The Exception (18 page)

CANE

“Hello?” I groaned, rolling over and answering my cell. I could hear country music immediately and winced.

It’s too fucking early.
I glanced at the clock.
No, it’s ten o’clock in the morning. Fuck.

“Late night?” Max’s voice was cold.

“Yeah. The bag and I had a few late night rounds.”

“Is that what you are calling them now?”

I rolled onto my back. “Typically, that’s what you hit when boxing—or what I’ve always heard them called, anyway. What are you doing today?”

“Looking at a bid for the project in Carefree.”

“Whatever makes you fucking happy.”

“What’s making you happy these days, man? Because from over here, you look pretty sad. And I don’t mean heartbroken—I mean you look pretty fuckin’ pathetic.”

“It’s too early for this shit, Max,” I groaned.

“Nah, it really isn’t. I’m fixin’ to tell you a few things and I think you should listen. First, that stunt you pulled last night was bullshit. Straight up, Cane—
that was bullshit
. You know it.”

I closed my eyes as I recalled the fuck-up from the night before. “I know. Trust me, I know.”

The country music in the background died out. “So here’s the thing—you either like her or you don’t. But you
don’t
fuck with her. She’s Kari’s sister, so I will make sure she’s fine. That’s my responsibility to Kari, not my responsibility to you. If you want to go fuck the Lesley’s of the world, no one is going to stop you from that. But you have to let Jada go.”

“I don’t want to let her go.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized it. I grimaced at the thought of actually admitting that out loud.

Max was silent for a second. “Well, that says something coming from you.”

“Yeah. Fuck, I don’t know what to do. Every time I try to talk to her, she gets pissed at me.”

“I feel her pain.”

“Fuck you, too.”

Max laughed. “So make up your mind. Either be with her and be good to her or let her find someone else. I’ve got the Simon angle covered, so don’t worry about that if that’s what’s going on.”

I sat up in bed and kicked off the blankets. “I don’t think Simon is much of a threat anymore. He’s buying Solomon Place, which amazes me, but once that’s gone through, it will be over. He doesn’t seem to have called or bothered Jada and he hasn’t fucked with me any. So I think we can relax a little bit.”

“Let’s hope.”

“I am going to get up and grab a shower. There’s a property I want to check out today. I think if we buy it, we can flip it really quickly. Then I need to go check on the expansion plans for Benjamin Estates.”

“Want to grab a beer afterwards? Kari gets off around six tonight and I told her I would drop off her laptop when she gets home.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Yeah. Just come by when you’re done?”

“Will do.” Max paused before continuing. “You think you’ll call Jada today?”

“She’ll just be pissed.”

“No doubt about it. But if you don’t want to let her go, you better start making shit right.”

JADA

I slammed the dryer closed a little harder than necessary, the force sending one of Kari’s coconut scented candles off of the shelf; I caught it before it exploded against the tile.

At least I can avert some problems. It’s the little things, like relationships, that I can’t do.

I rolled my eyes at myself.

I had spent the most of the morning catching up on errands and chores, trying to keep my mind off of the night before … specifically of Cane walking out with the bar whore.

I had gotten worked up and pushed him away, but his arrogance mixed with the alcohol I had consumed proved to be a dangerous combination.

As much as I hated to admit it—I was angry.

I was angry that he came to get me and left with her. I was angry he showed up at all. I was angry that he acted like I was unimportant. I was angry he was so confusing. I was angry I allowed him to get to me.

I was angry that I couldn’t stop being angry.

He clearly doesn’t want me, but why is he so hell-bent on making sure I know it?

I grabbed the mop from the broom closet, deciding that the kitchen tile could use a nice sheen when my cell buzzed in my pocket. Annoyed, I answered the call even though I didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jada! It’s Simon Powers.”

I leaned the mop against the door as confusion swept over me. “Hey, Simon. What’s up?”

“I’m sorry for calling you on a Saturday afternoon, but I talked to my loan officer at the close of business yesterday and she had some questions. I got busy and worked late last night, so I hope you don’t mind me calling you today.”

“I don’t mind,” I said hesitantly, “but Zack is handling everything now.”

Although I still don’t know why …

“Oh. Well, I guess I will try him then. She really needs the answers on Monday morning and Monday’s are crazy in this line of work, you know? I hoped to get everything straightened out today.”

“That works. I’m sure he’ll take care of everything.”

“How have you been, anyway? I haven’t talked to you in a while.” The change in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by me.

“Good,” I lied, thinking back to Lesley’s hand touching Cane’s stomach which, in turn, made my stomach a little sick. “How about you?”

“I’m fine, always fine,” he said. “Hey! You had to bail the last time we tried to grab a bite to eat. Wanna try again tonight?”

I paused for a second, my chest compressing as I remembered Cane’s warning to stay away from Simon. I recalled Lesley leaning her head into his side and wrapping her arms around his waist and my blood boiled.

Don’t mow the sidewalk …

“Sure, Simon. That sounds good. Where do you want to meet?”

I knew he was smiling on the other side of the line. “There’s a great little restaurant over here by me. I can come and pick you up?”

Cane’s words rolled through my mind again and I was a little uneasy.

Was his warning because he was jealous or was there something else going on?

I hesitated, chewing on my fingernail. “You know what? I will just drive over there. I don’t want you making a trip all the way over here and back again tonight. If you text me the address, I’ll meet you there around seven?”

“Sounds great! Can’t wait to see you.”

“See you soon, Simon.”

I spotted Simon’s Avalanche at the rear of the parking lot and pulled in beside him. I checked myself in the mirror before exiting the Jeep. My hand trembled slightly as I wiped my fingertip beneath my eyes, pressing away the puffiness that I couldn’t see but could feel.

I had worn a pair of black pants and a really cute silver top I found in Kari’s closet. I was a little nervous about this date, or whatever it was, and I felt like the extra bit of fabric covering my body would help put a little barrier between Simon and I, should that be necessary.

Not that he had ever done anything to make me feel like that was necessary. I had felt slightly uncomfortable the first time we met. Looking back, that was probably because of my anticipation of seeing Cane again. The only thing that had me slightly on edge at this point was Cane’s little spiel, but that was probably just his arrogance coming through.

I grabbed my purse and was about to toss my phone into it when it lit up. Cane’s name flashed across the front.

Fuck you.

I sent the call to voicemail, set the phone to vibrate, and squared my shoulders. I marched into the little restaurant. It wasn’t a large, corporate affair, but a more intimate place. I pushed open the doors and was taken aback at the beauty of the decor. It looked like a scene out of a vineyard in Tuscany.

I put on my prettiest smile when I spotted Simon sitting at a table in the back. He slowly rose when he saw me, raising his eyebrows.

He had on grey dress pants with a white button down shirt. He wasn’t breathtaking like Cane; Simon was more attractive in a plain kind of way. He was above average in appearance, but there was nothing striking about him. And while Cane had an inherent charisma, something that pulled you to him, Simon was just the opposite. He seemed to be on guard at all times, calculating. It was a little off-putting, but I figured it was just one of his quirks.

His shirt was a little wrinkled, his hair just a touch disheveled as he pulled out my chair. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” I placed my purse on an empty chair and sat down. “You look very nice yourself.”

Simon took his seat across from me and immediately, I felt on the spot. His eyes searched every inch of me and as a sly smile fell into place, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear nervously.

I’m only overthinking everything because this is my first real date in forever. Breathe.

“I’m surprised you came tonight, if I’m being honest. I wasn’t sure what happened, but I haven’t really been able to get ahold of you since the night at the diner.”

I blushed, embarrassed at being called out. I couldn’t tell him that I had been blatantly ignoring him. “I was assigned a few different projects that have been keeping me pretty busy. Have you been here before?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Ah, once or twice. I don’t take a lot of people out to dinner, so I don’t have a reason to come here. But I’d love to come here more often.”

I pretended to not pick up on his innuendo and scanned the menu, twirling my ring around my finger.

“Good evening. My name is Jennifer and I’ll be your server tonight,” said the pretty brunette waitress that arrived, a notepad in hand. “Can I start you off with something to drink?”

I went the safe route. “Water for me, please.”

“Same here.”

“Great. I’ll go get that and be right back.”

“What do you suggest?” I glanced at Simon over the top of my menu. “Everything sounds delicious.”

He studied the information in front of him. “If you like fish, the mahi-mahi is really good here. I’ve had the sirloin before and it was great.”

“Sounds good to me.” I sat my menu down on the table as Jennifer came back with our drinks.

“Do you know what you would like or should I come back?”

Simon glanced at me. “I’ll have the mahi-mahi.”

“Make that two.”

“Very good. I’ll be back shortly,” she said, picking up our menus and walking away.

“So,” Simon began, folding his hands on the table. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been good. How have things been going for you?”

“Really good, actually. I have a lot of balls in the air, so that’s been keeping me busy.”

“Better to be too busy than bored,” I shrugged.

An unsettling silence descended between us and I fidgeted in my seat. I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know him well enough to even be able to start a conversation. That, coupled with the fact that I felt like I was under a microscope, made me feel hesitant to say anything.

“True, although I would like a little more time to relax and go to dinner. What have you been up to outside of work?” He watched me closely and I couldn’t tell what he was fishing for, although it was pretty clear he was searching for something.

“Just working and hanging out with Kari. I’m getting ready to look for an apartment, things like that.”

“I thought maybe you were seeing Cane Alexander.” I swallowed a lump in my throat as he said his name. “He seemed a little strange when we met him the other day, even for Cane.” He chuckled, never taking his eyes off of me.

I swallowed hard, my ring spinning like a top. “No, I’m not seeing Cane.” I smiled as innocently as possible. “His friend is dating my sister, so we run into each other a lot.”

“I see. How has he been?”

“I have no idea. I wasn’t aware that you knew Cane.”

“Oh, it’s a small world.”

“He didn’t say anything about knowing you.”

Simon bit his bottom lip, scrutinizing my face. “We really don’t know each other. We’ve just ran into each other a few times. No big deal.”

“I see.” I had the incredible urge to grab my purse and bolt for the door.

Simon rearranged his silverware on the table before looking at me again. “Do you see him a lot?”