Page 28 of The Shy Waitress and Her Boss

And she wanted to.Oh God,how much she wanted to. It would be tantamount to having a fling or an affair even - something she would have never imagined herself doing. And maybe, if it had been anyone else, she still wouldn't have considered saying yes. It wasn't that far-fetched, considering how she hadn't been able to get rid of her inhibitions with Eric, never mind if they had been going out for years.

But because this was Slade...

Her thoughts continued to swing between yes and no even as she ran down the steps.Do I or do I not—-

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. Hehadloved 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.

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