healing-hearts (12 page)

“So, if you feel that strongly about having children, why haven’t you already married some guy and started a family of your own?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve been there and done that and I promised myself I would never allow it to happen to me again.”

“Was it that bad?” He asked softly.

“If you want to put it mildly.”

Intuitive, he changed the subject away from her marriage. “So, what’s stopping you from adopting the kids? I know a guy who adopted his goddaughter and he’s a single parent. You have your own company, I’m sure you have some type of home to accommodate them and the finances to care for them, so what’s the problem?”

“I can provide for their physical needs, and emotionally—I already love them.”

“Have you already begun the process to adopt them?”

The dying embers of the finally fire works held her gaze. “I tried. But I was discouraged at every turn because of my marital status.” Exhaling a deep breath to keep her emotions under control, she continued. “So, I’m left empty-handed, while they continue their days in an orphanage instead of in a loving and stable home where they can flourish.”

“How bad do you want them?”

“Jason, nothing has mattered to me in a long time. Joshua and Jessica...fill every void in me.” Her voice was becoming thick and tight with her effort to control her emotion and not break down in front of him.

Jason didn’t say anything; he just sat quietly beside her. Yasmine could see his profile from the corner of her eyes as he stared out at the ocean.

“I’ll marry you.”

Yasmine couldn’t believe her ears. She had never been so insulted with something someone had said to her since she had left Blake.

She couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in her eyes as she glanced toward him. “What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Yasmine—”

She abruptly cut him off. “No, Jason, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Do you think that I would sit here and tell you all of this so you could pity me and propose to me?” Yasmine scrambled to her feet. “You know what, don’t answer that, and stay away from me.”

She was glad she had taken off her sandals when they first walked onto the beach, because it made her escape easier as she ran across the sand to the hotel.

She could hear Jason yelling her name behind her, trying to get her to stop, but she continued in her blind escape as the tears ran down her face. Her pounding feet took her to the hotel room—and the solitude she sought.

~ML~

Jason couldn’t believe what had just happened. Part of him wasn’t even sure why he had made the offer of marriage to Yasmine. The only thing he was certain about was that he had messed up big, if the tears in her eyes were any sign. He didn’t think she would ever give him a chance to explain his offer or see her again, which he wanted to do.

Jason followed Yasmine at a much slower pace. He wouldn’t try to talk to her tonight; he’d just wait until tomorrow or go by her office and see her.

Hell
, he didn’t even know what he was going to say to her when he saw her. He couldn’t just retract his proposal.

Did he want to take it back?
Jason questioned himself.

Shaking his head to clear the fog of the evening’s events, he arrived at his hotel room. He did something that he never did, he walked into the room and turned on the TV loudly, hopefully the walls of the suite were thick and he wouldn’t disturb his neighbors. He just wanted to drown out his own thoughts and not think about anything.

“Aww, hell, Yassi, what happened?” Leigh questioned when she showed up at her room the next morning for breakfast.

Yasmine could only assume she looked atrocious, standing at the door—she had cried into her pillow most of the night before she had drifted off into an exhausted sleep. The only thing she had removed was her dress; she had slept in her body slimmer corset. It was amazing she hadn’t gone into a coma from lack of oxygen.

Leigh closed the door. “He didn’t try and force himself on you did he, Yassi? You know sometimes it’s the strong silent ones you have to watch against.”

Shaking her head, Yasmine plopped down on the sofa. “It would have made more sense if he had tried to make a move. But, unfortunately that’s where his manners as a gentleman stopped.”

Leigh sat down on the coffee table in front of Yasmine.

“So, if he didn’t make a move on you, then what happened?” Her best friend’s finger was aimed directly at her nose. “And you better not tell me “nothing” or that you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Trust me, I wasn’t going to say that, because it is a
big
something, and boy do I want to get your advice on the situation. I was going to call you last night, but I figured you were still out.”

“You could have. I didn’t go out. I stayed in and waited up for you. But, I fell asleep next to a half-eaten room service plate. I even missed the fireworks.”

“They were nice, you would have liked them.”

“We’re not going to change the subject, so talk to me, girl. What could have happened that would have made you wake up with Muppet hair?”

Smiling at her friend’s accurate depiction of her looks, Yasmine started at the beginning of when she first arrived at the party and brought Leigh up to date.

Yasmine bit on her bottom lip as she waited for her friend’s comments about what had happened.

The silence dragged on. “Leigh, why would he say that to me? Was it just some cruel joke? If so, what would be the
damn
point?”

Yasmine could hear and feel her emotions beginning to resurface.

Leigh picked up on it also, evident in her comforting touch. “Take a breath and relax, the last thing we need in a situation like this is the ‘Blake’ stomach ulcer acting up again. I don’t think he was playing a joke on you, Yassi.”

“No? Well it sure as hell felt like one. Maybe this is just the kind of games thirty-three year old men play.”

“Yasmine, I’m not the person to tell you why he asked you.” Leigh’s voice calm.

“Then who is?”

Yasmine watched her friend’s eyebrow lift. She was making a statement and hadn’t even opened her mouth.

“
I am not
going to ask him! Do you think I ever want to see him again?” Yasmine rose from the couch and swept past her friend to the bedroom.

Leigh followed behind her. “Girl, it’s your choice if you never want to see him again, but you’re never going to have any peace until you ask Jason himself.”

Yasmine knew her friend was right about her having peace of mind. The confusion had already ruined one night. She shouldn’t allow it to destroy anymore. She had given Blake that power and she wouldn’t give it to anyone else again.

“One last thing?”

“What’s that?” Yasmine questioned as she began to load her things back in her small suitcase and prepare for check out.

“Before you go see him. You may want to think about getting dressed and taming the shrew.” Leigh gave her one of her infamous cheeky smiles and pointed to the disarray of Yasmine’s hair.

“I’ll think about it.” Yasmine tossed a handful of clothes at Leigh and headed toward the bathroom.

~ML~

“Coming,” Jason called out to the knock on his room door as he rose from the two-person table in the living room, by the balcony where the room service attendant had placed his food fifteen minutes ago.

Just as he made what would have been his first pass of the door to his suite, heading to the bedroom to grab a robe before opening the door, it swung open. Turning toward the intruder, whom he assumed was the housekeeping trying to rush him out of the room before check out, Jason froze.

“I t-thought I h-heard you s-say c-come in.”

Jason heard Yasmine stammer as she did a good job of not staring at him, fresh out of the shower and wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

“Actually, I said,
coming
. My mother would be so disappointed in me—she’s worked hard to teach us to say, ‘One moment, please.’ She used to say coming would get you in awkward situations if someone misunderstood—now I see.” Jason felt like he was rambling. He was tempted to continue on to his room and get the robe, but he was afraid that if he left the room, so would Yasmine.

“I apologize. Would you like me to leave?”

Jason hated the quiet tone she was using. He hadn’t known her that long, but he could sense that she was using it because she was uncomfortable or nervous and he wanted her to be neither.

“Don’t leave.” He continued, “It would only take me a moment to get a robe, if my apparel is making you uncomfortable.

Jason noticed the drop of her gaze, but they quickly returned to his face. He saw the rise of her chest as she took a deep breath.

“I’m not going to be here that long. I just have one question for you.”

He knew what she was going to ask, but he still gestured for her to proceed.

“Why? Was it all a joke?”

“Yasmine, sit down, please.”

She looked as if she was warring with herself, whether to stay or not.

Jason walked back over toward the balcony and slid out the other chair at the table for her to sit in. Decision made, she walked over to the table and claimed the seat.

Jason took time to collect his thoughts as he reclaimed his vacated seat, placed one ankle on top of the opposite knee and his hand on the side of his face. Index finger resting on his temple, middle finger under his nose, while the other two curled toward his palm and his thumb tucked itself under his chin. It was his relaxed look, the one he had mastered that announced,
I’m cool, calm, collected and in full control.

He prayed it didn’t come across as the lie it was.

“No, it wasn’t a joke. I wouldn’t play around with anything that serious. I’m trying to make some life changes.”

“Then I know you were playing me—because you don’t even take your own life seriously and you had a heart attack.”

“Ouch! That was a low blow.”

Sitting this close to her Jason could see he wasn’t the only one who’d had a rough night. In the direct light of the sun he could see a red tint and puffiness to her eyes.

“You’re right—outside of my family I don’t take many things seriously. I may even play around with my own health and life. But, my job is very important to me.”

“So which on of those things are responsible for you saying what you did last night?” She crossed her arms under her breasts.

Even with puffy red eyes, a simple short sleeve top and snug fitting jeans, she was still attractive to him, he could feel his desire for her begin to stir. He had to remind himself he was only dressed in a towel and if he didn’t keep himself relaxed his thoughts would become evident to her beneath the terry cloth material.

Entwining his fingers together, he placed them over his abs. “My job is responsible for me asking you to marry me.”

“I’m not understanding,” she acknowledged. “Look, Leigh is waiting for me downstairs. Can you stop all the riddles and just be straight with me?”

Jason appreciated her directness, if she agreed it would make the arrangement that much easier.

“Yasmine, you and I both have a problem that the other one can solve.”

She made a gesture to indicate she was listening and wanted him to continue.

“Everyone, including my boss, thinks that I need something in my life. I can disregard why most people are telling me that, but not Mr. Coleman.”

“Why?”

“Because I want the position of vice-president that will be available this fall. Right now there are two of us who are up for the position. You remember Raquel from last night. She is the other contender. Well, Mr. Coleman had a meeting with me when I got back to work after my heart attack and said he was leaning very strongly toward me.” He exhaled a breath. “It was like music to my ears. The only thing about it is that he’s afraid if I don’t have some outside interests that don’t include my work, then I’m going to have another heart attack. No amount of verbal reassurance from me is enough to ease his mind. I still may get the position, because I’m damn good. But, I don’t want to run on maybes. I’ve worked too hard. In the last three years since he had open-heart surgery and I assisted the current vice-president, I’ve given up everything for this job. Which I don’t regret.”

When Yasmine made a move to say something, Jason raised his hand to stop her.

“Nor do I intend to change my life.”

“You don’t think that getting married will change your life?” Yasmine’s voice didn’t sound as if she was convinced.

“Not with you it won’t.”

“How’s that?” Yasmine asked defensively.

“Do you want to be married?”

“No!” Yasmine was emphatic.

“That was fully confirmed in your reaction last night. You just want to raise two precious little ones.”

Jason let the silence grow at the table, then reached for the hot carafe of coffee and poured some into his cup; which he was about to do before she showed up.