The Faerie Master (Aaron's Kiss Series)

The Faerie Master

Aaron’s Kiss Series

Book 8

By

Kathi S. Barton

World Castle Publishing

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

World Castle Publishing

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright ©
Kathi S. Barton 2012

ISBN:
9781938243769

First Edition World Castle Publishing
June 20, 2012

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover:
Karen Fuller

Photos: Shutterstock.com

Editor:
Brieanna Robertson

~CHAPTER 1~

“Cade! There’s a phone call for you.
No personal calls while you’re working. Hurry up with it too.”

“Yeah, yeah.
I hear you.
Bite me, you jackass.”
She went to the phone and barked in the receiver, “Cade. What do you want?”

“I’ve been trying to contact you for a week.
I have a job that you need to do for me and I’ll pay whatever you want.
But it has to be done Friday.”

“Who is this?”
Cade Smith knew who it was. She would recognize his voice anywhere.
She just did not like him and had told him last week that she was through working for his lying, cheating ass.

“You know fucking well who this is.
It’s Gabriel Sheets.
When can we meet to discuss the details of this takeover?
Like I said, it has to be complete by Friday or neither of us gets paid.”

“I’m not getting paid, not that you were ever very good about that part anyway. I don’t work for you anymore, remember?
Not now, not next week, not in a hundred years. I quit.
Don’t call me again.” The phone slamming in the hook felt good to her.

Going back to the stove, she flipped the two burgers and adjusted the flame under the fried potatoes.
When the meat was nearly done Cade put slices of cheese on one of them, buttered both buns
,
top and bottom
,
and slid them on the grill at the last minute.
Picking up the skillet by the handle she tossed half the home fries onto each plate and scooped the burgers and buns up together.
She was just putting the pickle on the plates when Paul called back again.

“Cade, the fucking phone is for you again.
Tell people my number again and I’ll fucking beat your ass.
I got no time to be running back here to tell you it’s for you.”

“I didn’t give them the number, fuck-tard, you did.
And I told you to tell him that I wasn’t coming to the phone.
Besides, the walking will do you a world of good.
Orders up.” She stomped to the pay phone and growled.
“Listen you halfwit, I quit.
Q-u-i-t!
You call here again and I will personally hunt you down, cut off your dick, and serve it to the rats you have as house guests.
Fuck off.”
Taking a deep breath to continue she heard a faint “oh, my,” then waited to see if whoever it was would say anything. She actually found herself hoping it was Sheets again.

“Miss Cade, it is I, Duncan.
I hope I have not caught you at an inconvenient time.
You did say to give you a call when I needed your assistance.”

Cade closed her eyes and laid her head on the wall beside the phone.
Shit, shit, and double shit.
Mr. Duncan.
She had met him several weeks
ago
at the grocery store. They had struck up a conversation about cooking and he mentioned that Miss Penny, the lady who cooked for her ladyship, was going on a much needed vacation.
She told him that if he did not find a cook before she left Cade would come and help him out.

“Yeah, Duncan, it’s fine.
I take it you didn’t find a cook to replace Penny, huh?
I told you I’d help you out. When do you need me to start?”

“Oh, Miss Cade, that would be most excellent.
If you could please come by tomorrow morning to make breakfast for the children before they are to be dispatched to the school that would be very helpful.
I’m sorry to have put things until the very last moment, but the woman who was to come and help has decided that she would feel safer at a different location.”

Safer?
Whatever.
Cade did not care why the other woman couldn’t do it. She was just happy for the opportunity to make some extra cash. Quitting for Gabriel didn’t hurt her financially; he seldom paid on time anyway if he ever did, but she did want to find a place to live with running water and heat all the time before winter.

“Just tell me where to go and I’ll be there at around six in the morning.
Is that too early or too late to feed the kids?
And leave me a list of things they can or can’t eat.
I wouldn’t want to poison anyone on my first day.”
She started to laugh, but he stopped her short.

“Oh no, Miss Cade.
No, we would be most displeased with you if you tried that.
I do believe his lordship would be very angry.
Oh yes, very angry indeed.”

“I was kidding, Duncan.
I can cook very well.
I’ll see you at six then.
And thanks for helping me out.”

She went back to the kitchen and started building
the
orders that had come in while she had been gone.
Her assistant Paula, Paul’s daughter, was setting up the chips and other stuff that went with the grilled ham and cheese and the rare steak when Cade threw some par-boiled potatoes in the now clean skillet.
She was thinking about the gig with the MacManuses with a smile on her face.
Two weeks.
Oh yeah, that would certainly help her apartment fund.

~~~

“Your ladyship, Miss Cade will be here at six to feed the children.
Her references are impeccable. Also, one of her bosses said that she had a fine tushie that you could bounce quarters off of.
I’m not sure how that would help with her ability to feed this household, but I did write it down for you as you asked.”

Aaron picked up the pillow under his hip and tried to put it to his mouth before he hurt himself trying not to laugh.
He knew that Duncan seldom got the little references and slang that people said to him and most times, it did not matter.
Then there were times when he could swear that Dunc sat in the kitchen and wrote out the most
ridiculous
things ever just to see if anyone noticed that he had screwed it up.
Looking over at his mate he realized she was having as hard a time as he was in keeping a straight face.

“Thank you, Duncan.
You just never know what might or might not come in handy working in this house.
I thank...I thank you for your help in this.
I do hope she lasts longer than...what was her name, Aaron?”

He glared at her.
She knew that in order to answer her he would have to take his pillow away from his mouth and that would hurt Duncan’s feelings.
So he just shrugged instead of answering.

“I believe her name was Candy Apple, my ladyship.
Or was it Apple Candy?
I know it had something to do with a fruit.”

Aaron stuffed the pillow further into his mouth.
If Duncan stayed in the room much longer he was going to have to replace the pillows again.
This was the third time he had had to replace the couch because he had refused to deal with him in the kitchen and he had bitten the other pillows in half.
Aaron knew there was no “dealing” with Duncan, he just was.

“Now that I think on it, I believe it was Candice Market.
She did seem to be on the slight nervous side when she came here.
I think we might be well rid of her.”

“Ah, yes.
That’s it, not a fruit at all but a place to purchase it.
Master, are you unwell?
You look as if you may explode.
I do believe we should call Master Thomas in. You may need for him to give you something for what ails you.”