He barely managed to shut the door before her bedside clock crashed against it.
Chapter 23
Jane was sitting on the couch, playing with her cat, when Cade knocked on the door later that day.
“Don’t open it,” Jane told Crazy Bitch.
Her friend went to the door to look out the peephole. “The dude is standing outside with bags of food.”
“I don’t care. Don’t—” Crazy Bitch didn’t wait to listen to the rest of her sentence. She just opened the door.
“Give me the bags and get lost.” Crazy Bitch blocked the doorway.
Jane heard Cade’s determined voice and knew Crazy Bitch wasn’t going to win this battle.
“I brought enough for all of us. Either I come in, or I take the bags with me.”
“Fuck.” Crazy Bitch moved back from the doorway, letting him inside.
“Are you feeling better?” Cade asked when he saw Jane sitting on the couch.
Jane didn’t answer him, still angry about losing her job at Popeye’s.
Cade simply grinned and set the two large bags on the coffee table in front of her. As he reached inside the bag and pulled out an aluminum foil covered bread roll, Jane couldn’t help herself. She started salivating at the smells coming from the bag.
“I’ll get us some plates,” Crazy Bitch said as she went to the kitchen.
Cade sat down next to Jane. She was about to warn him yet wasn’t given a chance.
“What the hell?” the cat was swatting at Cade’s arm.
“That’s Manson. Get used to him.” Crazy Bitch came back in and pulled a chair closer to the coffee table. She then took out three round aluminum trays and gave one each to Jane and Cade before she took the last one for herself.
Not able to resist the temptation any longer, Jane took off the cardboard top and stared down at the thick T-bone and mashed potatoes with asparagus.
“I hate asparagus,” she told him, about to put the offending vegetable on Crazy Bitch’s plate.
“Eat it. It’s good for you,” Cade said, popping a stalk of it in his own mouth.
“I hate it.”
After Cade dropped a dollop of butter on the vegetable she hated, Jane looked at it for a second. The butter did make it seem more appetizing. She lifted one to her mouth and took a small bite, chewing it thoughtfully before eating the rest of it. Cade smiled, eating the rest of his while Jane ignored him.
Cade had to repeatedly smack the cat away from him, finally giving up and ignoring it.
“You can have him if you want him.” Cade almost choked on a bite of his steak at Crazy Bitch’s offer. “I’ll even pack his litter box and cat food to the clubhouse for you.”
“No, thanks,” Cade managed to get out.
“He’s free. You can take him with you tonight.”
“Crazy Bitch, that’s my cat,” Jane said, laughing at Cade’s expression.
“No, he’s not. He’s Bailey’s. You got stuck with him when she wanted to put him down.”
“He’s mine now. He didn’t like Bailey, but he likes me,” Jane lied.
“That mean fucker don’t like anyone, and if he doesn’t quit shedding, I’m going to cough up a hairball.”
Jane finished eating, curling her legs under her on the couch. She petted her cat, ignoring the constant swatting.
After they all were finished eating, Cade dumped the trash into the empty bags while Crazy Bitch took the dirty plates to the kitchen.
“I thought we could watch some television, if you’re not too tired,” Cade suggested.
Jane stood up from the couch, barely holding on to her squirming cat. “You can watch it with Crazy Bitch. I’m going back to bed. I have to be up early for work in the morning.” Without giving him a chance to say anything, she went into her bedroom and closed the door.
Jane was determined not to give him another chance. He had been the one who decided he didn’t want her. Just because he was feeling bad she’d had a miscarriage was no reason to begin a relationship that wasn’t going to last.
Cade was never going to be happy in Jamestown, and she wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life pining for a man she couldn’t have like her mother. Jane was convinced she would get over him. After all, they’d had sex only one time. How hard could it be?
Jane sat down on her bed glumly, hearing Cade and Crazy Bitch’s voices from the other room. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d thought.
* * *
Jane rushed out her door, not wanting to keep Rock waiting. Killyama used to drive her to work, but Rock had taken over during the last two weeks. She came down her apartment stairs, seeing Cade sitting there, instead.
“Why are you here?”
“Rock couldn’t find his keys.”
Jane stared at Cade angrily.
“Get on. I’ll drive you to work.”
Jane looked down at her watch. She didn’t have time to argue with him; as a result, she got on behind him and clutched his waist as he pulled out of the parking lot.