Her thoughts skittered back to Zack. He might not be another Dion, but she couldn’t ignore how being in his presence shook her to the core. Those twin dimples … those eyes. His list of attributes were so long she didn’t know if it was just one thing that made her a bumbling fool whenever he was near her.
“By the gleam in your eyes, I’d say that this is a case of indubitable attraction. Yet, it has to be more than that to have you in here hiding out.”
“I know. There’s something about this man. I don’t know much about him, but already I know he’s different than the type of men I usually date. He’s genuine, confident without being arrogant and humble without coming off like a chump. He’s a great listener, and he’s not ruled by money or what he has.” And that’s what scared her. Arrogance and self-centeredness, she could handle. Sweet, kind, and the fall-in-love-easily type, she couldn’t handle.
“Hold up. I know you’re good, but are you telling me you figured all of that out with only one dance?”
Before Jada could respond, the door flew open. Martina Jenkins, MJ, stood in the entryway with her arms braced against the doorjamb and a scowl on her perfectly made up face. She had already been in a bad mood. Having to wear such a frilly dress with too-tall sandals didn’t help. Now the murderous glare she shot Jada and Christina would have made others take cover, but they were used to their cousin’s theatrics.
“Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you guys? What part of meet in Toni’s room at seven-thirty didn’t you two understand?”
“Ah, don’t get your grandma panties in a bunch. We’re coming,” Jada said.
They both stood and followed MJ out of the room. Jada turned to Christina and whispered. “I trust that our conversation stays between us.”
“Of course, but I want to explore your problem a little more when we get home,” she joked, sounding like a therapist.
Jada smiled and shook her head. As far as she was concern, there was no problem. As long as she stayed away from Zack Anderson.
Chapter Three
“You might as well pay up, dude. You owe me a thousand bucks.” Donny grabbed another slice of pizza and sat back in the leather, theater room seat to watch Monday night football. “It’s been almost two weeks and Jada Jenkins hasn’t given you the time of day. Pay up. Pay up now!”
“Man, please. I ain’t payin’ nothin’. I still have four days to convince her to go out with me.” Zack took a swig of Gatorade. “And I can’t believe you’re trying to get me to pay before the bet has officially ended.”
After receiving Jada’s telephone number from Craig, Zack had called her three times since the wedding reception, but she had yet to return any of his calls. Now hindsight, Zack wondered if maybe she would’ve been more receptive of his calls had he asked for her number directly.
“I can’t believe you’re interested in this woman. Especially when you’ve shot down advances from others. Personally, I think you should give Monica a chance. She’s fine as hell and a real sweetheart.”
“I don’t trust her.”
Donny shook his head and laughed. “Man you don’t trust anyone. You act as if all women are out to take advantage of you.” Zack turned to Donny with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, I can see why you’d be a little leery considering your last two relationships. I’m still trippin’ that Leslie accused you of domestic abuse. Yet, at some point, you’re going to have to give someone a chance.”
“That’s why I’m trying to hook up with Jada.”
“I just don’t understand that.” Donny wiped his mouth and sat back in his seat, studying Zack. “That honey, has gold-digger tattooed on her beautiful forehead. I saw her in the lobby taking a picture when I left the reception. Peeking over her shoulder, hand on her hip, her leg flipped up with the heel of her expensive shoes touching that sweet round ass.”
“Hey, watch yourself!” A smoldering flame of desire crept through Zack just listening to Donny‘s assessment of Jada, but he couldn’t sit there listening to his friend talk about her sweet ass.
Donny held up his hands in mock surrender. “No disrespect, dude, I’m just sayin’.” He shrugged. “Seriously though, a construction worker salary didn’t pay for those high-priced shoes or that Rolex she was wearing. ”
His friend might’ve been right, but Zack couldn’t ignore how the air around him seemed electrified when she was near. He’d been with his share of women, but none affected him the way she had.
“Maybe Jada ignoring your calls is a sign for you to move on. The last thing you need is more BS from another tryflin’, money-hungry woman.”
“I’m not giving up just yet.” Zack ran his hand over his mouth and stopped at his chin, rubbing the scruff growing from not shaving in a couple of days. “I think I’m going to try a different approach with Ms. Jada Jenkins. Apparently I need to do something to get her atten—”
“Are you expecting someone else?” Donny interrupted. “I think I just heard your doorbell.”
“Nope.” Zack picked up the remote and turned down the volume of the home theater system. The doorbell rang again. “I’ll be back in a sec.” He stood and headed toward the stairs.
Walking through his large kitchen, Zack glanced at the home’s alarm keypad located in the short hall that led to the attached garage. He hadn’t set the system to close the front gate automatically once Donny entered onto the property. Pushing a couple of buttons, he made sure the gate closed automatically going forward.
He opened the door and stared at the person standing on the other side of the threshold, shocked to see her on his doorstep. His gaze traveled the length of the statuesque body from her thick, long tresses flowing over bare shoulders, to a perfectly made up face on down to the purple dress with the sheer side panels that hugged every curve like a second skin.
“Now that you have thoroughly checked me out, aren’t you going to invite me in?”
Her syrupy voice snapped him to attention and anger clawed its way from his gut to his throat, threatening to burst free.
“Hell nah I’m not inviting you in! You’re not even supposed to be on my property. Why are you here, Leslie?”
“I need to talk to you and you haven’t returned any of my calls.”
“Are you serious?” he asked, shocked to see her standing there. “We don’t have anything to discuss. So you can just go and crawl back—”
“Baby, please. I know you hate me, but you have to let me explain.”
“Explain?” Zack gripped the doorframe, rage for what she had put him through pulsed through his veins. “What’s there to explain? You lied about being pregnant, and I agreed to marry you. Then you lied about having a miscarriage and who knows what else you lied about while we were together. And if that wasn’t enough, your ass went to the cops, claiming that I beat you!”
“But Zack—”
“But Zack nothing!” He growled and slowly approached her, but stopped. “Donny, get up here!” He would never put his hands on a woman with evil intentions, but she had accused him of doing just that once, and he wanted to make sure a witness was nearby just in case she tried it again.
Donny bounded up the stairs. “I’m right behind you,” his friend said. Zack knew when Donny saw who was at the door, he would understand.
“Was that really necessary?” Leslie huffed.
Pointing his finger at her, Zack inched closer, remembering all that she had put him through including how she forged his name on one of his checks.
“Your lying, scheming ass should be in jail somewhere. You almost cost me my career, and you have the nerve to ring my doorbell?” He took two steps back. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he returned his attention to the woman he once thought he loved. “There was nothing I wouldn’t have done for you and you know it. Yet, you tried to ruin me. I’m done with you.”
“I’m not giving up until you hear me out.”
He held up his hand. “You know what…” He didn’t bother finishing the senten
ce. Talking to her was like banging his head against a brick wall. He stepped back into the house without giving her a second glance. “You have twenty seconds to get off my property or I’m calling the cops.” He slammed the door in her face.
I wasted a year of my life with her.
***
“Nick, I need you and Jada to start on the Henderson-Clark project downtown,” Peyton Jenkins said standing at the front of the conference room near the massive size white board. “And Jada, before you start complaining, it’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.”
Jada’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t even say anything. It’s mid-week, and I haven’t complained … to you all week.”
PJ turned to write on the board. “I figured you were due for a complaint.” Everyone in the room chuckled, mainly her family members. Jada didn’t appreciate being singled out. Sure, she complained sometimes, but who wouldn’t? Lately, most of their jobs were in the nastiest furnace rooms or on the roof of the tallest buildings in Cincinnati. She wasn’t afraid of heights, but she didn’t look forward to hanging off the side of the roof of a thirty-story office building installing wall flashing.
“In Jada’s defense,” her cousin Nick started, “I have to admit that this week she’s been on her best behavior and hasn’t complained once.”
Jada wanted to stick out her tongue at PJ, but thought it might be a little too childish. At twenty-four, Jada was working hard to get her family to see her as a mature woman and not the baby of the family who used to get most of them in trouble. Her oldest cousin, Nick, always looked out for her, giving her the least amount of grief. Unlike his twin brother, Nate, who lived to taunt her.
“If Jada hasn’t complained, she must be sick. I can’t recall a day she hasn’t griped about a broken nail, a scar, or her stupid hair,” Martina chimed in, sitting across from Jada, a wicked grin spread across her face. “So, are you sick or something?”
Jada narrowed her eyes at her cousin, who was always trying to start something. “MJ, you aren’t going to always have me around to pick on.”
“Maybe not, but in the meantime –”
“Can we get back to business?” Peyton placed a hand on her hip. She gave both Jada and Martina a look that halted all conversation.
Jada half listened while Peyton made assignments. Others in the room shared progress reports and material shortage updates. Jada loved her family and the family business more than anything, but she was ready for something different in her life.
“Does that work for you, JJ?”
Jada’s gaze shot to Peyton, not having a clue as to what she was about to agree to.
“That’s fine,” she mumbled, knowing PJ would bust her out if she knew she wasn’t paying attention. Jada looked over at Nick who grinned and gave her thumbs up.
Oh great. I’ll probably be crawling through ductwork today.
Thirty minutes later, the meeting ended. It was only eight o’clock in the morning and Jada felt as if she had already put in a full day of work. She hadn’t been sleeping well thanks to her nightly dreams of Zack Anderson. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what about the man turned her mind to mush and her body into a fiery furnace every time she thought of him. That one dance had left her aroused and aching to be touched by him again.
“JJ, I’ll meet you at the van in ten minutes.” Nick broke into her thoughts on his way out the door.
“Sounds good.” She headed downstairs to the reception area. She needed a strong cup of coffee. The coffee in the lobby was always more potent than the coffee Peyton made before the staff meetings.
“Oh, JJ, I’m glad you’re still here. You just had a delivery,” the receptionist, Tammy, said.
Jada poured the dark, hot liquid into a Styrofoam cup while Tammy stood and walked to the hall closet. Jada’s eyes lit up, and a bout of giddiness raced through her veins at the sight of a huge white box.
“What is it?” She walked around the desk. The only things she’d ordered recently were two pairs of Kate Spade sandals and a handbag, but those items had arrived days earlier. She assumed the contents had to be a gift from one of her admirers.
“I don’t know. A courier service delivered the package about ten or fifteen minutes ago.”
Jada skimmed the box, and the only writing on it was her name across the top.
Tammy handed her a box cutter and Jada eagerly cut through the tape, hoping it was a gift from Marcus Hightower, the president of a bank. They’d been out a number of times and lately, he’d been sending gifts on a regular basis.
Excitement raced through her body as she cut away the tape. She loved surprises almost as much as she loved gifts.
At that moment, Martina and Christina came down the stairs discussing a project.
“So what’s all of this?” MJ stopped next to Jada. CJ stood on Jada’s left. “Another gift from one of your boy-toys?”
“Oh, don’t hate. I can’t help it if I have generous admirers.” Jada opened the box and yanked out all of the newspaper surrounding two smaller boxes. More excitement bubbled within her as she tore through the first of the two smaller boxes.
Her hands stilled, and the smile dropped from her lips when she lifted the item from the box.
“What the hell is that?” MJ asked, disgust dripping from her words. “Tell me someone didn’t send you a purple power drill.”
“Well, that’s what it looks like.” CJ grinned as Jada frowned at the unusual gift. “It might seem like a fatuous type of gift, but personally, I think it shows signs of the sender’s solicitous nature.”
Both Jada and Martina turned to Christina. Jada narrowed her eyes. “What the heck does fatuous mean?” CJ’s word-a-day mission to improve her vocabulary was driving everyone crazy. Jada lifted her hands and shook her head. “No, no don’t tell me. I don’t care.”
“What you should be caring about is what type of knucklehead sends a sheet metal worker a purple drill? It should be against the law for a company to even make crap like this. You drop it once, and I guarantee this junk will crumble into a thousand pieces.” MJ took it upon herself to pull out the next box and ripped the package open as if Jada wasn’t standing there. Then she burst out laughing. “And purple tools? This is too much!” She laughed harder, pounding the counter in an effort to catch her breath.
“Who sent all of this?” CJ stretched her neck to peer into the box. “Someone trying to expiate for an atrocity they perpetrated against you? I have to say, these accoutrements are going to look cute on your tool belt.”
MJ whirled on her. “Stop it! Who the hell uses expiate or accoutrements in a simple conversation?”
“Hey! Don’t get mad at me if I use words that are arcane by people who only pick up a book sporadically.”
“Well, use another one of those stupid words while we’re standing here and I’m going to use a few choice words….”
Jada tuned out her cousins. Curious by the gifts, she searched through the box for a note. She found a small, white envelope and quickly pulled out a card.
Beautiful tools for a beautiful woman. You left the reception before I had a chance to ask you out officially. Have dinner with me this Saturday night. Zack.
Jada shook her head. First, the telephone calls from him that she had ignored, and then the nightly dreams. Now gifts. She reread the card that included his telephone number and shoved it back into its envelope. She appreciated the gesture, but her family and coworkers would laugh her right off the job if they caught her using purple tools. The teasing was bad enough with her arriving to work in full makeup, perfect hair and polished nails. There was no way she was giving them more ammunition to use against her. Besides, she couldn’t go out with Zack.
Martina grabbed hold of Jada’s wrist and yanked the small envelope out of her hand. She read the card. “Whoever this Zack person is, you need to school him on what type of tools real construction workers use.” She lifted the purple drill and held the power tool up, turning the base from
side to side. “I wish you would show up on a site with this thing. You think you get picked on now, you wouldn’t last a day with this crap.”
Jada didn’t bother mentioning to Martina that she was the main person who gave her a hard time about any and everything.
“Don’t you have something to do?” Jada asked MJ, snatching the card from her and stuffing it back into the envelope.
Martina laughed and shoved the drill back into the box. “Don’t get mad at me if Zack doesn’t know the difference between toy drills and real drills. Who is this Zack person anyway? One of your new lackeys?”
“Zack Anderson,” Christina blurted out.
Martina’s smile slipped from her lips. “Zack Anderson? The Zack Anderson – the world’s greatest running back who plays for Cincinnati? The guy who can carry two defensive ends on his back and still make a first down? Last year’s MVP? That Zack Anderson?”
“The one and only.” Christina grinned but pinched her lips together when Jada narrowed her eyes. Jada didn’t want MJ making a big deal about her acquaintance with Zack since she had no intention of going out with him.
“Hold up. So you’re dating Zack Anderson.” Martina grinned and rubbed her hands together. “Finally! You’ve hooked up with someone worthy to date a Jenkins girl. I need you to see if he can get me some tickets to this Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. It’s been sold out for weeks.”
“We’re not dating.” Jada shoved everything back into the box. “You’re on your own, getting tickets. Tammy,” Jada slid the box across the counter, “can you contact the courier who delivered this and have them pick it up?”
Tammy arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Why are you sending this stuff back?” Martina grabbed hold of the box before Tammy could walk away with it. “At least call the guy. Or better yet, I can call him and thank him for you.”
“You were the one going on and on about purple tools. Why should I thank him or keep them?”
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