If that’s what she wants, I can’t get around that.
“No,” she laughed. “I mean yes. At some point, I do hope I can still have all of that. I’m going to be picky this go around. I wasted years of my life with Decker and I don’t want to throw any more of them away on someone who doesn’t really care about me. I know that makes me needy as hell, but that’s the truth. I may as well own it. I want kisses in the rain. Flowers for anniversaries. Texts for no reason. I want all of the things I have never had. And I know, without a doubt, you are not interested in giving me those things. And that’s fine. But that also seems to make us spending time together pointless.”
I looked at the beautiful woman across from me, shocked that it really bothered me that she had never experienced those things. She deserved to be made to feel beautiful and wanted. But that didn’t change the fact that I was not the person who could do those things for her.
“Have you ever just been with someone, spent a few hours with them, enjoyed yourself, and went home? There’s something to be said for that,” I smiled, hoping to broaden her horizons a little.
“Yeah, of course I have.” She looked up at me again. “You aren’t the only one that can read people. I can read you, too, and I know who you are. And you are what I need to avoid.”
My phone started to ring and she motioned for me to go ahead and get it. I looked at the screen and then stepped in the hall to take the call from Max. By the time I had finished the conversation and came back in her office, Jada had cleaned up the mess and had her bag on her shoulder.
I was relieved that she was ready to call it a night. Her little speech, as much as I hated to admit it, got under my skin a little bit. She had her mind made up that she wasn’t going to be with me and that pissed me off a little, even though she was right.
You aren’t changing jack shit because of her. This is just some stupid obsession and you’ll have moved on in a few days.
We exited the building and Jada locked up. We made our way quietly to our cars, neither of us speaking.
“Thank you for dinner tonight.” She fished her car keys out of her purse. “It was really sweet.”
I studied her under the moonlight, the warm air blowing her hair around, the smell of her soft perfume swirling around me. She was the closest thing to perfection I had ever seen.
“We could do it again sometime. I can always have food delivered. I have people.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to it this time.” She raised her eyebrows and I chuckled. “But really, thank you.”
“Goodnight.” We exchanged a small smile as we reached her Jeep. She got in and started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving me standing beneath the parking lamp.
I watched her drive away and considered that I may be watching the one woman I could see more than once a week drive out of my life. I briefly considered jumping in my Denali and chasing her down, but the rational part of my brain took control.
You aren’t going to go do something stupid. Follow the rules. No exceptions.
CANE
“There’s beer in the fridge.”
Max walked across the kitchen and grabbed a Corona. “And that’s all that’s in the fridge,” he mumbled.
I ignored him. “How did the jobsite go today?”
Max opened the bottle and took a swig. “Well, I didn’t know if we were pitchin’ or catchin’ yesterday, but we kicked ass today. Back on schedule and maybe even a little ahead.”
I led Max into the living room and sat down on the black leather sofa. Max made himself at home in the recliner as always.
“I thought Franklin really fucked us on the Bluestake. I’m not sure why we keep him around.” Max looked at me, peeling the label from the bottle in his hand.
“You know why. He was my dad’s right hand man for a hundred fucking years. I can’t fire him.”
“Such a pussy,” Max grinned.
I shrugged helplessly. Franklin was getting a bit senile in his old age, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about that, other than trying to give him simple jobs and write his paycheck every week.
“I got some information on Powers today.” The grin was gone from Max’s face as he sat the bottle on the end table.
I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees. “And?”
“He’s living out past Surprise now at the end of a dirt road.”
“Maybe he realized he isn’t fit for society.”
“I drove out there this afternoon. Nice house, looks like it’s been there a while but has had some renovations done recently. And our boy has a new Camaro in the driveway.”
“Camaro?” I asked puzzled. “He was driving an Avalanche yesterday.”
Max nodded. “Yeah, he has one of those, too.”