Brrrrnnnngggg.
These days the very sound of a ringing phone irked his nerves. Roughly pushing his spectacles up his nose, he dropped his favorite Montblanc pen and snatched up the phone. “Strong Accountings,” he said, trying to make his deep voice sound pleasant.
He immediately recognized Jade’s husky laughter. “You never worked at McDonald’s, did you?” she teased. “You’re supposed to say, ‘Strong Accountings. How may I help you, please?’ See?”
Kaeden actually smiled. “Seeing how you know the drill so well, why don’t you help your man out and come answer these phones?” he asked, only semi-joking.
“Oscar the Grouch is here today, so I don’t see why I can’t zip over there and help you out—i.e., place an ad for a new receptionist.”
“I would really appreciate that,” he told her.
“On the way.”
He hung up the phone and focused his attention on his work. Soon the chime on the front door sounded.
“It’s just me, baby,” Jade called back to him.
Moments later she appeared and Kaeden thought she looked refreshing in the white cotton flowing skirt and off-the-shoulder peasant blouse she wore with chunky silver-and-turquoise accessories. “That’s pretty,” he told her as she walked over to plant a kiss to his mouth.
“Thank you.”
“Your boy still giving you the cold shoulder?” Kaeden asked, tapping his pen against his wooden desk.
Jade sighed. “If it’s not work related, he has nothing to say to me.”
“Do you care?” Kaeden snapped.
Jade eyed him in a scolding fashion. “It’s just a really uncomfortable work environment, and I don’t want to give up the business. You know how much I love it.”
Kaeden nodded. “I know you do. Does he know we’re together?”
Jade shifted her eyes from him. “Huh?” she asked innocently.
“Does he know, Jade?” Kaeden asked again in a hard voice.
“No…but we don’t talk about personal things. He never asked. I never volunteered the info. It would just make us owning the business together way worse, Kaeden.” Jade came around to stand behind his chair. She pressed her fingers into his shoulders, massaging him. “Did you tell Felecia about us?”
Kaeden stiffened beneath her fingers.
Jade dug her fingers deeper into his shoulders. “But did you tell her?” she asked again.
Kaeden laughed as he shook off her pinching touch. “Okay, no.”
Jade wrapped her arms around him from behind and planted a kiss on the top of his silver hair. “Just let me handle this my way, Kaeden. I promised that you can trust me, right?”
He leaned back against her. “Right.”
“You and Felecia never did the nasty in here, did you?” Jade asked with a scowl.
“Felecia and I never did the nasty—as you say—she’s saving herself until she’s married.”
Jade released him and walked back around the desk to look at him. “You never told me that,” she said in mock accusation.
“You never asked,” Kaeden said simply before shifting his glasses on his face and then turning to his laptop.
“Kaeden,” Jade called out to him.
He looked up.
She twirled like Wonder Woman, causing her skirt to lift up like a parasol around her waist, exposing the black thong she wore. “I love this skirt. Do you?”
“Is that all you’re wearing under there?” he asked, frowning in disapproval.
“What more do I need?” Jade asked, coming back over to him to lift and then lower her skirt over his head and shoulders.
“Something that doesn’t have your ass jiggling every which way for any man to see,” he said. “You might as well have nothing on, Jade.”
She promptly removed the thong and then tossed it atop the files and folders on his desk. “You know what, you’re right,” she told him.
“I’m serious, Jade, you shouldn’t be in a skirt with nothing but a skimpy thong on—”
“But I don’t have the skimpy thong on anymore, Kaeden. See?”
Kaeden shook his head, fighting the grin that wanted to spread across his face as his anger dissolved into nonexistence. He eyed her cleanly shaven and plump mound as he inhaled deeply of the scent of perfume on her thick thighs. Against his better judgment, he bent his head and sucked the mound before he lifted his hand to slip two stiff fingers up into her moist and tight being.
Jade’s hips bucked and she trembled uncontrollably as his two fingers stroked her while his thumb massaged the throbbing bud that was the center of her passion.
Kaeden removed his fingers and sucked her juices away.
Jade removed the skirt and watched him. “Good?” she asked hotly with a lick of her lips.
“Damn good,” Kaeden assured her.
Jade bent over. With eager hands she undid his belt buckle and zipper.
Kaeden spread his thighs wide and arched his hips at the first feel of her warm hands on his shaft. And when she held the thick rod up straight and lowered her mouth onto him, Kaeden’s buttocks clenched and his heart pounded wildly. He reached underneath her skirt to massage and slap her buttocks as she sucked him like there was nothing in the world she’d rather do.
It took him a minute to remember that they were in front of a bay of windows on the front of the house looking out onto the front yard and street. “Jade, let’s lock up and go up to one of the bedrooms upstairs. Someone might see us through the window.”
“So?” Jade said, releasing him as she climbed across his lap and settled her throbbing core down onto him in one vicious swoop. “Let ’em look. They might like it. They might learn something.”
Kaeden’s dick hardened at her boldness. She was his sexual equal. When it’s on, it’s on, and nothing else matters.
So he leaned back in his chair, grabbing her hips and sucking wildly at her breasts as he enjoyed the ride.
Felecia’s eyes widened in surprise and then squinted in anger at the sight of Jade Prince’s attention-seeking yellow Jeep Wrangler parked next to Kaeden’s BMW. “How cozy,” Felecia drawled sarcastically, assuming that the woman had finally returned to hire Kaeden as the accountant or business manager for her little business.
She pulled up and parked her car, checking her appearance in the rearview mirror before she climbed out and walked up the stairs.
She wasn’t ready to let Kaeden go yet. She still had hope that he would see that she was the woman for him. And she was so sure of this fact that she hadn’t clued her family in that Kaeden had dumped her, saving on the embarrassment when he returned.
Felecia walked up onto the porch and her eyes immediately went to the set of bay windows of Kaeden’s office. Wanting to see him busy at work, she walked to the window. Her mouth fell open at the sight of Jade riding Kaeden in his office chair.
He tilted his chin up and said something to her that made Jade ride him harder as she sucked the tongue he then offered to her.
Felecia let out a little wail, stepping back and pressing her back to the house as she clutched at her chest. She panted as she closed her eyes and tried to settle herself.
Felecia knew that a woman—some wild woman without morals and boundaries—had to have wooed Kaeden away from her. She knew it. So it was Jade “Miss 36–26–40” Prince.
Felecia forced herself to calm down. She forced herself to think.
The sins of the flesh were a strong temptation for a man. Hmph, she’d even had a few naughty dreams herself. So she decided she could forgive Kaeden, because it was very hard to stop a child from accepting candy that was freely offered, and men were like children when it came to sex (i.e., the forbidden fruit).
But she could not and would not compete with Jade on this level. Sneaking one little look just to make sure they were still “busy,” Felecia tiptoed across the porch and down the stairs. She hated to start her car but she reversed out of the yard so quickly she was glad there was no oncoming traffic.
F
elecia knew she had to break up Kaeden and Jade. For that she knew she needed a little help. She knew just where to find it.
Felecia parked her car on the corner of Main Street and then climbed out to walk until she found the storefront she was looking for. Soon the colorful logo for Wild-n-Out Tours caught her eyes.
She walked in and her eyes immediately recognized the tall and handsome light-skinned man who walked out to greet her.
“Welcome to Wild-n-Out. I’m Darren. Can I help you?”
Felecia accepted the hand he offered. “Actually, Darren, I think we can help each other. I’m Kaeden Strong’s ex and soon-to-be wife, with your help, I hope.”
Darren eyed her from head to toe for a few quiet moments like he was sizing up her and the situation. “You just might be right. Come on into my office.”
Hours later Jade was busy at the computer putting the finishing touches on the advertisement she drew up for a new receptionist for Kaeden. She was proud of herself because after their tryst she really wanted to take a quick nap. Instead they rushed upstairs and took a shower.
She was just about to fax the ad over to the local newspapers and find out how to post it with Job Service when the door opened. She smiled at the tall, wide, and solid man who walked in. “Welcome to Strong Accountings. Can I help you?”
He smiled like he’d won the lottery as his eyes took in her bare shoulders and the slight bit of cleavage showing. “Damn right you can help me. You replacing the other lady that worked here? What was her name? Felecia.”
Jade forced a fake smile. “I’m just helping out today. Do you have an appointment?”
“Well, I’m Juba Lockhart. And your name, beautiful?”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Lockhart. I’m Jade. Jade Prince,” she told him, shifting her hand away when he reached down to touch her.
“So when can I take you out, Jade Prince?”
“Never.”
Jade jumped in surprise at the sound of Kaeden’s voice as he strolled into the outer office. She could tell from the tightness of his jaw that he was annoyed, and Jade felt her own anger rise. Damn, give me a chance to check a Negro, she thought as she watched the two men shake hands.
“Was I stepping on your toes, Kaeden?” Juba asked as his eyes shifted from Kaeden to Jade and then back again.
Kaeden nodded at him.
Juba laughed at him wolfishly. “You lucky dawg you.”
Jade slapped her hand in exasperation against the desk and rolled her eyes. “Hello, I’m sitting here, fellas,” she told them.
“Yes, ma’am.” Juba reached in the back pocket of the overalls he wore and handed Kaeden a folded manila envelope. “Just dropping off those titles. They’re all signed and ready to be turned over.”
Kaeden accepted the envelope. “Thanks, Juba.”
The man gave Jade one more appreciative look before he chuckled and walked to the door. “No disrespect, ma’am, but he is one lucky dawg,” he said before leaving.
Kaeden turned to walk back into his office.
“Um, Kaeden,” Jade called out.
He turned back to her. “Yeah, baby?”
“I am capable of stopping an admirer in his tracks,” she told him, not even looking at him as she turned back to the computer.
He said nothing else before he walked back into his office.
Kaeden was taking a break from his work with his chair turned to face the window. He was thinking about the jealousy he felt when he overheard Juba Lockhart flirting with Jade. Jealousy had made his entire body feel on fire with anger.
Only to himself would he admit that he felt like Jade was far out of his league and he was just waiting for her to discover that and leave him.
Releasing a heavy breath, he swiveled his chair, inching it forward to resume his bookkeeping duties. Jade hadn’t spoken to him all day, and whenever he attempted to strike up a conversation, she straight short-talked him until he returned to his office.
Deciding to just give her time to cool off, Kaeden had stayed in his office and focused on work. Their bid for their farm equipment had finally been accepted and Kaeden was busy handling the transfer of funds and then the exchange of titles.
“No,” Jade cried out.
Kaeden looked up and then immediately came from behind his desk to rush into the outer office. “Jade, what’s wrong?” he asked, coming to see the alarmed expression on her face as the phone dropped from her hand.
“Can you take me to the hospital? My grandfather just had a heart attack.”
“Of course. Let me lock up and we’ll leave right now,” Kaeden told her without any hesitation.
“Kaeden.” Jade grabbed lightly at his wrist. “Thank you.”
He pulled her forward and planted a consoling and loving kiss to the top of her short ebony curls as he massaged her back. “That’s what I’m here for,” he promised her.
Darren watched Felecia leave his office, his eyes dipping down to take in the up-and-down motion of her small but soft buttocks in the slacks she wore. Felecia had been a wealth of information.
She had just walked in on Jade giving up the goodies in Kaeden’s office. First the woods and now in front of an open window. “No-good trick,” he swore, even as jealousy burned the pit of his stomach.
He was not going to sit back and let the two of them skip off to happiness while he was left looking the fool. Felecia would be useful in his need for revenge…particularly when he took great pleasure in telling Kaeden Strong when he slept with his ex.
“Payback is a bitch,” he said aloud to himself.
Jade and Kaeden sat in the intensive care unit of Colleton Memorial Hospital. The TV played but neither focused on it. Jade’s mind was on her grandfather and the stupid hospital policy that prevented them from seeing him any more than one hour every four hours.
Kaeden’s mind was filled with concern for Jade. She hadn’t spoken much since their arrival. Even as the doctor filled her in on her grandfather’s stable condition, she hadn’t said much.
“Do you want me to get you something to eat?” he asked her as she snuggled deeper against his side.
“Don’t leave me.”
He nodded and hugged her closer as he planted a warm kiss to her forehead.
They both looked up as hard footsteps echoed down the hall and then the doorway to the waiting room was suddenly filled with activity. Kaeden knew the tall and curvaceous woman with the waist-length weave, form-fitting jeans, blinged-out T-shirt, and stilettos was Jade’s mother, Deena.
The two women looked like sisters.
“I got here as soon as I could,” Deena said, moving to sit down beside Jade and placed a comforting hand—complete with inch-long acrylic nails—on her thigh.
“Thanks, Ma. I called Daddy and he’s on his way, so please don’t start, this is not about y’all or y’all marriage,” Jade said wearily, her head still on Kaeden’s shoulder.
“How’s your grandfather?” Deena asked as she sat her large gold handbag on the empty chair beside her.
“He’s stable now. It wasn’t his heart. His sugar was too high. They finally got it down and they’re waiting on a private room to move him,” Jade told her mom.
They all fell silent.
“And you must be Kaeden,” Deena said.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, leaning forward slightly to offer Deena his hand.
She accepted it and sized him up. “Oh, okay. Okay,” she said with a nod of her head. “I see it. I’m feeling the sexy nerd thing. All right.”
He took that as her form of approval.
Jade released a very long and very heavy sigh.
Kaeden hugged her closer.
Unlike Deena, the appearance of Jade’s father and stepmother was surprising. Suddenly they were there. A tall and handsome bald-headed man with a silver-flecked goatee and a beautiful woman who was obviously around Jade’s age.
“Careful, Harrison, it might be past her bedtime,” Deena drawled sarcastically.
&nbs
p; “Mama,” Jade snapped, sitting up.
“At least she’s acting her age,” Harrison drawled in return, reaching back to take his wife’s hand in his—a decidedly protective move.
“Daddy!” Jade snapped, turning in her chair to eye him.
“What?” he asked in all his over-fifty swagger in his silk shirt, linen shorts, and leather sandals. “This is my father laid up in the hospital, so why does my wife have to be accosted as soon as we walk in the room?”
“I could care less about you and my mini-me wannabe, you played-out eighties reject,” Deena snapped as she jumped to her stilettoed feet.
Kaeden watched Jade’s stepmother step back like she was afraid Deena was going to attack her. Beside him Jade dropped her head in her hands.
“The eighties? Careful, Deena, your age is showing,” Harrison drawled before he twisted his gold watch on his arm and sat down across from Deena’s seat.
His wife eyed Deena carefully as she eased by her and took the seat next to Harrison.
“Are you thirsty, baby? I think I could dig up one of Jade’s old bottles for you,” Deena threw over her shoulder before she reclaimed her seat.
“Pick with someone your own age, Deena. I’m sure there’s a geriatric wing or something.”
Deena hopped to her feet again and Harrison jumped to his until they were nose to nose arguing and name calling.
Jade stood to push them apart. “I’m sick of both of you. When did I become the dang on parent, because both of you acting childish,” she snapped at them both before she stalked out of the waiting room.
The silence following her exit was awkward.
Kaeden gave them a smile and then hurried out of the room. Jade was standing at the end of the hall with her forehead pressed against the glass. Her shoulders shook and he knew she was crying.
He said absolutely nothing as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. It was like she was waiting for him because her body went weak as she turned to press her face into his neck. “Kaeden, you are my rock. My constant. When I’m with you I feel calm and I feel protected. I thank you so much for that. I thank you for being the one piece of sanity in my crazy-ass life,” she whispered to him as her tears wet him.
Give Me Fever Page 18