Page 53 of The Rancher's Secret Relationship

"You once taught me how to know if I was making a certain face," she said tremulously, "when I'm looking at the person I wanted."

Slade jerked at the words.Was she saying...that she could talk about such a thing now...did it mean...

"I thought I'd r-return the f-favor this time." Her voice shook, and her fingers shook harder as she lifted his hand up and slowly pressed her cheek against it. "When a woman d-does this," she whispered, "and she's looking at a man..." The tears flowed in silence, but not a single one of them hurt. "That's how you know she's looking at the man she loves...and who loves her back."

Epilogue:

Take My Breath Away

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all." ~ Emily Dickinson

A FEW DAYS LATER

"Breakfast's here," Elizabeth sang out as she and Arden bustled out of the kitchen, with the latter carrying a heavily-laden tray. Afterwards, she set the plates down on the counter with a flourish: Farica's was an Instagrammable buffet on a plate of fruits, cheeses, and breads while Kady's was a butter-dripping three-layered pancake topped with a rainbow assortment of berries.

As for Slade's, his bacon-sprinkled and cheese-stuffed potato pie was just as aesthetically pleasing, but while the women that flanked him on each side were busy oohing and aahing, the billionaire owner could only grimace.

The breakfast pie was a part of the cafe's secret, by-request-only menu, and what made it most special was the message subtly and lovingly knife-carved on the crust.

Humble Pie, Courtesy of Anah Blakely

Kady couldn't help feeling concerned as she watched Slade force himself to dig into his pie. "Is it really that bad?"

"Of course not," Farica answered before her friend could. "And that's the beauty of it," she said smugly. "It's all psychological—-" Her voice turned gleeful. "And best of all, he still has five more days left of eating them."

Seeing that Kady still looked bothered, he reached for her, and Kady let out a startled gasp as the billionaire settled her on his lap. "Slade!"

The concern in her eyes had disappeared completely, and he was satisfied to see his beautiful little chick back to her usual bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked self. "That's better."

"It's not," she muttered. "Blushing all the time is a lot more tiring—-"

There were snickers all around the cafe, and she let out a wail, realizing thateveryonehad heard her.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Slade soothed. "Everyone knows how in love we are—-"

She could only wail again as more snickers followed. It was times like this that she had a hard time believing Slade was actually this scary hotshot billionaire outside Wyoming. In her mind, billionaires were either old and stuffy or old and pervy, but Slade...

Then again, almost all of the other locals were apparently just as wealthy as Slade was, and none of them acted like it either. Farica, for instance, was this huge social media influencer, and yet the other girl was the least self-aware person Kady had ever known.

And speaking of Farica...

Elizabeth had asked the older girl about this morning's playlist - five versions ofTake My Breath Awaynow and counting - and Kady nearly fell off Slade's lap when Farica blithely said Kady was the inspiration behind it.

Slade, having heard the same thing, raised a brow at his girlfriend. "Is it your favorite song?"

"No." She was just as confused as he was.

"Top Gun fan then? Or Tom Cruise?"

Hearing Slade's question, Farica interrupted the couple's conversation, saying, "Nope. It's not that." And that was when Kady saw the mischief in Farica's eyes.

Oh no.

"I came home a little late last night," Farica was saying, "and on my way up, I just heard this woman who was trying to catch her breath...all...the...time."

OH. MY. GOD.

"I mean, seriously, Kady Kades. I think it's cute how you make all these fun noises—-"

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