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‘It’s a bit cheesy.’ Angela grinned at him. ‘But at least it’s a bit more honest. Though I suspect if I followed it up with something like “it’s time to muck out the donkeys”, you’d be a bit less happy to hear me call your name.’

‘Maybe true.’ He laughed.

If the waiter had heard their odd exchange, he did well to hide it. ‘Would sir and madam like to peruse our menus, or are you here for our Sunday repast?’

‘I’m all about the Sunday roast today.’ Ryan grinned, looking forward to a stack of roasties. ‘What about you, Angela? Do you want the main menu?’

‘Do you have any vegetarian options?’ Her question sent a wave of panic through Ryan. He’d been so busy checking how prestigious the place was, pulling the few strings he had to get them a late reservation, that he’d completely forgotten to check if Angela would actually be able to eat there.

‘Of course, madam. The non-meat option today is a hand-pulled seitan en croute with chicken o’ wood and caramelised red onion duxelles, finished with a black truffle jus.’

Well, at least there was one option.

‘I’m sorry, did you say chicken?’

‘Chicken of the wood, madam.’ The waiter leaned forward. ‘It’s a mushroom that grows locally. Our chef harvested them in the grounds this morning.’

‘Thank you, I’ll have that please.’

‘Make that two, please.’

‘Very good. Your drinks will be brought over shortly.’

‘Thanks.’ Angela waited until he’d left, then leaned forward. ‘Do you know what it is I’ve just ordered?’

‘You mean you don’t?’ He tried not to laugh.

‘Well, I think I ordered the only vegetarian option. I know what seitan is, and apparently chicken of the woods is a mushroom. But I can’t remember what en croute is. Don’t laugh at me.’ She glared at him.

‘Sorry, I’m only laughing because I’m not totally sure what it is either,’ Ryan admitted. ‘En croute is basically beef Wellington, only in this case, apparently the beef has been made from something that sounds like yanked devil. What is that?’

‘What?’ Angela stared at him in confusion, before finally cracking up with laughter. ‘Seitan, not Satan. It’s a vegan protein made from gluten. It’s fairly bland on its own, but really good at taking on the flavours of other things. Why did you order it if you didn’t know what it is?’

‘I didn’t want to be rude.’

‘How would you be . . . Oh, right, because I’m vegetarian, you don’t want to eat meat in front of me.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Because you think it’s rude?’

‘Isn’t it?’

‘I’ve seen you eat ham sandwiches before,’ she pointed out.

‘Yeah, but that was before we were dating.’

‘So that’s what we’re doing now, is it?’

‘Isn’t this a date? I’d sort of hoped it was.’

‘But one date is quite different from dating.’

Now he’d put the words out there, he might as well be honest. ‘Yes, but I was hoping this one date would lead to a lot more.’

‘Really?’ Her smile and the warmth in her eyes sent his pulse rocketing.

‘Yeah, really.’ He reached across the table to grasp her fingers. ‘And I’m kind of hoping you feel the same.’