Page 5 of The Shy Waitress and Her Boss

Eric, who had confessed to liking Kady, had still ended up with another (prettier) girl. That should be lesson enough for her:boys out of her league would always stay out of her league.

By the time Kady finished with her shower, Farica's playlist had already blasted out two other versions ofThe Lion Sleeps Tonight,and it was now *NSync oohing and eeehing in the background as Kady slowly ran her hand over the leathery texture of her brand-new apron. The new chapter of her life officially began now, and while the thought still filled her with trepidation, she simply started chanting more of John Wayne's wise words in her mind as she changed into a shirt and jeans.

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Farica was seated by the bar when Kady came down, chatting and laughing with a young couple, who - Kady couldn't help noticing - also happened to be as extremely attractive as the cafe's co-owners. And come to think of it, wasn't the man on horseback she saw yesterday just as good-looking?

Kady tried not to grimace as she considered the possibility of all of Hartland's locals to have somehow descended from Aphrodite.

Seeing that the couple was also wearing the same apron she had on, Kady realized that they were probably the two other employees Farica had told her about last night.

Farica caught sight of Kady hovering at the foot of the steps and waved gaily at the younger girl. "There you are." Seeing Kady's shy look, she said with a smile, "Come here and join us. I promise we don't bite—-"

"But I do,"Slade purred, standing right behind their newly-hired waitress, and when he started to lower his head as if about to take a chunk off Kady's shoulder—-

Farica did her best to smother her laugh as Kady virtually tripped over her own feet in her haste to get away from the billionaire. And Slade being Slade, the conceited oaf didn't even appear the tiniest bit bothered as Kady seemed to dither like a headless little chick, bumping into tables, chairs, and even into their huge-ass-jukebox before finally arriving at the bar, looking dazed and exhausted.

Poor Kady.It just wasn't like Slade to have such fun torturing a girl like this, and Farica was doing her best not to think why it was so.

Slade deliberately avoided Farica's disapproving look as he sauntered forward and took the bar seat that would once again place adorable little Kady between him and his business partner. His proximity had the younger woman practically wilting in her chair, and Slade nearly smirked. A less experienced man could've easily mistaken this as a sign of Kady's secret attraction to him, but Slade had fucked too many women to harbor the same delusions.

Incredulous as it may seem, Kadywasimmune to him, almost as if the billionaire didn't even register as a man in her eyes.

The realization chafed somewhat, but since he needed her waitressing skills more than he needed her presence in his bed...

Kady tried her best to ignore the way Slade Wyndham seemed all too fond of staring at her as Farica introduced her to the two other members of their team.

"This is Elizabeth, our sous chef—-"

The brunette gave her a smile. "Hey there."

"And this is our head cook, Arden—-"

"Howdy, ma'am," the other guy greeted her with a grin.

Kady was just about to smile back when it hit her, and her eyes widened.

She was Elizabeth...and he was Arden?

Everyone suddenly burst into laughter, and when Kady blinked in confusion, Elizabeth raised her hand as if admitting to a crime. "You can put the blame on me," the other girl said cheekily. "When he transferred to my high school, and I found out his name was Arden, I kinda thought to myself,wouldn't it be funny cool if I ended up with this guy?"

"And now we live happily ever after," Arden finished mockingly.

Everyone started snickering, and even Kady, despite still feeling shy and not quite a part of their gang yet, found it impossible to hold her smile back.This really was the life,she thought blissfully, and as conversation turned towards cafe matters, Kady was content to simply listen and take everything in, doing her best to learn as much as she could.

As Slade and Arden discussed next week's debut of their fall menu, Farica couldn't help but notice how Kady was studiously following the men's conversation as if determined to mentally store every collected byte of data. She looked every inch the diligent apprentice and nothing at all like her predecessor Penny, who, at her first sight of Slade, had not stopped throwing herself at the billionaire at every opportunity.

Most girls should have been, at the very least, crushing on Slade by now, and even Farica had to grudgingly admit that she herself might not be as immune to her friend if not for long having lost her heart to someone else—-

"Oh my God!"The words, followed by Farica's gasp, had everyone turning to her in surprise. "I just figured it out," Farica exclaimed.

Slade regarded his friend dubiously. "If this is going to be another infatuation-fueled commentary on Steel—-"

"I'm actually talking about you," Farica retorted.

The billionaire arched a brow at this. "You've figured out something aboutme?"

"Technically, it's you and Kady—-"

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