I had struggled over whether to be there when Cane arrived. If I left, Cane would think he got to me and enough was enough. He needed to be put on notice that I was done being messed with. But that didn’t mean I actually wanted to deal with him.
Pretending that I didn’t hear the doorbell, I started across the living room in the opposite direction of the entry. It rang again and I caught Max’s eye through the window. He smirked as our eyes met, obviously having heard Cane’s arrival and clearly reading my intentions.
I sighed as I flipped him the bird, my gig obviously up, and turned on my heel. I could hear Max laughing and that only irritated me more.
I jerked open the door. Cane was standing on the other side, looking delicious in a pair of dark denim jeans and a white t-shirt, his sunglasses tucked into the top of his shirt. He smelled woodsy and musky, the scent making me shiver.
He’s like looking at a famous painting in a museum. He’s made to visually appreciate, but there’s no way I can afford to take him home.
“Are you going to invite me in?” He flashed me a grin that was undoubtedly his most seductive, but I held tight and shook my head instead of swooning.
“Do I have a choice?” I asked dully.
“Do you ever? I think we’ve been in this situation a time or two.”
“Whatever, Cane.” I left the door open and walked back into the kitchen. I heard it shut as I rumbled through the pantry, looking for the rum Kari had put away. I knew mixing wine and rum was going to result in a hot mess of a morning, but I needed something a little stronger than Moscato to make it through the night.
Maybe I should just go for whiskey.
“What did you do today?” he asked, clearly leading me, his voicing growing closer.
“Nothing much.”
“Really? Nothing interesting happened today?”
“Nope.”
“You want to do it this way? Okay, fair enough. I’ll cut to the chase. What’s this I hear about you having dinner with Powers?”
“Don’t,” I warned him.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t start. What I do and who I spend my time with is no business of yours.” I turned my back on him, not wanting him to see how tired I was. He could sense weakness like a lion.
“Jada,” Cane whispered, putting his hand on my hip. I froze, squeezing the bottle of rum I had just picked up so I wouldn’t drop it. He pressed the front of his body into the back of mine and swept the hair off the back of my neck. His fingers lightly brushed my sensitive skin, making my nerve endings rapid-fire in succession. “It is my business.”
My pulse quickened and body heated, responding to him without thought. “You’re wrong. It’s not.”
“I asked you very pointedly to stay away from him and you agreed.”
I turned quickly to look him in the eye. “No. You asked me to call you before I took him to your properties. You don’t own the restaurant.”
“You are missing the fucking point.”
“No, I think I get the fucking point better than you can imagine.”
He took a half step forward, grabbing the cabinet on either side of me. The proximity of his body to mine made it hard to breathe.
“I didn’t come over here to argue with you, beautiful girl.”
I took in a shaky breath. “Then why did you?”
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “I wanted to know you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You were with Simon. You have to stay away from him.”
“Tell me something. Is he a threat to me? Or is he a threat to you?”
“Come on, Jada. Cut me some fucking slack here.”
“You can have all the fucking slack you want. I never asked you to pick up the end of the rope.”
Cane’s jaw clenched. “What are we doing here, Jada?”
My eyes squeezed closed as I tried to create some barrier between the two of us. “We aren’t doing anything.”
“Can you honestly say that?”
“No. You did.”
“Fuck,” he blew out in frustration. “Why do you have to make this so fucking hard?”
“Seriously, Cane?” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “This is all you and I am done. I am finished getting sucked into your web, having my head spun, and then watch you act like you are doing me some fucking favor by speaking to me.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the ground. “That’s not what’s happening.”
“That is exactly what’s happening and I’m over it.”
He snapped his eyes back to me, his mouth in a thin line. “You’re over it? I see. Was Simon that interesting at dinner? Because you don’t have any idea who he is, Jada. He isn’t someone you need to be fucking around with!”
“Fuck you.”
He laughed. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“And it will never happen.”
“Why?” He smirked. “Are you afraid you’ll like it?”
His words set me off, the anger I had fought to control erupting like a volcano.
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t, actually,” I fumed, slamming the bottle on the countertop and whirling around. Cane took a step back and watched me like a caged animal.