Page 80 of Taming the CEO

"I needed to see you. I never ignore my instincts." He looked straight at me, and I smiled, taking a slice of bread and putting butter on it. I was a bit nervous. "How are things in Essex?"

"A bit messier than here," I said with a laugh after taking a mouthful. "There's still a lot of slush and mud."

His eyes clouded. "That means you've gotten a lot of cancellations."

I nodded. "Yes, but I don't want to talk about that tonight. Actually, wait, I changed my mind." I put down the bread and straightened up, rolling my shoulders back. I reached up to put a strand of hair behind my ear, but Miriam had styled it so professionally that I didn't even have anything to push back. "I spoke to Dad, and we're ready to move forward with the sale whenever you and Gabe are."

Maddox's stance instantly changed. He jutted his chin forward, which somehow made his cheekbones look even more prominent.

How is this guy so handsome?

"Cami, are you certain?"

I nodded. "Yes. Look, I'll be honest. I don't do well with surprises, and when Dad sprang that on me..." I shrugged. "I don't know. I just didn't think about it thoroughly, I guess."

"But now you have." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. And I think it's a good thing. Dad truly wishes to retire, and I can’t buy him out. And it opens up a lot of opportunities for me too. I'll have some money, and the world will be my oyster."

Maddox's expression brightened into a charming smile. "This is fantastic news, Cami. I'll talk to Gabe tomorrow about it, and we'll set everything up. But for tonight, I don't want us to talk about business anymore."

I tilted my head. "Really? Why not?"

"Because we've got more important things to discuss. There's a lot I want to know about you. First things first, though," he said. "Let's choose something to eat."

I grinned. "Hell yeah. I'm already a bit hungry. Very smart of them to have a basket of bread on the table."

As if reading our minds, a waiter materialized next to our table and handed us two leather-bound menus. "Today's specials are handwritten at the back."

"Thank you. This all looks delicious," I murmured, looking at page after page of options. I’d been right. It was French, featuring things like duck breast and cordon bleu. “I like too many things.”

Maddox laughed. "Then we'll order them all and share."

I looked up at him. "What? Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Why not?"

Once again, the waiter appeared right when we needed him. The service was excellent. "Are you ready to order?" he asked, and we both nodded.

Maddox chose two courses, and I picked three. We were having a food festival. The waiter also asked us for our drink order. Typically, I would have gone the safe route with wine, but their cocktail list looked delicious, so I went with their signature drink. Maddox ordered scotch.

We received our drinks right away. Mine was extremely blue—phosphorescent, almost. I glanced at it suspiciously, then up at Maddox, who was clearly suppressing laughter.

"This doesn’t look the way I expected," I said. "It has berries. Why isn’t it pink?"

"You can order something else if you want."

"No, no," I said, holding my glass up to his. As we clinked them together, I added, "I'm all for adventures tonight." I took a sip. "Yum! I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't taste the way it looks. It's super delicious."

"I'm glad."

He took a sip of his scotch and tilted his head as if contemplating. “It’s good, but not the best I’ve had.”

“You’re a connoisseur?”

"Yes. It all started because of Gabe's distillery, then the bar. He has a million other things, but I drink scotch mostly. He’s very good at what he does."

"You're really close to him," I said, taking another sip. Some part of me realized I should have waited until I had more food or bread before drinking more, but the cocktail was amazing. "You don't work with any of your other brothers, right?"

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