Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Jada
“Dammit!” I shoved open the top of the printer, spotting the offending piece of paper jammed inside.
Given the past few days, how am I even surprised?
I scowled as I squeezed my hand into the tiny space before yanking the paper out. Slamming the top back down, I sat in my chair with a huff.
The week was dragging.
Everything seemed to have gone wrong since I woke up the Friday before to a text.
Cane: You’re beautiful even when you’re asleep.
“Sleep, beautiful girl.” His words echoed through my brain.
Sleep? Why? So he could make his getaway? So he could flee without having to speak or see me again?
According to Max, Cane had taken an impromptu trip to Payson very early on Friday morning. So a part of me wanted to believe that was why Cane hadn’t stayed with me or contacted me since then, besides the text. Those thoughts encouraged a seed of hope to grow.
The other side of me laughed and stomped harshly on the prospect.
This is exactly what I knew he would do. I will probably never see or hear from him again. Don’t be jaded about this.
I hit PRINT on the screen, wishing life could be controlled with simple commands like that.
If that was possible, would I DELETE the night with Cane?
I smiled to myself.
Of course I wouldn’t.
I made the decision to be with Cane with a clear mind. I couldn’t regret that—and I didn’t. I also couldn’t be shocked that when I had woken up, he was gone. All I could do was control how I went forward.
I sent him a return text, thanking him for the compliment, but he failed to reply. I wasn’t going to call him or text him again. I couldn’t lose my dignity. I had to be strong. Cane knew how to get ahold of me if that was what he wanted, but I wouldn’t reach out to him.
The ping of my email caught my attention, and I clicked on the envelope.
To: Jada Stanley
From: Simon Powers
Re: Solomon Place - Offer
Jada,
I have attached the details of the offer I would like to make on Solomon Place. I will be out of cell reception this afternoon. If you need anything, please leave me a message, and I’ll call you back when I get back to town. That will most likely be sometime tomorrow.
Thank you,
Simon
This day might turn around, after all.
I went into the fax room, found Simon’s paperwork on the tray, and took it back to my desk. I pulled the Solomon Place file and began compiling all of the documents for the offer. Lo and behold, one piece of paper was missing: Cane’s signature.
Confident that the world hated me, I searched our system for the fax number for Alexander Industries. It was nowhere.
My spirits sank as I tried to find a way around talking to Cane.
Lucy!
I searched for the main office number and dialed, perking up in my seat when she answered right away.
“Hi, Lucy. It’s Jada from Stanley Real Estate. I have an offer for the Solomon Place, but I need your fax, please.”
“Hello, Jada. Just a minute, and I’ll transfer you to Mr. Alexander.”
“Oh, no,” I said hurriedly. “That isn’t necessary. I just need your fax.”
“If you call, Ms. Stanley, I’m supposed to send you back. I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Now, if you’ll hold, I will get you back there.”
“Lucy, please, can’t you just give me the number?”
“I can’t. I have to follow orders. Just a moment.”
I bowed my head, trying to brace myself for the uncertainty barreling toward me.
“I wondered how long it would take you to call me,” Cane answered, his voice calm and controlled.
I sat upright, my jawing hanging in disbelief. “You’re kidding me, right?”
Cane just laughed. “How has your week been?”
“Fantastic. I just need your fax number,” I said, cutting to the chase. If he wanted to talk about anything more than Solomon Place, he would need to be the one to bring it up.
“That’s all you called to discuss?” I could hear the laughter in his voice, and it incensed me.
“Of course, Cane. I can’t think of anything else I need to discuss with you. Words are so overrated, you know. It’s actions that really speak.”
“Is that so?”
“Well, I take that back. My recent conversation with Simon was interesting.” I smiled into the phone as I heard him tense through the line. “He made an offer on Solomon Place. I need one document signed by you before we can proceed with that.”
I was met with silence.
“Cane?” I asked again, my voice shaking a little.
“Solomon Place is no longer for sale,” he snarled.
“Excuse me? It’s not for sale? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
Silence reigned again. I could feel his anger boiling through the phone, and I wasn’t sure why. I knew he didn’t like Simon for some reason, but to pull the property off the market so he wouldn’t buy it? That was extreme, even for Cane.
“I have no idea what is going on right now. You want us to remove the property from the market?”
“Let me ask you a question. Is my property the only connection you have with Powers?”
“What?”
I heard his chair squeak through the phone. “Is my property the only one you have associated with Powers?”
“Yes. He was interested in another one in Gila Bend, but my dad had someone else show him that.” I pressed my fingers against my temples. “You’re losing me here, Cane.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” His voice was quiet, just above a whisper.
“Excuse me?”
“That property, all of my properties actually, are unavailable for purchase by Simon Powers. I don’t care what offer you submit on his behalf, Jada, I will reject it. I will make it impossible. So please, save yourself the trouble.”
“That’s insanity, Cane.”
“Probably.”
I stared into space, trying to find something I understood in the mayhem.
“I don’t care if it ever sells. What I do care about is that you don’t see Powers again.”
Confusion riddled me.
“Do you hear what I’m saying, Jada? Stay away from Simon Powers.” His voice was cool, lethal, and it caught me off guard.
“You’re joking, right?” I realized I was holding my breath, but I couldn’t help it. The entire situation was getting out of control.
“Does it sound like I’m fucking kidding?”
“Why, Cane?”
“Can’t you just trust me?”
“I trust me,” I replied softly. “And the more I go through life, the more I see the value in that motto.”
“Jada.” Cane’s voice wavered slightly as he said my name. “If this is about me going to Payson—”
“It isn’t. Not really. This is going just how I expected it would, and it’s fine.”
He let out a strained breath. “Look. Simon Powers is very bad news, Jada. I need you to do what I say.”
This is stupid. Don’t let him feel sorry for me. He is just another fish in the sea and if this is how he rolls—and I know it is—then I don’t want anything else from him. Especially his pity.
“If I have someone else take over the sale from our side, will you still sell the property?” I asked him, turning the conversation back to business.
“And you will have no contact with Powers?”
“I’m not promising you anything, Cane. But I haven’t had any conversations with him that weren’t centered around real estate, so the odds are in your favor.”
He sighed, his aggression beginning to wane. “Yes. I would go along with that.”
“I’ll let my father know. Nice talking to you, Mr. Alexander.”
CANE
She hung up on me. A grin slid across my face.
I sat holding the phone in my hand, trying to figure out what in the hell just happened.
That did not go according to plan.
Realizing that she had just managed to do something that people tried to do all the time, and failed miserably at, made the grin grow wider. She had just won a battle, albeit a small one, over me.
It was sexy as hell.
Damn her, anyway.
I shook my head and leaned back into my chair.
The past few days had been a clusterfuck. I should have listened to Max and stayed calm when he told me Jada had been with Simon, but calm wasn’t something I was great at. The thought of her with that son-of-a-bitch lowlife infuriated me.
Why couldn’t she just fucking listen?
Each bit of information Max and I had been able to put together about Simon looked worse and worse.
I had honestly thought he would just disappear, but now I wasn’t so sure.
And if he was going to keep contacting her, I would have to clue her in without panicking her.
I was going to do that the night she had dinner with him, but she was so fucking mad at me, so my plan got put on the back burner.
There has never been a better back burner.
Thoughts of her wrapped around me with my cock buried inside her made me want to get her from work and take her home with me.
Breathe, Alexander. Don’t be a dumbass.
It was impossible to think clearly while around Jada. And that was exactly why I had headed to Payson. I had to put some space between us before I really fucked shit up. Just watching her sleep, this potent mix of beauty and seduction, na?vety and strength, made me think crazy shit.
Like lying beside her, pulling her close, and falling asleep with her in my arms …
Thank fuck I had just had a major orgasm or who knows what would have happened.
Instead, I kissed her on the forehead and raced home.
I didn’t sleep at all that night with her scent all over me. It was something pure and soft, something classy. Just like her. I couldn’t get the feel of her body out of my mind. Even after showering, I could still see her, hear her, smell her, and taste her.
And I wanted more.
I never wanted more.
What in the hell is wrong with me?
By four o’clock in the morning, I was worried about my fucking sanity. I was still wide awake, my mind not shutting down. Even after six rounds on the heavy bag—something that generally exhausts every cell in my body—I still couldn’t rest.
I felt like I had Freud in my brain, prompting me to reconsider the choices I had made and the choices I needed to make.
How did I get myself in this position at all? When did I give a fuck? When did I care about this shit?
I didn’t need Freud. I needed Machiavelli. I was at war and with myself, no less.