Read A Breath of Heaven: El Camino Real for Free Online

without sex, your hormones go all wonky.”
    “Old maid?” Abby gasped, breaking her own
rule and glaring at him. “I’ll have you know I’m only twenty-six years old. I’m
not over the hill, yet, not by a long shot.” His words hurt, but she’d pout
later. Now she wanted to fume.
    Cade leaned on the table and stacked his
fork on top of the knife. “Let’s think about this rationally.” He motioned
toward her with one capable, wide sexy hand. “You say you will never marry and
you don’t date. Now, what does that make you exactly?”
    “Smart.” Abby chewed on the inside of her
lip and served him his food. “You’re older than me and unmarried. What does
that make you?”
    “An eligible bachelor.” He answered
confidently, licking his lips. “This food looks amazing. What is it?”
    “A double standard, that’s what it is.”
When he stared pointedly at her, she answered. “Veal chops with Rosemary
butter, pancetta green beans, lemon barley pilaf and a chocolate amaretto
torte.”
    Licking his lips, he surveyed his food.
“Hmmmm, you always were a marvelous cook. Did you happen to slip in some
Spanish Fly?” He named a drug often used as both an aphrodisiac and as a
poison. “If you did, I have to tell you it wasn’t necessary. I’m horny all the
time.”
    “Oh, hush, I don’t care if you never get
another erection.” She tossed a roll at him, which he caught. “Just eat.”
    “And that, my dear, would be a waste. My
pelvic sorcery is legendary.”
    Abby choked, giggling. He always could
make her laugh. “I’m sure you are my talented in the pelvic department.” For a
while, they ate in companionable silence, ‘til she felt guilty and searched for
something non-combative to say. “Congratulations, Cade, I heard you made World
Championship Cowboy again.” Heard wasn’t exactly correct. She’d been seated in
the stands at his last competition when he received the coveted award. But he
didn’t need to know that. She just hoped her surprise came through before
Christmas.
    “I did.” Soon he needed to tell her he was
retiring and coming home, but not tonight. He dreaded telling her, not sure
why, unless he was afraid she wouldn’t be as happy about it as he needed for
her to be. “So, this wedding, how do you really feel about it? Be honest.”
Poke. Poke. He hid a grin, knowing what was coming.
    He wasn’t disappointed. Curse words turned
the air blue. “It’s a mistake, a horrible damn mistake. I can’t believe Jase is
going to marry that wicked, no-count, lily-livered excuse for a woman. She
won’t treat him right. Hell, she won’t even cook for him. She’s a freakin’
vegan!”
    Cade roared with laughter. “They can hire
a cook, Abby. Your brother is rich.”
    “Yea, that’s why the money-grubbing,
fake-boobed, bleached blonde bimbo is marrying him. For his money, not because
she cares anything about him.” Abby fumed as she viciously cut up her chop. “If
I were marrying the man I love, I’d treat him like a king.” She said that – not
realizing the pun she’d created with her own last name.
    Chuckling, Cade was amused and touched.
“Being treated like a King is a good thing, I can attest to that fact.” But
hearing Abby talk about how she would treat a man she loved made him ache with
the need to be that man.  
    Abby didn’t seem to be listening to him.
She kept suffering over her future sister-in-law. “She eats garbanzo beans and
seeds and crap. Heck, they can’t even have a normal wedding cake! It has to be
gluten free and be made without eggs. I had to put almond milk in it for
Christ’s sake!”
    “Why are you making the cake?” Cade asked
in a conversational tone, knowing he was just getting her more worked up.
    “Because I wanted it done right,” she
fussed.
    “Brat.” He couldn’t resist.
    “Although…”
    Abby’s smile was so cute, Cade’s toes
curled in his boots. “What did you do?” He wouldn’t put anything past her. She
was