Page 4 of Unofficial

Then there's Jordan, the guy who hates Kade because he got passed over for the promotion Kade received. They started at the same time, and unlike Jordan, Kade poured his heart into the job. He not only showed his worth but his ability to lead. Everything they needed in a contractor and now manager. Because of this, Jordan does everything in his power to make Kade look bad.

And then there’s the fact he's an only child who was raised by his aunt and uncle at the age of eight when his mom died and dad went to prison. His cousin, Drew, is more like a brother than a cousin to him, which makes the situation with Lena even creepier.

Drew has a son and a daughter, and Jess has gone to dance recitals and band concerts because they're so important to Kade. She formed a friendship with his family and a bond with their children. She goes shopping with Drew’s wife, Sarah.

It's not only that she knows him, though. He knows her, too. He knows that her boss, Paul, is more like a father and mentor than the owner of the company. How she hopes to continue to move up and buy Paul out one day when he decides to retire. How angry she feels when she thinks about how his kids want his money rather than take over the prestigious architecture firm he's created and carry on the legacy. That it'll be bittersweet if she does achieve her goals because it means losing the mentor she never knew she needed in the process.

Jess met Kade five months ago, but she knew a couple of weeks in she was in love. For the first time in her life, she thought she knew what real love felt like. It didn't hurt he checked off almost every box of the list she created when she was twenty-two and fresh out of college when it came to her future husband. Every box except monogamy, it seems.

The night they met felt like the type of story people tell their children and grandchildren. She'd been at the bar on one of the worst dates of her life. The guy she met was obsessed with himself. Everything he talked about circled back to his looks. Or how cool he was in high school. Which was over fifteen years ago. She heard multiple versions of the same story about how he took his team to state as the second-string quarterback. Of course, he should have been starting the moment he stepped on the field his freshman year, but the coach understood the mistake he made. When the coach put him in, he made history. Brought the team back from a guaranteed loss after two starters got injured, and they won the first championship in forty years. The number of points they scored changed based on which number beer he was on.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stay in the conversation. Not that her input or attention was even necessary. It was completely one-sided, and she just basically sat there drinking her drink. On top of that, he'd had four drinks to her one since she arrived, and he had how many in the hour before she met him. There was not enough alcohol in the world to make him remotely tolerable.

Kade happened to see Jess looking around for the waitress, desperation obviously written on her face. Or so he said. He walked over and asked her to dance. The guy she was with barely noticed someone else walk up, let alone speak to her.

"You know, I don't think I'm really necessary for this conversation. Hank, it was really great meeting you," Jess said and stood up.

To her astonishment, Hank just continued talking. Kade smirked and led her to the dancefloor, spinning her around to George Strait. She used to joke to her best friend that she fell in love with Kade that night. Her white knight, which she never thought she'd find endearing, being an independent woman and all. But he made everything so damn endearing.

When Kade asked her out again, she nearly jumped for joy. Two dates later, she let him take her to his place and his bed. Her expectations were higher than she'd like to admit, considering how everything transpired between them, and he did not disappoint. In fact, Kade was the best sex she'd ever had.

Jess woke the next morning in his bed alone. She immediately feared the worst. Was it a one-night stand, and he disappeared to get rid of her? Was he waiting across the street for her to leave before coming back home? Never in her life had she had a one-night stand, and she struggled with the thought that her white knight would turn into a horse's ass come daylight.

Getting dressed, she walked into his kitchen. He set his keys on the counter that night as they kissed their way into the entryway, and they were now gone. He up and left her in his condo.

The front door opening captured her attention, and he smiled at her as he stepped inside with a white paper bag and two to-go cups of what she assumed to be coffee.

"Hey, I didn't want to wake you. I made an assumption that you like lattes, but if not, I'll drink it. I also got us some breakfast to refuel after last night," Kade said, a sly smirk on his face.

She remembered everything they did the night before, and she never felt so sexy and naughty in bed before. He had a way of making her lose all inhibitions and give into the moment. Yeah, she definitely deserved that sly smirk, and she wanted nothing more than to strip down naked and do it all again.

Just like that, Kade was her white knight again, and she couldn't get enough. They talked and spent as much time together as possible from that morning forward. For the first two months, their time was spent consistently naked, but they had a few moments of clothed goodness, too. Her plan to be married by thirty and have her first of two kids by thirty-two seemed to be coming together. For the first time, she felt she found the person she'd been looking for her entire life.

Her phone rings, and her heart sinks when she sees Noelle's name instead of Kade's. He hasn't even texted an apology. She at least expected a simple I'm sorry message. Deep down, she wanted him to beg for forgiveness. Hell, she'd even settle for another lame excuse. Something.

"Noelle..."

"Where does he live?"

Noelle Drake stands barely above five feet tall, but she has the personality to take on any man in the city. The feisty redhead may look like a pixie, but she doesn't talk or act like one. In fact, if you didn’t see her, you'd assume she stood over six-foot-five with biceps the size of basketballs.

"I'm pretty sure it's over."

"What happened?" she asks, the phone shifting as she turns down the volume of whatever she has playing in the background. "I expected to get your voicemail, but I was checking on how your soup routine worked. I had a feeling he wasn't really sick."

He may not be sick, but Jess sure as hell feels like she is as the memory of the man she thought she'd marry pounding into Lena plays on a loop in her mind. "No, no, he wasn't."

"What'd he do?" she gasps.

"A girl named Lena."

"Excuse me?"

The sound in the background turns off completely, and Jess hears car keys. "Yeah."

"Who the hell is Lena?"

"The girl he said was his cousin."

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