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Part of her wondered if it was Cade, and her heart gave a traitorous little thump of excitement that she squashed.
Yawning, Kylie got out of the elevator and headed toward the lobby desk. Since it was Vegas, it was still fairly busy in the lobby despite the late hour. She went to the counter and waited her turn. When the clerk smiled at her, she pulled out her tour badge and showed it. “I’m Daphne’s makeup artist. You have something for me?”
“Yes, actually.” The clerk smiled at Kylie and retrieved a large box from behind the counter. “It’s rather light.” The look the attendant gave her was interested, and so Kylie examined the box there at the desk. The return address was one she didn’t recognize, and it had been sent airmail. Huh. “Got scissors?”
The attendant handed a pair to her and peered over the counter. “From a secret admirer?”
“God, I hope not,” Kylie said, but there went that traitorous thump in her heart again. She took the scissors, slit the packing tape, and peeled the flaps of the box back to peer inside.
A pink balloon rose and bounced against her face. Surprised, Kylie pushed it aside, and it floated up another foot before bouncing again and stopping. The balloon’s ribbon was tied to a note and what looked like . . . breakfast.
“Um . . . is that a waffle?” the girl asked as Kylie tugged the note free. “Attached to a balloon?”
Kylie didn’t answer. She was too busy scanning the note.
Dearest Kylie,
I know you called off our date, but I can’t stop thinking about you. You say you’re busy, but I’ll only take five minutes of your time. Truly. Meet me outside the hotel so we can talk.
Cade
PS—If you don’t come outside in five minutes, I have a marching band out here ready to start playing, and fireworks that will spell out KYLIE GO OUT WITH CADE. Just FYI.
PPS—Wasn’t kidding about the five minutes.
Eyes wide, she crumpled the note in her hand.
“Why’s someone sending you a waffle, if you don’t mind me asking?” the girl at the front desk asked again.
“Because he’s insane,” Kylie replied. “Just flat-out insane.” She reached over the counter, grabbed the scissors, popped the balloon viciously, and then stormed out to see why Cade was outside. He thought he could strong-arm her? She’d let him have a piece of her mind.
But all of that outrage disappeared when she went outside and saw the limo pulled up in front of the hotel. Cade leaned against the door, a flowerpot tucked under one arm. She looked around but she didn’t see a marching band anywhere. In fact, there was no one outside except for Kylie . . . and Cade.
He grinned at the sight of her, uncrossing his legs and standing a bit straighter. “I take it you got my waffle?”
“Where’s the marching band?” she asked, hands on her hips as she strode out to confront him. “Where’s the fireworks?”
“Marching band got the sniffles,” Cade said. “And I lied about the fireworks.” He held the potted plant out to her. “For you.”
She paused and took the plant from him, baffled. “What’s this for?”
“I wanted to give you a present,” he said. “I thought about a pet, since you’d mentioned that you wanted one and couldn’t have one, but I couldn’t think of anything that would travel well and didn’t require walks. Except maybe Sea-Monkeys.”
Kylie bit back her smile.
“So I thought maybe a nice violet would do. I’m told they’re very hard to kill. And I wanted you to have company. It was either this or a Chia Pet.” His mouth quirked in a lopsided grin. “And you will not believe how many stores are out of Chia Pets at the moment.”
She gazed down at the violet and then sighed at him. “I’m trying to be mad at you.”
His smile widened, flashing a dimple at her. “I know, and I’m not sure what I did to encourage it, so I’m doing my best to be appealing.”
“You’re far too good at it,” she grumbled. “But, really Cade, you should go.”
“Go? Why?” He reached forward and brushed a lock of hair off of her shoulder. “I just got here and I’ve barely had a chance to look at you.”
“Someone will see you here,” she told him. “You need to leave.”
“Not before you tell me what I did wrong.” Cade’s eyes were so somber as he gazed at her. “Tell me what I did to mess things up and I won’t bother you any longer.”
Kylie hugged the potted plant close. Part of her wanted to storm off in a fury. To declare you know what you did and let him stew. But that would be childish. Adults had conversations, and she was an adult, darn it. “You should have told me you were dating Daphne.”