Crossing Paths

Chapter 16: No-Strings-Attached

“Babe, if we don’t leave right this second, I’m pretty sure we’d never show up for our reservation in the first place,” Sedric retorted, his voice husky.

Jade swallowed thickly and nodded as she put on her coat. The material was thin and would never protect her from the cold, but it looked damn good on her.

“That’s all you’re going to wear?” Sedric asked with a raised eyebrow after he looked her up and down. “I think it’s best you stay close tucked against my side in that case,” he muttered almost inaudibly. Jade did her best to retain a giggle as she followed Sedric outside.

“How was work today?” Jade asked politely, deciding it was best to small talk on their way to the restaurant. She hated silence, comfortable or not.

“Busy,” Sedric replied with a grunt. “It always seems to be busy. I can’t remember the last time I actually could take a break.”

“Don’t I know how that feels,” Jade sighed. “Since the company’s growing bigger, there always seems to be tons of work. Alexis hired a few new people, but I still feel like it’s a battle against the impossible. The more work gets done, the more work there seems to appear.”

“I know I should be grateful that our firm is turning out to be a huge success, but sometimes I wish it would’ve stayed small. At least then I could control everything and do the work myself without needing help,” Sedric explained.

“Still the infinite control freak, I see,” Jade grinned, playfully bumping into his shoulder as they walked side by side to the car.

“Like you’re any better,” Sedric returned, shaking his head as he unlocked the car and got in. Jade threw her head back and laughed before following Sedric’s example and getting in the car.

Twenty minutes later they were being led to their table in the busy restaurant after making their way through a bunch of paparazzi. Jade’s family became famous during the trial of her birth father and Sedric had always had been notorious due to having Alison and Harold as his parents. It came with the disadvantage of often being followed by paparazzi and being the headline of magazine’s when they did something interesting like say starting to date each other publicly.  

“People are giving us weird looks,” Jade noted as they finally sat down at the table, feeling numerous pairs of eyes following her every move. It was kind of creepy.

“They’re just curious,” Sedric brushed off. “It’s not every day the notorious bachelor Sedric Miller takes a beautiful Henderson girl out.” He was probably right. To gossip sharks, the news of them going out on a date was sensational. It shouldn’t surprise Jade people wanted to know more. Still, she was used to living a rather serene life. Usually it was Alexis who was being followed by camera’s and annoying reporters.

“My father is running for mayor, my mother is a well-known politician’s wife who visits numerous charity events. I’m used to people looking for the latest scoop. The past five years my parents became even more important to the city than they already were, which also means their opponents look harder for weaknesses. They enjoy seeing my face in the papers with yet another scandal. It makes it look like my parents raised me wrong. Fortunately for my mother’s poor heart, my brother and sister live the perfect life and seem untouchable.” Jade noticed a tightness in his voice as she spoke. 

“It’s the main reason why mother wants me to settle down. Yes, she wants me to find happiness, but she also wants to put a halt to the constant hits to my father’s reputation.”

Jade looked at Sedric in surprise. “I had no idea your father was running for mayor,” she mumbled, her eyes wide.

“It’s not yet official, but it won’t take much longer. In two weeks there’s an event where the candidates will be made known,” Sedric explained.