The Exception Read online

“He’ll slip up,” Max chimed in, looking between the two of us.

  “Max is right. Simon will slip up and we will nail him to the wall. Think about it: we know that the police are watching him due to his involvement in apparent drug activities. We have a guard watching Jada 24/7. We have undercover security at Benjamin Estates as well as rewards out for information leading to the waterline burst. We are doing everything we can.” Nick eyed me shrewdly. “What would have helped the most is for Jada to have contacted the police after the assault.”

  I shook my head, scrubbing my hand down my face again. “They wouldn’t have done anything anyway. It would have been her word against his and you said so yourself; the security cameras there didn’t catch anything.”

  “He’s a slippery one, but I think that’s genetic,” Nick said, shaking his head. “But we will get him, Cane. I promise you that.”

  JADA

  “This looks great,” Cane said, flashing the waitress a brilliant smile. He looked devastatingly handsome in a pair of dark dress pants and a blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled up. “Thank you.”

  The waitress flushed and glanced quickly at me as if to apologize for being charmed by my man. I smiled back at her, telling her it was okay. I understood. Females just didn’t have a chance around him.

  My father always said you could tell someone’s true nature by how they treated waiters and bellboys. If that was true, Cane was a keeper.

  The only problem with that was that he wasn’t around much lately to keep.

  Maybe I just got used to being with him so much …

  Since the night he canceled our dinner plans, he had been very hit or miss. Some days I would see him as he crawled into bed with me, some days I would just get a phone call at some point in the day, and even when he was with me, he seemed so preoccupied. So distant.

  “It’s just work, beautiful girl,” he’d say when I asked him what was going on. But the parallels between this behavior and Decker’s were more aligned than even I cared to admit: a busier work schedule, an evasive attitude, spontaneous calls that make him leave, and a preoccupation when he was with me that worried me more than anything.

  “This is almost too pretty to eat,” I said, appreciating the pasta dish set in front of me. It was a gorgeous mixture of colors and textures and smelled divine, like oregano and garlic and Italian goodness. “Almost,” I laughed. “Have you been here before?”

  I looked around the Italian restaurant. It was really busy. Always a sign of a good business.

  “Yeah, I come here sometimes,” he said. “I come here for lunch a lot, actually. I hate fast food.”

  I thought back, scanning through my memories, trying to think of him eating something from a paper bag. “I don’t think I have ever seen you eat fast food, come to think of it.”

  “I never do. You don’t know what is in it or who made it.”

  “You don’t know that here, either,” I pointed out, sticking a forkful of pasta into my mouth.

  He thought for a moment. “That’s true on some level, I suppose. But the food here looks like real food. Look at the chicken in your pasta. That’s easily identifiable as a piece of chicken.”

  “Just stop talking now because sometimes I crave a fast food burger.”

  He shook his head as he cut into his steak. “There are some things I will never understand about you.” He raised his eyebrows as he slid a piece of meat between his lips.

  “Oh, really? Like what?”

  “Like why your phone is always almost dead. Why you listen to shit music. Why you eat food that isn’t even food.”

  “You’re ridiculous.” I wrapped pasta around my fork and took another bite. It was better than it even smelled. The flavors of the tomatoes and mozzarella married perfectly inside my mouth. I closed my eyes and smiled.

  “You are ridiculous,” Cane laughed, watching me. “I don’t know what I even see in you,” he winked.

  “Then you must be blind!” I gave him a sideways glance. “You are lucky I put up with you!”

  Cane cut another piece of steak, his face losing the playfulness. He studied his plate intently, pressing his lips into a thin line. “There’s a lot of truth to that.”

  “This place reminds me of what I think Rome would be like.” I looked around the room, trying to change the conversation. “I’ve always wanted to go there. So much history. So much food.”

  His eyes lit up. He wiped his mouth with a linen napkin. “Rome? That’s where you would go if you could go anywhere in the world?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Maybe Australia. I hear Bondi Beach is pretty amazing.”

  “I’ve never heard of it, but I’ll be sure to Google that when I get home.” The corner of his mouth upturned and I felt relieved.

  I sat back in my chair, letting my foot trail up the inside of his leg. “If you could go anywhere, where would you go?”

  He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. “Macchu Picchu,” he said simply.

  “Yeah, that would be amazing,” I said dreamily. “What’s your favorite color?”

  He laughed. “What is this? Twenty questions?”

  “I don’t know. I just want to know the little things about you.” I shrugged. “We never seem to get around to those.”

  “Well, it used to be blue, I guess, until I saw you in that orange dress.”

  “If I wore the orange dress more, would I get to see you more?”

  Cane sat his fork down on his plate with a sigh. “I know I haven’t been around a lot, but I’ve just had a bunch of things I have to take care of. It sucks for me, too. But I can’t help it right now.”

  “I know. I just miss you. I got spoiled seeing you every day there for a while. It must have been the honeymoon stage of our relationship.”

  “Don’t act like that.” He grabbed my hand with his own, stroking my palm.

  “I’m sorry.” I watched my hand in his; it felt so small, so delicate yet so protected by his strength. He closed his hand on mine, enveloping the entire thing in his palm. He held it firmly, yet with such reverence that it took my breath away.

  He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly. “Soon. Things will be back to normal soon, okay?”

  “Soon,” I whispered, exchanging an intimate smile with him.

  We finished our meal in a comfortable silence, exchanging comments here and there, but generally just enjoying being together. Time flew by as it always did with Cane and, before I knew it, the waitress was taking away our dishes.

  “I’m going to go to the ladies room real fast, okay?” I asked, grabbing my purse from the chair next to me.

  “Do you want dessert?” He sat back in his chair and checked his watch.

  “Seriously? Where would I put it?” I felt slightly uncomfortable with the amount of food I had eaten.

  “Good. I’m ready to get going and eat my dessert at home, if you know what I mean.”

  “Let’s just go now,” I said, my cheeks heating and my panties dampening.

  He laughed. “I have to wait on the check, anyway, so go do what you have to do.”

  I stood, kissed him on the cheek, and made my way through the restaurant. Once inside the ladies’ room, I washed my hands and checked my makeup, applying a little more lip gloss.

  I hope it doesn’t take Cane very long to remove this gloss.

  I smiled to myself in the mirror before walking back into the restaurant. I made my way to our table and saw another woman approaching it from the other side. Cane didn’t seem to notice her coming towards him, but I slowed my steps, watching the blonde.

  She said something and caught his attention. He tensed, even though he sat back in his chair nonchalantly. I knew him well enough to pick up on his idiosyncrasies. The woman was smiling and giggling and when she touched Cane’s shoulder, I saw red.

  Who the hell is this?

  I picked up my pace and walked to my seat, the woman’s voice, laced with a fake sweetness, eating at me. “I’m back,�
�� I said, plastering on a fake smile as I pulled out my chair.

  Cane’s eyes jumped to mine as I sat down. When our eyes met, he winked and I relaxed just a little as I turned my gaze back to the woman standing at his side.

  “Nicole,” he said, sitting upright and turning to face her. “Please meet my girlfriend, Jada. Baby,” he said, twisting towards me and smiling, “this is Nicole.”

  My heart swelled with the introduction and I smiled brightly at Cane before turning my eyes to Nicole, who was obviously a little shell shocked. “Nicole, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, extending my hand across the table. Nicole glared at me for a split second before recovering and meeting me smile-for-smile.

  “Jade,” Nicole said with false affection, reaching out and taking my hand. “It is so nice to meet Cane’s newest girl.”

  “It’s Jada,” Cane said, obviously annoyed, his eyes turning cool. “And she’s the only girl that’s ever been mine.”

  I smiled smugly at Nicole.

  “Well,” Nicole said, adjusting her game plan, “it is nice to meet you nonetheless. I’ve known Cane forever and it’s always a pleasure to meet his dates.” She smiled at Cane. “I’ll let you enjoy your dinner.”

  As she turned to walk away, I felt my body give way as the tension I had been carrying eased. It was short-lived.

  “Oh, Cane, I forgot. One more thing.” She turned around and smiled, her eyes gleaming wickedly. “Guess who called me this week? Ashley! Can you believe that? Have you heard from her?”

  Cane took a deep breath and fidgeted a little in his seat. “Why in the hell would I have heard from her?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Nicole said, holding back a laugh. “It was just pretty odd that she looked me up out of the blue! I haven’t heard from her in such a long time! Anyway, I just thought she may have called you, too,” she said, flashing me a pointed look.

  I took a few deep breaths, trying to control my rising anger.

  “No. And if she had, I would have had nothing to say to her, anyway.” Cane glared at Nicole. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we are going home.” Cane stood and held out his hand to me.

  “Have a great night!” Nicole laughed as she walked back through the restaurant.

  The atmosphere in Cane’s SUV on the way back to his house was quiet. Cane was obviously irritated.

  That made two of us.

  I had to admit that Cane had handled Nicole well. He’d been very clear who I was to him and pretty much put her in her place.

  But Ashley? What was that all about?

  I watched the lights of the city pass by in a maze of colors as we flew down the freeway to Colbie Caillat’s voice on the radio. I was lost in my own thoughts about Ashley, Cane’s past, Simon, and my own history when Cane reached out and placed his hand on my thigh, giving it a little squeeze.

  “Jada, I’m sorry about that back there,” he said quietly. “I’ve known Nicole for years. She’s always been a bitch.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. That wasn’t your fault,” I said. “I didn’t even care about her necessarily, but your reaction is making me worry.”

  “She only said that shit to get a reaction out of me,” he said, taking an exit well before the one we needed. “I have to run by the office real quick, if you are wondering where we’re going,” he said, glancing at me with a half a smile.

  “So, Ashley. She’s the girl you left Arizona for, right?” I asked hesitantly as Cane squeezed my leg again.

  He blew out a breath and drew his hand back up to the steering wheel. “Yeah.”

  “Why would Nicole think Ashley would call you?” I twirled the ring on my finger.

  “Couldn’t fucking tell you.” He caught my eye, “Don’t fuck with that ring. There’s nothing to worry about. Ashley hasn’t been a part of my life for years, Jada. I haven’t seen her since before my dad died. I’ve talked to her a few times off and on after that, but fuck, I don’t even know when the last time was.”

  I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

  “So there’s no story there? Nothing for me to get all crazy jealous about?”

  He pulled up to a large stone building with “Alexander Industries” written across the front in large blue letters, the awnings covering the parking spots were a blue metal that matched the letters. It was a very masculine structure—large, sturdy looking—exactly like Cane.

  “Nope,” he said, gazing seductively at me as he whipped the Denali into a parking spot next to a side door. A silver and blue sign labeled “Mr. Alexander” was at the front of the spot. “The only thing you need to be crazy about is me. And I believe you promised me dessert and I don’t want to have to wait until I get home to eat it.”

  JADA

  “I don’t know, Heather. He’s just busy all the time. And when I do get to spend time with him, he’s so preoccupied.” I sighed into the phone, watching the Moscato swirl around in my glass in time with the ceiling fan.

  I was supposed to be seeing a movie with Cane, but he had been called away at the last second with little explanation.

  Again.

  “Well, maybe he is just busy. It doesn’t seem to be anything to really get yourself worked up over.”

  I gave the wine a final swoosh before sitting the glass down with a clink. “This is how the end began with Decker. There was a slow pull away then, too.”

  “Don’t,” Heather said and I knew she was rolling her eyes. “Don’t even go there. Decker was a complete douchebag and, from what you’ve said about Cane, he’s done nothing douchey. Comparing anyone to Decker is like comparing them to Satan. So let’s keep things in perspective, shall we?”

  I laughed, relaxing back into the turquoise throw pillows on Kari’s couch. “I see your point. It’s just that this whole thing with Cane has happened so fast. One day I was saying that I would never be with a guy like him. And, before I know it, he’s staying the night.”

  I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth, replaying my relationship with Cane back through my mind. Things had happened so quickly just like I knew they would. From the moment I saw him, I knew he was going to be a drug to my bad boy addiction. But like a true addict, I couldn’t help myself and I needed to make sure I had control of the situation before I was in too far to save myself.

  “I just want to make sure I’m seeing things for what they are, not what I want them to be. I don’t want to get so lost in this relationship that I end up being a fool like before.”

  “Totally understandable,” Heather said. “But at the same time, you have to evaluate each person for who they are, not for what the guy before them did.”

  “I know. But the same little things are starting to happen. At what point is it okay for me to let my panic take over?” I chewed on a fingernail.

  “Never. Panic is not a good look, Jada.” Heather cleared her throat. “I wish I was there to take you for coffee and a movie, but I’m not. You just need to relax a little, give it some time. If things don’t change and you aren’t happy in a few weeks, then by all means … kick him to the curb. But from where I’m sitting, he seems like a good guy and you are just letting your raging insecurities get the better of you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah.”

  I smiled to myself. Heather got me in a way that no one else really did. Her way of cutting through the crap and just telling me what I needed to hear could be painful, but if it was what I needed, she would lay it out there.

  “You know, he hasn’t even said he loves me, Heather.” I shrugged to myself. “Maybe I feel more than he does.”

  “That could be good or bad. I mean, maybe you are right. Maybe you are into him way more than he is into you,” she said, her tone matter of fact.

  My heart dropped at her admission, a huge dose of sadness swamped me and took me under. That was my biggest fear … that this relationship was predominantly a one-way street and that one way was leading to Heart Break City for me.

  “O
r,” she emphasized, “maybe it’s not a word he just throws around, you know? It could be that he’s just saving it for the right time.”

  I took a sip of my wine, shaking my head. “Why can’t you ever just say what I want to hear?”

  Heather chuckled. “Because I’m a good friend. You know better than to ask me shit if you don’t want my real answer. There’s no sugar coating here.”

  “Thanks,” I said, half sarcastically.

  “Anytime.”

  I laughed easily. “Okay, I’m going to drink this glass of wine, take a hot bath with candles and bubbles alone because we all know Cane won’t be by tonight, and then go to bed with this hot fighter named Deacon, I think.”

  “I’m guessing that’s a book boyfriend I’ve never heard of and I’m disappointed you haven’t shared him with me yet.”

  “You are the only person I’d share my boyfriends with,” I laughed.

  “That’s going a little too far,” Heather cracked up, making me smile. “Okay. Brian is on his way over anyway so I need to go.”

  A pang of guilt twisted its way through me. “How are things with him? I’m a bad friend. I didn’t even ask!”

  “This call was about you. I’ll call you one day and it will be about me. I won’t even let you say anything but, ‘Explain that more, Heather.’”

  “Make sure you do that. Now go get ready for your man.”

  “Talk to you soon.”

  CANE

  The lines on the drawings were starting to blur, each line indicating a wall or a utility line starting to become one large, unintelligible mass.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I needed to find some peace. I tried to focus on what would be the patio in Project AH, as Max had begun to call it. It was going to be the best part of the entire project, the focal point for the intended buyer.

  That is if I can get it finished.

  The tension of the last few days finally caught up with me with a throbbing pain behind my temples. I got up from my desk and made my way down the stairs and to my kitchen. I grabbed the bottle of tequila and poured a shot, slamming the liquid back, feeling the burn as it went down.