“But Cane…”
“Why does it feel like we’ve been here before?” I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.
Why do they complicate this?She knew the deal when she followed me home.
I ran my fingers through my short blond hair, scrubbing my scalp in annoyance.
“When I was here a few months ago, we had lunch, too. Remember? We sat out on the patio,” she said.
No. No memory of that.
I groaned.
Remember her face. Do not triple dip this one.
I glanced at her reclining against my pillows and fought hard not to sound as brusque as I felt. “I have a bunch of shit to do. You need to go.”
She sighed dramatically as she got up and found her jeans on the floor. I watched her ass jiggle as she pulled them on slowly, undoubtedly for my benefit.
I was tempted.
But no. That would only make getting her out of my house even more challenging, and she simply wasn’t good enough to waste any more time on.
Instead, I sat and enjoyed the show. She turned to face me and pulled her shirt over her head, her eyes never leaving mine. She tucked her bra into her purse.
She was gone after a final glance over her shoulder, presumably to give me time to change my mind.
And I was alone again—just the way I liked it.
ONE
Jada
Steam billowed from the cup of coffee in front of me, rising quickly before disappearing into the surrounding air. A part of me wished I could vanish with it.
Another nightmare had rocked me the night before. I had woken up in a cold sweat, scouring the room for a set of wild eyes and testing the air for the stench of whiskey. I could have sworn I heard him yelling at me like he used to.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing? I have to bust ass and work late, and I get home to this? To you lying in bed with another book, no worries in the world? You’re damn lucky I put up with you.”
Bile churned in my stomach from Decker’s voice fresh in my mind. I closed my eyes, trying to block the memories accosting me.
“You’ll be back.”
I shivered. Those were the last words he said before I left Boston.
He was wrong. I wouldn’t be back—not to Massachusetts and not to him. Too many years had been spent at his mercy. Years of worry, heartbreak, and agony were finally behind me.
I opened my eyes, feeling relieved to be sitting in my sister’s kitchen and 2,000 miles from my ex-husband. Kari had decorated herlittle house in the Phoenix suburbs like our house growing up. It was cozy and warm, with a neutral palette accented with pops of turquoise and coral. Our mother would have loved it, and it made me feel at home.
The uncertainty I had lived with for so long had begun to lift in the few days I had been back in Arizona. The drive to Tempe had given me ample time to mull everything over from a safe vantage point; there wasn’t anything else to do in a car for six days but think.
I had given Decker everything I had for so long. It was time I started to focus on myself. I needed to start fresh and charge into the future with a clean slate and clear head.
As I lifted the cup of coffee to my lips, I ignored the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.
These things take time. Fake it ’til you make it.
“Jada, stop this.” Kari made her way into the kitchen, tossing her light brown hair out of her eyes, bringing me out of my daze. Although a few years younger than me, Kari could have been my twin. The only real difference between us was our hair—mine was naturally much darker. “Just watching you sit there makes me want to smack you.”
