Chapter 20
After her second interview, Stephanie let out a sigh of relief when she didn’t see Liam or Ivan waiting downstairs.
Staring at the setting sun, she debated whether to grab dinner out or head home when her phone buzzed with a message.
“Done with the interview? How’d it go?” Daniel texted.
Stephanie remembered how well the conversation went and was pretty confident the job was in the bag. She replied with a cute puppy emoji giving an ” okay” sign
Daniel’s reply came fast. “Sounds like you’ve nailed it! How about we celebrate with dinner? My treat.”
Stephanie felt like saying no but didn’t want to be rude, considering he’d referred her for the second interview.
She backspaced the “That’s too much trouble” and typed, “I should be treating you,” then hit send.
“Guess I’ll have to go along with it. Where are you? I’ll pick you up. Send me your location, and you can figure out what you want to eat while you wait.” After sharing her location, Stephanie opened a restaurant application to look for places to eat.
She wasn’t familiar with Riverton. She’d only visited a few places with her family during the holidays and had no idea where to go.
After browsing for about 20 minutes, she figured she’d play it safe and go with a steakhouse. She had just finished making the reservation when Daniel texted to say he’d arrived.
Stephanie spotted his car and hopped in. After fastening her seatbelt, she told Daniel the name of the place she reserved.
Instead of driving off immediately, Daniel grabbed a small box of cake from the back seat and handed it to her with a warm smile.
“I remember you saying you loved the cakes from here. I happened to be nearby so I picked one up for you. Give it a try and see if it’s still as good.”
Stephanie was pleasantly surprised he remembered something she’d mentioned in passing. She thanked him gratefully.
She hadn’t eaten for hours and was hungry, but she remembered Daniel was pretty particular about cleanliness. So, she placed the cake on her lap, planning to eat it once they got to the restaurant
Daniel was surprised when he saw she wasn’t eating the cake.
“You’ve had two interviews and slipped lunch. Aren’t you hungry? Take a bite, or you’ll end up with an upset stomach,” he said gently.
Stephanie felt a twinge in her stomach before he even finished talking. She did have a bit of gastritis.
Not wanting to end up in the hospital and worry Hubert and Rita, she decided to skip the formalities and opened the box. The smooth, sweet cream melted in her mouth, slowly easing the discomfort.
Stephanie slowly finished the cake before looking at Daniel with a smile. “It tastes just like I remember. It’s so
o good.”
“If you like it, I’d be happy to bring it to you more often,” Daniel said.
It was a casual remark, but Stephanie couldn’t shake the feeling there was more to it. Heat rushed to her ears. She was
is about to say she didn’t want to trouble him when they arrived at the restaurant
After Daniel parked the car, Stephanie hopped out, glanced at the huge sign, and checked their table number. “We’re table 98. They’re on 96, so it’ll be
Daniel nodded and was about to say something when he noticed a smear of cream at the corner of her mouth. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, hesitated for a moment, and handed it to her.
“You’ve got a little cream right here. You might want to clean it off.”
Stephanie’s face flushed, a brief look of embarrassment crossing her face.
She took the handkerchief and was about to open h
n her phone’s front camera when Daniel held his phone up with its screen facing her like a mirror. Stephanie was surprised but quickly understood his thoughtful gesture. She wiped the cream off and thanked him.
Daniel didn’t seem bothered by it. He gave a polite smile and held out his hand. “Just hand me the handkerchief. I’ll take care of cleaning it.” Stephanie wasn’t sure at first, but remembering how particular he was about cleanliness, she folded the handkerchief and returned it.
“Table 98, please head up to the third floor for your seat”
Stephanie brushed off the little incident when she heard their number. She waved at Daniel while heading upstairs. “That’s us!” Daniel watched her bright smile, running his fingers over the soft silk handkerchief in his palm. Then, he followed her upstairs.
