Bring It On (The Exes #5)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Look, man, I know you’re into her, always have been, but you think it’s smart to get involved with a woman in the middle of a mess like that? I know I wouldn’t.”

  After last night, I didn’t even feel like I had a choice anymore. She’d crawled under my skin again. The second I tasted her, it was all over for me. I was hooked. And I wanted more. “She says she’s done with him, that they’re just business partners, nothing more.”

  “And you believe that?”

  I wanted to. I thought back to the kiss in my car. “The prick was getting out of the car beside us when I dropped her off at work today…”

  “And?”

  “I kissed her.” I made it sound like no big deal, but it was the kind of kiss that made it known I was marking my territory. Like a dog. No wonder she’d resisted.

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Got the feeling she didn’t like it.”

  He chuckled. “Then you’re not doing it right. Maybe you should take lessons.”

  I really needed to get new friends. Ones who weren’t breaking my balls all the time. “She didn’t like it because I was acting like a jealous, possessive asshole.”

  “I get that,” Butler said, sitting on the bench and bending to lace the running shoes he’d slipped on. “Why you were acting like that, I mean. I would have too. You and Jasmine have some history. She bailed on you before without warning. You’re afraid she’ll do it again.”

  Why did he have to be right all the time? I fucking hated that.

  “We laid down some ground rules.” Sounded stupid when I said it. I wasn’t the kind of guy who liked to play by the rules, unless I was on the ice. I respected the sanctity of the game.

  “What kind of rules?” Butler asked, walking over to the cooler to refill his reusable water bottle.

  “We’re not seeing anyone else, for one thing.” I checked my phone. No new messages. Goddammit, I wanted her to text me, to tell me she missed me, that she was sorry things seemed tense when I dropped her off, that she couldn’t wait to see me tonight.

  “Sounds like a good rule,” Butler said, leaning against the wall. “She on board with it?”

  “Yeah. Can you believe she thought I was still fucking puck bunnies last time we were together?”

  Butler frowned. “Why would she think that?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  He held up his hand. “Wait a minute, you never told her she was the only one?”

  “Not exactly.” When he put it like that, I felt like an idiot. “But she should have known. I was with her whenever I could be. Whenever I was in town, I mean.”

  “But what about when you were out of town?” He shook his head. “You mean she never asked what happened when you were out of town and you never told her.”

  “Right.” How had I been stupid enough to let that go unchecked?

  “Was she fucking other guys?”

  I scowled at him while cracking my knuckles. “No.”

  “She told you?”

  “Yeah, last night.”

  “Last night?” He pushed off the wall. “Dude, are you telling me you didn’t sort that shit out back then? Are you crazy? You let a girl who looks like Jasmine walk around thinking she’s a free agent?”

  I’d been afraid of moving too fast and scaring her off. At least that was what I told myself. But I knew the real reason I hadn’t brought it up. I was afraid she’d tell me she had someone else, someone she wanted more than me. That would have done me in.

  “She’d get texts,” I said, curling my hands into fists. “From guys.” I tried to draw a deep breath but couldn’t. “She’d say they were just friends from school.”

  “But you didn’t believe her?”

  Her phone had been password protected. I knew because I’d checked once when she went to the bathroom. I knew it was a douchebag move, but I had to know if there was someone else. “I didn’t know what to believe, man.”

  “You’ve got some issues with this girl, Wells.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “You trust her?”

  I wanted to. I knew I had to. But it was so fucking hard, especially when I knew how she spent her days, or who she spent them with. I’d be leaving town tomorrow and she’d be here. With him. “Yeah, I trust her.”

  “You sure?”

  “I can’t be with her if I can’t trust her and I gotta be honest with you, Butler. This girl. I need to be with her.”

  He nodded like he got it. “I ever tell you about the time I came home from a road trip and found Jenna sitting in the driveway in some strange dude’s car?”

  “No shit? Who was he?”

  “Some guy she met at the gym.” He bit his lip, staring straight ahead. “They were close, man. Too fucking close. Looked like they were gonna kiss or had kissed, I couldn’t tell.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I’d known Jenna a long time, Butler even longer, and they seemed solid. “What happened?”

  “I let her have it. Got all up in the guy’s face, tried to drag him out of the car.”

  I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard about this. I thought we told each other everything. “You beat the shit out of him?”

  “She got between us, started screaming and shit, neighbors came out.” He raked a trembling hand through his hair. “I’m surprised no one called the cops or posted a video of my meltdown online.”

  “You ever find out what was going on?”

  “She said they were just friends.” His face was red and I could tell he was battling rage. “She told me I couldn’t tell her who to be friends with, that I was never around and she was tired of being alone. I’ve got no proof she ever cheated on me, but let me tell you something, man. That shit’ll eat you alive. So whatever’s goin’ on between you and Jasmine, work it out now, before you get in too deep.”

  ***

  Becca was the first to greet me when I walked into Jasmine’s office with a dozen white roses in a crystal vase. Her face lit up when she saw the flowers. “Oh my God! Those are beautiful. Jas is going to love them.”

  I looked past Becca to the closed door with Jasmine’s name plate. “Boss lady busy?”

  “Yeah, she’s in a meeting.” She checked her watch. “She should be wrapping it up soon. Why don’t you leave the flowers here and we can go grab a coffee? It’s time for me to take a break anyhow.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I’d always gotten along well with Vi and Becca. Jasmine and I had spent a fair amount of time hanging out with her friends and my teammates, and I knew if I could count on anyone to tell me the unvarnished truth, it was Becca.

  I left the flowers on Becca’s desk, and we took the elevator to the main floor café where we both ordered coffee and snagged a free table.

  “So, you and Jasmine?” she asked, grinning as she peeled back the lid on her coffee.

  “Me and Jasmine,” I confirmed, unable to wipe the smile off my face. Because in spite of the trials we faced, I was psyched about the fact there was a “me and Jasmine” to speak of.

  “I’m so happy for you guys. Seriously. She needs a good guy after what that…” She bit her lip, shaking her head as she raised her hand. “No, you know what? I’m not going to talk about him. He’s out of her life now, thank God.”

  “Except he’s not.” I leaned back, my gaze raking over all the professionals either on their phones or their tablets as they waited for their caffeine fix. I’d come in wearing sunglasses and a backward ball cap. Even though I’d lost the shades, I wasn’t too worried about detection in this crowd.

  “I guess you’re not too happy about that, huh?” She winced. “Stupid question. I know I wouldn’t be happy if my man was working with his ex-fiancée.”

  “Then you don’t think I’m being unreasonable?” No one knew Jasmine better than her best friends, so Becca’s insight was invaluable. “I don’t want to be that guy, you know, the one who’s a suspicious a-hole. But I don’t want to lose her again either.”

&
nbsp; “Ah, that’s sweet.” She took a sip of her coffee. “You really missed her, huh?”

  “You have no idea.” I brought my coffee to my lips. “I spent so much time trying to figure out what the hell I did wrong. In the end, I just had to give up and accept that she wanted nothing more to do with me.”

  “It wasn’t easy for her to cut ties. You need to know that.” She seemed hesitant when she said, “I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this, but I suspect she has too much pride to admit it.”

  “What?”

  “The thought of you being with other women was more than she could handle. She was falling in love with you and she wanted—”

  “Damn it, Bec, there were no other women. If she’d just told me how she felt…” I realized I was condemning her for refusing to do the same thing I hadn’t been able to do. “You know what, it doesn’t matter what happened then. Point is, I’ve got another shot and I don’t want to blow it this time.”

  “I don’t want to see that happen either.” She smiled. “Vi and I have always felt you were the right one for our girl. That’s why we arranged for her to be at the bar last night. We were hoping you’d be there.”

  I raised my cup, tapping it against hers. “If you orchestrated that, I’m in your debt.”

  “You can pay me back by treating her right.”

  “You can count on that.” I hesitated to bring it up, but I needed an unbiased opinion from someone who cared about Jasmine. I knew how hard she’d worked to build her business and I didn’t want to do anything to mess with that, but if there was any way she could cut ties with him without fallout, I wanted her to consider it. “Does she really need this guy, or does she just think she does?”

  “You mean Alex?” She sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know Jas thinks he was a big part of building the business and that he’s some kind of financial whiz, but he’s honestly not.”

  “Then you think she could find someone else to do what he does?”

  “Absolutely. We could use a headhunting service to find someone inside a week, I’m sure.”

  “I wish she’d take the money from me to buy him out.”

  I understood why she felt she couldn’t, but it stung that she’d gone to him for money instead of coming to me. When we were dating, I’d had a huge contract and money to burn. Now I had even more money. If I couldn’t spend it on something important to someone I cared about, what the hell was the point of having it?

  “I wish she would too. You don’t know how much I’d love to get rid of that guy.”

  “You never liked him, huh?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I never understood what Jas saw in him. And when she accepted his marriage proposal…” She rolled her eyes. “The only thing worse was when she asked us to be in her bridal party. I couldn’t stand the thought of standing next to my best friend and watching her marry a man who wasn’t going to make her happy.”

  “You were so sure he wouldn’t make her happy?”

  “Honey, I saw her with you and I saw her with him. Believe me, there was no comparison. She lit up every time you’d walked into a room. With him, she had to fake a smile.”

  “Then why the hell would she agree to marry him?” I hated to think of her being unhappy for any reason. She deserved the best. Even if it wasn’t me, I’d want her to be with someone who made her happy.

  “I think sometimes people get so focused on the end goal, they forget what’s important.”

  “Meaning?” My phone buzzed. It was a text from Jas with a heart, telling me how much she loved the flowers. “Looks like she’s out of her meeting,” I said, smiling.

  “I’ve got to get back in a minute anyhow, but you need to know she only agreed to marry him because…”

  “Tell me.” I couldn’t leave until I understood her motivation. “Why did she think he was the right guy for her?”

  “Because he was safe. She didn’t think he’d ever cheat on her or leave her. He wasn’t a real head-turner. He didn’t have…” She curled her hands around her coffee. “Puck bunnies chasing after him.”

  “In other words, he was everything I wasn’t.” Great, just what I needed to hear. While I’d always appreciated Becca’s honesty, I wasn’t sure I could deal with that bit of honesty. I closed my eyes. “Damn it, I don’t give a shit about puck bunnies. If I can have Jas, I’ll never need another woman.”

  “Tell her that,” she said, grasping my hand. “Don’t let her guess this time. Make sure she knows how you feel.”

  “I intend to, but that guy, her ex, I don’t know if I can deal with that.”

  “I hear what you’re saying.” She shook her head. “I hate that he’s still a part of her world too, especially after what he did to her.”

  “I guess maybe I just want her to need me as much as she needs him.” That was the crux of it. She needed her ex-fiancé more than she needed me, and that was killing me. “I have the money to buy him out. She could own one hundred percent of the company and treat it as a loan if she wanted to. I don’t care. I just…” Don’t want her working with him. I knew that made me a selfish, possessive asshole, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.

  “Why don’t you try talking to her? Or I could. Maybe if Vi and I both sit her down and—”

  “No, I appreciate that, but I should be the one to talk to her about it. I just hope she gets where I’m coming from.” I smiled to let her know I was sincere.

  “And if she doesn’t?”

  Shit. I didn’t want to think about that. The last thing I wanted to do was give her an ultimatum, but I didn’t want her past blocking our future.

  Chapter Seven

  Jasmine

  I was standing in the common area, where we had two dozen desks for employees working in different departments, arguing with Alex about whether we should exhibit at an upcoming trade show in Atlanta when Carter stepped off the elevator with Becca. Sweet Jesus, that man was gorgeous. He was wearing a backward ball cap and athletic gear, like he’d just come from training or the gym, which he probably had. Even in casual attire, he put every other man to shame.

  When he winked at me over Alex’s shoulder, I couldn’t stop my smile from spreading.

  Naturally Alex turned around to see who I was smiling at and scowled as soon as he caught sight of Carter. “I thought this was a place of business.”

  “It is,” I said, stepping away from him. “But I’m entitled to a break.” I stopped in front of Carter, waiting to see if he would kiss me in front of my employees. He didn’t. He didn’t even touch me. And I so wanted him to.

  “Hi,” he said, looking down at me. “I just stopped by to drop off the flowers and I didn’t want to leave without seeing your beautiful face.”

  I slipped my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest as I turned to Becca, who was grinning from ear to ear. “You guys met in the elevator?”

  “No, Carter took me out for a coffee.”

  “Oh yeah?” I looked up at him, pouting. “And you didn’t think to invite me? I like coffee too.”

  “Next time.” He brushed his lips across mine. “I promise.”

  Two of the tech guys kept looking over, whispering to each other, and I laughed as I beckoned them over to meet Carter.

  “Hey, guys,” I said, when they approached. “I’d like you to meet Carter Wells. Carter, these are our IT guys, Lou and Ang.”

  They pumped Carter’s hand enthusiastically, complimenting him on the season he’d had so far and talking about his team’s chances in the playoffs. As other people took notice, I knew Carter would be accosted if I didn’t take him somewhere more private, so I politely asked the guys to excuse us and led Carter into my office.

  “You didn’t introduce me to your ex,” he said as soon as I closed the door. “Why?”

  “I didn’t think you’d want to meet him.” And I was afraid if he did, there might be bloodshed.

  “What I want,” he said, looking frustrated, “is for hi
m not be here at all.”

  “Hey,” I said, grabbing his hands. “What’s the problem? I thought we talked about this? You know why I need Alex.”

  He stared at me. I felt as though he was waiting for me to say something, but I didn’t have a clue what he expected.

  “You need him?” he repeated. “You need him more than you need me?”

  My gut clenched. He would not make me choose between him and my CFO/partner. Would he?

  “Carter, come on.” I turned my back on him, trying to process the fact that my business and personal life felt as if they were suddenly on a collision course and I didn’t know how to evade disaster. “This is crazy. I told you last night that Alex plays a key role in this business. And even if I wanted to buy him out, he wouldn’t let me.”

  “You don’t have a contract?”

  “Of course we do, but—”

  “So you don’t have the right to buy him out if your arrangement is no longer working? If you have irreconcilable differences, you’re trying to tell me that you, as the majority owner, you don’t have the right to buy him out?”

  “Um…” I rubbed my forehead, trying to remember the terms of our contract. “Maybe. I don’t know. But making a move like that, when we’re in the growth phase, could be disastrous.”

  “Becca seems to think you could get someone else to fill his role.”

  “She does, does she?” I didn’t appreciate my best friend and… boyfriend, or whatever the hell he was, talking about my business behind my back. Like they knew what was best. Like I was too stupid to figure it out for myself! Who the hell did they think they were? “Well, I’ll certainly take that under advisement,” I said sarcastically.