“Why?”
“Because I believe everything is predestined. People come into our lives for a reason. Some stay long enough to help shape our future and others are just passing through. If I hadn’t worked with Hannah, then we never would’ve met. Meanwhile you’d met Hannah when you were just a teenager. Even if you hadn’t joined your father’s company you still would’ve had a connection with her.”
“So, you believe in destiny?”
“I do,” Jasmine said quickly.
“What does destiny say about us?” he whispered in her ear.
Jasmine pressed her shoulder to his. “It says I’m going to decorate your new home.”
Cameron stared at her, complete surprise freezing his features. “When did you decide this?”
“What happened tothank you, Jasmine?” she drawled.
“Thank you, Jasmine,” he repeated. “But—”
“Please let it go, Cameron,” Jasmine said, cutting him off.
“Okay.”
She was right. He didn’t need to know why she’d agreed to decorate his home. What mattered was he would get to see Jasmine for an extended period of time. The anxiety he’d felt when she made the toast at Cipriani Club 55 about their parting had temporarily shattered his confidence until she reminded him they’d parted when she returned to New York following Hannah’s wedding.
Jasmine had him occasionally second-guessing himself and suddenly it became clear. She was the first woman with whom he wasn’t as confident as with others in the past. In other relationships, he had been the one to control or steer things in the direction he wanted to go, but not with Jasmine. Both had agreed they weren’t looking for marriage. However, he was the one contemplating a relationship when he suspected it wasn’t the same for her. And Cameron knew he had to bide his time and not put any pressure on her, allowing her to take the lead. She had been deceived by a man she loved and married and that meant she now had zero trust when it came to the opposite sex. His musings ended when the driver stopped at Chelsea Piers. He spotted several of his frat brothers getting out of town cars and walking with their wives toward the moored yacht.
His driver opened the rear door and handed him his jacket. Cameron extended his hand to Jasmine and gently assisted her out of the vehicle as sunlight glinted off the precious stones in her ears. He slipped on his jacket, and then curved an arm around her waist. Her heels added an additional four inches to her height.
Cameron pressed his mouth to her ear. “I forgot to tell you that you look incredibly beautiful.”
Jasmine lowered her eyes and gave him a demure smile. “Thank you.”
Chapter 8
Jasmine wanted to tell Cameron that she felt beautiful—inside and out. It had been too long since she’d attended a formal event with a man, and she was glad she’d waited for a man as urbane as Cameron to fill the void. After Gregory passed away she found that she was no longer a part of the social circle in which he had been a principal player. And she’d discovered Raymond felt uncomfortable attending events whether large or intimate, so most times she went alone. The only time he’d accompanied her to a Wakefield Hamilton Christmas party he stood off to the side, refusing to interact with her coworkers.
Once they were home, he claimed he had no use for her pretentious friends whose fathers donated enormous sums for their children to attend the best colleges. It was then that she realized he resented anyone with a college education. Despite coming from a middle-class family, Raymond had been denied attending university to become an architect because of his father’s pressure for him to join the family import/export business. Once his father died, Raymond relinquished his share of the company to his uncles and his ultimate goal was to leave the Philippines.
She chided herself for conjuring up memories of Raymond when she wanted to enjoy her time with the man holding her to his side. Perhaps it had something to do with her talking to Cameron about the details of her failed marriage. She made a mental promise to herself that it would be last time she would allow Raymond to become a part of her consciousness. Since meeting Cameron she had turned a page on her life and wanted only good things and good memories for her future.
“It’s a beautiful night for sailing on the river,” she said as Cameron assisted her up the gangplank and into the luxuriously appointed yacht, as New Age music filled the cabin from hidden speakers. The evening temperatures were in the mid-seventies with a cool breeze coming off the water.
His fingers tightened slightly at her waist. “It couldn’t be better.”
A young woman, dressed in black slacks and jacket, a white shirt, and a black tie, greeted them. “Welcome aboard. Your name, sir.”
“Singleton.”
She checked the name off on the typed sheet on the clipboard. “Mr. Singleton, you and your guest are assigned to table 4. Once you’re inside someone will escort you to your table.”
Cameron nodded. “Thank you. Let’s go, sweets,” he whispered in Jasmine’s ear. “I hope you’re ready to party like it’s 1999. Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked when she shook her head.
“Prince, Cameron?”
“Yes, Prince. Don’t you like his music?”
“Yes, but . . .” Jasmine’s words trailed off.
“But what?”
