The Exception (14 page)

Kari bit her lip as Max’s voice lowered, barely audible. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

My stomach knotted. “After the day I’ve had and your boyfriend in there—doing whatever it is he’s doing, I really think I need a drink.”

“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend. Second of all, I will never turn down wine.”

“What’s going on with you and Max anyway?” I asked as I watched my sister get up from the table and make her way to the kitchen. She began to pour our drinks. “He looks at you like you’re his and you seem sure you’re not,” I observed, taking a sip of the cool pink liquid after it was handed to me. “One glass of wine and then I’m starting on the Bacardi.”

“She’s just a pain in the ass—that’s what she is,” Max rumbled from the doorway, irritation written all over his face. “And so is Cane.” He moved his eyes to me and I could see the underlying hesitation in them.

I struggled to swallow the Moscato. “Why do I get the feeling that you are saying that for a reason?”

“Because I am.” Max took a deep breath. “Cane is on his way over here.”

JADA

We were sitting on the back porch a little while later, enjoying the peace and quiet. The ceiling fan whooshed and the pool bubbled. With the white twinkling lights strung overhead and the glow of the tiki torches, the backyard had a relaxing, romantic aura.

Kari snuggled into Max’s lap, wrapping her arms around his chest. He leaned his head back on the chaise and closed his eyes, looking completely content with my sister cuddled against him.

Jealousy reared its ugly head.

That should be
me.
I miss that.

I downed the rest of my wine in one gulp. “I’m going in for a refill. Do you guys need anything?”

“I think we’re good,” Max drawled, stroking Kari’s bare thigh.

My spirits in limbo, I stalked into the house and considered turning on a movie—something violent and gory. Something where the asshole gets what he has coming.

As I entered the kitchen, the doorbell rang.

I had struggled over whether to be there when Cane arrived. If I left, Cane would think he got to me and enough was enough. He needed to be put on notice that I was done being messed with. But that didn’t mean I actually wanted to deal with him.

Pretending that I didn’t hear the doorbell, I started across the living room in the opposite direction of the entry. It rang again and I caught Max’s eye through the window. He smirked as our eyes met, obviously having heard Cane’s arrival and clearly reading my intentions.

I sighed as I flipped him the bird, my gig obviously up, and turned on my heel. I could hear Max laughing and that only irritated me more.

I jerked open the door. Cane was standing on the other side, looking delicious in a pair of dark denim jeans and a white t-shirt, his sunglasses tucked into the top of his shirt. He smelled woodsy and musky, the scent making me shiver.

He’s like looking at a famous painting in a museum. He’s made to visually appreciate, but there’s no way I can afford to take him home.

“Are you going to invite me in?” He flashed me a grin that was undoubtedly his most seductive, but I held tight and shook my head instead of swooning.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked dully.

“Do you ever? I think we’ve been in this situation a time or two.”

“Whatever, Cane.” I left the door open and walked back into the kitchen. I heard it shut as I rumbled through the pantry, looking for the rum Kari had put away. I knew mixing wine and rum was going to result in a hot mess of a morning, but I needed something a little stronger than Moscato to make it through the night.

Maybe I should just go for whiskey.

“What did you do today?” he asked, clearly leading me, his voicing growing closer.

“Nothing much.”

“Really? Nothing interesting happened today?”

“Nope.”

“You want to do it this way? Okay, fair enough. I’ll cut to the chase. What’s this I hear about you having dinner with Powers?”

“Don’t,” I warned him.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t start. What I do and who I spend my time with is no business of yours.” I turned my back on him, not wanting him to see how tired I was. He could sense weakness like a lion.

“Jada,” Cane whispered, putting his hand on my hip. I froze, squeezing the bottle of rum I had just picked up so I wouldn’t drop it. He pressed the front of his body into the back of mine and swept the hair off the back of my neck. His fingers lightly brushed my sensitive skin, making my nerve endings rapid-fire in succession. “It
is
my business.”

My pulse quickened and body heated, responding to him without thought. “You’re wrong. It’s not.”

“I asked you very pointedly to stay away from him and you agreed.”

I turned quickly to look him in the eye. “No. You asked me to call you before I took him to your properties. You don’t own the restaurant.”

“You are missing the fucking point.”

“No, I think I get the fucking point better than you can imagine.”

He took a half step forward, grabbing the cabinet on either side of me. The proximity of his body to mine made it hard to breathe.

“I didn’t come over here to argue with you, beautiful girl.”

I took in a shaky breath. “Then why did you?”

He tilted his head slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “I wanted to know you were okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“You were with Simon. You have to stay away from him.”

“Tell me something. Is he a threat to
me? Or
is he a threat to
you
?”

“Come on, Jada. Cut me some fucking slack here.”

“You can have all the fucking slack you want. I never asked you to pick up the end of the rope.”

Cane’s jaw clenched. “What are we doing here, Jada?”

My eyes squeezed closed as I tried to create some barrier between the two of us. “We aren’t doing anything.”

“Can you honestly say that?”

“No.
You
did.”

“Fuck,” he blew out in frustration. “Why do you have to make this so fucking hard?”

“Seriously, Cane?” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “This is all you and I am done. I am finished getting sucked into your web, having my head spun, and then watch you act like you are doing me some fucking favor by speaking to me.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the ground. “That’s not what’s happening.”

“That is exactly what’s happening and I’m over it.”

He snapped his eyes back to me, his mouth in a thin line. “You’re over it? I see. Was Simon that interesting at dinner? Because you don’t have any idea who he is, Jada. He isn’t someone you need to be fucking around with!”

“Fuck you.”

He laughed. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”

“And it will never happen.”

“Why?” He smirked. “Are you afraid you’ll like it?”

His words set me off, the anger I had fought to control erupting like a volcano.

“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t, actually,” I fumed, slamming the bottle on the countertop and whirling around. Cane took a step back and watched me like a caged animal.

“All assholes are the same and I’ve had more than my fair share of them. They seem to be the only thing I attract,” I spat.

Cane shifted his weight, crossing his arms in front of him. He clearly wasn’t expecting my reaction.

“I don’t know why you won’t just go away!”

I turned to walk around him, but he blocked my path. “You don’t really want me to go, Jada.”

“No, I do. I promise you—I really
do,” I seethed. “I’ve told you repeatedly that this is what I don’t want. I’m not a little chess piece. I don’t want to be fucked with, Cane.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” he asked me, his eyebrows rose in astonishment. “You think I’m just fucking with you?”

“You are either cruel or you are just really, really stupid. You are an asshole when we meet, then you are sweet. You deliver me dinner, then grow cold. You come into my room, break me down, and then walk away.”

I grabbed on to the ledge of the counter, my hands shaking with fury.

“You send me flowers—no, wait. I stand corrected. You have
Lucy
send me flowers and then are an asshole. I’m noticing a pattern here,” I spouted. “But that’s going to stop now.
Leave. Me. Alone
.”

I pushed him out of the way and took the stairs two at a time to my bedroom, my body feeling the adrenaline hit full force.

I paused at the top of the stairs and turned around. He was standing at the bottom, watching me. His eyes were wide, his hand gripping the railing.

“If you have to wonder where you stand with someone, it is probably time to stand up and start walking.” I looked him in the eye, my voice softening slightly. “I’m walking, Cane. Don’t follow me.”

I marched into my room and slammed the door behind me. I moved across the floor to the window and stood, trying to calm my heartbeat.

It lasted about five seconds.

“What the fuck?” Cane stormed into my room behind me. “Can we have a rational fucking conversation?”

“The only conversation I am interested in having with you is to ask you why you can’t respect boundaries. That door was closed and you were uninvited.”

“Fuck that. You aren’t getting away from me that easy.” He stalked across the room with purpose until he was standing a few feet in front of me.

“I don’t know how much clearer I can be, Cane. I don’t want to be near you.”

He ran his fingers through his hair in utter frustration and sighed, closing his eyes. “Look, I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Why don’t you have Lucy call and tell me for you?” I bit out.

“Is that really what you want to discuss?”

“No! I don’t want to discuss anything!”

“I sent you those flowers today, okay? I called and ordered them myself. Call Lucy and ask her—she’ll think you are a lunatic!”

I stilled. “You ordered them?”

He nodded, eyeing me nervously. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“Then why did you lie to me?”

Cane shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to. I was in a meeting and I should never have answered your call. But when I saw your name on my screen, I couldn’t help it.”

He walked over to my bed and sat down. “I heard your voice and the hope in it and … I don’t know. I just knew I had gone too far.”

“What do you mean?”

“What we both want couldn’t be more opposite … and neither of us are willing to make an exception. I was afraid those flowers were going to give you the wrong impression.”

My spirits fell spectacularly on the side of despair and smashed into shards, some of the pieces bouncing off of the floor and piercing me again for good measure.

“Then why even send them, Cane? Why do you have to go out of your way to make me crazy?” Tears began to prick the corners of my eyes and I blinked them back furiously. “I just don’t get what you are doing!”

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, if you want the truth. If you were any other girl, I would’ve had you beneath me days ago. But you aren’t and I’m trying to respect that, but … fuck!”

I smiled sadly. “I get that, Cane, and I appreciate it. I really do. But this hot-and-cold thing you have going on is making my life hell! At this point, I just want you to pick one way or the other and I know the kind of guy you are, so I know which way that’s going to be. And I’m fine with that. I’d rather be shut out by you altogether than feel so unsure all the time.”

“You don’t mean that. You don’t want me to walk out of your life.” His voice cracked with uncertainty, his brows furrowed.

“You’ve never actually been in my life. Hell, you’re doing enough damage being on the fringe! I need you to move on to your next conquest and forget about me.”

“Don’t you get it? That’s my fucking problem! You aren’t just some conquest and I can’t figure out how to move on from you!”

I swallowed hard as I watched his eyes burn, feeling like I was on a precipice. I had to either hold on for dear life or topple over the edge.

“Then don’t,” I whispered, taking the leap without a parachute.

Cane’s eyes shot up and he bounded towards me, his body rigid, his eyes hooded. I could see the hasty rise and fall of his chest.

I walked backwards until I was up against the window, my heart pounding.

“You say you want honesty. Well, be honest with me.” He pinned me against the wall with his gaze. “Do you want me?”

My chest heaved, my body wound and needy to the point of breaking.

“Answer me,” he demanded, his voice husky. “Look at me, Jada.”

My eyes opened and, before I realized what I was doing, I heard myself breathing out, “Yes.”

Cane’s mouth was on mine immediately, his tongue darting between my lips like it had been there a hundred times before. I lavished in the feeling of him against me, of him finally taking control of my body—something I had wanted for so long.

He grabbed the hem of my shirt and lifted it over my head, discarding it to the side. His fingers slid around my back, unfastening my bra and tossing it to the floor. He found the waistband of my pants and he pushed them over my hips and I stepped out of them, my hands roaming over the ridges and ripples of his body.