The Exception (5 page)

Fuck her.

I tossed my sunglasses beside my phone as I glanced at the clock.

7:54 PM

I briefly considered turning around and heading back to the restaurant and to the beautiful brunette that pretended like she didn’t want me. Traffic was a motherfucker and it would be an hour to get back in the other direction, so I continued towards home.

I zipped through the lanes, weaving in and out of the cars, my driving a little erratic; it mirrored my thoughts. I had spent less than thirty minutes with Jada and now my mind was focused on her?

What the fuck? This is not how I operate.

She told me no.
I shook my head, a grin touching my lips.

I jumped off the freeway and meandered through the streets before taking a left into my subdivision. The cookie-cutter houses annoyed me as they always did.

The idea of it—each house the same but in various color schemes—was the epitome of what I hated. They were just like people, all the same underneath their personal color palette. When you broke ninety-nine percent of people down, they were all assholes. Some people just covered it up a little better.

I arrived home and walked into my house. The warm scent of baked goods met me at the door. Although Penny was originally hired to clean up and do laundry, over the years she had taken pity on me. Very rarely did I come home on a day she had been by and not find a cake or cookies in the kitchen. She said I needed a mother; I said I would keep paying her salary.

My phone buzzed in my hand as I walked across the tile floor. “Hey, Max.”

“Was everything okay in Queen Creek?”

“Yeah, Howard took care of it. In more interesting news, how’s my girl?” A cheeky grin broke over my face.

“Your girl?” Max sounded confused. “I don’t know. Did Miriam text you?”

“Miriam? I mean Jada.” I flopped down on the black leather couch, my thoughts drifting back to her bright green eyes.

Max chuckled loudly. “I’m pretty sure she shut you down, man. That asshole thing you have going on turns some people off. Shocker, I know, but you should reconsider that. You’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

“Don’t start your southern boy shit with me now. She’s just doing that little passive-aggressive thing some women do. She wants me. It was written all over her.”

“I thought she may like you, but I’m not sure she does.” His voice was full of amusement, enjoying the fact that Jada didn’t fall all over herself to get with me like women normally did.

“She does. Trust me, she does.”

“The most troubling times in my life are when I trust you.”

“They are also the most memorable.”

“Speaking of which, I’m not going to Payson with you this weekend. Kari has some movie she wants to go see and I told her I’d take her.”

“You’re ditching a weekend at my cabin with all of the Coronas you can drink for a weekend with her? I’m losing my faith in you,” I said, shaking my head.

Max laughed. “You are going to have to find someone else that can stand to be around you for longer than twenty minutes. I know it’s going to be hard, but there are four million people in this city. It should be doable.”

“What-the-fuck-ever. Everyone wants to be around me. I’m the one that can’t stand people.” I sat up and kicked off my shoes. “Come to think of it, I could be around Jada for more than a few minutes. So why don’t I take her out tomorrow night?”

“Because she doesn’t like you?”

“Fuck you. Seriously—let’s do something tomorrow.”

“First—you need to ask her, not me. Second—did
the
Cane Alexander just offer to take a girl on a real date? And third—she starts work tomorrow. So I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a good day, even if she did like you. And I have serious doubts about that.”

“What does she do?” Suddenly, I was all ears.

“She’s a realtor. Kari said she’s going back to work for their dad in the morning.”

I smiled devilishly. “That I can work with.”

JADA

I threw on a purple shift dress and a pair of nude heels the following morning, twisting my brown locks into a quick knot on the top of my head. I had overslept after a fitful night’s sleep and being late was not something I was comfortable with.

I had tossed and turned the entire night. Each time I closed my eyes, Cane’s face flashed repeatedly through my mind. I could hear his laugh, see that sexy as hell smirk.

He’s having an adverse effect on my life and I barely had a conversation with him!

Cane’s words echoed through my mind as I tried to sleep that night.
“We will see each other again.”

I slammed my mascara wand onto the vanity.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him. But, by his own admission, he was exactly what I had to avoid. I had no business thinking about a man that admitted he took the player role to a whole new level. If I were able to separate things, to block off my heart and operate on a purely physical level, there wouldn’t be an issue. I could get his number from Max and have a good time. But that wasn’t me—it never had been. Even before Decker, I had dated a few guys and wrapped my heart up in the relationship way too soon. I wasn’t sure if that was because I was too caring or because the guys I chose were all the same. Regardless, I couldn’t afford to go that route again. I had to guard my heart and pick a different type of guy.

And Cane was the same as the rest of them.

I jumped into my Jeep Compass just a few minutes behind schedule. Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” album blasted through the speakers, her girl anthems distracting me from the Adonis who had taken over my subconscious. By the time I reached Stanley Real Estate, I was almost on time.

The office hadn’t changed a bit. Dad’s plaques were still on the eggshell-colored walls. The same plant was in the corner, although it was much bigger than I remembered, and the lamp and magazines on the corner table were still in place. All that was missing was Alice, Dad’s longtime secretary.

I made my way through the building and to my old office. It had been rearranged by the last occupant, but it still felt like mine and I was relieved.
Who says you can’t go home?

I tossed my things on my desk and opened my blinds, gazing out at the small grassy patch behind that building. Kari and I played on that growing up, racing around, practicing gymnastics and playing tag. Mom would pack picnic lunches on the weekends if Dad had to work. We would bring food and a quilt and eat lunch out on the grass.

The wave of nostalgia hit me unexpectedly. I had been gone for so long. I had been so caught up in my life that I had forgotten about those little moments—the moments that made me who I was.

My throat constricted as the memories flooded by, comforting and saddening me at the same time.

“You got this, sweet pea.”
I closed my eyes as I remembered the line Mom always said to encourage me. I wished so hard that I could hear her say that to me one more time, to assure me as I started this new chapter in my life.
Will I be okay this time? Do I have this?
I wasn’t sure, but I had to keep plowing forward either way.

“It is so nice having you back,” Alice said, bringing me out of my reverie. “You were very missed around here. But you know that.”

I turned and smiled at her, pushing my memories away. She looked remarkably the same as she did when I left, her greying hair pulled tightly back into her signature bun. “Thank you. It is really nice to be back.”

“Well, everything feels right now that you are home—where you belong.” She pushed her eyeglasses up on her nose, giving me a motherly look. “Your father wants to see you when you get a chance, by the way. He has a bounce in his step this morning that I haven’t seen for a long time.”

She turned to leave and I followed her out of my office and down the hall. We reached my father’s door and she gave me a pat on the shoulder and a small smile before disappearing around the corner.

Alice had always been more to Kari and me than just Dad’s secretary. We had always seen her as a family friend or an aunt of sorts. But after our mother’s passing, Alice stepped up to the plate. She took care of everything, but gave us all room to grieve—especially me.

The seventh day of March, my birthday, would always be a rough day. There would be no celebrations, no parties, no festivities from my fourteenth birthday on. It would always be a sad day for me.

It would always be the day my mother died.

A stay-at-home mom that made homemade dinners, played Candyland, and volunteered her time at a local women’s shelter, Anne Stanley was the ideal mother; Kari and I were the center of her life. Not having her left a tremendous void, but Alice tried to fill it as best as she could. Not in a disingenuous way, but because she had loved our mother, too. She baked cookies for our bake sales, picked us up from school when we were sick, and I’m fairly certain she wrapped our Christmas presents every year.

She kept things from spiraling out of control.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” I looked across the room at my father. He was handsome, with rugged features and a charismatic smile. He was an astute businessman, but always a father first. There was never any doubt that Kari and I were his first priority.

“Good morning, Jada.” He looked up from a stack of papers in his hands. “I hope you are ready to jump in head first.”

“Is there any other way?” Excitement started to build inside me as I took my seat across from his desk. I loved work and the challenge of making things happen. It was in my bones.

“That’s my girl.” He smiled proudly. “We had a call come in this morning about listing a property in Scottsdale. It’s a commercial building for a new client. It’s known as Solomon Place. They asked that we get up there today and get the ball rolling.” He sat the papers on the desk. “It’s a good thing you showed up to work today instead of next week.”

“And why is that?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“They asked for you.”

“They? Asked for me?” I was baffled. “That makes absolutely no sense, Dad. No one even knows I’m in town.” I racked my brain for a connection, but came up short.

“Do you know someone named Max Quinn?”

The fog began to lift. “I think so.”

“Well, Mr. Quinn asked for you to meet him at the property this morning. I typically like to handle new clients and accounts this expensive myself, but I trust you.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. “If you are ready, of course.”

“I’d love to do it. That’s why I am here, right?”

“Here’s the address,” he said, scooting a piece of paper across the table. “Alice has the rest of the information you’ll need.”

An hour later, I pulled up in front of a one story commercial building at the address listed on the paper. It was stucco and discreet, but fairly large and on the outskirts of Scottsdale.

I was excited to get started, to kick off this new phase of my life. But an undercurrent of confusion coursed through me.

W
hat did Max have to do with it?

Stepping out of my Jeep, I took in a hasty breath. The temperature overtook me as the hair on the back of my neck became damp with sweat.
Dry heat my ass.
I quickly made my way to the front of the building, ignoring the construction workers that were obviously watching me from the building next door.

Looking through the glass, I didn’t see anyone. The door was unlocked, it was hot, and the address matched, so I went on in.

“Hello?” I called out into the space. “Is anyone here?”

I was met with silence, save the faint sound of the air conditioner working overtime.

The building looked to have been empty for a while. The floors were dusty and there were odds and ends of office furniture scattered throughout the large entry room, but otherwise it was vacant.

“Hello? Max?” I announced again, peeking into one of the cubicles lining the side wall. A sound cracked from a back room and my heart jumped to my throat in surprise. I laughed softly and headed towards the sound, hoping that it was Max and not a murderer.

As I cautiously approached the doorway, I could hear someone inside. I rounded the corner and stopped abruptly, my heart skipping a beat.