“Don’t,” I warned him.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t start. What I do and who I spend my time with is no business of yours.” I turned my back on him, not wanting him to see how tired I was. He could sense weakness like a lion.
“Jada,” Cane whispered, putting his hand on my hip. I froze, squeezing the bottle of rum I had just picked up so I wouldn’t drop it. He pressed the front of his body into the back of mine and swept the hair off the back of my neck. His fingers lightly brushed my sensitive skin, making my nerve endings rapid-fire in succession. “It is my business.”
My pulse quickened and body heated, responding to him without thought. “You’re wrong. It’s not.”
“I asked you very pointedly to stay away from him and you agreed.”
I turned quickly to look him in the eye. “No. You asked me to call you before I took him to your properties. You don’t own the restaurant.”
“You are missing the fucking point.”
“No, I think I get the fucking point better than you can imagine.”
He took a half step forward, grabbing the cabinet on either side of me. The proximity of his body to mine made it hard to breathe.
“I didn’t come over here to argue with you, beautiful girl.”
I took in a shaky breath. “Then why did you?”
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “I wanted to know you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You were with Simon. You have to stay away from him.”
“Tell me something. Is he a threat to me? Or is he a threat to you?”
“Come on, Jada. Cut me some fucking slack here.”
“You can have all the fucking slack you want. I never asked you to pick up the end of the rope.”
Cane’s jaw clenched. “What are we doing here, Jada?”
My eyes squeezed closed as I tried to create some barrier between the two of us. “We aren’t doing anything.”
“Can you honestly say that?”
“No. You did.”
“Fuck,” he blew out in frustration. “Why do you have to make this so fucking hard?”
“Seriously, Cane?” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “This is all you and I am done. I am finished getting sucked into your web, having my head spun, and then watch you act like you are doing me some fucking favor by speaking to me.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the ground. “That’s not what’s happening.”
“That is exactly what’s happening and I’m over it.”
He snapped his eyes back to me, his mouth in a thin line. “You’re over it? I see. Was Simon that interesting at dinner? Because you don’t have any idea who he is, Jada. He isn’t someone you need to be fucking around with!”
“Fuck you.”
He laughed. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“And it will never happen.”
“Why?” He smirked. “Are you afraid you’ll like it?”
His words set me off, the anger I had fought to control erupting like a volcano.
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t, actually,” I fumed, slamming the bottle on the countertop and whirling around. Cane took a step back and watched me like a caged animal.
“All assholes are the same and I’ve had more than my fair share of them. They seem to be the only thing I attract,” I spat.
Cane shifted his weight, crossing his arms in front of him. He clearly wasn’t expecting my reaction.
“I don’t know why you won’t just go away!”
I turned to walk around him, but he blocked my path. “You don’t really want me to go, Jada.”
“No, I do. I promise you—I really do,” I seethed. “I’ve told you repeatedly that this is what I don’t want. I’m not a little chess piece. I don’t want to be fucked with, Cane.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?” he asked me, his eyebrows rose in astonishment. “You think I’m just fucking with you?”
“You are either cruel or you are just really, really stupid. You are an asshole when we meet, then you are sweet. You deliver me dinner, then grow cold. You come into my room, break me down, and then walk away.”
I grabbed on to the ledge of the counter, my hands shaking with fury.
“You send me flowers—no, wait. I stand corrected. You have Lucy send me flowers and then are an asshole. I’m noticing a pattern here,” I spouted. “But that’s going to stop now. Leave. Me. Alone.”
I pushed him out of the way and took the stairs two at a time to my bedroom, my body feeling the adrenaline hit full force.