded into a fan, a jeweled ring around it that had my initials engraved on it. The votives were red, matching the rose petals. There were even edible flowers frozen in the ice that floated on top of our waters.

Declan had done this; he’d made sure everything would be perfect.

Because he knew how much this would mean to me.

Because he knew how much I would love this.

Tears wanted to prick my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them. If I started to get emotional, I didn’t know if I’d stop.

He held up his glass. “How about you just say cheers?”

I clinked my drink against his. “To us.”

“Us.” He took a sip.

I lifted my fork and pierced the end of the sponge. “I cannot wait to try this.” I broke off a piece, dipping it into the cinnamon glaze along with the pear jam that had been swirled around the exterior of the plate. The moment the cake touched my tongue, I moaned, “My God.”

The flavor wasn’t as light as I had expected. It wasn’t rich either. It was tart and bold, the cinnamon toning it down.