The Connection

by Adriana Locke

  “Good ‘ol twenty,” he says, chuckling.

  I do a quick run-through of all the dates I know and I can’t find a reason to like that number.

  “Lucky for you?”

  He shrugs. “I hope so.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well,” he says, pausing mid-step to allow a scantily-clad waitress to pass by. She makes eyes at Cane and he ignores her, much to my delight. “I met you on the twentieth day of the month. So it’s lucky to me.”

  I can’t help the ridiculous smile on my face. I didn’t realize he knew the date we met. I knew the date he brought me pizza and wine at my office, but not the date we met at Blanca’s.

  “Aw, Cane. I can’t believe you knew that!”

  He grins sheepishly. “Yeah. And today’s the nineteenth. So you should be extra good to me tomorrow and keep it lucky for me.”

  “Want to watch a show?” Max asks, looking at Cane, as we approach.

  “Nah. I think we are going to turn in early.”

  “We are?” I ask.

  “Yeah.”

  I shrug. “Okay, then. We’ll see you guys at breakfast.”

  Kari grins at Cane and I catch him winking at her.

  “Yup,” Kari smiles at me. “See you at breakfast.”

  CANE

  “Have you had a good time so far?”

  I can’t take my eyes off Jada. She’s sitting at a small table in the bedroom with a large mirror in front of it, brushing her long dark hair. Her small body is covered by a pinkish gown that is so her. It’s long, touching the floor . . . it’s classy and elegant. She looks like a lady.

  My lady.

  “I have,” she says, glancing at me in the glass. “It’s been fun. Exactly what we needed.”

  I nod, a small ball of nerves starting to amass in my stomach. “I think so, too.”

  “I’m really glad Kari was so adamant about it.”

  “Me, too.”

  She stands, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Her large breasts fill out the lacy cups, the material clinging to the curve of her hips. She’s a fuckin’ goddess.

  She gets to the side of the bed and my hands find her hips. Before she knows it, I’m lifting her up and laying her next to me.

  “We only have two days left,” she says, tracing some unknown design onto my abs with her fingertip. “What do you want to do?”

  I swallow hard, hoping she doesn’t notice my chest suddenly rising and falling a little quicker. “I don’t know. Nothing in particular. You have anything in mind?”

  “Not really. Just relax.”

  I laugh, my voice bouncing a little more than usual.

  She raises her eyebrows at me. “What?”

  I gotta divert. Fast.

  “You’re gorgeous.”

  She snorts. “That wasn’t what you were just thinking.”

  I grab her hand and place it on my cock. Her eyes grow wide as soon as she feels how hard I am for her already.

  “Tell me that wasn’t what I was thinking.”

  “Okay,” she giggles, stroking my length, “maybe you were.”

  “Maybe I was,” I say, bending forward and kissing her. “Maybe I always am.”

  JADA

  “Are you sure?” I look at Cane, still lying in bed. His chest and one leg are sticking out of the white sheets and all I want to do is climb back in with him. “I’d really like to just jump back in there with you.”

  He grins his boyish smile.

  “That’s not helping things,” I laugh.

  He folds his arms behind his head, the muscles in his arms flexing.

  “That’s not either.”

  “I really want you to go with Kari. She made reservations last night for you two to have all that girly shit done.”

  “But we do spa days all the time. I don’t need to do them here.”

  His face grows serious. “I think she and Max are having problems. I’m not sure. I think they’re trying to get a little time apart while we’re here. So just go and relax and enjoy your day and I’ll take Max golfing or some stupid shit.”

  “I can’t see you golfing.” Images of him tossing his clubs across the lawn make me giggle.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t really built for it. We do a lot of business on the golf course, but Max goes to a lot of that stuff. Golf pisses me off usually.”

  “Imagine that.”

  He shrugs.

  I don’t really want to go. I want to climb back into bed and just spend the entire day in his arms. But if he’s right and Kari needs me, I can’t say no. I look at him again. His hair is tousled and he has a sleepy, sexy grin on his face.

  It’s for Kari . . .

  “Last chance to keep me here. In bed. Naked.”

  He growls. “Stop.”

  I sigh dramatically. “Okay. I’ll go take my clothes off and have someone else’s hand on me.” I turn and hear the sheets rifle behind me. I grin and before I even expect it, he’s spinning me around.

  “If there’s a guy working and he’s not one hundred and fucking twenty percent gay, he’s not allowed to touch you. Hear me?”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  “There’s nothing silly about it.”

  I kiss him sweetly. “I’m your girl. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I better not because it won’t matter. If anyone tries to take you from me, I’ll kill them.”

  I kiss him again, feeling his fight wane a bit as our lips touch. I love him and all of his possessive tendencies because I know they come from the very best place.

  Turning towards the door, my hand is on the handle when I hear him say my name. I turn to see him watching me, biting his bottom lip.

  “I hope you have a good day today,” he says.

  “I will.” I blow him a kiss and force myself to walk out before I disregard what he says and stay with him.

  Kari is standing in the hallway, typing away on her phone. A smile as wide as the hall graces her face and she shoves her phone in the pocket of her shorts. “Ready?”

  “Yes. You’re sure chipper this morning,” I laugh.

  “Yeah, well . . .” She pushes the button for the elevator and it dings immediately. We step inside the empty car. “Max made sure that I left with a smile, if you catch my drift.”

  “I thought you and Max were having trouble?”

  “What in the world makes you say that?”

  “Something Cane said.”

  She laughs, her voice echoing off the walls around us. “I’m sure he did.” She sticks her hand in her purse and pulls out a pink envelope. “I have something for you.”

  “What’s this?”

  She shrugs, but smiles coyly.

  I open the envelope and pull out a white card with a pink and silver design on it. One letter is printed on the card: “I.”

  “An ‘I’? What’s this supposed to mean?” I ask, thoroughly confused.

  “I don’t know. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “You’re a liar,” I laugh. “And a poor one at that.”

  “You know what else I am?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Not about to ruin this.”

  JADA

  The spa is gorgeous. I love the one we go to in Scottsdale, but this one is even more posh. It’s luxuriously decorated in whites and golds. A fountain is in the corner and the entire atmosphere is completely tranquil.

  A beautifully coiffed woman sitting behind a slab of marble checks us in. “We have you both down for aromatherapy massages. Is that correct?”

  “Yes,” Kari says.

  “Perfect. Please head through those doors and Shera will get you all set up.”

  We turn to go, but stop as she speaks again. “Which one of you is Jada?”

  “Me,” I say, my eyebrows pulling together. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, not at all.” She smiles sweetly at me. “I have this for you.”

  In her hand lies another pin
k envelope. It’s identical to the one Kari gave me earlier. I take it and look at Kari. “Another one? What is this? Some sort of Bingo?”

  She laughs as I open it. I pull out another pink card. This time “Want” is typed out across the center.

  “I want,” I grin, “a lot of things. But the first thing is to know what this is all about!”

  Kari shrugs and heads through the doors, leaving me standing alone with the card in my hand.

  CANE

  I take a sip of my coffee. Max is sprawled out on the couch on the other side of the room, flipping through a newspaper.

  “What do we need to do today?” I ask him.

  “I got everything done you asked me to do plus about a hundred other things I know you’d never think of. So nothin,’ I don’t guess.”

  “I’ve never done this before, asshole.”

  He sets the newspaper down. “And I have?”

  “No, but you are better at this than me. You get this shit.”

  He laughs and sits up. “Well, I intend to take credit for all this after the fact.”

  “The hell you are!”

  “I am. Without Kari and me, you’d be fucked.”

  “What else is new?” I mutter, standing up and refilling my cup. “The pink notes were a good call by you. I’ll give you credit for that.”

  “Did she get them yet?”

  I smile. “Yeah, Kari texted me that she’s got two so far.”

  “Hey, we do need to pick up a few things today. Wanna get dressed and then we can get it out of the way?”

  I take a deep breath, feeling the excitement start to creep in. I’ve been trying to fight it, keep it at bay, so I stay in control. But the closer we get, the harder it is not to feel antsy. It reminds me of lying in bed on Christmas Eve when I was a little boy. Just knowing that in a matter of a few hours, my dreams will come true. The anticipation is almost too much.

  “Getting nervous?” Max smirks.

  I consider his question. It’s a fair one. I’m anxious as fuck, but I have zero second thoughts. Not one. Not an inkling of one.

  “You know what? I’m not. I’m not at all, actually.”

  He chuckles and stands, swiping his black cap off the couch and putting it on backwards. “My life just gets more bizarre.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I feel like I’m in some alternate reality or some shit.”

  “Alternate reality? Nah, that’s just too much History Channel on your part, that’s what that is. Now go get your shit together and I’ll meet you in the hallway in thirty.”

  Max watches me, smirking. I know he’s gonna say something to try to piss me off. I see it coming.

  “What if this doesn’t work?” he asks.

  “Fuck you.”

  “No,” he says, grinning. “What if this whole thing plays out and it doesn’t go your way?”

  “Did you forget who you’re talking to, asshole? Everything goes my way.”

  JADA

  The white robe is ridiculously soft against my skin. It smells vaguely like lavender and feels like a cloud wrapped around me. I cinch it around my waist, my body humming in a state that has to be total relaxation.

  The masseuse, a one hundred and twenty percent gay man, had the hands of an angel. My body is purring and I’m glad I ended up coming with Kari after all.

  My sister comes into the room, a white robe like mine clothing her body, her dark hair in a messy knot.

  “That was the best massage I’ve ever had,” she purrs dreamily. “I could just lie down and fall asleep and wake up a month from now.”

  “Let’s do that,” I say. “I bet the guys are out golfing or something. Let’s just go back to the room now and sleep.”

  For a brief moment, her eyes go wide. “No. I . . Um . . .”

  The door opens and Shera comes in. She’s a pretty blonde, probably our age, and has a notebook in her hand. “I hope you liked your massage, ladies,” Shera smiles. “Can we get you anything else today?”

  “No, I think that’s it,” I smile. “I’m ready for a nap.”

  Shea laughs. “Everyone says that.” She runs her finger down the notebook in front of her, scanning the pages. “What brings you ladies to Vegas? Do you live here or are you visiting?”

  “Visiting,” Kari says. “We leave tomorrow evening. My sister is getting married soon, so we have some planning to do.”

  “You’re engaged?” Shera’s eyes light up and she drops the notebook to her side. “I’m such a romantic! Ah! What do you have in mind for your wedding day? Are you doing something big and beautiful or small and intimate?”

  “I have no idea. Pink flowers. That’s all I got.”

  Her jaw drops. “That’s it? No hair? No makeup? No dress?”

  “She found a dress. Finally,” Kari says sarcastically. “I can’t believe she’s my sister. The girl has no vision. None.”

  The notebook is back in front of Shera’s face, the pages turning. “If you girls don’t have anything to do today, my favorite stylist in our wedding department is available for the next couple of hours. We could play around, give you some ideas. It would be fun!”

  “Oh, no. You don’t have to—”

  “Yes. Yes, she does!” Kari squeals. “Can we do that?”

  “Kari . . .”

  “Cane said to keep you happy!”

  “This makes you happy.”

  She rolls her eyes. “It’ll make you happy, too, getting all fussed over. Come on, Jada. Please.” She bats her eyelashes at me and I laugh.

  “Are you sure, Shera?”

  “Absolutely!”

  JADA

  “You are beautiful dah-ling,” Pierre swoons, tapping my lips with a gloss. “You make this so easy!”

  “Oh, stop it,” I giggle.

  I’ve been sitting in Pierre’s chair for the last two hours. When I agreed to this, I had no idea they meant two actual hours. I have no idea what this is going to cost, not that Cane will care, but it seems so silly, really.

  My hair has been washed, conditioned, and curled. It’s been pulled into an up-do that Pierre spent a half hour perfecting. I need to remember to get a picture of this so I can have it replicated when we get back to the Valley. I can’t see myself wearing my hair any other way for the wedding now.

  My makeup has been done with colors I never would’ve thought of using. As the layers were being applied, I thought I’d look like a call girl. It was way more makeup than I ever use. I wouldn’t know how to use most of the products Pierre applied. But when he whirls me around in the large, plush, black chair so I can see myself, I’m astonished.

  I look like me, just a glamorous version of me. If I didn’t see him apply a million layers of makeup, I’d swear he used none. Everything looks so natural.

  Pierre stands behind me, his eyes sparkling. “Gorgeous, right?”

  “Pierre . . .” I start to touch my hair but stop. “I just . . . Can you come to Phoenix and do this for my wedding?”

  He laughs and places a comb back in its container.

  “I wasn’t kidding. This is incredible. You did an amazing job!”

  “Jada!” Kari exclaims, her hand flying to her mouth as she walks in the room. “Oh my God!”

  “He did an amazing job, didn’t he? But look at you! So gorgeous!”

  Kari’s hair has been curled into large waves and hangs down. Her eyes are wide and gorgeous. She has a pinkish lipstick staining her lips and her skin is flawless, as always.

  ”You like?”

  “No, I love! Have you looked in the mirror, Kari?”

  “I have. They really did an amazing job. Can we kidnap them and take them home with us?”

  Pierre laughs. “If I wasn’t gay, I’d just go home with you two. Just saying.”

  I smile and start to speak when Shera comes back in, a large bouquet of flowers in her hand. They are in a multitude of different shades of pink. She hands them to me. “These are for you, Jada.”

 
; Kari grins, a knowing look on her face. I don’t bother to ask her any questions because I know she won’t answer them. Instead, I dig through the foliage and pull out a pink envelope. Just like the others, there’s a card inside.

  ‘To Marry You’ is printed on this one.

  I feel the sting of tears hit my eyes. I knew from the first card that this was Cane’s doing, but the longer this goes on—the longer he had to plan this—it just gets sweeter. And so un-Cane like. Cane’s sweet, but he’s not overly romantic. And this? This is romantic.

  I wipe the tears away from my eyes and Pierre rushes over to fix the smudges.

  “I’m dying over here,” Pierre says, dabbing my cheeks with a tissue. “So jealous! Why doesn’t a man ever send me flowers like that?”

  “Mine normally doesn’t do things like this,” I laugh. “Max must be giving him pointers.”

  Kari grins. “Max does get a gold star in romance. You ready to get out of here?”

  “Yes. Let’s go find our guys.”

  CANE

  “She’s not texting me back.” My jaw pulses in frustration. I check my texts again. Nothing. “She just fell off the face of the Earth.”

  “Nah, she didn’t,” Max says easily from across the room. “Just relax.”

  “Relax?” I look up, my eyebrows raised in astonishment. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. She’s probably getting her nails done and shit and can’t type.”

  Me: What’s going on, Kari?

  I set my phone down and drum my fingers against the tabletop. “I’m gonna kill her if she messes this up.”

  He quirks a brow. “You won’t and she won’t. Seriously. Calm the fuck down, Alexander.”

  My phone buzzes and I snatch it up.

  Kari: If you text me again, I’ll fly her home to Arizona.

  Me: I’m starting to hate you. What the fuck is going on?

  Kari: We just got our hair done and are on our way to the room. Relax.

  Me: Why does everyone keep saying that?

  Kari: Because you’re acting like an idiot.

  Me: Just get her to the room and then text me.

  Kari: Okay.

  Me: TEXT ME. Don’t ignore me. I’ll be one room away and can be there in a second flat.