The Exception (46 page)

“Yeah, I’ll be your girl.”

“Baby, you must have been confused,” he smiled mischievously. “You were always my girl.”

“You think?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“There was never any doubt.”

CANE

We drove in silence through the city towards Kari’s house a little while later. My beautiful girl was sitting in the passenger seat, looking more content than I had ever seen her. I felt more at peace than I had in a long time; just being with her, having a promise of being with her forever, gave me more happiness than I ever thought possible.

I watched her examine her ring. She was always beautiful but with that ring on her hand …

She really did say yes.

I shook my head in disbelief.

I pulled the Denali into Kari’s driveway just as Kari and Max walked out of the house. Jada bent over the console and kissed me sweetly before jumping out of my car and racing to her sister. Kari had Jada’s hand in the air, inspecting the ring as I closed the door behind me.

“I still can’t believe she said yes to you, man,” Max joked, shaking his head. He walked toward me with his hand extended and I shook it.

“Of course she said yes to me. She’s not crazy.”

“She has to be a little crazy if she’s going to marry your dumb ass.”

We watched the girls talk animatedly, their hands flying through the air.

“Are you going to make things solid with Kari any time soon?” I asked.

Max shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like it’s a matter of time and sometimes I feel like if I asked the question, she’d bail. She’s a tough one to crack.”

He never took his eyes off of Kari and I almost felt bad.

“Well, watch how I do things and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.” I tried to fight a smile but the look on Max’s face made it impossible.

“Let me go put my boots on—shit’s gettin’ deep out here.”

I started to retort, but the word Vegas from the girls’ chatter caught my attention. “Vegas?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. I’m planning her bachelorette party as soon as possible! If I know you, you won’t wait too long to marry her. You are kind of the impulsive type,” Kari said, her hand on her hip.

“I just might be. I might marry her tomorrow if you are thinking you are taking my girl to Vegas.”

“I don’t think so, Alexander,” Kari said, narrowing her eyes.

Max elbowed me in the rib. “See what I mean?”

Kari shot him a look before focusing again on me. “I’ve already called Lara, Heather, and Mandi. The ball is already rolling. We
are
going to Vegas.”

“
We
can go to Vegas. That’s fine. I’ll book the room.” I marched over to Jada and wrapped my arms around her. I looked at Kari, daring her to challenge me.

“Damn you, Cane! That’s not what I meant!”

“There’s no way in hell she’s getting out of my sight. Forget it. You want to go to Vegas? Okay, we will go to Vegas. Take whoever you want and I’ll pay for it. But
we
are going.”

“It’s a bachelorette party,” Jada said, resting her head against my chest. I could tell by the softness in her voice that she didn’t care about the party; she was appeasing her sister.

I glanced at Max. “I also need a bachelor party then. How do you feel about Vegas?”

Jada giggled, her eyes glued to the ring on her left hand. I knew it belonged on her finger as soon as I saw it. The lady said it was a French band with a round halo diamond or some shit. All I knew was that it was made with her in mind. And, by the look on her face, I did a good job.

Hell, I always do a good job.

“I thought we’d stay at my house tonight and give y’all a little privacy. I figured Jada would want to be somewhere comfortable and not at a hotel,” Max said, changing the topic.

“I appreciate that. I have our things being moved to the penthouse at Benjamin Estates in the morning.”

I watched Jada’s jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. If she thought I was going to spend a night without her again, she must have gotten hit harder than I realized. I wasn’t about to stay at Kari’s for any longer than necessary. I had money and I had means. And now I had the girl.

“If there’s anything I can do for you guys, call me.”

“Don’t I always?” I laughed.

“True. I fix everything and you get the credit. Same shit, different day.”

“Thanks, Max. Really.” I looked solemnly at my best friend, wondering what could have happened if he hadn’t read my text. I shook my head to clear it of the thoughts filtering through my mind.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He punched me lightly on the shoulder. “Keep an eye on that back door. I came over here yesterday and the fucker had blown open somehow. It isn’t latching or something. I’ll take a look at it tomorrow afternoon.”

Kari tilted her head as she looked at Max. “It’s done that a few times lately.”

“I’ll fix it, sweetheart. Now let’s get out of here and let Jada get some rest.”

Jada gave Kari a quick hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Congratulations!” Kari squealed. She brought her eyes to mine and whispered in Jada’s ear loud enough for me to hear, “And I’ll get the Vegas party planned. Don’t worry.”

Kari smirked as she extended her arms for a hug. “You have to learn to hug me. We are family now.”

“God help me.”

She swatted me as she pulled back. “He better help you if you mess with my plans!”

“Stop riling him up, Kari,” Max said, shaking his head. He kissed Jada on the top of the head before heading towards his truck. “I’ll talk to you guys in the morning.”

They climbed into the Ford and pulled out of the driveway, leaving me and my girl behind.

“Mrs. Cane Alexander. I like that,” I said, grabbing Jada’s hand. I led her to the front door. “Do you have any ideas on how you want to get married?”

“I want to wait until I don’t look like this.”

“Baby,” I said, twisting her face to look at me. “You’ve never been more beautiful to me.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. “I love you.”

“I love you.” I reached down and picked her up, her legs across my arms.

“Cane! We aren’t married yet! You don’t have to carry me over the threshold.”

I rubbed my cheek against her head as I carried her inside, kicking the door closed with my foot. “It’s all semantics, beautiful girl.”

She snuggled into me, wrapping her arms around my chest. “I’m so tired. I’ve never been this tired in my life.”

“Well, as much as I want to ravish you again—”

“Can you imagine making love on the top of your mountain every night? It’s so romantic—even today on the cold concrete and my sore body.”

“
Our
mountain,” I corrected her, making her blush again. “And I can’t wait for that. But tonight, I’m going to lay you down and we are only going to cuddle.”

“I thought you didn’t cuddle?”

“Only with you.”

“I’m glad it’s with me, Cane.”

“What can I say? You are always the exception.”

The End

They say it takes a village to raise a child. I can assure you it takes more than that to write a book!

What a wild, wonderful journey this has been and I have so many people to thank for helping me along the way. I have just finished The Exception and am trying to remember those that have so selflessly helped me in the past few months. If I fail to mention you—I apologize in advance. My mind is a bit scrambled. Please know I appreciate all of you that have bolstered my resolve, cheered me on, offered support, and prayed for me. Your encouragement and guidance worked and this is the proof.

Mr. Locke,
you inspire me every day to do better, be better, work harder, and to live
more
. Your encouragement to write this book was overwhelming, your belief in me astounding. Every good thing in my life is because of you. You are truly my best friend and soul mate. Thank you for understanding Cane, for your help in those certain scenes, and for all the laughs along the way. I love you more than all the cats and dogs in all the nine states.

My children
, I don’t know if you will ever read this (and honestly, I don’t want to think about that!), but I want you to know that I did this for you. I want you to see that you can do anything you set your brilliant little minds to. I’m sorry about all the pizza dinners and that the socks weren’t always matched up in the mornings, but I did this for you. Everything I do in my life is for you. You are my heart and soul and the best thing I’ll ever do. Now let’s go have a real meal, okay? I’ll even make brownies.

Mom and Daddy,
you have always believed in me, regardless of what I wanted to do. Even when this short little girl wanted to play basketball, you thought I would be the best one on the court! Growing up with that type of safety net allowed me to become the person that I am. Thank you for giving me the confidence, opportunities, and support to reach for my dreams. I love you.

Kari,
my partner-in-crime: How do I even begin to say how much you mean to me? They say true friendships can be measured by how readily someone is there for you after not speaking for a week. You are always there for me in so many ways. Here’s to late night sticker wars, Friday night Kellan fights, intensive “research”, long distance telephone calls, and “He really just gave us that address?!” freak outs. Ha! We will share that bottle of FSOG wine yet! I love you more than I love Cam. Okay, that’s a stretch. But I do adore you. ;)

Heather,
I really have no words. I know that’s cliché, but it’s true. You are one of the kindest, most supportive, most hilarious people I have ever met. You believed in this book, in these characters, in ME from the start. Hell, you believed in it all before I did. You are more than the #bestpaever—you are my music maestro, my cheerleader, my encourager, my ‘I would so bring you coffee’ person, and, most importantly, my friend. YOU are the reason this book is complete. YOU are the reason Cane didn’t lose his mancard. YOU are the reason his POV’s are intact. YOU are the reason this book was published. If the world likes Cane and Max, they should thank YOU. Just like I do. Now that this is over, I’m going to send you a message longer than three words, ‘kay? ;)

Mandi,
my QQ, my #synopsislesssister. Thank you for talking me off the ledge, for making me laugh, for your love of a good douchebag, and for telling me when the jeans fit and when they didn’t look so hot. I’m so excited to be on #teamStickyD! Are you still working on your mantra? Because I’m now officially able to help beta that! ;) I really have no idea what I would have done without our sprints, our #atison, and our #mambasanddoughnutsforever. I do believe it’s COFFEE TIME! 3..2..1.. BREAK!

Amy
, if no other good thing happens with this book, I got your notes! Ha! Thank you for taking the time to read it in the middle of ‘moving hell’ and your humble offer to writing my dedication and acknowledgements. ;) Your laughter and wisdom kept me from jumping off a cliff a number of times (and kept my laundry done!). Your guidance was invaluable and I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know … even though I didn’t discuss certain things with you. Our friendship is one of my most prized relationships—I just want you to know that. I love you, my stabby friend. Why are we not comedians again? #haveityourway #copyright #illallowit #chandeliersandsparkplugs #idfriendme #myperson

Jennifer C
, your taste in football teams may suck majorly, but I’m glad we were able to move past that, sistah. ;) I feel like I’ve known you forever and a day. Thank you for EVERYTHING. (I used all caps to try to encompass everything—I wasn’t shouting.) I could never even begin to go into detail for all the things you’ve done for me through this journey. Your excitement was contagious, your support game changing. Your encouragement pushed me through many dark nights. Thank you for reading this a million times (no exaggeration). Who knows? Maybe the Red Sox will win the Series this year? Life’s funny like that …

Linda
, I PRESUME you know how much you affected me and “book 1” and “book 2”. ;) Your willingness to help and your attention to detail were amazing, but it’s your friendship that I appreciate the most. Thank you for letting me vent, for being honest with me. Thank you for not only listening to my ramblings but going out of your way to SHOW ME why I was right or wrong. You’ve went above and beyond and I am terribly lucky you call you a friend. I am going to come and read with you in that beautiful sunny room one day! You better be ready! And again, I’m sorry this book doesn’t have angst. ;) Ha! <3