The Exception Read online

  Cane looked up and slowly removed the sunglasses. He scanned my body and a slow smile spread across his face. He raised his hand and crooked his finger towards me and I felt like Baby in Dirty Dancing. I exchanged a smile with Kari, who was sitting on a couch in the family room off the kitchen. I made my way to the back patio.

  Cane wrapped me up in his arms and dragged me against him, his hands going up my cover-up and palming my ass. “For the love of fuck, woman! Forget the orange dress—this is my new favorite.” He bent down and kissed me roughly on the lips.

  I giggled against his mouth and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Well, this is your best look. Clothes just detract from you, Cane Alexander.” I rubbed my hands down his chest. “Words don’t do you justice.”

  “Words are messy, remember?” He winked at me. “And they are not necessary for what I have planned later. You will only need one, actually. My name. On repeat.”

  “You aren’t burning that shit, are you?” Max asked, coming outside and breaking our moment.

  “Oh, hell!” Cane laughed, turning to the grill and removing the steaks onto a platter.

  I laughed as I went back inside to help Kari get the drinks. Max came in behind me.

  My nerves had eased, replaced by a feeling of contentedness. I felt alive with Cane and comfortable in his home, not at all like the outsider I had feared. He didn’t seem to feel weird with me here either, which I had feared the most.

  “I’m changing this music,” Max said, walking over to the deck and replacing Cane’s iPod with his own.

  “What are you doing?” Cane yelled through the glass.

  “This shit is giving me a headache!” Max yelled over his shoulder.

  “I can’t help you have bad taste in music!”

  “Ah, here we go,” Max mumbled before Florida Georgia Line began playing through the speakers. “He really loves this. He just doesn’t want to admit it.”

  “No, I do not!” Cane shouted from the patio as we all made our way back outside. “Your music taste is about like your football taste—it blows!”

  Max chuckled as he turned his head to Kari and I. “Not sure why I like him, really. He’s irritable, a total asshole, likes shitty music, and the San Francisco 49’ers.”

  A tapping sound on the glass caught our attention. Cane’s face was close to the window. “I can hear you, you motherfucker.”

  We laughed as we made our way outside and got settled around the glass table and filled our plates with the juicy steaks and potatoes that the boys had grilled.

  “So what’s your deal with actual glass cups,” Cane asked Max, sipping on a bottle of water and nodding to the drink in Max’s hand. “Did you cut your finger or some shit as a kid?”

  “Fuck off, Alexander,” Max said. “These are the perfect drink accessory.” He held his red cup in the air. “See this bottom line,” he pointed. “This is the ‘liquor line’. The second one is the ‘wine line’, which, I may add, no man should ever use. Now the top one is the ‘beer line,’ but you can live a little and go over it if you want.”

  “Wow. You’re getting all cosmopolitan on me. Next thing I know, you’re going to want to add some color into your Sharpie tattoos.”

  “Whatever. These tattoos were made with a needle,” Max said, drawing out the last word. “You’re too big of a pussy to actually get one.”

  “No, I’m not. There’s just not anything that I want permanently etched on my body.”

  “Speaking of you being a pussy, you’ve been drinking wine these days. No self-respecting man should ever drink wine.”

  “You drink sweet tea! And you think wine is a bad thing?” Cane asked, barely containing his laughter. Kari and I couldn’t contain ours as we wiped tears away from our eyes with the backs of our hands.

  “Don’t even start on sweet tea or I’ll kick your ass. It’s the lifeblood of the South. That kind of talk will get you killed where I’m from,” Max said, trying to keep a straight face.

  “Remind me to never go there,” Cane muttered.

  “You’re such a fuckstick.”

  “Whatever. You haven’t been south of the Valley since you were twelve and you still won’t let go of this southern boy routine.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Max said, shaking his head. “When you are born south of the Mason-Dixon Line, it’s in your blood. It’s who you are.”

  “It’s amazing that you can even function in society.” Cane grinned as he leaned back in his chair.

  “Coming from you, the most asocial person I’ve ever met, that’s hysterical.” Max raised his eyebrows, fighting a smile.

  “Hardly, Max. Everyone loves me.”

  “Yeah. That was just how it looked yesterday with the City of Queen Creek. They loved you.”

  A stormy look crossed Cane’s face as he narrowed his eyes and subtly shook his head at Max.

  “Hey, is that your phone going off?” Max asked me, changing the subject with a quick glance to Cane.

  “Um, yeah. I think so,” I said, digging through my bag until I located it. Heather’s name was on the screen. “I’ll take this inside.” I stood up and Cane stood, too. He grabbed some empty beer bottles and joined me in the kitchen.

  “Hello?” I grabbed a seat on the couch. Cane tossed the bottles into the trash and threw some silverware into the dishwasher.

  “Hey, Jada!” Heather said cheerfully.

  “Hey! How are you?”

  “Fabulous! I’ve been with Brian at rehearsals today! So fun!” I could imagine her smile through the phone and it made me grin.

  “You really like him, huh?”

  “I do! I didn’t think I would when I agreed to dinner, to tell you the truth,” she said. “But he is really fun and a total hottie. And a lot smarter than I thought he would be. Go figure that. Anyway, what’s going on with you?”

  “Not much,” I said, watching the muscles in Cane’s back flex as he wiped off the counter. My mouth watered. “Um, can I call you back a little later, though? I’m at Cane’s having dinner.”

  “Cane?” Heather asked curiously. “Who’s Cane?”

  “Well, he’s …” I shuffled my eyes to him. He had turned around and was leaning back against the counter watching me. I turned away, blushing. “I don’t know who he is exactly,” I said warily. This was not a question I wanted to answer in front of him.

  “Hmm. Sounds like there’s a story there.”

  “Kinda. Kari’s here, too, so we are hanging out.”

  “I see. I’m assuming he is right there and you don’t want to talk about it, so I will call you later and you can give me the dirty. I was actually calling for a legit reason. Do I have your most updated résumé?”

  “Yeah, I sent you the most current résumé I have. Why? Is something wrong with it?” I scanned through my memory, confident I had sent her my latest version.

  “No, it’s fine. Human Resources just asked me today. I don’t know if they have an opening or what, but they’ve apparently been looking at it.”

  “Okay, well let me know if you need anything else,” I said, feeling Cane’s eyes on me.

  “I will! I’ll let you go spend time with Cane. Don’t forget to call me and tell me all about the good stuff! Love ya, Jada!”

  “Love you, lady! Bye!” I disconnected the call. I turned around and Cane was still leaning there, watching me curiously, a slight look of irritation on his gorgeous face.

  “A couple of things …” he said, moving over to the counter. He poured himself a shot. “First, are you looking for a new job?” He slammed the liquor and made a face as it burned down his throat.

  “No, not really.” I watched him carefully. He totally didn’t believe me. “My friend Heather lives in Chicago. When I got divorced, she wanted me to move there. I probably would have, but I didn’t have a job or anything, so I came here instead. She has been submitting my résumé around.” I shrugged, feeling errant all of a sudden. “Someone asked if it had been updated, I guess.”


  “Chicago?” he asked, eyebrows raised, voice cool. “You still thinking about going?”

  I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear nervously. “No, not really. I haven’t thought about it in a while.”

  “So, there’s a chance you aren’t going to stay here?” His voice was tight.

  I thought for a minute and then turned, looking him in the eye. “Do you want me to stay?”

  He shook his head, amused. “I always want you to stay.”

  I couldn’t wipe the silly grin off of my face. “All right. Then I’ll stay.”

  I expected Cane to react, but he didn’t. He just watched me closely.

  “Don’t you think you should tell her that?” he asked finally.

  I looked up at him as he strummed his fingertips against the marble, waiting to see what I was going to do. “Yeah, I probably should.”

  Neither of us moved for a second, both feeling the other out. He was adorable and I was having a little fun watching him sweat.

  “There’s no time like the present,” he pointed out, raising his eyebrows again. When I didn’t move, he tilted his head. “I’m pretty sure your phone has a callback feature.”

  I couldn’t hide the huge smile that crept across my face. My heart swelled at his display. He really, truly wanted me to stay with him.

  I unlocked the phone and hit the reconnect button, my eyes never leaving Cane’s. If he would put it out there so blatantly that he wanted me to stay, I would make sure he knew how certain I was that I wanted to.

  “Hey, Jada! Everything okay?” Heather asked when she picked up.

  “Yeah, everything is great, actually,” I said, smiling at the man across the room. “I’ve been thinking lately and I really think I should stay here.”

  “What? No!” Heather pouted.

  “I know. I’m sorry! But I have a workload with Dad now. And it’s really nice being back with him and Kari again. I really missed that, you know?” Cane pointed towards himself and smirked and I couldn’t hide my giggle. “And there’s this thing with Cane now. He’s amazingly hot, Heather. Totally sexy,” I said, as he stalked across the room towards me, his eyes hooded. “And I really just want to see where it goes.”

  “He’s standing right there, isn’t he?” Heather asked, knowing me better than almost anyone.

  “Yup,” I said with a pop on the ‘p’.

  “I totally understand. No worries!” she laughed. “Just come visit me soon, okay? I so want you to meet Brian! Just don’t judge with the mohawk, okay?”

  “I won’t. Thanks for being such a good friend, Heather. And I will come visit you soon!”

  I clicked the button to end the call. He was smiling this time at least, but still not saying anything.

  “Well …” I began, twirling my ring around my finger.

  He cocked his head to the side, giving me a half smile. “Now that is taken care of, that just leaves the other thing.”

  “I’m not sure what the other thing is.”

  “I believe you just told your friend …”

  “Heather,” I supplied.

  “Yes, Heather, that you don’t know what I am.” He took the last few steps to me quickly, his eyes daring me to move. He stood directly in front of me, looking down. “What am I, Jada?” he asked, his voice caressing my name. The way it rolled off his tongue made me shiver.

  I looked down at the ring spinning. “I don’t really know.”

  “Stop spinning the fucking ring.” He grabbed my hands and threw them over his shoulders. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. Now, back to what I was saying—you don’t know what I am or what to call what I am? Those are two very, very different things.” He picked me up and carried me to the kitchen, sitting me on the counter.

  “I don’t know what to call it,” I said, as his hands ran up my legs. “Boyfriend is so … juvenile,” I said, widening my eyes for effect.

  He shook his head, amused, as his fingertips reached the fabric of my swimsuit between my legs. “You can call me whatever you want, as long as it means that this pussy is mine.” His fingers pressed lightly over my opening. My body pressed into his hand, craving the contact.

  “It’s yours, Cane,” I said, my voice raw.

  “It better be.” His fingers pushed back the fabric and entered me slowly. “You’re so fucking wet, baby.”

  “I can’t help it,” I said, glancing out the window at Max and Kari in the pool. “I have no control over my body when you are around.”

  “That’s because it’s mine and it knows it.” He worked his fingers in and out. My breathing became jagged as my body demanded a release.

  “Cane,” I drug out, trying to move to maximize contact.

  “What do you want, baby?” he asked. “You’re going to have to tell me.”

  “Damn you, Cane,” I said, feeling myself edge closer to the breaking point. “Make me come. Please.”

  He pressed his thumb against my clit and rubbed a small circle. That was my undoing.

  “Oh!” I moaned as I threw my head back and felt the rush of the orgasm wash over me. Cane grabbed the back of my head and pushed my head up, catching my mouth with his and kissing me fiercely while I endured the onslaught of feeling. The sensations from high and low hit me hard, causing me to explode on levels I didn’t know were possible. It was a chain reaction. As I came down from a crazy high, I lay my head on Cane’s chest.

  “Are we having fun yet?” he asked cockily, withdrawing his hand. He licked my wetness off of his fingers, a smirk playing across his features.

  I was unable to speak as what must have been an orgasmic aftershock rippled through me.

  He caught my gaze in the only way Cane could. “Are you going to stick around?”

  “Yeah,” I said, looking him straight in the eye. “I’ll stay a while.”

  JADA

  I lay in a state of bliss beneath Cane’s blankets later that evening, listening to him rummage through the refrigerator downstairs. It had been a fun, relaxing day.

  I tugged the black comforter up against my chin and snuggled against the soft sheets. I drifted off for a minute, but was awakened by the bedroom door opening.

  “Hey, beautiful girl,” Cane said, smiling as he sat down on the bed. “Need to rehydrate?” He tossed me a bottle of water.

  “I think so. That was a workout.”

  “If you had said no, you were getting another round,” he said wolfishly.

  I tossed the water back to him playfully. “I’m not the least bit thirsty,” I pouted, my eyes slowly running up his chiseled torso.

  He lunged across the bed and straddled me, holding my hands above my head. “Really? You better dial that shit down, woman, or I’m going to make you regret it,” he growled, running his finger down my face and chest. “That’s pretty hard to believe, though. It’s nine and you—”

  My eyes shot up. “Nine? Are you serious?”

  He nodded, looking confused at my outburst.

  “Cane, I better go. I have Kari’s car and I’ve been here all day.”

  “So?”

  “I’m sure you have things to do, that’s all.” I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I wanted to give him an out. He had gone from wanting to see me for one night to having me stay at his house. I didn’t want him to feel any pressure.

  “If you leave, I will have nothing to do. But if you want to go …” He released my hands and rolled off of me.

  I felt the loss of his body immediately. “I don’t,” I said softly, closing my eyes.

  “Then don’t.”

  “Really?”

  “You say that like you’re surprised!” He laughed. “Why is that so hard to believe, Jada? I’ve spent a lot of nights at your house. Why wouldn’t I want you here?”

  I looked around his room. It was decorated in all blacks and whites and it reminded me of the initial hot-and-cold Cane. Where did all of this greyness come from?

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I just didn’
t want to wear out my welcome right off the bat.”

  “I like having you here. When I’ve brought women here before, I couldn’t wait to see them go. I felt like they were invading my space or something.”

  I made a sour face, earning a chuckle from him.

  “But really, they were never meant to be here. You, on the other hand,” he said, dipping his chin to grin at me, “I kind of like having here. I don’t know why. You just, I don’t know, seem like you belong here. With me.”

  I tried not to swoon, but it was futile. “Are you sure?”

  “Stay,” he whispered, pressing a searing kiss on my lips.

  “Okay. Just let me make sure Kari doesn’t need her car.” I reached for my phone on the nightstand.

  “She doesn’t. Max went home with her and I’m sure that pussy is willing to cart her anywhere she wants to go until you get home.”

  “I like Max,” I said, falling back against the pillows. “He seems really good for my sister.”

  Cane lay next to me on his side, stroking my arm lightly with his fingertips. “He is a good guy. The only person I really consider a true friend. Max isn’t from the city; he’s a country boy. A transplant. Country people are a different breed.”

  “How did you meet?”

  “We met when he moved here when we were twelve or so and we just hit it off. Well, I totally saved his ass and he still owes me for that.”

  “Oh, really? What happened?” I smiled, happy to get some new insight into the two new men in my life.

  “It was his first day at school. Coincidentally, it was my birthday. Anyway, he was the new kid, right? Well, if you haven’t noticed, women think Max is cute or something,” Cane rolled his eyes. “I mean, not as hot as me, but cute anyway.”

  “No one ever said you were humble!”

  He winked at me.

  “Max’s first day was your birthday? When is that?”

  “Yeah, some birthday present,” he laughed. “November 4th. Anyway, some girl at school liked him right away and her little boyfriend, or whoever he was, got mad. After school, that kid and his buddies jumped Max. They had him pinned against a wall and were talking all kinds of shit. I happened to be walking past and saw it. I essentially saved his ass.”