by Tee, Marian
A movement in the periphery of her eye caught her attention, and she stopped at the foot of the steps. She turned towards it, and her breath caught.
Slade.
Gorgeous and rugged, he stood by the doorway of his study, still every inch the Hartland Superman that had once terrified her to death. But now...
He crooked a finger towards her.
No, she automatically thought. Don't go. Pretend you didn't see that. Turn and walk away. Now!
But her feet refused to listen to the frantic pleas of her brain, and she found herself moving towards him. One trembling step at a time, until she was standing right in front of him, so painfully close that the scent of his cologne made her stomach clench with the most wanton of urges.
Oh God.
Blue eyes blazing blatantly with hunger raked her from head to toe, slowly and thoroughly, lingering on her breasts until they grew swollen and shamefully prominent against her apron.
"You seem to get sexier and more beautiful every time I see you," Slade said thickly.
"I'm not---" A finger pressed against her lips, and she fell into startled, wide-eyed silence.
"Rule #1 to enslave guys like Humbug---"
Her shoulders shook, Kady recalling the too-many times her boss had successfully baited Eric every time he deliberately misremembered the latter's name.
"Take every compliment like a queen," Slade murmured. "Just smile and don't say a single word."
The moment his finger lifted, she couldn't help blurting out, "But wouldn't that make me rude?"
The billionaire smirked. "Exactly. Boys like him only pretend they want to be in control. But what's really going to make him wag his tail is to have someone treat him like dirt."
"So you're saying he’s a masochist?"
"I'm saying idiots like him think women being bitchy to him make them seem more unattainable, and that's where the attraction lies."
Kady's mind was reeling once more, but for once, it had nothing (or at least not completely) to do with her boss' recent tendency to exhibit his skills in foreplay. Instead, her thoughts were busy rewinding back to the past, and things that she had once found odd were now making painful sense.
Even now, she couldn't make herself believe that Eric hadn't loved her at all. He had loved her once, had loved her at first, and it was probably because at that time, he hadn't yet realized that he was the kind of guy that Slade had described.
And guys like Eric, apparently, were prone to fall for women like Margaux.
The billionaire noticed the way Kady suddenly started gnawing on her lip as her gaze warily darted to his, and he said softly, "You can ask me anything, little chick."
Color stole into her cheeks at Slade's intuition, and Kady wondered glumly if she would ever be able to keep a secret from someone so consummately experienced.
"Kady..."
Unable to help fidgeting even as she avoided his gaze, she said haltingly, "You told me if men like Eric say I'm beautiful or something, I should just take it as my due."
"That's right."
"But what if men like you say it?"
Slade couldn't keep his lips from twitching.
So that was what had been bothering her.
"First of all..."
Kady's gaze flew up to his, and seeing her look at him hopefully, like he was about to give her the secrets to the universe, almost had him losing it.
Clearing his throat, he said solemnly, "There aren't any men like me."
What in the---
But then she saw the laughter in his eyes, and she realized he had simply been pulling her leg. "Oh my God, you're impossible---"
"Irresistible," he corrected her mildly. "You keep forgetting 'irresistible' is what you genuinely intend to say."
Kady tried her very best not to laugh, but this, too, proved irresistible - no, wait, impossible!
"Secondly---"
"If this is another joke," she muttered warningly.
"When I tell you I find you beautiful and sexy..."
Her gaze narrowed suspiciously.
"It simply means I want to fuck you."
Her jaw dropped.
"I want to fuck you so damn bad---" Slade's voice turned guttural. "You wouldn't believe just how many times I was tempted last night to sneak into your room and seduce you."
Oh. My. Gaaaaaah.
"I've given you as much time as I can bear," the billionaire rasped. "What's it going to be, Kady?"
"I...um...er..."
But she was still torn, and when she found herself taking a step back, she saw frustration flare in Slade's blue eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said helplessly. "It's just...I..."
"There you guys are!"
Farica, walking from the direction of the kitchen, came up to them, a look of puzzlement on her face. "Don't you guys want breakfast?"
At Farica's words, the billionaire saw Kady's face light up with relief, and he knew right away what the stubborn little chick was thinking.
"Kady," he said warningly.
But it was too late. She was already backing away, saying in a rush, "Now that you mentioned it, I think I'm rather famished, so---" She fluttered her fingers weakly in a wave. "Um. I think I'll, um, go ahead?" She turned away and practically ran for the kitchen, thinking that if looks could kill, Slade would've had her buried six times six feet under by now.
Farica blinked, feeling like she had been missing something. "What was that about?"
Figuring that it was best to let the cat out of the bag instead of having to waste time skulking in the dark to hide his interest in Kady, Slade said curtly, "I told her I wanted her in my bed."
"YOU DID WHAT?"
Seeing her appalled expression, he said forcefully, "Being up front about things will ensure she won't be hurt once things run its course."
"God." Farica's voice was rich with disgust. "You do know we're talking about real people with real feelings here, right? Or are you so used to dating women with dollar signs in their eyes you don't realize that Kady isn't like any of your past mistresses?"
"I'm not an idiot," he snapped. "Of course I know that, and it's not like she isn't getting anything out of this either---" He saw Farica's expression turn into one of shock, and he realized she had misread his words. "It's not that. She still doesn't know about who we really are---"
His business partner regarded him dubiously. "Are you saying she just wants to have sex with you?"
"In my fucking dreams," the billionaire muttered under his breath.
Farica couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was almost as if her friend wasn't at all certain he would succeed with Kady.
Kady.
A young girl who wasn't supposed to be his type, a girl who hadn't even a fraction of his experience or sophistication - that Kady, Farica thought disbelievingly. That someone of Slade's caliber would actually find himself questioning his ability to attract an innocent like Kady...didn't he realize what that meant?
Chapter Eleven
I Want To Know What Love Is
* * *
"Gets your facts first, then you can distort them as you please." ~ Mark Twain
* * *
"Thanks for this," Raj said as he placed the cafe vouchers inside his drawer. Since one of the main components of The Hartland Initiative was for Internet to work only in the police station and the mayor's office, emails and Airdropping of files might as well have been alien technology, and documents typically had to be hand-delivered between locals.
"Appreciate it, especially since you took the time to leave during business hours to get them to me." His friend only grunted, and because the taciturn response was not typical for Slade, the sheikh could only guess it had something to do with the cute new waitress working at Redwood Cafe.
Leaning against one side of his desk, Raj drawled, "Kady Abrams. That's her name, isn't it?"
Slade abruptly swung away from the window and shot his friend a warning glare. "She's mine, so hands off.
"
"That's not what I heard from the other guys."
"Yeah, well, they can go fuck themselves for all I care."
Raj shook his head in amusement. "You obviously have it bad for her," he commented, "and it's just as obvious that nothing has yet happened between the two of you."
Slade didn't answer.
"We have a saying among our people," Raj murmured. "When you don't understand what's happening in your life, just close your eyes, and take a deep breath and say, 'Ya Allah, I know this is your plan, just help me through it.' But I think you have a more prosaic version of this - you do not see the woods for the trees, something like that?"
"Just say what your point is," Slade said tautly.
"Warrior won't be booked until after dinner," the sheikh murmured. "Maybe taking him for a ride can help clear your mind."
A few seconds passed, then Slade said dryly, "Is there also an Islam saying for people trying to get other people to do their jobs under the guise of friendly advice?" But this only had the sheikh grinning, and with a shake of his own head, Slade muttered, "I might as well give it a try, anyway." Since nothing else was working.
After flipping the sheikh the bird in farewell, the billionaire wasted no time making his way to the horse's quarters at the back of The Hartland Stable. Ebony, who had the biggest stall in the lot, neighed in recognition upon seeing him, and in minutes he had the stallion saddled up, and both man and horse were galloping out of the stable.
With one of the back roads leading straight to the nearby canyon, the billionaire was able to immediately enjoy a challenging ride on rocky pathways that zigzagged over Hartland's breathtaking landscape.
He considered Raj's words. Was there something he was missing about Kady, something that was preventing her from giving in to what they obviously wanted?
And it was then the truth hit him.
Well, fuck.
The desert prince was right, after all.
Memories of a chillingly polite Slade walking out of the cafe right after breakfast so occupied Kady's mind that it succeeded in pushing her usual reticence to the back of her mind, and she was able to interact easily - albeit somewhat absently, too - with the locals that came and went. And since the change in Kady's attitude didn't go unnoticed either, Farica was very much happy to satisfy everyone's curiosity about it. Slade's in love, she told them, but he doesn't know it yet, and it's not our business to tell him either.
Kady, whose anxiety grew with every second that passed, noticed none of this, of course. When dinner came and went, and there was still no sign of Slade, she found herself perilously close to tears. Why couldn't she just say YES? It wasn't like she could pretend she didn't find him attractive, and Slade hadn't been wrong either when he predicted all the undesirable ways Eric, Margaux, and her parents would react, were they to find out about her (unplanned) deception.
So why couldn't she---
The doors to the cafe suddenly burst open, and everything came to an abrupt halt, the noise level dropping instantly until all there was to hear were the words from Foreigner's I Want To Know What Love Is...and Kady's tiny, fearful squeak as a grim-looking Slade came stalking in, piercing blue eyes pinned with laser focus on her face.
He reached her a moment later, and his fingers immediately clamped around her shoulders.
"I finally figured it out," Slade muttered.
He had?
"Your experience with Humbug and your awareness of my past and thinking I had to be a heartless bastard, to get rid of all those girls whose only mistake was to be attracted to me---" Blue eyes confronted hers in challenge as he asserted, "Those were the things that made you refuse to say yes."
They were?
"They made you think I'm going to end up hurting you as well, didn't they?"
They had?
"Well, you're fucking wrong. I'm not going to hurt you. More specifically, And you know why that is?"
Seeing her chance to finally get a word edgewise, Kady cleared her throat---
"Because we're friends."
---but whatever it was she had to say was rendered pointless by his words.
Color burned under the bronze tint of the billionaire's cheeks at having to say something so pathetic, and when he noticed Farica raising her phone as if to wanting to record the most god-awful conversation of his life, he addressed her while keeping his gaze on Kady. "Just fucking try," he warned his friend grimly, "and I'll have March here faster than you can say sorry."
Farica shoved her phone back into her pocket even as she muttered 'spoilsport' under her breath.
Kady felt like her world had just started spinning out of control. They were friends? And that's why he would never hurt her, and she should say yes to being his lover?
Kady's continued silence disturbed Slade, and in his brooding state, not once did it occur to him that her silence was simply because she was in shock. In the mood he was in, all Slade could think of was that he needed to give her a more compelling reason to be with him---
Jaw clenching, Slade decided to use the last fucking card he had up on his sleeve. "I'm not like Humbug, Kady," he said harshly. "He might get off from being bitch-slapped, but I'd choose you any day over all the bitches in the world. And most importantly of all, I---" Shit. "I..."
Kady found herself gaping as Slade's handsome face started turning a sickly shade of gray.
"I..."
"I..."
I think he's going to confess. Ethan conveyed his conjecture to his older brothers with a meaningful look at Slade...and a smirk right after.
The twins nodded. We think so, too. And they conveyed their agreement by smirking right back. In mere moments, it was as if everyone inside the cafe were psychically tuned in to the same broadcast and were thus hearing the exact same news break out: Slade Wyndham's about to confess.
In the corner of his eye, the billionaire noticed the way people around Kady and him had suddenly started either smirking or snickering, and his teeth gnashed. Whole fucking lot of them should all just sell their respective empires and give TM-fucking-Z a run for its money.
He cracked his knuckles, thinking how good it would feel to score even just one punch, and his first choice would be the youngest Blackwood male---
Kady started fidgeting in front of him, and the billionaire swore in his mind even as he yanked at the collar of his shirt, which had been feeling a little too fucking tight around his neck.
Focus, Wyndham. He could kick everyone's asses later. But right now, he still had a girl to convince, and just thinking of what that would entail...
Shit.
After yanking on his collar one last time, he looked at Kady straight in the eye and said---
"I care for you."
Smirks turned into grins as everyone gave each other figurative pats in the back. Knew he'd confess. And, like before, all such exchanges were also completed in silence.
Slade's skin wouldn't stop crawling after having said such words, but unfortunately, that was just the start. "Humbug might've cared for you at the start, but he obviously stopped caring at some point, and he just as obviously hadn't the balls to tell you the truth. He fucking disrespected you, and that's the one other thing I can promise to never do. I will never disrespect you---" Slade, now close to throwing up, had to stop speaking, and as this was also obvious to his unwanted but nevertheless avid audience, his male friends started clapping and yelling encouragement, and Farica burst into laughter.
Teeth clenching, he was just about to give everyone the finger when he heard something -
An unmistakable squeak...
That only little chicks could do...
And his gaze snapped back to Kady.
Fuck.
"You're crying," he said blankly.
Of course she was.
How could she not, with Slade saying the sweetest words, never mind if uttering them had also made him seem like he had swallowed poison?
"I---" Realized I don't care about Eric a
nymore.
"But---" I also know if I told you that, I have a feeling...
"You---" Would drop me like a hot potato.
Slade stared at her. "I butt you?"
Everyone started coughing, and Kady's tears dried, her thoughts distracted by the memory of the last time the customers had this kind of coughing fit. Oh no. Was it another airborne---
The fingers holding her shoulders tightened.
Oops.
Accusing blue eyes met hers as soon as she guiltily turned back to face Slade.
"Will you stop paying attention to everyone else," he growled, "and just focus on me?"
"I promise," Kady said meekly.
"And?" His gaze was hard, his tone abrupt, but the way his body had turned rigid with tension made Kady realize dazedly just how much her answer meant to him.
Even if it didn't make any sense at all...
Even if he could never love someone like her...
It did seem he truly cared for her.
And...so...
Tiptoeing, it was her turn to whisper into his ear---
My heart's beating madly.
Slade choked.
My breasts are hurting.
Slade swore out loud.
And I'm so wet.
Kady's face was on fire as she pulled back to look up at him. While half of her mind was in hysterics
(how could you have said something so shameful?) the other half was cartwheeling with its newfound liberty (you go, girl!).
But what was done was done---
OH!
A choked laugh escaped her when Slade suddenly scooped her up in his arms, and she could only throw her arms around him as she heard people not only start clapping again but were also heartily congratulating her boss for what the police chief termed as a 'very manly confession.'
"Fuck you, Aidan."
She couldn't help laughing at that even as she hid her face against the crook of Slade's neck.
When she felt Slade take the stairs, she waited until they made it to the second-floor landing before pulling away to ask rather breathlessly, "Where are you taking me?"
Blue eyes gleamed down at her. "Where," he asked in mocking politeness, "do you think?"
