Free The Exception by Adriana Locke Page B

what you are thinking. I know she and Max have some sort of friends with benefits thing going on and that’s great. But it’s just not me.”
    I wasn’t convinced that was something we couldn’t get around. “What do you need, Jada?”
    “I want to feel like the only girl in the world to somebody. I want to be their priority, their everything. I don’t know what that feels like.”
    The hurt in her voice made me want to pull her onto my lap and hold her tight. I cringed at my reaction. Get a grip, Alexander.
    “I don’t want to have random sex. I don’t want to be a booty call or whatever you call it.” She looked up at me and gave a weak smile.
    “So you still want the picket fence thing?”
    If that’s what she wants, I can’t get around that.
    “No,” she laughed. “I mean yes. At some point, I do hope I can still have all of that. I’m going to be picky this go around. I wasted years of my life with Decker and I don’t want to throw any more of them away on someone who doesn’t really care about me. I know that makes me needy as hell, but that’s the truth. I may as well own it. I want kisses in the rain. Flowers for anniversaries. Texts for no reason. I want all of the things I have never had. And I know, without a doubt, you are not interested in giving me those things. And that’s fine. But that also seems to make us spending time together pointless.”
    I looked at the beautiful woman across from me, shocked that it really bothered me that she had never experienced those things. She deserved to be made to feel beautiful and wanted. But that didn’t change the fact that I was not the person who could do those things for her.
    “Have you ever just been with someone, spent a few hours with them, enjoyed yourself, and went home? There’s something to be said for that,” I smiled, hoping to broaden her horizons a little.
    “Yeah, of course I have.” She looked up at me again. “You aren’t the only one that can read people. I can read you, too, and I know who you are. And you are what I need to avoid.”
    My phone started to ring and she motioned for me to go ahead and get it. I looked at the screen and then stepped in the hall to take the call from Max. By the time I had finished the conversation and came back in her office, Jada had cleaned up the mess and had her bag on her shoulder.
    I was relieved that she was ready to call it a night. Her little speech, as much as I hated to admit it, got under my skin a little bit. She had her mind made up that she wasn’t going to be with me and that pissed me off a little, even though she was right.
    You aren’t changing jack shit because of her. This is just some stupid obsession and you’ll have moved on in a few days.
    We exited the building and Jada locked up. We made our way quietly to our cars, neither of us speaking.
    “Thank you for dinner tonight.” She fished her car keys out of her purse. “It was really sweet.”
    I studied her under the moonlight, the warm air blowing her hair around, the smell of her soft perfume swirling around me. She was the closest thing to perfection I had ever seen.
    “We could do it again sometime. I can always have food delivered. I have people.”
    “I don’t remember agreeing to it this time.” She raised her eyebrows and I chuckled. “But really, thank you.”
    “Goodnight.” We exchanged a small smile as we reached her Jeep. She got in and started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving me standing beneath the parking lamp.
    I watched her drive away and considered that I may be watching the one woman I could see more than once a week drive out of my life. I briefly considered jumping in my Denali and chasing her down, but the rational part of my brain took control.
    You aren’t going to go do something stupid. Follow the rules. No exceptions.

CANE
    “There’s beer in the fridge.”
    Max walked across the kitchen and grabbed a Corona. “And that’s all that’s in the fridge,”