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"I think I don't regret a single 'excess' of my responsive youth—I only regret, in my chilled age, certain occasions and possibilities I didn't embrace." ~ Henry James

KADY SLOWED THE CAR to a stop so she could reach for the map she had tossed on the passenger seat.

She had bought it on impulse at a 7-11 near her university in Laramie. She had heard that the Internet was next to nothing where she was going, and true enough, her Google Maps had stopped working as soon as she was several miles past the city limits and making her way up west.

Unfolding the map on her lap, Kady ran a finger over the map to carefully retrace her route one last time, never mind if it was basically one straight long road then a right turn at the end.

Thirty minutes later, and Kady breathed a sigh of relief as a horse-shaped sign came up on the other side of the road, with the words ' Welcome to the Town of Hartland (Population 9,008)' written in cursive. With directional parking signboards mounted on just about every post, it took only a few minutes for Kady to find a free slot for her five-year-old Toyota. And then she was stepping out, her throat tightening in nervousness at the realization that a new chapter in life could be starting any moment.

This was what you wanted , Kady reminded herself. The simple life, and how simpler could it get if there wasn't Internet to have people compare each other's lives? So get your inner John Wayne going: courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.

And almost as if God was listening to her pep talk, she was just about to cross the street when she heard something strange and loud, like... horse hooves chopping over the pavement? Her head immediately lifted up, and her jaw dropped as a man on horseback galloped past her, leaving a faint trail of dust. She rubbed her eyes, and when she looked for the man again, he was reining his steed in, using it to turn the big, black horse towards...

Was this for real?

Was that man really falling in line at a McDonald's drive-thru lane... on horseback?

She could only shake her head, knowing that had to be a sign God was listening...and that He had a sense of humor. As she finally crossed the street, a giggle from a young boy startled Kady into looking around, and it was then she realized she hadn't been alone in her amazement.

The boy was chatting animatedly with his dad now while his mother smiled at Kady, her bemused gaze seeming to say, Wasn't that the strangest and coolest thing ever?

Kady beamed back. Absolutely. It was a tiny wordless exchange, but the whole thing meant the world to her. Her whole life, she had lived in one of the nicer (and snobbier) communities of Denver, and while she had never lacked for anything materially, constant criticism from the people around her had made Kady see herself as an ugly odd duckling with nothing to offer.

But that was then , she reminded herself, and this was now . Kady resumed walking, the memories of the guy on horseback causing her to smile to herself and ease her nervousness. It was even enough to gift her with a (false) sense of security when she eventually found what she came for: a job vacancy ad framed on the window of a charming two-story coffee shop.

It was as picturesque as the rest of the town, a brick building with flowers all around it, and what seemed like a vegetable and herbal garden at the back. Craning her neck, she even saw the edges of a swing set, and it just about completed her idea of small-town living.

The only thing that could've made this whole scene perfect was if the sign door had not been flipped to CLOSED.

Kady bit her lip as she considered whether to try her luck anyway. She knew small towns had to close earlier than the shops back home, and Denver wasn't even like NYC to begin with, but for this one to be closed at 3:30 in the afternoon...surely that couldn't be the norm?

YOLO, Kady reminded herself. Quoting millennial jargon wasn't really her thing, but this particular modern-day shorthand she had instantly gravitated to the moment she realized what it meant. YOLO was something she had never done in all 24 years of her life, but that, too, would change.

Starting now.

Chin up, Kady tried the knob and it turned under her fingers a little too easily, making her think fancifully that this was the door of opportunity she was fated to open.

The interior was a cozy take on industrial, with its old brick walls, hanging vertical shelves in black iron, and polished concrete flooring. The furniture was a mix of elegant and comfy, with its leather couches and refurbished wooden tables, while the ubiquitous use of copper - from flower pots to pans and coffee mugs - added an attractive metallic accent to the place.

A dreamy smile curved over Kady's lips. I can see myself working here every day—-

A couple suddenly burst out of the kitchen, their voices easily drowning out the soothing notes of by Spandau Ballet playing faintly in the background.

Or maybe not.

The woman was a petite golden-haired beauty who seemed to be making a conscious effort to downplay her looks, with her granny glasses, pine-cone-and-lavender printed sweater, and shapeless sweatpants. She also looked , Kady observed nervously, ready to murder someone.

"You know how I feel about him," the other woman was snarling.

And the man currently tying apron strings behind his back growled in return, "He caught me at a bad moment, okay?"

Tall, tanned, and dark-haired, the man had the kind of chiseled features that easily placed him in Henry-Cavill levels of perfection - the farmboy Clark Kent version , Kady couldn't help thinking, considering the amount of facial hair he was sporting, not to mention his rugged choice of clothes: red plaid shirt, faded jeans, and a well-worn pair of boots.

It didn't exactly scream cowboy (he was patently missing a Stetson hat for that), but he definitely seemed down-to-earth enough to have the upper middle class society Kady had grown up with turn their noses in the air at him.

All the better , Kady thought, except...

"I just can't believe you'd let something like that slip so easily!" Banging noises suddenly cut through her silent fretting and caused Kady to nearly jump out of her skin. Lord help her, but was it normal for the drop-dead gorgeous pair to fight like this? Kady hated confrontations of every kind, and yet the other woman appeared intent on creating as much furor as possible, with the way she was slamming pots and pans against each other.

"Will you fucking quit that?" Hartland Superman roared.

"Never!"

"For fuck's sake. No wonder Steel March hasn't ever—-"

"AAAAARGH!"

Seeing that steam was about to come out of the other woman's ears anytime, Kady slowly started backing away.

Definitely not the right place to apply for a job .

She tried to leave without drawing attention to herself, but as all best-laid plans (of hers) tended to go, she ended up doing the opposite instead, with her hip accidentally bumping against the corner of one table.

Thud!

Two pairs of eyes immediately snapped to her direction.

Oh God.

"H-Hi." Kady's voice came out in a squeaky little whisper, the words barely audible even to her ears with how loud and hard her heart was beating.

"Who the hell are you?" the man growled.

And he sounded more like Lex Luthor x Ted Bundy this time , Kady thought with a gulp, rather than gentle and polite like Clark Kent.

Swallowing hard, she tried to get some words out. "I...uh..." But oh dear Lord , the man terrified her so, and in the end Kady could only point at the job ad posting, stammering, "H-hire...w-waitress...me?"

TINY. PALE. BLONDE . Like a toothpick version of his baby sister Lace or a shyer version of Farica. Either way, it was clear to Slade the girl was damn near petrified of him. She was shaking like a leaf, and if he had her speak, he hadn't any doubt the girl would end up stammering again.

So, yeah, petrified.

Petrified.

And when Farica turned to look at him over her shoulder, her wide-eyed expression told Slade that she had come to the same conclusion as he did.

The girl was petrified, just that.

And for both of them, that changed everything.

Farica quickly pasted a smile on her lips just as Slade got rid of his scowl, and throughout this they had also swiftly made their way to the newcomer, both of them intent on not letting this heaven-sent opportunity slip past their fingers.

OMG, finally, Farica was thinking. A girl who wasn't bowled over by Slade's looks!

Let this girl be the fucking last , Slade was thinking at the same time. He had gone through five waitresses in the past three months, and he was getting fucking tired of having to go through the whole recruitment and training process over and over.

"I'm so sorry you had to see us at each other's throats like that," Farica said ever so sweetly even as she determinedly took hold of the other girl's arm, just to make sure the latter wouldn't have any chance of escaping.

"It's mostly my business partner's fault, of course," Slade inserted smoothly as he pulled a chair for the girl he was determined to have working for him.

"Yeah right," Farica muttered.

Ignoring this, Slade flashed a wicked smile the other girl's way, just to see how she'd react. "You believe me, don't you?" The simple banter would've made most women titter and come on to him, but instead the girl was fighting against a visible urge to shrink away.

Perfect .

Farica tried not to roll her eyes at the way her billionaire friend was practically purring in a mixture of satisfaction and fiendish amusement as he continued to question the girl, who was now seated between her and Slade.

What's your name, sweetheart?

K-Kady Abrams.

Do you have your résumé with you?

Y-yes, sir.

Please call me Slade.

S-S-S-S-S-S...

Taking pity at the way the billionaire had Kady near tears, Farica said quickly, "You can call him Mr. Wyndham, too, if it makes you more comfortable."

This had the girl throwing Farica a look of relief, and Slade, seeing this, said silkily, "I won't like it, though."

Kady looked like she was about to cry again, and Farica was torn between exasperation and irritation. Dammit, Slade. She shot him a look that silently demanded an explanation. Couldn't he see how out of sorts Kady was around him?

But when Slade's massive shoulders only moved in a lazy shrug, Farica knew it would be no use arguing the point. The man could be annoyingly mercurial when he wanted to be, and for whatever reason, it seemed as if he had developed a sudden but rather sadistic fondness for their future employee.

Turning back to Kady, Farica explained the rest of the specifications of the job and was surprised when the girl actually accepted her offer of free board and lodging. "Are you sure about that?" she couldn't help asking. "I'm not always here, you know, so there'll be times when it's just going to be you and Slade—-"

"Making me sound like some sex-starved maniac won't benefit anyone here." The billionaire shot his business partner a warning look. Do you want this girl to start working for us or not? Because the way Steel's woman was painting him to look like some monstrous perv, the still adorably jittery Kady Abrams might just end up bolting out of their sight and never return.

Shit, Farica thought with a mental wince. Slade was right. If she wanted Kady to work for them, she had to focus on making the girl feel at ease rather than giving her more reasons to run away. She turned to face Kady, intending to apologize, but was instead taken aback when the other girl seemed even more horrified.

"I w-would n-never..." While the other girl's face had completely been without color a minute ago, her tomato-red cheeks now seemed fit to burst in what seemed like shock and mortification. "I'm... me... and Mr. W-Wyndham...never... never... "

It took a while for Slade to make sense of the girl's unique way of speaking, but a smile slowly curved over his lips as understanding eventually dawned. Apparently, this girl thought he was so out of her league it would've been a mortal sin for her to even think he'd look her way.

Farica could feel her confusion growing as she saw the way her friend's blue eyes gleamed at how the girl was fidgeting under his lazy gaze. While Kady's words absolutely made no sense to her, it was as if Slade had not only understood her but whatever those words meant had also caused the billionaire to take immense pleasure from the girl's obvious discomfort.

The man was enjoying himself a little too much , Farica observed uneasily. Hopefully, though, this was just a momentary diversion, and his interest in Kady would eventually wane.

He was Slade Wyndham, after all, and while he played the role of small cafe owner to perfection, it didn't mean anything about him had fundamentally changed. Outside Hartland, Slade was still the cynical, womanizing billionaire that he had always been.

And as far as Farica knew, a girl like Kady had never appealed to him.

Never.

And yet—-

Farica tried not to be too conspicuous as she studied Slade, who was now (torturing) talking to Kady again, which of course had the other girl back to squirming. The whole thing almost seemed like a prelude to flirting but...

I'm probably just imagining things, Farica told herself. Right?