Jasmine’s question caught Cameron completely unaware. “No. I’ve never been able to juggle more than one woman at the same time.”
“Good for you.”
“Does this mean I passed your test?” he teased.
Jasmine shook her head. “Only the first part. I have a three-part examination before you can earn your certification.”
Cameron laughed. “Damn, woman. That’s sounds cruel.”
“Do you blame me after what I’ve been through?” she asked.
He sobered quickly. “No I don’t. If my brother-in-law did to my sister what your ex did to you I definitely would’ve knocked the hell out of him.” Cameron signaled, and then maneuvered around the driver holding up the flow of traffic. “How long have you been divorced?”
“It’ll be three years in July.”
“How long did it take you to get back into the dating pool?”
“Almost three years.”
Cameron gave her a quick glance. “Am I your first?”
“Yes. Only because you’re the first who refused to accept rejection.”
He smiled. “I suppose there’s something to be said for perseverance.”
“That’s only half of it,” Jasmine said cryptically.
“What’s the other half?”
“We live thirteen hundred miles apart.”
Cameron felt some of his confidence waning much like someone taking the air out of a balloon. “Are you saying you’re not willing to agree to a long-distance relationship?”
“Right now, I’m not willing to agree toanyrelationship, Cameron. I like you and enjoy your company otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to become your date for tomorrow night. I have trust issues when it comes to men, so I’m reluctant to become that involved. I’m certain you’ve dated women because you enjoy being with them, but not enough to plan a future.”
“Are you saying you never want to marry again?”
“That’s exactly what I am saying,” she said emphatically.
Cameron wanted to tell Jasmine they were more alike than not, because his reason for remaining single had nothing to do with an unfaithful partner but from seeing firsthand how a union fraught with anger and resentment had scarred him as a child and young adult.
“It looks as if we’re both on the same page when it comes to marriage,” he said after a comfortable pause.
“Someone you loved cheated on you?” she questioned.
A wry smile parted his lips. “Not at all. And if she did, then I wouldn’t blame the entire opposite sex for one woman. I—”
“I’m not blaming all men for what my ex did to me,” Jasmine said, interrupting him.
“I didn’t say you did. You’re the one who assumed I’m anti-marriage because a woman cheated on me.”
“If not that, then it would have to be your parents’ marriage,” she said perceptively.
Cameron had promised Jasmine she would know everything about him before the end of the weekend, and that meant being straightforward. “You’re right. I grew up believing parents don’t agree on everything, but my folks not only argued, they seemed bent on emotionally destroying each other. I’d lock myself in my bedroom and put a pillow over my head so I wouldn’t hear their yelling. If that didn’t work, then I’d hide in a closet, refusing to come out until they promised they would stop fighting with each other. That would last for maybe a week, and then it would start up again.”
Jasmine rested a hand against his that was holding the steering wheel in a death-grip. “I’m sorry, Cameron. No child should grow up having to experience that.”
He reversed their hands and threaded their fingers together. “It’s unfortunate that it took an accident where my mother almost lost her life for them to come to their senses.”
