Chapter 15 #2
“Nah, I don’t think it’s bad. I think it just gives a person a bit of a different perspective on life.” I smiled at her across the table. “What about you? What do you want to do when you grow up?”
She laughed. “You know, I never really thought about it until I had to, but I enjoy just existing in the present.”
“For now, but what about in the future?” I asked. “Come on. I showed you mine. It’s your turn.”
She sighed, but after taking another long sip of her cocktail, her cheeks grew a little pink and she just blurted it out. “One day, I’d like to settle down and have a family. Just live a quiet, private life, but that’s a hard ask in my social circles.”
“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused. “If that’s what you want, you should go for it.”
“Oh, I will, but I’m going to have to get through a truly ridiculous amount of roadblocks to make it happen,” she said. “There are traditions in my family that they’re not so eager to let go of, and that’s not even to mention what will happen to my career as a model once I get pregnant.”
“Fuck it,” I said. “If that’s not what you want long-term anyway, then does it really matter?”
“No, but that’s only because I know it’ll be worth it.
” She was growing more and more animated by the second as she spoke.
“There are so many traditions I want to start once I’m a mom.
I want Friday dinners, and holiday pancakes, and matching pajamas at Christmas.
I want everyone bringing their friends over and no one being afraid of making too much noise. ”
As she cut herself off, I noticed the families that had been around earlier had mostly disappeared, leaving people closer to our own age to take over the beach. Music grew louder and an impromptu dance floor started on the sand between our restaurant and the next.
Since Jasmine didn’t even seem to notice it, I figured it must be something that happened pretty often around here, so I didn’t bother asking.
We ordered another round of cocktails, but when she realized I was still waiting for her to tell me more, and that I wasn’t judging her, she started back in, still getting more and more excited.
“I want my kids to travel with me and my husband,” she said. “I want to teach them how to love exploring all the odd little nooks and crannies the world has to offer, and then, once they’re teenagers, I can’t wait to embarrass them.”
I laughed. “I doubt you’d be capable of that.”
“No,” she said loudly. “I’m serious. I’m going to be great at embarrassing them. It’ll build character, but I’ll also make sure they know it’s only because I love them so much.”
“I like that answer,” I said, smiling at the way she’d said it, so honest and open that I felt like I was getting a glimpse of the person inside. “I like all your answers actually.”
Her eyebrows swept up. “Are you serious or are you mocking me?”
“I’m definitely not mocking you. I mean it. You made that life sound so good that even I want it a little bit now, and that’s not something I’ve ever even considered before.”
She leaned back in her chair with a smug little smile on her face. Her eyes were a little hazy after all the cocktails we’d had. I could see her coming up with probably at least a dozen comebacks to what I’d said, but then the music changed and her eyes lit up.
All around us, conversations ended almost simultaneously as the mellow strands of an acoustic guitar changed into something with a heavier, more upbeat rhythm. More and more people got up to hit the dance floor. Jasmine stood so fast, she nearly tripped over her chair.
“This is my song!” she squealed, reaching for my arm. “We’re dancing. We have to dance.”
“Uh, okay. Go ahead, but I don’t dance.”
“You do now.” She grabbed my hand without any hesitation and pulled me up, tugging me straight to the dance floor and immediately winding her arms around my neck. “Loosen up and live a little.”
Acting more on instinct than any pretense of coordination, I slid my hands around her hips, inhaling air scented with her perfume. She was so close that I could see little flecks of gold in her eyes I’d never noticed before, but it suddenly made perfect sense that they were there.
That’s why it always looks like they’re glowing.
“I’m loose,” I said softly as the crowd pressed in around us, thickening as more people joined from the beach.
She smiled up at me, her front warm against my own as she got pushed closer to me.
This was more touching than we’d ever done before, and Jasmine was softer than I might’ve thought.
She also fit against me in ways that were going to get me in trouble if we kept this up for too long, but I didn’t do the sensible thing by letting go of her.
Over the next few songs, my thigh somehow landed between her legs and our hips ended up pressed together, her arms in the air and her eyes closed as she shouted along to whatever song was playing.
When she reopened them as it ended, she was still smiling, but then suddenly, she stiffened and stilled against me.
“What?” I had to blink myself out of the trance I’d fallen into from having her so close to me before I realized she was looking at something over my shoulder.
Her smile was gone and she sighed before glancing back up at me. “David Maher is here. Have you met him?”
I didn’t even turn to look. “Unfortunately, I’ve had the displeasure.”
“He invited me to a party tonight.”
“You didn’t want to go?”
She scoffed. “No. I really don’t like the guy.”
“You don’t? He made it sound like you’re practically family.”
Her entire face scrunched up. “What? No. GlobarStar sometimes does business with his family’s company, but that’s about it. Thank God.”
I felt my insides slowly relax. “That’s good to know. I didn’t enjoy my brief interaction with him much either.”
“He’s shady as hell,” she murmured, shaking her head before looking back at me. “I hope he didn’t say anything too rude to you.”
“Oh, he did. He made a few comments about my family, but I walked away.”
“Good for you,” she said firmly. “He was after Deja for a while before she got engaged to Colin. I don’t think I’ve ever been as relieved as I was when that didn’t work out for him.”
I blinked a couple times. “He was interested in Deja?”
“I doubt it,” she muttered. “I’m pretty sure the only thing he’s interested in is my family’s money.”
As soon as she said it, I looked down into her eyes and wondered if that was what the sudden change in him had been about at the gala. It was possible that he was after Jasmine now, still trying to crack the Saad family safe. That didn’t sit right with me at all.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” I asked. “I’ve been dying for a walk on the beach and now is as good a time as any, right?”
She smiled. “Let’s go pay for our food. Then I’ll show you a little cove right around the corner that you’re going to dream about for the rest of your life.”
I chuckled. “Bring it on.”
Five minutes later, the waves were rolling gently across our feet as we strolled along the shoreline. The music was already fading behind us, keeping David and whatever his plans for the night might’ve been with it.
I exhaled a slow breath as we rounded a corner that led to a perfect little inlet, the water so calm it was like a swimming pool. “Wow. This really is going to haunt my dreams. It’s gorgeous.”
Jasmine looked over at me, her eyes glittering with the ambient light of the city and the moon. A mischievous smile ghosted across her lips. “So, uh, are you afraid of the water?”
“No,” I said, then frowned when her smile only widened. “Why? And why are you looking at me like that?”
“Okay, then how do you feel about boats?”