“I already have the word out to check surveillance cameras from the neighboring buildings and threw up a reward if someone knows something, but I’m not holding my breath. It’s so fucking dark out here once the sun goes down, and people aren’t alert enough these days to see anything.”
“All right. Well, go smooth things over with the city, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.” I glanced at the clock.
“Don’t pull up here raising hell, man. Remember—flies. Honey.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Whatever.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
The following Saturday afternoon was blisteringly hot as Kari and I sat in her car outside of Cane’s house with the air conditioner blasting cool air. I picked at the hemline of my black bathing suit cover-up while Kari checked her makeup.
I had lost weight since the Simon ordeal, and my cover-up was looser as a result. My nerves were beginning to settle; I wasn’t looking over my shoulder as much as I had originally. The bruises had faded and every day felt like another day away from the craziness.
“Have you ever been here before?” I asked, looking up at the brown and ivory house before us. It was a two-story home with a fence retaining both sides, encompassing the backyard. The landscape was clean and tidy, a sprinkler going off as I watched. It was exactly the kind of place I had pictured Cane would live in.
It was a gated community. All of the houses looked relatively new and relatively the same. Cane’s house backed up to the golf course, which meandered its way through the subdivision, and I vaguely wondered if Cane played golf. He had never mentioned it, and I couldn’t see his lack of patience faring very well on the course.
“Uh, no,” Kari said, looking at me like I was crazy. “Why would I have ever been here?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe you’d been here with Max.” I sighed. “I’ve only been here once before, and … I don’t know. What if it’s weird being here?”
“Why would it be weird being here?”
I shrugged.
“Well, he clearly wants you here, Jada. He asks you all the time to come, and you always end up getting him to come to my house. So relax.”
I took a deep breath and exited the car, not sure why in the hell I was nervous about this.
“Stop fidgeting with that ring,” Kari said as she forged ahead and rang the doorbell. As we stood there waiting on them to answer the door, we could hear music playing inside.
“Seriously? What are they listening to?” Kari asked, twisting her face in disgust.
“It’s Five Finger Death Punch. I heard it playing in Cane’s Denali the other day.”
“We’re going to have to fix that.”
The door flew open and Max stood there in a pair of camouflage swim trunks, sans shirt and shoes. A dark tattoo ran up his left side, a mixture of art and words. His left pectoral muscle had a tribal design, too. His dark hair was wet and looked like he had been running his hand through it, the one presumably not holding the red plastic cup. I stifled a laugh as Max smiled seductively at Kari.
“Hey,” Kari said in her flirtiest voice.
“Ladies,” Max said, eyeing us for a second before bending down and kissing my sister. “Come on in. Cane is out back.”
I stepped through the doorway and glanced around the great room. The house was bright and airy. A black leather sofa and loveseat faced a large flat-screen television mounted on the wall, and there was a pool table behind the sofa. Despite the selection of magazines on the coffee table, there weren’t many personal touches. Everything was very masculine but organized.
We sauntered into the kitchen, and I could see Cane outside, tending the grill. He had on a pair of sunglasses and white swim trunkswith a blue-checkered print that hung low on his hips. And that was deliciously it.
His body was golden brown and chiseled to perfection. He wasn’t too big and bound-up looking, just athletic and strong. I couldn’t help but whimper slightly at the sight; he looked like he walked straight out of a magazine.
Cane looked up and slowly removed the sunglasses. He scanned my body, and a slow smile spread across his face. He raised his hand and crooked his finger toward me, and that made me feel like Baby inDirty Dancing. I exchanged a smile with Kari, who was sitting on a couch in the family room off the kitchen, as I made my way to the back patio.
Cane wrapped me up in his arms and dragged me against him, his hands going up my cover-up and palming my ass. “For the love of fuck, woman. Forget the orange dress—this is my new favorite.” He bent down and kissed me roughly on the lips.
I giggled against his mouth and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Well, this is your best look. Clothes just detract from you, Cane Alexander.” I rubbed my hands down his chest. “Words don’t do you justice.”
“Words are messy, remember?” He winked at me. “And they are not necessary for what I have planned later. You will only need one, actually. My name. On repeat.”
“You aren’t burning that shit, are you?” Max asked, coming outside and breaking our moment.
