Chapter 9
NINE
Cane
The older lady in front of me took her glasses off and let them dangle on a chain around her neck. She walked around the side of her desk and eyed me like the fathers used to do when I picked up a girl before a date.
I gave her my most charming smile. “I appreciate your help this afternoon, Mrs. Jewell.”
“Alice. Please, call me Alice. And you’re very welcome.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Jada has had a rough time of it lately. You better be nice to her, you hear me?”
“You have nothing to worry about.”
“I better not. Now, I’m leaving for the day and everyone else is gone. If you don’t mind, make sure she gets out of here safely.”
“Absolutely.”
“Take that hallway and her office is the third on the left.”
I nodded my understanding and made my way down the corridor.
Jada was standing at a work table beneath a window, her back to the door. I leaned against the doorframe and watched her.
She was so beautiful, so natural-looking. I figured she woke up looking like that, but with her refusal to see me outside of work, I wasn’t sure. Yet.
Lucky for us, I’m not easily deterred by her antics.
Her brown hair was pulled up into a messy pile on the top of her head, pieces falling out and it was sexy as hell. I wanted to wrap it around my hand and pull her head back, watching her face as she came all over me.
Easy, Alexander.
A pair of heels was tossed on the floor beside the table and she was standing barefoot.
I hadn’t realized how petite she was. I’d bet she was probably a foot shorter than I was.
But what she lacked in height, she made up for in curves.
The orange dress she wore hugged her body, flaunting her shape.
I craved the freedom to let my hands roam her, explore her curves, commit them to memory.
I crammed my hands in my pockets to discourage myself from reaching out and doing just that.
I remembered the softness of her lips, the way her body molded against mine the day before.
She’d tasted like heaven, but the past twenty-four hours had been hell.
I couldn’t get her out of my mind, couldn’t stop thinking about what it would feel like for her to be beneath me.
What it would feel like to explore more than her mouth.
For fuck’s sake. Get in control. I can’t go in there acting like a damn caveman. That’s not going to work with this one.
I knew from the start that Jada was different.
She didn’t fawn all over me or make overtly sexual suggestions or offers.
Not that I minded those, but she wasn’t that kind of girl.
Her eyes didn’t light up at my flashy watch or the wad of cash I pulled from my wallet. Hell, I wasn’t even sure she noticed.
Her standoffish attitude only made her more appealing, more of an enigma to conquer.
She honestly didn’t seem to want to spend time with me and, while I didn’t understand that, I found it amusing.
I didn’t want to spend time with her, either—just a few hours here and there.
It was the only way to go about things, but she even fought me on that.
Life was too short to get involved. Things always ended and they never ended well. I had learned that lesson the hard way.
I shifted my weight and Jada noticed the movement. She turned around. Spotting me, she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.
Let her make the first move.
A tickling feeling began in my stomach and my heartbeat increased. Feeling nervous was an odd sensation, something I had little experience with.
“I have no words for you, Cane Alexander,” she said finally, trying to hide a smile.
“Words are overrated, anyway,” I replied, not bothering to hide mine. “I’m a man of action, but I’m not going to press my luck with you just yet.”
I was pretty sure I wasn’t as fucked as I had originally thought. Jada rolled her eyes and my grin grew wider.
“Are you going to invite me in?”
“I may as well.” She threw her hands in the air. “You seem to have a way of doing what you want anyway.”
“I’m glad we’ve established the givens right off.”
Her shoulders eased and her posture softened as I strode into the room. She turned her back to me again and finished organizing the table.
It took every ounce of self-control not to bend her over the table, pull up that orange dress, and fuck her right there.
I deserve some sort of award for this shit. Who knew I had this much self-control? You learn something new every day.
“I think you thought of everything. I’m slightly impressed.”
“I was going to give credit to Lucy, but if you’re impressed, just keep on thinking this was all me.”
“I said slightly. Since you’re here anyway, we may as well have dinner.” She winced like she was in pain.
“You think I did this for me? You said you wouldn’t get dinner tonight. I was being a gentleman.”
“Uh-huh.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a gentleman.”
“I’m taking that at face value,” I said, taking the plate she offered me. I put some pizza on my mine and poured wine in two red disposable cups, shaking my head as I handed her one.
“What’s so funny?” Jada led me to her desk, which she had already cleared, and we sat down to eat.
“You would think I had sent Max to the damn store. These things,” I said, lifting up my cup, “are his favorite things in the world. Personally, I like to drink out of a real glass. But Max would use one of these over anything. It’s the country in him or something.
But we’re stuck with these tonight because someone was hardheaded. ”
“No, someone can’t take no for an answer,” Jada said, taking a bite of the pizza. Her eyes rolled back in her head. “This is so good. I seriously love pizza.”
I imagined what she would look like coming down from an orgasm, causing my dick to go rock hard. I knew I had to be careful as Jada wasn’t going to just spread her legs like most women. I had to focus, use my A-game. “Well, kudos to Lucy for knowing where to order, I guess,” I said with a grin.
Jada set her pizza down and wiped off her hands.
“Cane, I’m sorry. I haven’t been very nice to you and this”—she looked around her office—“is a very nice thing to do.” Her green eyes were filled with sincerity.
She was so genuine, so honest. I could honestly say that I’d had no experience dealing with someone like her. Where did she come from?
“Now that we are on the same page—”
“I didn’t say we were on the same page. I just said thank you,” she said.
I chuckled. She’s so stubborn. “Why are you so dead set against seeing me outside of work?”
She was quiet for a minute. “Okay, let’s discuss this.”
“Yes, let’s discuss this.”
“What do you envision us doing?”
I gave her my sexiest smile, the one that usually ensured I would get whatever I wanted. “I would lay you down, on this desk would work, and then I would pull your dress up to your waist.”
“Cane,” she said, giving me a pointed look. “This is my point.”
I looked around the room, searching for answers. Or a camera. “You’re not interested in having sex at all? Or with me? Because I’m a catch, you know.”
She looked at me unentertained.
I raised my eyes in mock horror. “You aren’t a lesbian, are you? That must be it. It’s the only logical explanation.”
Jada tossed her napkin on her desk and laughed. “No. I am not a lesbian, Cane.”
“So are you going to lie to me and tell me that you didn’t enjoy kissing me?” I held her gaze, challenging her to dispute what I knew to be true.
“I think it would be pointless for me to say I didn’t,” she said, looking away.
And the truth shall set you free …
“So you enjoyed our kiss, which I already knew—just so you know, and you aren’t a lesbian—which I also already knew.
Although I would have no problems with that, for the record.
But you want me, Jada. I see it in the way you undress me with your eyes.
The way your cheeks heat when I look at you, the way your mouth moved against mine, the way your body responds to me. ”
I leaned a little across the desk, closing the distance between us. Her breath hitched as I took over her personal space, her eyes growing wide.
That’s so fucking sexy.
“The way you get nervous when we’re talking and you twirl that ring or play with your hair. You want it, Jada. And I’m totally up for giving it to you.”
She looked down and realized that she was twirling the ring. When she raised her eyes again, I was looking at her knowingly. “See what I mean?” I leaned back in my chair, my point made.
“That’s a coincidence,” she scoffed, trying to make light of my observation.
“No, it isn’t. It’s the truth. And I’m going to tell you another truth right now. A woman knows, within a minute or two of meeting a guy, whether or not she’s going to fuck. It is really that simple.”
Jada’s mouth opened and shut quickly, flabbergasted at my statement.
I stood and leaned against the table, looking directly into her gorgeous eyes. I loosened my tie, stretching my neck at the sudden freedom. Her eyes widened farther and I watched her force a swallow.
Game. On.
“It all comes down to what a woman needs to hear to go forward with her decision. Some girls want to hear how beautiful they are. Some want to feel needed or smart—witty even. And then there are those that just want some positive reinforcement that the guy won’t think she’s a whore.”
I watched her for a moment as she tried to process what I had just said. “And there are some that just want to have a good time and want to hear ‘go’.”
Jada sat absolutely still, her breath labored and lips parted slightly. I knew what she was thinking, what she was considering, and it turned me on to watch those thoughts run so obviously through her mind. She adjusted in her seat, the sexual tension getting the best of her.
“So the question is, baby, what is it you want to hear?”