The thought of Cane being so caring and considerate to Jada was endearing. When I met him originally, he was the ultimate bad boy. I had been at Max’s house one night and Cane had swung by. He had given me a smirk and made more vulgar comments about his evening than I cared to remember. He was the opposite of Max in so many ways. Although Max’s moves in the sheets outdid the tales Cane was telling, Max would never say that. Not in front of me, anyway. He was too thoughtful, too sweet. Cane, on the other hand, was giving us a play-by-play.
Max really liked Cane and there was something about their interaction that night that cut through Cane’s vulgarity, something that gave me a clue that there was more to Cane Alexander than the man whore he portrayed himself to be. That’s the only reason I didn’t object to him meeting my sister when she returned to Arizona after her divorce. If Max trusted him, I trusted him, and obviously it was the right choice. Cane had become the best husband I could ever imagine for my sister.
“Thanks for not throwing this out,” I laughed nervously, tucking the box under my arm.
I turned to watch Jada struggle to get off the bed. Her belly had begun to pop, swelling with the growing baby inside. She put a hand on the bed and the other on her stomach and slowly got to her feet.
“You okay?” Jada asked me, rubbing her belly.
I smiled, walking to her and rubbing it, too. “I am. I’m excited to meet the little jellybean.”
“I’m so excited, Kari,” she confessed. “I mean, I have quite a bit of time left, but I’m already sad thinking about it being over. It’s just that once you find out you’re pregnant, everything changes. Silly, I know, but it’s true.”
“It’s not silly,” I said weakly, feeling a lump form in my throat. “You were made to be a mom.”
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
“I do.” I heard Max and Cane in the other room and figured Max was about ready to leave. I knew he had to work the next day and he’d want to get home before it got too late. “I think we should probably get going, but I’ll be by later this week. I found some of your things when I was cleaning your old room yesterday. I’ll bring them with me.”
She gave me a puzzled look. “I don’t remember leaving anything. What was it?”
“Just random stuff. A phone charger under the bed and a pair of boots. Oh! And a tube of red lipstick called Ruby Woo by MAC.” I furrowed my brow as I recalled the fiery color. Jada and I were both a darker complexion and I couldn’t imagine her wearing it.
“Red? That must be yours because I don’t wear that color. You know that.”
“Well, it isn’t mine. Maybe it’s Lara’s,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. Lara hadn’t been over for months, but the tubewasdusty when I pulled it from behind the plant by the back door.
I let out a sigh and turned back to the glass. My house felt so empty without Jada. She had lived with me after her divorce fromDecker and I missed having her around. I found myself spending less and less time there...and more time with Max.
But the more time I spend with Max, the messier things get.
“I’m not prying, but is everything okay? You just seem...off. I know I’m married and having a baby, but I’m still your sister. And I also know that I’ve not always been there for you like I should have been, but I want to be now.”
“Everything’s fine. I’m not going to burden you with my stuff.” I turned to face her.
“You are never a burden to me.”
I blew out a breath. “I just think all this marrying and baby making from you and Cane is putting ideas in Max’s head.”
Jada laughed. “And the problem with that is what again?”
“Things with Max were never supposed to get to this point.” I let out a sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to live with Max, I just don’t want him to get the wrong idea. But it’s Max, so he would. He’d have a nursery painted before I got my boxes unpacked.”
“I don’t get it. Why in the world would you not want to settle down with Max Quinn? He’s gorgeous and charming and successful and adjusted-”
“He’s perfect. I get it. I know.”
“So? What’s the problem, Kari?”
“Max comes from this big family. He wants a wife in the kitchen, babies at his feet, Sunday family dinners. It’s just,” I swallowed and looked away, “not something I see for myself.”
Jada touched my shoulder. “You might not want that right now and that’s perfectly okay. But...”
“But what?”
“But you need to figure out what you want. If you’re sure you don’t want Max for the long-term and he does, then you have to consider that.” A frown touched her lips and I could see she was torn. She was trying to be honest with me, but knew it wasn’t the easy answer I wanted to hear. “Have you talked to him about this?”
“Constantly. He asks me to move in nearly every day. And Iwould, Jada, I really would. But then that leads to the next step and that’s the one I don’t want to take.”
