Page 10

Reddington

I’d left Alistair— my chauffeur—downstairs as I went to be a gentleman and pick Jade up at her door so the guests of honor could show up to their engagement party together. I wouldn’t consider myself a prince by any fucking means, but this seemed like a fiancé thing to do.

I inhaled and immediately regretted it, smelling something reminiscent of week-old milk.

Ignoring the urge to cover my nose with my hand, I walked up the few carpeted steps and found Jade’s apartment.

Great. Now all I had to do was knock on her door, retrieve her, and lead the way back to the car.

Or just outside in general where I could suck in air and not feel like I’d walked into my high school lacrosse team’s locker room. Good times, piss-poor odor, though.

Rapping on the door, I cleared my throat and stuffed a hand in my pocket, ready to get this ring out of my possession and onto the finger of my supposed-soon-to-be wife.

I didn’t know how men walked around with this shit in their pocket for longer than they needed to.

Just knowing it was in there would have been enough to make me propose to my girl already.

Who the hell bought a ring to keep in their pocket?

Holy crap. What was taking Jade so long to get to the door? I’d seen the apartments in New York, and they weren’t big, that was for sure. That meant less distance, right? Unless she was on the toilet, I honestly didn’t understand what was—

The door swung open, and Jade was standing there, her hair hanging down in waves and her face makeup-free. “You’re early.”

She was wearing a white hoodie and light blue, baggy tattered jeans that were so long they dragged on the floor.

Clearly, she wasn’t in the least bit ready.

“No, I’m not.” I picked up my wrist and raised it for her to see my watch for the time.

I didn’t need to look at it to know that I was on time.

She was late. “I’m beginning to think you being late is a habit. ”

She scowled, rolling her eyes dramatically. “I hate your clocks.” She ushered me in, and I stepped in as she started unzipping her jeans. “With you, I’m always late.”

There was no way she was going to step out of her jeans here, was she?

No, that would be like crossing a line or something.

But she wasn’t moving. I swallowed hard as my eyes roamed to her ass as she turned around.

I should have looked away. Yeah, that was what I was going to do—look away.

Now. Before she caught me staring. “Um, how long do you think it’s going to take for you to get ready? ”

Maybe she’d go faster if I helped her. Okay, that sounded weird. Not to mention, I wasn’t the type to help a girl get into clothes, if you followed me.

She didn’t answer, only slipped out of her jeans and kicked them in front of the couch.

And there it was. The very reason I should’ve looked away.

I didn’t, though, because I was perverted.

That wasn’t true. I was wildly attracted to this woman, that was the problem.

I didn’t have that kind of restraint when it came to Jade.

The delicious curve of her ass drew my attention like a moth to a flame.

Her thong-clad ass was perfectly round, and I didn’t need to get any closer to know that it was the ideal size for my hand to cup a cheek and squeeze or playfully slap as I watched her take my cock like a good girl.

Not that Jade screamed good girl . Honestly, she gave off brat vibes more than anything else.

“Don’t know. Depends,” she answered, tossing me a wink over her shoulder before strutting toward a hallway. “Figured I sort of owed you one since we’ll probably be late for the party.”

I cleared my throat. “What?” I stood dumbfounded in front of the door.

“We both know you checked out my ass, so you’re welcome,” she said, her voice raised so I could hear her between rooms.

I pulled on the back of my neck and walked over to the couch and sat manspread, placing my elbows on my knees. “I didn’t look.” Hopefully that was believable.

“Yeah, right.” All right, apparently she wasn’t buying it. Smart woman.

Trying to change the topic, I asked, “Are you getting ready?”

“No. I’m playing with myself in here. When you hear me moan, you know I’m close to being done.”

Goddamn it, this woman was going to be the death of me.

If I had to spend too much time with her, I had a feeling she was going to put me in an early grave.

I scrubbed a hand down my face, scratching my chin as it came into contact with where I’d shaved before coming here. “Why are you always late?”

“My life isn’t run by a clock. I like to do things when I want, not because I’m committed to a time of day.”

A loud thud sounded followed by a “Son of a bitch,” so I cocked my head toward the hallway. Not that I would be able to make out what was going on in there, but still.

“You okay?” I hollered, hoping whatever it was wouldn’t make us even later.

“Just dandy,” she replied in a pacifying tone.

“Nate will be at the party.” Why the hell did I say that? Probably because you’ve been wanting to bring him up since you made up that story about being engaged to Jade and roped her into all of this. Because you want to feel her out and see how she feels about things. Especially things with Nate.

“Don’t care,” she answered not a moment later.

Way to not have to think about that one. That boded well for me. “Not even a little?”

“Not a hair on a rat’s ass.”

I raked a hand through my hair and leaned back on the couch, fixing myself so my vest didn’t wrinkle with the way I was sitting. “So, you’re over him?”

“It’s been a long time, Red. Plus, life goes on, you know? There are other dicks out there. Your brother’s isn’t the only one.”

I was pretty sure the saying was other fish in the sea , but something told me she meant what she said. You had to appreciate Jade’s directness. “Didn’t you love him?”

“What is this? A therapy session?” she spat back, undertones of disgust apparent in her voice.

“I don’t fucking know,” I mumbled. Guess I was just wondering if I was crushing on a woman who still had unresolved feelings for my brother. “You didn’t answer the question.” I already knew it. I was like a dog with a bone.

“I don’t know. At the time, I thought I was in love with him, yes. But love is an illusion. It’s like wishing upon a star. You do it because you buy into someone’s sugar-coated fantasy that there’s a pot of gold at the end of rainbows, and people’s lives can change for the better.”

“You don’t believe any of that?”

Without any hesitation at all, Jade answered, “No, I don’t,” basically at warp speed. It was like it was a knee-jerk reaction for her—love = lie.

My stomach clenched. For some reason, that didn’t sit well with me.

I didn’t think life was peaches and cream either.

It was hard fucking work and some days were harder than others.

I knew people didn’t think I understood that because I had money, but I worked just as hard as anyone else, believe it or not.

“Hey.” Jade’s voice was closer, so I turned around, wondering if she was coming out because she was ready. No such luck. She was popping her head out, wearing nothing but a neon green towel. “Do you see my cutlets out there?” she asked, her eyes scanning the place.

I had no idea why that mattered, but I answered, anyway. “No. I’d imagine they’re in the fridge, though.”

“What?” Her head snapped to me, and she raised a brow. Then she laughed.

What was so funny? Was she having a nervous breakdown?

“You’re a guy,” she said, as though that was explanation enough. It was not, by the way.

I brought my brows together in confusion. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I mean, you don’t know what cutlets are. They’re my boob inserts, and I can’t find them in my room. Last I had them—” A look of relief washed over her, and she turned around. “Never mind. I left them in my tub.”

“Why are they in your—” Shaking my head, I decided to let that one go.

Awkward silence filled the air as I sat, taking in Jade’s small as shit apartment and the lack of anything personal.

There were hardly any picture frames. No real decorations.

It was more like a bachelor pad than a woman’s place.

Nothing, like artwork, hanging on the walls.

The walls didn’t even look painted. They were bare-ass white.

It was depressing actually. I wasn’t all for collages of family photos cluttering the walls, but this was just sad, no other way to put it.

“This is what I get for working with my sisters now. I’m subjected to boob cutlets like I’m a model or beauty contestant,” Jade said, breaking into my train of thought.

“How is that going?”

“Concerned how I’m spending my days?”

“Concerned? Not really the word I’d use. Not in relation to how you spend your days.”

“What does that mean?”

“If anything I’m more concerned with how you’ll be spending your nights.”

“This is fake.”

“So?”

“So that’s on a need-to-know basis, meaning you don’t need to know, and I’m not going to share. That’s my business and my business only.”

“Have you slept with anyone since we got engaged?”

“Again, it’s fake.”

“It’s fake in this apartment. It’s fake when we’re alone together, but once either of us step outside, it’s as real as anyone else’s engagement.”

“Good thing I don’t believe in marriage and think engagements are merely a way for people to delay the inevitable—a life sentence miserably married or a divorce.”

Shit was she a ray of sunshine. “I won’t have you walking out of someone else’s place in broad daylight the next morning.”

“Fine. I’ll bring them here.”

“You’re not understanding. So long as this arrangement lasts, you’re mine for all intents and purposes, which means I can’t take a risk someone will be on to us.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“I’m saying as long as we’re together, you can’t be caught fucking anyone who isn’t me.”