Copyright 2014 © Rosesareforever
Crossing Paths
Chapter 16
'No-Strings-Attached'
When Alexis finally left her apartment late at night, Jade called Sedric and told him the coast was clear. She hated that she had to tell her sister the truth, but she knew it would happen someday. Keeping a secret from Alexis was like trying to keep a sliding car on an icy road, close to impossible.
It didn’t surprise her Alexis was angry and didn’t understand why Jade would still hang out with Sedric. Her sister would never be able to forgive Marcus if he cheated, no matter how much she loved that man. Jade understood and respected that. It didn’t mean she had to listen to her sister and do the same. She was in a much more complicated situation.
“I’m sorry I caused trouble, buttercup. I swear I had no idea your sister was visiting,” Sedric said the moment Jade opened the door to let him enter her apartment. He honestly looked troubled, his brows drawn together and his lips pulled into an apologetic small smile.
“It’s okay,” Jade assured, putting her hand on his shoulder and squeezing softly. It had been a turbulent few days. Jade still didn’t know how she felt about the way Sedric and her relationship developed. She’d been ready to move on from him, ready to finally let go of her past feelings and find someone trustworthy she could build a future with. He shattered her perfect plan the moment he decided to return to her life and make sure she stopped seeing Tyler.
She should just tell him to leave her alone. It should be easy like that, but it wasn’t. If it had been, she wouldn’t have accompanied him to that family dinner. It had been a capital mistake on her part. She’d come to accept that she couldn’t let him go as easily as she wanted.
“She didn’t harass you too badly, did she?” he asked, resting his hands on her hips and pulling her a few inches closer. Jade knew she should put a stop to this – whatever it was. Yet, she didn’t do anything. Instead she leaned in to Sedric’s touch and stared deeply into his charcoal eyes. She was a junkie and he was her damned drug.
“She said what she had to say before eventually accepting my decision. Alexis is just protective of me.” It was nice to have someone that cared as much as Alexis did, but also damn annoying at times. Jade wished her sister wouldn’t interfere. Especially since Alexis tended to go overboard with her protectiveness.
“And what exactly is your decision?” Sedric asked curiously, one of his hands leaving her hip to caress the side of her face. Jade smiled contently as she accepted his touch and closed her eyes to think for a moment before answering his question.
“What are we doing, Sed?” she asked instead of replying. She needed to know Sedric’s intentions before she made any real decisions or stated her own. Jade admitted to her sister that she was sleeping with Sedric and told the woman to stay out of her business. That didn’t mean she actually knew what the hell she was doing. Damn. This was such a mess. Why couldn’t she keep her heart at bay?
Sedric sighed, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before refocusing his gaze on hers. “You can’t forgive the mistakes I made in the past and don’t trust me. I understand why and don’t judge you for it. I’ve my own reasons not to trust you. That being said, I like spending time with you - outside and inside the bedroom.”
Jade nodded in agreement, his words sounding reasonable to her ears. It was exactly the kind of situation they were currently in. They liked being around each other, but didn’t want anything serious to happen. “I know you’ll probably want to strangle me for proposing this, but I’d suggest we become friends with benefits. I’d like to be around you for a little while longer. We can both decide to end this whenever we want,” Sedric proposed, his voice soft and cautious.
“So basically you want to fuck me whenever you feel like it and not be committed to me in any other way?” Jade defined, eyes wide with disbelief.
“No,” Sedric quickly interrupted, shaking his head. “I want us to be friends, hang out, but also have a sexual relationship. I’ll promise for as long as our agreement lasts, I’ll stay faithful to you and only you – whether you believe it or not.”
Jade shook her head. Sedric proved a long time ago that staying faithful wasn’t exactly his forte. Still, his proposition didn’t sound all that bad. She admitted the pull between them was too strong to ignore. Some fun before she went looking for her ‘Mister Perfect’ wouldn’t hurt. That didn’t mean she didn’t want to add a few terms of her own.
“I won’t be a booty call. You’ll have to wine and dine me if you want to get lucky. You only date me and don’t tell anyone about our agreement. If I don’t feel like hanging out with you, you’ll have to accept that. I’ll only agree to this if it actually benefits me. I’m looking for a decent guy that I can trust and build a family with, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to have fun in the meantime. The moment I meet the person I’m looking for, our agreement ends and is never spoken of again.”
To Jade, her terms didn’t sound exorbitant. If Sedric wanted sex he’d have to work for it. She wasn’t planning on letting him visit her a few times a week to have sex and then leave. Jade was not that kind of girl, not even close.
“You want to start a family?” Sedric asked, frowning. His question surprised Jade. She didn’t think he’d be interested in what she wanted.
“I do. During our stay on the island, I realized I wasn’t living the kind of life I always dreamed of. I’ve always wanted to marry and have kids. I just haven’t met the right person yet,” she admitted. There had only been one person she ever considered as the father of her children and he hurt her deeply with his betrayal.
Sedric nodded, a flash of emotion going through his eyes. Jade tried to decipher what it was, but it was gone before she could try. “I agree to your terms. We’ll go out together and see where this takes us. If either of us wants to end it, it ends and we won’t speak of it again.”
“Sounds good,” Jade consented. Their agreement gave her some peace of mind, yet, she still wasn’t sure she was making the right choice. Sedric could hurt her, whether they were in a real relationship or not. Sadly, she didn’t think she could let him go just yet. Her heart and mind were fighting an endless battling when it came to Sedric Miller.
“You’re being far more understanding and tolerant than I expected. I thought for sure you’d try to castrate me for proposing this,” Sedric confessed, slowly pushing her against the nearest wall, trapping her with in his arms. Jade gasped softly as she hit the rough surface of the wall, her sapphire orbs dilated.
“I’m not as naïve as I used to be, Sed. I know these kind of relationships exist and don’t feel like I’m too good to try one myself. What Tyler and I did wasn’t much different,” Jade retorted.
“It sure was different, buttercup,” Sedric argued. “Tyler was never meant to stay around for much longer than a few weeks tops. I’m planning on making sure you don’t get bored that easily.” Jade bit her bottom lip to retain a moan as Sedric pushed his hips against hers and rubbed his growing erection against her sensitive button through several layers of fabric.
“You don’t know that for sure. Who knows, maybe I’ll get bored of you within a few days,” Jade objected, taunting Sedric. Like that would ever happen. They both knew she wouldn’t grow bored of him that easily.
“Buttercup, you’ll never get bored when I’m around,” he stated, his eyes holding a clear promise before he closed the remaining distance between their mouths. Jade’s eyelids fluttered closed the moment his lips connected with hers, a fire building in the pit of her stomach. Her posture relaxed as she melted in his arms, the throaty moan she had been holding back finally leaving her lips. He felt so damn good. How she could forget about the heavenly feelings he arose inside of her, she did not know.
Six years she was robbed of this intense pleasure. Not a single man that came after Sedric could make her forget about reality and get completely lost in a kiss. She forgot how utterly amazing it felt, was pretty sure she was addicted to the feeling.
With their mutual agreement, Jade finally had a piece of her control back and could start to fully enjoy the moments she shared with Sedric. The little of herself she’d kept locked away was suddenly released as she lost herself in his touch.
“God, you feel good,” she gasped as Sedric pressed himself even closer to her, his lips suckling at the sensitive spot just below the juncture of her throat. Her arms tightened around him, she threw her head back against the wall and moaned without reservation.
Sedric pulled back for a moment, his charcoal eyes intense and filled with passion before he attacked her lips a second time. One thing Jade knew for sure, whatever the outcome would be of their agreement, she’d thoroughly enjoy the ride however long it lasted.
***
“Are you ready?” Sedric called out from the living room as Jade fixed her makeup with a quick sweep of cherry red lip gloss in front of the bathroom mirror.
“Almost,” she called back, putting her earrings in before slipping her feet in a pair of spiky red heels.
Tonight was the official start of their agreement. Sedric called her earlier that day to inform her he’d made a reservation for them at a fancy restaurant in the city. He’d take her out, wine and dine her, before taking them to his apartment for a few rounds of unadulterated pleasure.
For the first time in years, Jade wasn’t stressed out or on edge. She felt relaxed and comfortable with the road she was on. After so many years of living without a defined course, it felt great to finally know where she stood and what she wanted. She’d made new goals and laid out the path she wanted to take to reach them.
While enjoying her agreement with Sedric, Jade would look for a suitable husband to start the next chapter of her life. She’d stop acting like a mindless workaholic and start enjoying life the way she was supposed to. Sadly, this new way of thinking also made her realize how much time she wasted. She spent years pining over a ruined relationship and put her life on hold.
“Damn, buttercup, you look ravishing,” Sedric whistled as she joined him in the living room, his voice low and his eyes dancing with lust.
Jade was dressed in a crimson gown that reached just below her knees and had a split on the side that showed an acceptable amount of skin. The bust had a slight v-cut that revealed a peek of cleavage, enough to get a man’s blood flowing, but not nearly enough to satisfy the hunger it created. The dress combined with killer heels, the right amount of makeup, badass accessories and a mane of wild blonde hair made Jade look beyond stunning.
“I can’t wait to rip that dress off your luscious body and find out what’s hidden underneath,” Sedric groaned, his eyes fixated on her curves. “It looks great on you, buttercup, but I can’t help but think it’ll look even better on the floor of my bedroom.”
A delicious tingle started between Jade’s legs as she gazed into Sedric’s darkened orbs. He wasn’t looking too bad himself in a pair of midnight blue dress pants, grey shirt and matching waistcoat. In fact, Jade was pretty sure she just lost the ability to form any coherent words after taking a closer look at him. Damn. That man was one delightful creature.
“I think it’s best we leave before we end up being late for our reservation,” Jade stated, turning around to take her coat and effectively ending their eye-fucking.
“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.
“So basically, your mother wants you to rectify your reputation by starting to date someone steadily and show your father’s opponents that you will no longer give them an opening to weaken his chances of becoming mayor,” Jade concluded. Sedric nodded and sighed deeply.
“Well, that explains why you were so desperate to fool everyone, including your family,” Jade muttered.
“I realize my plan was bound to fail, but I wanted to put my mother in her place, show her she can’t control what I do. It backfired, but that doesn’t mean I regret it. I knew that bringing someone to the wedding would make my mother shut up for a while. Sadly, I didn’t keep in mind that she reads people like they’re a damned book and easily saw through our scheme.”
“It’s over now. I don’t think your mother will bother you as long as our agreement lasts. We’ll just behave like a true couple in front of the public eye and keep our agreement a secret. To your father’s opponents it’ll look like you’re settling down, which is exactly what your mother wanted,” Jade clarified.
“You wouldn’t mind keeping this charade going until my father gets elected?” Sedric asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Elections are in five months. I doubt I’ll find my future husband before that time,” Jade remarked.
Sedric nodded. “It shouldn’t surprise me you’re looking for a husband to start a family with, but it does. I guess I never realized you’d move on to someone else to create the picture perfect life you used to describe to me.”
His honestly surprised Jade, she didn’t think he’d admit his true feelings. “We had something beautiful in the past, but it’s over. That doesn’t mean my life is over. I still want the same things I wanted six years ago.”
“You deserve the life you always wanted,” Sedric stated. “It’s good you’re finally going after your goals. I just wish things would’ve been different.”
“You and me both,” Jade admitted, smiling sadly as she looked Sedric in the eye.
“I guess I never really stopped loving you,” Sedric acknowledged softly, his eyes filled with sorrow. “I know we don’t have a future together, but I want you to know that despite what I did, I’ve always loved you.”
Almost choking on her drink, Jade put her glass of water down and stared at Sedric in shock. “You still love me?” she uttered.
“I do,” Sedric nodded. “I know it doesn’t make a difference, but I felt like you should know.”
Jade nodded, trying to process his words. “I never stopped loving you either,” she confessed quietly. “You hurt me so bad, yet I still love you as much as I did six years ago.” She felt a strange relieve in saying it out loud.
Sedric didn’t look surprised as he nodded and took Jade’s hand in his across the table. “I want you to find happiness and create the perfect family you always dreamed of, but as long as you’re mine I’m going to enjoy every second I spend with you. I’m going to make sure we make some damn good memories for when you decide it’s time to move on,” Sedric promised.
Jade blinked away a single tear as she stared in his eyes and nodded. “I’d like that.” She wouldn’t get the happy-ending with Sedric she used to dream of as a teenage girl, but at least they’d go separate ways as friends once the time came to say goodbye.
***
Jade felt like she’d just closed her eyes when her phone started ringing. Groaning, she reached for the vibrating device on top of her bed table and pressed it against her ear. “Lo?” she mumbled, still half asleep. Last night Sedric made sure to leave her with little to no energy. She didn’t think she’d be able to walk straight for days.
“Goddammit, Jade! What the hell did you do?” Stephanie’s screeching voice cried out. Groaning some more, Jade put some distance between her ear and the phone. The woman was way too loud and it was way too early in the morning in Jade’s opinion. She’d be deaf if she kept listening to her shouting.
“Good morning to you too, Steph,” Jade sighed, slowly opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling. Her body felt like it had been run over by a truck and the ache between her legs did not only remind her of last night, it also made her feel like Sedric was still buried deep inside of her. She sighed softly, already looking forward to the next round of hot, wild sex.
“Why is there a picture of Sedric Miller and you at some fancy restaurant on every online gossip forum I can find?” Stephanie questioned, sounding furious.
Jade cursed under her breath. She’d expected a cross exam from her friend, she’d just hoped it’d take a few days longer before Stephanie found out. The woman obviously meant well and wanted to protect her, but Jade was slowly growing aggravated with the constant remarks. Why was it so difficult for people to stay out of her business and let her make her own mistakes?
“Because we went on a date last night,” Jade replied after a moment of silence.
“A date?” Stephanie shrieked, sounding shocked and disbelieving.
“Yes, a date,” she confirmed. “We decided to become friends-with-benefits until I find Mr. Right. That includes hanging out with each other outside the bedroom as well.”
“You willingly cut a deal with that bastard to be friends-with-benefits?” Stephanie questioned, incredulously. “What’s going on with you Jade? Every time I talk to you this situation seems to get worse.”
Heaving a sigh, Jade shook her head. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Steph. You don’t agree with the decisions I make. I get that, believe me, I do. Just accept that it’s my life. I know you’re trying to look out for me, but it’s not necessary.”
Stephanie exhaled heavily and stayed silent for a moment. “I don’t want to fight about this anymore,” she eventually muttered.
“I don’t either,” Jade agreed. “I never wanted to discuss this in the first place. I know that we’ll never be on the same page.”
“It’s hard for me to watch you make mistakes and not intervene. I only want what’s the best for you, Jayjay. I hate seeing you hurting,” her friend uttered.
“I appreciate it, Steph, but sometimes it’s better to let me make my own mistakes. Right now, I’m not ready to abandon Sed just yet. I need more time.”
Stephanie laughed humorlessly. “Babe, you’re never going to be ready to let go of him. It’s obvious you still love him. You can’t walk away from that or you would’ve a long time ago.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving him, but that doesn’t mean I can’t move on with someone else,” Jade disagreed.
“Keep telling yourself that. As long as Sedric Miller is in your life, you won’t look at another man. No one will be good enough, because no one can compare to what he makes you feel,” Stephanie pointed out.
Jade wanted to argue, but couldn’t help but wonder if her friend might be right. Would she ever meet someone that could outshine Sedric? She liked to believe she could move on from him, but had to admit it seemed to be harder than she expected. What was so damn special about the man that made him irresistible? Why couldn’t she let go of him?
“Your silence speaks volumes, honey,” Stephanie stated. “I know I’m not going to change your mind and I no longer feel like fighting so I’m going to shut up about this, but please be careful, Jayjay. It’s for your own good.”
Jade wished she could follow her friend’s advice, but Stephanie was right. She couldn’t let go of Sedric. She didn’t even know if she would ever be able to let go.
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