Page 23 of Jake

J: Well, you can text me if you want or if you need me to come and save you, LOL.

L: Haha, I’ll keep that in mind.

J: So did you want to try for a date again this week?

L: Honestly, probably not. I don't know how things are gonna go at this party. Is there any way we can push it to next week?

J took longer to respond this time. She knew she had disappointed him. It made her feel bad.

She didn't really know how to handle this without telling him exactly what was going on. And what was he gonna say to that? She didn't know.

When his reply came through, she was a little taken aback.

J: Look, I really am interested in you but if you're not feeling this, it's not going to hurt my feelings. And I don't want to force you into something that you're not ready for or interested in.

She sat on it for a moment, trying to decide the right words to use. At this point, it was probably best to be honest with the man about her reservations and he could decide if he was even still interested. In the meantime, she could try some more to discover who he was before their next date.

Before she could write him back, Cade called her into his office. She slipped her phone into her purse before standing and smoothing out her skirt.

“Yes?” she asked as she entered his office.

“I need you to do something for me. My father is coming by again later.” Cade sighed and looked down. “Jake is going to come by. Hand him some papers and pretend to try to stop him from coming in here.”

“What?” Cade had never asked her anything like this before.

“Just any papers, like he’s got a meeting, and then make a show of stopping him from barging in.”

“Are you sure?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask. If you’d like to take the afternoon off instead, I’d understand and not be mad.” Cade looked directly at her.

“I don’t mind. It’s weird.” Very weird. “But I’m more concerned about you.”

“Everything is fine. I just don’t want to go into the weekend with his shit being in the forefront of my mind.” Cade motioned for her to sit. “You know he won’t give up the reins despite the fact that he literally did that.”

Lauren nodded.

“I’m working with Catherine to get him a long vacation planned. We are going to give it to my parents at their anniversary dinner next month in front of a lot of people so he can’t really turn it down. Then they’ll be gone for a while and I won’t have to deal with this. I’m hoping that a lot of time off will show him he doesn’t need to be here.”

“Make sense, I guess.”

“I know it’s odd, and absolutely no hard feelings if you don’t want to do this for me, but I was just thinking that if you show you’re trying to stop him, you won’t have to deal with his crap either.”

“Is this about the Harris deal?” she inquired.

“Yeah, and that I should make advantageous connections to grow the company. The same stuff Catherine gets. I’m sure you’ve heard.”

She had. Their dad was very insistent upon his children settling down. But it wasn’t to be with just anyone, nope, only someone who would benefit the company. She didn’t realize that Cade was feeling so pressured though.

Taking a moment to really study Cade today, she saw how tired he was. The man looked absolutely drained. She’d help, no matter how odd the request was this time, because she hated when his dad came to the office too.

“When is this supposed to happen?” she asked, thinking of what she could hand Jake when he got here.

“In an hour or so. Jake is having trouble with someone he’s been dating, so don’t be surprised if he shows up sooner rather than later. My father advised he was on his way right before I called you in.”

“I better get back to my post then,” she teased.

“Lauren,” he called.

---