response was barely intelligible. “False. You slept in.”
“I’m not even ready, you’re going to have to come back.” She placed her palm on the door. If she was going to give him one shot at getting this right, she wasn’t about to mess things up by letting him see her like this.
“Absolutely not. You’re going to open this door so I can come in and start cooking.”
She froze. He was going to cook for her? “But I thought you said you were taking me to breakfast.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, cooking at my house isn’t exactly taking me anywhere.”
“Just open the door, Kate.”
She ran another hand through her hair. “I’ll unlock the door if you promise to wait five minutes before opening it.”
There was silence for just a moment. “Fine.”
Kate’s fingers wrapped around the dead bolt. She twisted until it clicked, then scurried toward the back room. Heart beating erratically, she let out a quiet laugh as she heard the front door open and sounds signaling AJ had made himself comfortable in the kitchen.
She hopped in the shower and washed her hair. Once she got out, she pulled her hair back into a French braid and grabbed a t-shirt and jeans.
By the time she was dressed and presentable, the smells of breakfast wafted into her room. Her stomach growled. Kate glanced in the mirror one last time and pressed her lips together to smooth the gloss she’d just applied.
When she limped into the kitchen, AJ was packing the freshly cooked food into containers and putting them in a large basket. She froze. “What are you doing?”
He glanced at her and grinned. “I told you I was taking you to breakfast.”
“Yeah, we went over that already.”
He motioned to the dishes drying on the counter. “Don’t worry, I cleaned up. The kitchen was too crowded this morning so I thought I’d borrow yours.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re putting everything away.”
AJ closed the basket and flashed her a leg-weakening smile. “I’m taking you on a picnic.”
“But I can’t walk anywhere.”
He snickered. “Your ride is waiting outside.”
Her eyes widened and she craned her neck to get a glimpse out the blinds he’d opened. She couldn’t see anything. “What ride?”
AJ hefted the basket onto his forearm and headed to the door. “You’ll see.”
Kate followed him to the door and gasped when a carriage came into view. Jimmy, a younger ranch hand, held Ella’s reins, a large grin on his face.
“Isn’t this amazing, Kate? I didn’t even know they made these anymore. But leave it to AJ to find one.”
Kate’s brows rose and she folded her arms. “You can’t be serious.”
AJ finished putting the basket into the back and came to her side. “On the contrary, I’m dead serious.” He scooped her up into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck. This was as close to a fairy tale as she was going to get. What girl wouldn’t want a billionaire prince to scoop her into his arms and take her on a carriage ride for a breakfast picnic?
He placed her into the carriage and grabbed the reins from Jimmy. He clapped him on the back and pulled out a bill from his wallet. When he joined her in the carriage, he beamed. “Are you ready to go?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Yes, I think so.” Her heart fluttered and her stomach twisted into several knots. This was actually happening.
He guided Ella toward the main road. When they turned onto it, Kate gripped his forearm. “You can’t go this way.”
“Why not?”
“There are other cars—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I told you I was going to make you see. So that’s what I’m doing.”
Her hand tightened on his arm. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means I’m not above doing whatever it takes to show you how much you mean to me.”
“AJ—”
“None of that. Just relax for once and have some fun.”
She released his arm and smirked. “For someone who wants to prove to me how much I matter, you sure interrupt me a lot.”
The corners of his mouth quirked up. “Only to stop you from arguing with me. You’re free to talk about anything you want as long as it doesn’t involve how this isn’t going to work.”
Maybe he had a point. She was pushing so hard against what he was trying to do, she just needed to give in and let him do what he wanted to do. She couldn’t deny that she was in love with him and