Читать книгу The Danforths: Wesley, Ian & Imogene - Brenda Jackson - Страница 11

Four

Jasmine sat forward and rested her forearms on the table as she glanced around the coffeehouse. She was getting bored.

She’d already been here for an hour and so far she hadn’t found out anything about Abraham Danforth that she hadn’t already known. The waitress who had waited on her hadn’t been too chatty and when she had spoken, it was to sing Abraham Danforth’s praises. It seemed that everyone wanted to share the good stuff about him but no one was willing to divulge the bad.

She glanced across the room and knew the man looking at her so intently was Ian Danforth, Abraham’s oldest son and CEO of Danforth and Company. She heard he frequented the coffee shop since he, along with his brother Adam and cousin Jacob were the owners. She’d also heard that he was a playboy which wouldn’t surprise her, given what she’d been able to dig up on the very handsome man with wavy brown hair and hazel eyes.

A Duke University graduate, he had married at twenty-two because his girlfriend had gotten pregnant. A few months into the marriage, the woman had lost the baby. Somehow it had been revealed that she’d never wanted Ian or the baby, just Ian’s money. Subsequently the marriage ended in a divorce. Over the years, his sister and cousins had tried playing matchmaker but from what Jasmine gathered, Ian Danforth only dated women that he was in no danger of falling in love with.

Jasmine had even gone so far as to do research to locate his ex-wife, Lara, to see if there was any scoop the woman had wanted to share but hadn’t been able to find her. After leaving Savannah, Lara Danforth appeared to have fallen off the face of the earth.

Jasmine decided to shift her thoughts to something else—something pleasant. She thought about the interview she had done last week. The article had appeared in today’s paper and her editor had been very generous with his praise. The interview had been with a female teacher who had recently returned from Iraq and had shared her year-long experience. It was too bad that stories like those couldn’t advance a reporter’s career to the next level. The majority of the reading public wanted to know about a famous person’s sordid past and juicy present, especially if that person was a “wanna be” politician like Abraham Danforth. Those were the type of stories that could boost a reporter’s career.

Jasmine took a sip of her coffee thinking how good it tasted. There were several D&D coffeehouses around the city and she usually dropped into one from time to time to drink coffee and eat a danish or two.

She glanced around, wondering whom she could possibly make conversation with that might have the information she needed. She’d heard that of all the coffeehouses, this was the one Abraham Danforth frequented the most. It was also rumored that he usually made an appearance with his PR person, Nicola Granville, every Wednesday night to discuss strategy over coffee. Jasmine hoped that if that meeting took place tonight, she would be within listening range. There was no telling the information she could pick up from that discussion.

Suddenly, Jasmine felt a warmth slide up her spine and she shifted her gaze to the entrance of the coffeehouse.

Wesley Brooks.

Their gazes connected and she inhaled slowly. The man was frowning. Her hand tightened around the cup of coffee she held in her hand, bracing herself for the anger she felt radiating from him all the way across the room. She had never known a man who could look so good when he was mad. And, boy, did he look good. Marvelous was a better word. She would even go so far to use the word striking.

Wearing a pair of jeans that looked like they were custom-made for his body, and a pullover shirt, he looked delicious, good enough to eat or to lick all over. She blinked, not believing the direction of her thoughts but lately she’d found that Wesley Brooks had featured prominently in her sexual fantasies; fantasies she’d never had until meeting him.

She let out a long, deep sigh. So what if she found him attractive. She was a woman and he was a man. No big deal. But as she continued to hold his angry gaze, she decided it was a big deal when they each considered the other the enemy. He was determined to put himself in the path of what she wanted, what she needed the most—a news-breaking story.

As he slowly skirted around several tables to head her way, she vowed not to be intimidated by him. She lifted her chin, refusing to turn to mush as the strong, well-defined muscles of his chest and shoulders became more defined by the glow of lanterns burning on the walls. His jeans and the way he was wearing them made every woman in the place sensually aware of him as a man. She didn’t miss the number of female heads that turned to look at him.

Mercy, she thought. The man was filling her vision. He was also filling something else; a desire to release the suppressed hormones trying to spring to life inside of her. She’d always thought of herself as a good girl but tonight, this very second, the thoughts flooding her mind weren’t good. They were racy, torrid…just plain bad.

Jasmine self-consciously cleared her throat when he came nearer, and tried to ignore the way her body was reacting. Her blouse suddenly felt too tight against her breasts. She frowned, not liking the thought that Wesley Brooks could fill her with hot sensations whenever he was within a hundred feet of her. But then from the articles she had read in the paper in the society columns, women drooled over him all the time, which was one of the reasons he had a reputation for being an irresistible ladies’ man. Now that Jake Danforth was married off, Wesley Brooks’s and Ian Danforth’s names headed Savannah’s list as the city’s most eligible bachelors; bachelors that any woman would want.

When he came to a stop at her table, she leaned back in her chair and exhaled a long, deep breath. He was upset at seeing her here tonight. It then dawned on her that he was upset but not surprised. In fact, he had walked in like he had expected to find her, which meant someone had tipped him off. She glanced over at Ian Danforth and he gave her a mega-watt smile. She frowned. The man had obviously snitched on her.

She shrugged. This was a free country and she had the right to go wherever she wanted. If Wesley thought just because he was holding her locket hostage that he could dictate how she spent her evenings, then he had another thought coming. Thanks to her stepmother and stepsisters, she had learned a long time ago how to stick up for herself and not let anyone run her life. She might have little control over Wesley Brooks dominating her dreams but she refused to let him command the hours while she was awake.

So as calmly as she could, she returned his stare as she gripped the coffee cup tighter in her hand. She twisted her lips in a forced smile. “Wesley, funny seeing you here.”

* * *

There was nothing funny about it at all, Wesley thought, meeting her gaze. Whenever he saw her, his hormones shifted into overdrive and visions of naked bodies, silken sheets and thrusting motions danced in his head.

Jasmine Carmody just might be the death of him; but before he died, he wanted to do something outrageous like reach across the table, snatch her up in his arms and mold her smart-ass mouth against his.

Without waiting for an invitation he knew he’d never get, he took the chair across from her. “What are you doing here, Jasmine?”

She smiled at him. Again. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m sitting here minding my own business, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a danish. Is that a crime?”

Wesley shrugged. “Not if you were really minding your own business. But it’s my understanding that you’ve been asking questions.”

She sighed. Evidently the waitress had talked. There would be no tip for her tonight. “Asking questions is part of my job.”

“Then consider yourself officially off work.”

Jasmine’s gaze narrowed. “I’m never off work.”

Wesley replaced the frown with a slow smile, but it was a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Then I guess I’ll have to change that.”

He stood and pulled several bills out of the pocket of his jeans and tossed them on the table. “Come on.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. “I said come on. It’s time you stop working and have fun and I know just the place to take you.”

To the gallows to chop off her head no doubt, Jasmine thought as she eyed him warily. She was curious and intrigued, but not stupid. And although she had no intentions of going anywhere with him, she asked anyway. “Where?”

“To the country fair that’s in town.”

Jasmine leaned back in her chair. The fair came to town every year and she couldn’t recall the last time she had gone. Suddenly her mouth watered at the thought of a candied apple, cotton candy and popcorn, not to mention the rides. She wondered what she had to lose if she decided to indulge in a little fun. It then occurred to her that she could possibly lose out on getting the scoop on Abraham Danforth if he showed up here tonight. But then she doubted Wesley would let her follow through with any plan she’d made concerning Abraham tonight anyway. Besides, after the short conversation she’d had with her stepmother earlier, she needed to do something that would make her scream, and a roller-coaster ride just might do the trick.

However, there was another stumbling block. If she went with Wesley to the fair, some people might construe it as a date.

She crossed her arms over her chest knowing he had an ulterior motive for asking her to the fair. Was something going down tonight that she needed to know about? “Why?”

He lifted a brow. “Why what?”

“Why do you want to take me to the fair?”

He smiled. “I just told you. I think you work too much. You need to have fun, live a little, let your hair down and play,” he said, reaching out and pulling on one of her braids.

He may as well have been pulling on the nipples of her breasts from the sensation that suddenly zipped to their sensitive tips. It had sent a jolt right through her. Unfortunately, her body’s reaction only proved she had a lot of nervous energy to work off so maybe going to the fair was not a bad idea.

“And there’s no reason for you not to go, unless…”

She lifted a brow. “Unless what?”

“Unless you don’t think you can handle me.”

Jasmine frowned. Truthfully, she doubted she could handle him, but she would never let him know that. She had learned the hard way to never let anyone know her weaknesses. “You’re nothing to handle, Wesley,” she lied, meeting his gaze.

His smile widened and he leaned closer and whispered, “Prove it.”

She blinked wondering how such a thing could be proven. Evidently he was used to women seducing him. To him this was all a game, a game that he knew the rules to and was well versed at playing.

Jasmine sighed, not able to think straight with such a gorgeous set of hazel eyes staring at her. She wondered if she would regret her decision in the morning.

“All right,” she said standing. “Just for tonight, we’ll call a truce and have some fun. But tomorrow it’s back to work as usual.”

Wesley chuckled and decided not to tell her that once she began playing with him, work would never be the same again.

Moments later they were walking out of the coffeehouse. “We’ll go in my car and I’ll bring you back here afterward to get yours,” Wesley said, as they stepped into the parking lot.

Jasmine nodded as he led her toward his car. Tonight he was driving the Corvette again.

He unlocked the passenger car door for her and she slipped into the smooth leather seat. She immediately tugged her skirt down when she noted his gaze drifted to her exposed thighs and legs.

“Thanks and you can close the door now,” she said, when he continued to stand there.

“All right,” he said, meeting her gaze once more before closing the door. He rounded the hood and opened the driver’s door to get in. “So how long have you lived in Savannah?”

She glanced over at him. “For eight years, ever since college. I came here to attend Savannah State and my father decided to accept a position at the hospital to be near me.”

Wesley nodded. “Dr. James Carmody, head of orthopedics?” When he’d first found out her name, he had wondered if she was related to the doctor. Carmody wasn’t a common name in these parts.

She raised a brow. “Yes, you know him?”

“We’ve met,” Wesley said, backing up the car and heading toward the expressway. “We’ve run into each other at several social functions.” He glanced over at her. “I’ve also met your mother and your sisters before but I never knew the doctor had a third daughter.”

Jasmine turned and met his gaze when she again remembered the conversation she’d had with her stepmother earlier. “You met my stepmother and stepsisters. Biologically, I’m my father’s only child and although he’s never legally adopted my stepsisters, they find it very convenient to use my father’s last name.”

Wesley nodded and remembered the woman in the locket was not the woman he’d met who’d tried throwing her two daughters at him. Evidently there was no love lost between Jasmine, her stepmother and stepsisters, Wesley thought, as he kept his gaze on the road. He decided to file that information away just in case he needed to use it later.

“So where are you from originally?” he decided to ask her.

“I was born in Louisiana and lived there until my mother died when I was nine. The memories of my mother’s death were too much for my father, so he transferred to a hospital in L.A. It was there that he met my stepmother and they married when I turned sixteen.”

Jasmine didn’t ask him about his background since she’d heard the story already. Although he hadn’t had a family to call his own in the past, he definitely had one now with the Danforths. They claimed him as part of their family and according to Ronnie, the Danforths were very protective of him…just as much as he was of them.

The conversation between them came to an end. In a way she preferred the silence and took a moment to appreciate the night. There were stars in the sky and a full moon overhead and since they were close to the Atlantic coast, she could smell the ocean, and with the window down she could pick up the scent of the wildflowers in bloom. Spring was her most favorite time of the year.

It was a beautiful night, and a part of her was grateful to Wesley for taking her away…even if he had an ulterior motive in doing so. She smiled. Tonight he intended to pick her brain instead of letting her pick someone else’s.

“The fair doesn’t look crowded,” Wesley said, breaking into Jasmine’s thoughts when they had reached the fair grounds.

As he pulled into a parking space she immediately picked up the scent of hot dogs, cooked onions and popcorn. “Probably because tomorrow is a school day. They must get most of their business on the weekends.”

Wesley grinned. “That’s good since it means no long lines.” He turned off the car’s ignition and turned to her. “Come on, let’s have fun.”

Four hours later an exhausted Jasmine felt tired and drained as they made it back to Wesley’s car. She had never realized that having fun could sap a person of all their energy.

“Are you sure it will be all right for my car to stay at the coffeehouse all night? I’d hate to return in the morning to find it’s been towed away,” she was barely able to get out the words she felt so worn out. All she could do was slip into the car when he opened the door. Moments later when she heard the sound of the ignition, she decided to relax with her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. There was no way she could drive home tonight and appreciated Wesley for offering to take her directly home.

“I’m positive since the coffeehouse stays open all night. I’ll call Ian when I get home to let him know it’s there.”

“Thanks, and thanks for tonight. I had so much fun and the roller-coaster ride was wonderful. I really needed to scream.”

He raised a brow as he lowered the volume on the CD player. “You needed to scream?”

A smile touched her lips. “Yes. My stepmother got on my last nerve earlier today and I’ve been wanting to scream ever since.”

Suddenly Wesley’s body ached at the thought of another method he could have used to make her scream. He had been too aware of Jasmine tonight. And he was even more aware of her now. Even the sound of her breathing as she sat next to him with her eyes close and her head thrown back, was a total turn-on. His hands tightened on the steering wheel when he remembered how she’d all but jumped into his lap during the ride through the haunted house. She had felt so good in his arms.

“You got a busy day tomorrow?” he asked.

When he came to a traffic light, he watched as she slowly moved her head and opened her eyes to look at him. “I don’t have to go into the office but I have a number of personal chores and errands to do. So I’d appreciate it if you let the shadow thing rest for a day.”

He chuckled as he moved his gaze back to the road when the traffic light changed. The thought of not seeing her tomorrow bothered him more than it should have. “I’ll think about it. Besides, you’ll need me to take you to the coffeehouse tomorrow to get your car.”

“No, thanks. I can manage. I’ll just ask Ronnie to take me.”

His gaze flickered back to her for a quick moment. “Ronnie?”

“Yes, Veronica Strongman, a co-worker and good friend.”

Wesley released a deep breath, one he wasn’t aware that he’d been holding. At first he had assumed Ronnie was a male and he didn’t want to acknowledge the quick stab of jealousy at the thought she was involved with someone. But did she have a man in her life? It was something he’d wondered about since meeting her. Now was as good a time as any to find out.

“What about your boyfriend? Can’t he take you to pick it up?”

She chuckled like the question had amused her. “That’s not a possibility since I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t believe in dating.”

She’d said the words with such a firm conviction that Wesley immediately believed her. “Why don’t you believe in dating?” he asked more than mildly curious.

“Mainly to keep peace in my family since it seems my stepsisters have a tendency to want anything I have, and they have proven in the past that a boyfriend is no different.”

He was glad the car had come to a complete stop for a train so he could look over at her. “One of your sisters took your boyfriend?”

Even as tired as she was, Jasmine couldn’t help but grin at the look of shock on Wesley’s face. “Yes, they’ve done so a couple of times, although now as I look back, they were doing me favors. Especially with one man I had planned to marry by the name of Paul Sanders. But still, it was just the principle of the thing.”

Wesley shook his head. Evidently, in addition to there not being any love lost between Jasmine and her stepsisters, there wasn’t any loyalty, either. “But why would they do something like that?”

“Because neither of them feel I’m deserving of anything, especially a little love and happiness.” She wondered why she was even sharing this information with Wesley. She was obviously more tired than she had thought to be talking so freely about an issue that had caused her such pain two years ago. The only other person who knew about the strained relationship between her stepmother and stepsisters was Ronnie.

“Why didn’t you tell your stepmother so she—”

Jasmine cut off his question with outright laughter. “She’s the one who orchestrated the entire thing. My fiancé was an attorney and we had set a date to marry. It had really bothered my stepmother from the first that Paul had shown interest in me and not her darling daughters. One day I left to go out of town and she arranged for me to walk in and catch him and Alyssa in a very compromising situation when I returned. I had to applaud my stepmother for her cunning and boo Paul for his weakness. I broke our engagement and walked out the house that day thinking they deserved each other. That’s the same day I moved out.”

He nodded. “Are Alyssa and Paul still together?”

“No, that happened over two years ago. Alyssa decided that she needed a richer husband than an attorney and has since shifted her sights on greener pastures.”

Wesley shook his head, thinking that if he lived to be the ripe old age of one hundred, he still wouldn’t be able to figure out the workings of a female mind. Moments later, he pulled into Jasmine’s apartment building and brought the car to a stop. “Are you sure you don’t need me to take you to get your car tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’m positive,” she said, deciding it was best to get out of the car and go inside now that she’d become awake and her awareness of him had doubled. But for some reason, she couldn’t move and for an endless moment their gazes met and held.

“Thanks again for tonight. I’ll probably sleep like a baby, I’m so exhausted,” she said quietly.

He nodded, doubting he would sleep at all no matter how tired he was. “You’re welcome, and I had fun, too.”

Wesley knew what he wanted to do as he stared at the tumbled mass of braids on her head, the deep darkness of her eyes and the fullness of her lips. This wasn’t a dream like he’d had the other night. This was the real thing and they were together, sitting close and their mouths were just inches apart.

Oh, what the hell, he thought as a wave of longing washed over him. He leaned in closer to capture her mouth, knowing he needed to taste her just as much as he needed to breathe.

The moment his mouth connected to hers, a rush of heated desire took over and he slipped his tongue into her mouth as easily as anything he’d ever done. There hadn’t been any hesitation; just anticipation for the sweet, sensual taste he’d known awaited him.

Red-hot sensations poured through his bloodstream. He seemed incapable of getting enough of her taste and the little moans emitting from deep in her throat indicated she felt the same way. Her arms reached over and wrapped around his neck, locking his mouth to hers…as if he would go anywhere else. He was right where he wanted to be.

He knew that from this moment on, he would continue to have wonderful dreams about her mouth but never again would he have to wonder about the flavor. It was just as he’d thought, spicy hot with a rich blend of passion and a dose of rapture, of the toe-curling, quick-arousal kind. The interior of the car oozed with sexual chemistry and he was more aware of her than any woman he had ever known. Tonight, right now, control was not an issue—satisfaction was, and feasting on her mouth was giving him satisfaction of the most rewarding kind.

Moments later, when he finally pulled his mouth away, he heard her sigh of disappointment and it matched his groan of frustration. He leaned back against the seat feeling boneless and weak, but two hundred percent gratified. He wondered what were his chances of ever taking her in the back seat of his other cars. Maybe the Mercedes. Just the thought made him aware of just how much he wanted her. He might think differently in the morning after he got his head back on straight, but now, this very minute, he wanted her with a passion that was totally consuming him.

He glanced over at her. She had her eyes closed as she tried to regulate her breathing. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him and said. “That should not have happened, Wesley.”

Somehow he found enough strength to shrug his shoulders. “But it did.”

She nodded. There was nothing else for her to do but to acknowledge it was true. “We can’t let it happen again.”

He squinted, wondering whom she was trying to convince? Him or her? “Is that how you feel?” he asked, wondering if there was a way they could control such a thing from happening again.

She shook her head. “No, that’s not how I feel, since I can’t deal with my feelings right now. But that’s what I think. We don’t like each other. I’m your enemy. I won’t stop trying to find out information about Abraham Danforth, if that’s what tonight was all about.”

He stared at her. It was probably a good idea if he returned her locket and never saw her again because although she wasn’t dealing with her feelings, he was. Emotions he didn’t know he had were slamming through him.

“Tonight had nothing to do with Abraham,” he said, more frustrated with himself than with her. He scowled. Hell, tonight should have been about Abraham. Her obsession with finding out information to use against Abraham Danforth was the main reason they had met and why he was shadowing her every day.

“So you won’t give up?” he asked, but he already knew what her response would be.

“No.”

“Then I’ll continue to shadow you, but I will give you a reprieve tomorrow since I have to make a short trip to Brunswick anyway. But tonight was about us, Jasmine and not Abraham. And whether something like that kiss will happen again is up to us.”

“We need to keep our relationship on a business level, Wesley. We can’t have it both ways.”

Without waiting for him to say anything else, Jasmine quickly opened the car door and got out, leaving Wesley sitting in the car thinking of her parting remark.