Read A Jade's Trick (Lilly Black's Jaded Series Book 1) for Free Online Page A

not just beautiful.  He's intelligent and clever, and he makes me feel interesting and desirable.
    If only I had met him on a different time line , I think as he drives me home.
    "Stay put," Cain says when he stops the car in front of the little house I rent with Nicole.  "Friend or otherwise, you're still a lady."  I watch him in the headlights walking around the car to open my door.  He takes my hand and helps me out, and for an intense second we stand face to face, so close that I can smell mint on his breath.  I know he wants to kiss me, but instead he turns the grip he has on my right hand into a handshake, that smug look on his face as he does.
    "Do you have a security system?" he asks.
    "No," I say, and he scowls in disapproval.
    "When you get inside, I want you to blink the porch light twice so I know everything's okay."
    "Okay," I agree, thinking it's silly but flattered by his concern.
    "Good night, Ice Queen," Cain says, leaning against the car with a stunning smile that I like so much better than his trademark smirk.
    "'Night, Playboy, and thanks for dinner.  I enjoyed it," I say, and then I walk away without looking back.  I unlock the door, blink the porch light twice, and I hear a quick, soft honk of the Toyota's horn as Cain drives away.
    Damn!   I know what I said I wanted, but... damn!  
     

 
    As expected, Nicole is already in bed.  I crack her bedroom door and pop my head in to let her know that although I should be pissed at her, I'm not. That's all it takes, and she's up with her bedside lamp on in the blink of an eye.
    "So?  When are you going out again?" 
    "I had fun, but we decided to just be friends." 
    "Boo!"
    "Sorry to disappoint you."
    "What's the problem, Evan?  The guy's perfect."
    "You know very well what the problem is.  I have to be realistic, Nic."
    "I don't want you to be realistic.  If I can't have his brother, you have to do this for me.  It's all I've got."
    "Drama queen," I say, with a roll of my eyes.
    "Seriously, Ev."
    "So the older brother impressed you?"
    "He did," Nicole said, a downtrodden look upon her face.  "But the whole thing was just a scheme to hook you up with Cain.  I knew Caleb was married all along."
    "Yeah, Cain told me about his brother's wife.  I'm sorry," I say as I sit on the bed beside her.  It sucks that when she finally meets the guy who measures up to her fantasies, he's married.
    "Have you seen her?" she asks, and I nod no.  "Look her up on the internet.  Arianna Ballantyne.  She's really pretty."
    "She may be, but according to Cain, she's a harpy," I say, and we both laugh.
    "It doesn't matter.  Married is married.  He's off limits," she says with a sigh.
    "There is a younger brother, you know," I say.  "He's about our age."
    "I'll take living vicariously through you, thanks,"  Nicole says.  I should have known better.  She likes her men older...Caleb Ballantyne older.
    "Well, you're going to have to enjoy living vicariously as Cain's friend because that's all we're going to be."
    "Psh!" she mutters in disgust.
    "Goodnight, Nicole," I say, turning off the lamp as I leave.
    "Evan," she calls out as I am just about to close her bedroom door.  "I knew you'd be pissed about me setting you up, but I want you to know why I did it.  When he came to me to plan it, the look in his eyes when he talked about you...it was intense, and then when he said that he would do anything to hold you...you wouldn't believe how hot it was."
    "To hold me?" I question, certain that Cain did not mean whatever Nicole thinks he meant by the word.  It just sounds off, reminding me of what he said about breaking me.  "That man has something fucked up on his mind."
    "Shut up!  It was romantic." 
    "'Night, Nicole," I say sternly, closing her door.
    In my room, I lay on the bed staring at the dark ceiling, trying to process the evening's events.  Cain seems sincere but too good to be true, and with trust not being in my nature, I cannot let go of the