She waited for Cree in particular to contradict her, but instead, concern and compassion shone in both their eyes.
“Janae,” Vanessa spoke softly. “What little I know of Adam, he doesn’t strike me as the type to use his power to coerce a woman into doing what she doesn’t want to do. And trust me, I’d know it if he was that kind of man.”
Janae’s heart tightened as she listened to the pain in Vanessa’s voice. She’d spent twenty years with an emotionally abusive man. More than any of them, Vanessa knew what manipulation looked like.
“Janae, when I wasn’t sure about Michael, you and Cree pushed me to explore things with him. Let me return the favor. Adam doesn’t seem like he has any intention to harm you or the kids in this district.”
Janae sighed deeply, considering her friend’s words. Deep down she knew Adam wasn’t trying to be shady. That didn’t mean she didn’t have reservations about this entire situation.
“He might not intentionally want to harm me or the kids, but isn’t this still a conflict of interest to work with him knowing we both are interested in exploring this attraction between us?”
Cree pointed her finger at Janae, emphasizing each word that followed. “At least you’re finally admitting there is an attraction between you two.”
Janae could see how Cree could view her admission as progress.Unfortunately, it didn’t feel all that progressive when Janae thought about the entire situation she found herself in.
“Girl,” Cree continued, “we live in a town where half the population is related to each other, and the other half is married off. Adam doesn’t work directly with James as his teacher or counselor, so there’s no conflict in you dating him. Stop creating problems where there are none. Work with him to figure out a solution to the problem. And when that’s done, let him blow your back out.”
Janae pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to figure out why her friend was like this.
“Although I probably wouldn’t have phrased it like that, Cree is right. Getting to know Adam and working to straighten this issue out doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. I think the two of you are grown enough to do both. And if you really feel you aren’t, let me settle the issue so you two can focus on each other.”
Janae’s body tensed as a simmer of anger began to move through her.
“I know you’re not insinuating me taking money from you so I can get laid, right, Vanessa?”
Vanessa, unbothered with a wide smile on her face, leaned back on her hands as she crossed one leg over the other to emphasize just how much she didn’t care that Janae was ticked off.
“I am ridiculously wealthy. I could write a check that would keep this program running for years, and it wouldn’t even register on my bottom line. Besides, I’ve got to do something useful with my ex-husband’s blood money. I get a special kind of joy knowing how miserable it would make him if he knew I was actually using my divorce settlement to do something good for other people.”
Janae couldn’t help the smile blooming on her face. Falling in love with Michael and moving to Monroe Hills had developed Vanessa’s petty streak. As much as she wanted to be offended by Vanessa’s offer, she couldn’t help celebrating her girl’s willingness to get her lick back where her miserable ex was concerned.
“Vanessa, I can’t take your money. I don’t want my son to think Auntie Vanessa is gonna just write a check to fix his problems.”
Vanessa opened her mouth to speak again, but Janae stopped her with an upheld finger.
“My son needs to know you have to work hard for what you want. Taking your money would teach him the opposite. I’ve actually come up with a few ideas for fundraising events that would get the kids and the community involved. If we’re gonna save the program, it has to be because we worked for it.”
Vanessa and Cree looked at her with soft but sad eyes. She hoped it was just their disappointment in not being able to help and not that they just felt sad for her.
“Then that takes us back to where we started,” Cree began. “Go see that man and figure out your plans for the program. The minute that’s done, let your freak flag fly.”
Janae’s libido agreed wholeheartedly with Cree. It would be really nice to let her freak flag fly with a man who was fast finding his way into her life no matter how she tried to act like she didn’t want it.
And for the record, she really did want it.
“He invited me to his parents’ cabin this weekend to basically pitch my proposal for saving the program.”
Cree snickered again. “I’m sure that’s not the only kind of pitching he hopes will happen.”
Janae closed her eyes and shook her head. There was more truth to Cree’s assumption than Janae knew what to do with because it wasn’t just Adam who was not-so-secretly hoping for a chance for more than business as usual. But that kind of hope could end with this entire situation blowing up in Janae’s face.
Although the desire was there, somewhere deep down Janae still had reservations about whether this could work or not.
Yeah, she couldn’t deny she was interested in Adam. Hell, as thrown as she was by discovering his role in the district, she couldn’tshake the residual tingles across her skin that appeared whenever she thought of him. Her own desires aside, Janae’s son’s well-being had to be paramount to anything else. Janae was a mother first and foremost, and nothing came before James. She’d proven that to be true when she’d walked away from her marriage when her husband’s toxic masculinity harmed James and Janae. She refused to have him growing up afraid to express himself in any way. If she’d done that, what kind of a hypocrite did it make her if she chose her own needs over what her kid needed now?
“I can hear you overthinking this from over here.” Cree’s words penetrated Janae’s thoughts. That was the problem with being friends with someone for as long as Cree and Janae had. They could read you even when you were trying to conceal the truth from others as well as yourself.
“For the last time, go to the cabin and just get the work done so Adam can focus on doing you.”
