Chapter Twenty-One Jasmine
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jasmine
The following morning, I sent Cassie an email letting her know that I needed more time to work on my proposal for Miller’s Cove. What I really needed was more time to figure out how to protect Miller’s Cove from Edward Mason.
I conveniently neglected to connect Derek to MasonCorp because the fact that Derek would be a huge obstacle in whatever plan I devised was something I didn’t want to think about.
Especially because Derek and I had been getting even closer in the past week.
We’d both agreed that we were conflicted about Miller’s Cove, based on its newly shared history, but neither of us confessed what we planned to do about it.
In my case, it was because I didn’t have a plan, not exactly, but I couldn’t be sure that Derek was planning to throw away his career for a small Southern town no one had heard of.
It helped that most of our alone time together didn’t involve much talking.
After we confided in each other, when we did talk, we purposefully avoided talking about the project, our future, or the rift between our parents, our past. We’d resolved to stay decidedly and blissfully rooted in the present.
We’d been spending a lot more time with David and Eleanor, falling into an easy routine while keeping up the ruse of being doting newlyweds.
It was a ruse that felt more and more real as time went on.
“So what exactly happens at a Founders’ Day picnic?” Derek climbed into bed behind me while I was sitting up and typing on my laptop. He snaked his arms around my waist and planted a kiss on my neck, making a moan escape my lips.
“Well”—I shut my laptop and handed it to him to place on the nightstand—“it’s like a giant cookout, but everyone gets dressed up. There are games for the kids. The local businesses sponsor booths. There’s a petting zoo.”
“A petting zoo?” Derek whispered in my ear. “Now see, you should have started with that. I’m in.”
“You are so silly.” I giggled and slapped him on the thigh. “And it’s all to commemorate the anniversary of the town’s founding in August 1922 by John William Pike, Donald Hodge, and Joseph Walker.”
“You’re so cute when you get all nerdy.” He peppered my neck and shoulder with kisses.
“Are you gonna listen?”
“I’m trying.”
“Anyway, representatives from all three families make a speech.”
“All three?” I knew he was wondering if a member of the Walker family would be in attendance.
He also knew if he asked then it would lead to more questions.
He was still choosing to not discuss his conversation with David with me.
To be fair, he didn’t know every single detail about my conversation with Eleanor.
Still, it made me wonder if the love we proclaimed to feel for each other could last if we couldn’t be completely open with each other.
“Jasmine?” Derek’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah,” I answered. “All three. Then the kids put on a really cute play reenacting the town’s founding, then the mayor gives a speech, then fireworks.” I mimicked tiny explosions with both hands.
“Sounds great,” Derek said. “It seems like Eleanor hit the jackpot when she found you.” He kissed my neck again. “I know how she feels.”
“Smooth.” I cut my eyes at him before continuing.
“But to be honest, I really don’t think Eleanor needs me.
She could throw this thing together with her eyes closed.
I just think she likes having me around, and I like being around her.
She told me that I remind her of her sister, and you know I’ve always wanted a sister.
” Derek nodded and hugged me tighter. “Although, I did suggest that when we mention the founders of the town, we include the names of their wives as well.”
“Nice.”
“Eleanor thought so.”
My thoughts went to Eleanor and how close we’d become in such a short time. My guilt began to creep up again. I wanted to talk to Derek about feeling bad about what we were doing to the Pikes, but instead, I turned around and straddled him.
“Hey, kitten,” he whispered, his lips mere inches from mine.
“Well, hello there, sir,” I responded. His erection was nestled between my folds. I slowly gyrated against him, pleasuring myself while he smoothed his palms up my back before pulling my T-shirt over my head.
I grabbed both sides of his face and pulled our mouths together in a kiss. I closed my eyes and let myself get lost in Derek’s embrace until I forgot about my guilt and my feeling of impending doom, even though I knew that this bliss couldn’t last forever.
“Hey, Cassie! What’s up?” I was sitting on a bench in the park watching Tora and Derek play fetch with a tennis ball.
“‘Hey, Cassie. What’s up?’” her annoyed voice called through the speaker of my phone. “What in the entire hell is this email you sent me?”
“I need more time.” I sighed. “And why are you checking your email on a Saturday?” I tried to lighten the mood, but Cassie wasn’t having it.
“More time to do what, Jasmine? This isn’t a game. This is our jobs, our lives. Everything you’ve sent me so far is enough to blow whatever Derek Carter has out of the water.” The volume of her voice steadily increased.
“Research,” I blurted out, unable to think of anything more substantial as a response. Once again, she wasn’t fooled.
“Heifer, I’m not stupid.” Her voice dropped and her tone became almost playful. “You want more time with Derek Carter.”
“Cassie, I…” I trailed off.
“Jasmine, please. You are out there risking both of our careers; I at least need to know you had some good reasons. Maybe eight good reasons?”
“Cassie!” I scoffed.
“Six good reasons?”
“Cassie,” I repeated.
“Not four?”
“Cassie, please.” I laughed. “If I tell you what’s going on between Derek and me, will you stop trying to guess how big his penis is?”
“Then why don’t you just tell me how big it is?” She giggled then continued. “Wait. Did you just call it a penis? Girl, not an anatomically correct name. You done messed up and fell in love with this man, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.” I let out a deep sigh. “Yes. Yes, I fell in love with him! I might have always been in love with him. It’s complicated.”
“Complicated or not, I don’t know why you getting bent over a balcony in Florida is messing with your money business. Jasmine, this is not like you.”
“Cassie, this isn’t about Derek. This is about the town.”
“What about it?”
“Now that I’m here, I’m not sure I believe that my idea is a good fit for Miller’s Cove.”
“Since when?” Cassie scoffed. “The stuff you’ve been sending me is gold. Those little berries are gonna print money and get us a one-way ticket to a corner office.”
“Cassie, you have to trust me. This project can’t happen. This town is… is something special. Promise me that you’ll sit on this until you hear from me.”
“Jasmine, I don’t know what’s going on or what has gotten in to you—or should I say, who has gotten into you.” I rolled my eyes. “But I’m gonna trust you. You better know what you’re doing.”
“I do. Thank you, Cassie.”
Later, I felt lighter after my phone call with Cassie and excited for the Founders’ Day picnic in the upcoming weekend.
Derek and I were getting ready to have dinner with the Pikes. Well, I was getting ready for dinner. Derek had other plans.
“You need to behave yourself, sir,” I scolded the man kneeling on the bathroom floor, painting the backs of my thighs with kisses.
“You keep calling me that, and one of us is eating right now.” He nibbled on one of my calves, and I squealed.
“We are not gonna be late for dinner again.” I turned around to grab the collar of his T-shirt to pull him up for a kiss.
“We won’t if we hurry.” He picked me up and deposited me on the bathroom counter.
“Derek,” I began to protest, but then he slid his hand between my legs and did something that robbed me of the power of speech.
When Derek and I made it to dinner, we had three minutes to spare. Tora was even invited to join us.
The four of us sat around a small firepit, drinking beers and wine while Tora roamed the fenced-in backyard.
Eleanor excused herself, and David went to attend to whatever delicious meats he was grilling, leaving Derek and me alone. He took the opportunity to pull my chair closer to his and place his hand on my knee.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He smiled at me.
“Hey, handsome,” I replied.
“You are so beautiful in this light,” he remarked. “This feels like the perfect night.”
“It does feel perfect,” I remarked. “I don’t think it’s just the night.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it’s everything: this night, this town, David and Eleanor, us, Tora. It feels like a perfectly formed puzzle. I feel so happy here, so at peace.”
“I know what you mean. When I first came here, I was focused on just doing my job and getting back to my life in New York, and now…” He reached out and folded my hand in his.
“And now?” I smiled at him and leaned in. He closed the distance and joined our mouths in a lingering kiss, interrupted by a chuckle coming from behind us. We turned around to see David and Eleanor carrying trays of food and drinks.
I jumped up to help Eleanor set the table for dinner while David and Derek grabbed the rest of the food from the grills.
“This has to be the best meal I’ve eaten”—Derek paused—“since the last time I’ve eaten one of your meals.” Eleanor and David chuckled. “I’m serious. Is it just me or does the food taste better here?”
“It really does,” I agreed with my fake husband. “I didn’t realize until Derek said something, but he’s right—”
“Thank you, dear,” Derek quipped, and I narrowed my eyes at him before continuing.
“—everything is just more…” I struggled to find my next words. “More… more. The colors are more vibrant. Every bite is more flavorful. I ate an apple the other day, and it tasted like an apple-flavored apple.”
Derek looked at me like I had two heads.
“I mean, it just tasted more like an apple than any apple I’ve ever had.” Derek shook his head at me while slowly moving my wineglass out of my reach. “I know I’m probably articulating this badly.”
“No, not at all, babe,” Derek quipped. “Apple-flavored apples. Makes perfect sense.” I was too flustered and annoyed to acknowledge that he’d called me “babe” for the first time.
David and Eleanor were wearing bemused smiles, and I wondered if there was more to them than my babbling and Derek’s teasing.
“Eleanor, please help me,” I pleaded with a laugh. “You know what I mean, right?”
Instead of responding, she gave her husband a questioning look. He shrugged before nodding, which added to my confusion even more.
“Actually, Jasmine”—Eleanor beamed a smile—“you’re right.”
“See?” I slapped Derek on the bicep. “I’m right. What am I right about, exactly?”
“The Pike berry was John William Pike’s pride and joy, but his real triumph is all around us,” she said. Derek and I looked at each other, still confused. “The secret is the soil.”
“My great-grandfather didn’t just choose this place on a whim. In what everyone else saw as cheap swampland, he saw infinite possibilities. Using the farming technology he developed, along with soil and climate, he was able to produce the most nutrient-dense foods in the world,” David said.
“And he did it in a way that doesn’t deplete the soil with every harvest.”
I looked over to see Derek staring at David with his mouth agape. His expression matched my inner feelings.
“B-but,” I stammered, “how?”
“Hmm,” David scoffed and chuckled. “You and every corporate cutthroat would love to know. That’s why we can never lose this land. It’s all about the soil.”
I let out a dry chuckle, but I’d suddenly lost my appetite.
Derek squeezed my hand under the table, and I knew he was feeling the exact same thing I was.
The discovery of a new superfood like Pike berries could be worth millions to the company.
Derek’s idea of a Miller’s Cove resort could be worth hundreds of millions.
But William Pike’s supersoil could net MasonCorp billions of dollars.
A month ago, I would’ve killed for this information. I would’ve hopped on the next thing smoking to New York and shouted my victory from my corner office. Now, all I wanted to do was forget I’d ever heard this and build a fortress around Miller’s Cove and everyone in it.