Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Seeing that Elizabeth and Arden didn't need much help with their work, Kady decided to resume working on her brewing skills for pour-overs.
Coffee bean grinding, done. Water temp check, done. Contact time between coffee and water, done.
And now it was time to wait, Kady thought as the filter slowly did its work and dark liquid began to drip into the Chemex coffeemaker.
With several minutes to spare, Kady couldn't help but think back to her boss' puzzling attitude. Even though she had been working at Redwood Cafe for a few days now, she still hadn't come any closer to understanding exactly what kind of man Slade Wyndham was.
She had sort of known a lot of good-looking guys her entire life, having been best friends with the one girl all of them had wanted to date. In her experience, handsome guys tended to be insensitive, cruel bullies, something that Kady was absolutely certain her extremely handsome boss, despite his penchant for teasing her, was not. The guys that had competed for Margaux's attention distinctly lacked the ability to laugh at themselves, whereas Slade even seemed to draw amusement from the insults Farica frequently hurled at him.
And most importantly of all, those guys had never paid any attention to Kady, whereas her boss...
Even Eric, she couldn't help thinking, had chosen Margaux over her in the end. There were even times when she had caught Eric staring at Margaux, but she had been such an idiot that she had told herself it was normal for her boyfriend to look at Margaux that way.
Margaux was beautiful, ergo men wouldn't be able to help themselves.
Obviously, she had been wrong, and it was why Eric and Margaux becoming an item had still been a huge and hurtful surprise to her. Slade Wyndham could be just like Eric, but Kady didn't think so. Slade was...different.
Too different really, that when Kady later found out Slade hadn't had the time to grab dinner, even she herself knew it was not her place to worry about the man.
And yet...
She remembered his unsmiling expression, and her worry grew. Maybe something bad had really happened, and her boss was simply keeping it to himself because it was how macho men like him acted?
Arden and Elizabeth couldn't help exchanging looks of amusement as they watched Kady pace and fret in silence. It was just too cute, the way the girl worried about the man who happened to terrify her at the same time.
"It's past seven already," Kady mumbled, "and Mr. Wyndham hasn't eaten for hours."
Elizabeth counted the seconds, knowing it was only a matter of time before the girl's conscience overruled her common sense.
Three...two...
Kady started wringing her hands.
One.
"Do you think I should bring him something?"
Earth Angel
"Truth is a great flirt." ~ Frank Liszt
"WHATEVER IT IS," SLADE said irritably when he heard the knock on the door, "I'm not in the fucking mood for it." Farica should really know when not to push—-
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wyndham."
Shit.
The billionaire practically tripped over his own feet in his haste, and he got to the door in record time. He threw it open and saw his adorable little Kady, in the process of turning away, jerk in surprise as their gazes clashed.
"Sorry about that," he said right away. "I thought you were Farica." Seeing that she appeared seconds away from bolting, he swiftly searched for a way to keep her from leaving, and it was then his gaze fell on the tray she was holding. "Is that for me?" he asked in surprise.
"I was worried," Kady mumbled. "You...you hadn't eaten the whole day, and you s-seemed in a bad mood."
With embarrassment seemingly having gotten the best of her, Kady had started blushing mid-speech and by the time she finished speaking, her voice was barely audible over The Fleetwoods singing Earth Angel in the background. He normally hated Farica's choice of songs, but this time, his colleague had definitely gotten it right.
His little Kady was an earth angel indeed, with the way she couldn't help worrying over him despite still finding him as fearsome as the boogeyman from her childhood.
"Is there anything wrong, Mr. Wyndham?"
Sweet, sweet Kady, to have found the courage to ask such a thing even as the question now made her look close to fainting.
"Yeah," the billionaire said finally, "I suppose you could say that."
Kady's fears dissipated at her boss' words. Oh no. She had been right, after all, and she looked up at him worriedly, saying, "If there's anything I can do to help—-"
"There is," he said right away, and as her gaze turned hopeful, he said lazily, "Don't ever talk to another man but me. Don't smile or meet their gazes. Don't even think of any other guy except me."
Kady's jaw dropped. She couldn't have heard him correctly. Could she? But when her boss only continued to gaze at her, she stammered, "I...I...I..."