Page 82 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“You ate her cheesecake, Bells?”

“I didn’t know she made it! I thought Mom made it. I tried to help her make another one, but...” I felt my face heating and he chuckled.

“What happened?”

“I left the top of the blender off, and got the cheesecake mixture everywhere.”

“Goddess, how many cooking stories do you have, Princess?”

“Too many,” I grumbled.

Cade started laughing, and because I was annoyed and embarrassed, I stole his Stetson and put it on my head. He stopped laughing, and a hungry look took over his face.

“If that’s how you want to play it today, it’d be my pleasure to let you, Princess.”

“Huh?” I asked.

He shook his head with a snort, and took back his Stetson.

“Why don’t you google what taking a cowboy’s hat from him means?” Cade crossed his arms and a sly smile appeared on his face. “Go ahead, I’ll wait.”

I pulled out my phone and began googling, my eyes going wide as I read what it meant.

“I don’t—” I squeaked.

“No takebacks, Bells. I’ll be coming around your bedroom tonight to collect.”

I wanted to tell him he could go fuck himself instead, just to push his buttons. Thinking about it, though, I didn’t mind him collecting on that, so I smiled, swiped his Stetson off his head one more time and ran.

I didn’t get very far. Once I rounded the corner of a building, I felt an arm wrap around my waist, lifting me off the ground. I squealed, unable to contain my laughter when Cade started tickling under my ribs.

“Mercy!” I cried.

Cade finally stopped, and as I breathed a sigh of relief, he bent down and looked me in the eye.

“I like seeing you like this, Bells.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he pressed his lips to mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

We came up for air a bit later, and as I tried to get my breathing back under control, I asked, “You were saying about heading south?”

“Oh, no. I’m keeping my lunch date,” he chuckled.

He took a step back, looking around to ensure we were still alone, took his hat from where it had fallen on the ground, and gave me a short, sweet kiss.

“Let’s head back before I throw you over my shoulder and take you back upstairs, Princess.”

We entered the pack house, and Cade dipped his hat to me before walking into the dining room.

“Red Wood Wolves, let’s get to work!”

I shook my head and walked to my office. I ordered a cute little costume for Adam and paid the month’s bills. I sighed as I looked at the balance of the pack accounts. I needed to rent a delivery truck next month to start sending out the first shipments. It was going to be pricey, considering the goods transported, but I should hopefully be able to pay for it after the first delivery.

I was going to need to find the company that Brandon used.

I got up, walked over to the luna office and knocked.

“It’s me, Vi,” I called out.

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