“Heard from your mama?” he asked about his ex-daughter-in-law.
The thought of her mother immediately brought a smile to Jade’s face. “She’s in Los Angeles and then she flies to London.”
“Ms. Jetsetter,” he mused, tilting his head back to toss a peanut into his open mouth.
Jade nodded. She missed her mom but completely understood that after the shock of her father leaving her for a younger woman and divorcing her, Deena was finally enjoying her new freedom and her new job. Her mom married early, had her only child early, and divorced early, but she was trying to catch up on a late start of her independence.
“How’s the business?” he asked.
“It’s going okay. Mostly because of a lot of local support. Like Darren’s taking Mr. Strong and his sons on a camping trip this weekend.”
Esai looked surprised. “Those farmers need a guide to go camping?”
“That’s what I thought, but we’re not looking a gift horse in the mouth.”
As Jade did give in to dig a handful of the moist and salty boiled peanuts into her hand, she suddenly thought of the nerdy one and how she’d caught him staring at her in church.
It was a very odd and random thought.
Chapter 3
Kaeden shifted his bespectacled eyes away from the flat-screen computer monitor as his secretary Felecia walked into his office after knocking briefly. “Yes?” he asked, his mind really focused on finishing up the weekly payroll for one of his clients who owned a car dealership.
“I made chicken and dumplings for supper last night. Well, it’s just me, so I had plenty left over and I thought we could have it for lunch…together,” she said.
Kaeden actually wasn’t ready to take a lunch break when he was so close to being done, but Felecia was already beginning to unpack a picnic basket he’d just noticed she was carrying. His stomach grumbled as she set a steaming bowl in front of him. He had to admit that Felecia was one helluva cook, so he knew the dish was good.
“Chicken and dumplings on a Tuesday night?” he asked, smiling as he gave in to the call of hunger and cleared the few files piled on his desk.
Felecia waved her hand dismissively. “Took me no time at all. The dumplings are from scratch too.”
“It smells good, Felecia,” he told her as she set utensils and napkins in front of him.
“I know,” she answered with confidence before walking out of the office to return moments later with two glasses filled with ice.
Moments later one of the glasses was in front of him filled with cold sweet tea from a thermos in her basket of goodies.
“Enjoy,” she said, rather low and husky in her throat.
Kaeden looked up at her before clearing his throat and looking away. He and Felecia briefly dated for a couple of months a few years ago, but Kaeden ended it because there hadn’t been a bit of spark between them. A wet match could generate more of a flicker of flame. She was a beautiful and stylish woman with her caramel complexion and reddish brown hair. She was a sweet churchgoing preacher’s daughter who could cook like an old woman. A true lady. A good girl.
They just didn’t click to him, and so he moved on.
Several months ago when she walked into his office wanting to apply for the position of his secretary, she promised him she was there for a much-needed paycheck and that was it. Lately, though, he just wasn’t sure. He would have to be a blind fool to miss the fact that Felecia Craven wanted more from him than a paycheck.
He focused his attention on enjoying the food as she eased her tall and slender frame into one of the chairs in front of his large cherrywood desk.
“Your family ready to go camping tomorrow?” she asked as she took a sip of tea from her glass.
Kaeden nodded as he chewed. “Thank God I was able to talk them out of pressing me to go. Can you imagine me in the woods for four whole days?”
Felecia laughed. “Yeah, right? You camping. Puh-leeze.”
Kaeden paused and frowned.
“It’s good, right?” she asked, changing the subject.
Kaeden nodded. “You can burn. Reminds me of my mama’s cooking.”
Felecia smiled sweetly. “Now, you’re not saying I remind you of your mama?” she asked in her lilting Southern accent as she licked the gravy from the fork and crossed her legs slowly.
Kaeden’s eyes dropped down automatically to take in the move, but instead of enticing him, it made him feel awkward. “Listen, Felecia, it feels like you’re flirting with the whole fork lick and…Sharon Stone leg cross and…everything. We both know that’s in appropriate,” he said in a firm voice that he hoped sounded like an employer talking to an employee.
Felecia tossed her head back and laughed as she waved her hand at him dismissively. “Kaeden, please stop being paranoid. If I wanted to date you again, I would just ask you out. I don’t play games.”
Her attitude was so blasé that Kaeden actually felt bad about accusing her. “Felecia, I’m sorry—”
The bell over the front door jingled. Felecia daintily wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin before easing up out of her seat. “Duty calls, boss.”
He watched her cross the carpeted floor and maybe it was just him, but was there an extra jiggle and shake of her hips and shoulders as she walked. He didn’t doubt that she could arouse him and that he could finish the deal, but he would just be using her as a method of release and Kaeden didn’t do booty calls or one-night stands.
“You’ll have to make an appointment, Jade, Mr. Strong is at lunch—”
Kaeden nearly choked on the sweet tea he was swallowing. Jade was here! He quickly used napkins to swipe away the splats of tea on the top of his desk before he tossed the napkins and the paper plate of unfinished food into the trash. “Felecia, please show her in,” he called out, already wondering what Jade wanted with him.
“No,” she stressed in a loud voice. “You’re at lunch and Miss Prince is making an appointment to come back at a more convenient time.”
Kaeden rose and came around his desk to walk across the room that once served as one of the three bedrooms of the converted town house. He stepped across the hall into the living room that was converted into the outer office.
Jade was dressed in a white strapless maxi dress with aviator shades in place on her face. She brightened up the entire room. “Hello, I’m Kaeden Strong,” he said, even as his heart raced in his chest.
Jade pushed her shades up onto the top of her head as she turned to face him. She extended her hand to him. “I’m Jade Prince—”
Felecia quickly stepped between them, causing Jade’s hand to dart into her stomach.
Kaeden’s angular jaw clenched as he placed his hands on Felecia’s shoulders. “Thanks, Felecia, I have it,” he told her. His hands instantly dropped when he felt a shiver go through her body before she moved to take her seat at her desk.
Jade eyed them both oddly before she extended her hand to him again. “I wanted to speak to you about handling the books for my partner’s and my business, Wild-n-Out Tours.”
Kaeden grasped Jade’s still-outstretched hand warmly as the scent of her fruity perfume surrounded him. Her grasp was soft and strong all at once. “I’ve heard of it. In