“Hannah knows?”
“Yes. She knew without my telling her. She said I looked different and when I refused a cocktail she put two and two together. I didn’t want to lie to her and told her everything about us. And she knows not to say anything.”
Cameron didn’t know why, but he felt a measure of relief that Hannah was now aware of the significance of their relationship, that he was resolute in his commitment to Jasmine. “I’m glad she knows. Now she can stop threatening me about messing over you.”
“She’s just trying to protect me, Cameron.”
“It can’t be from me, Jasmine. I told you before I pray never to hurt you physically or emotionally.”
“Hannah knows firsthand what I went through with my ex—”
“I’m not your ex, Jasmine. I’d never do to a woman what he did to you. So, there’s no comparison.”
There came a beat. “Can we please change the topic?”
“No problem. I’m going to call the architect and engineer and then I’ll get back to you.”
“I’ll be here.”
Cameron’s mouth was tight, as a muscle quivered at his jaw. He hated when Jasmine brought up her ex-husband, and he hoped that it would not become a source of contention between them. He was willing to leave his past behind, and he expected the same from her if they were going to share a future now that they were planning to bring another human being into the world.
He tapped the intercom to his assistant’s office. “Sharleen, I need you to get Bram Reynard and Lamar Pierce on the phone for a three-way.” Cameron picked up a pen drawing interconnecting circles on a legal pad as he waited for the other two men to come on the line. “Gentlemen,” he said in greeting when he heard their voices, “I need to set up a meeting that will include my interior decorator. This Thursday morning is out.”
“I’m available later this evening,” Bram said.
“Same here,” the engineer confirmed.
“Let’s meet at the hotel lobby at five. I’ll arrange for dinner in one of the private dining rooms.”
“I’ll be there,” Lamar said.
“Me, too,” Bram said in agreement.
As promised, Cameron called Jasmine and informed her he would pick her up at Hannah’s house at four o’clock for a meeting at the hotel. Her bubbly laugh came through the earpiece.
“That was fast.”
“When the boss speaks, I jump.”
“I’m not the boss, Cameron.”
“You are when it comes to decorating our home.” The instantour homeslipped off his tongue Cameron realized he’d made a faux pas. Hannah had repeatedly warned him about moving too quickly with Jasmine, that he couldn’t put any pressure on her to do what he wanted, but to allow her to take the lead on the direction of their relationship.
“I’ll be ready at four.”
Cameron exhaled an audible breath. Jasmine appeared to have ignored his reference to the house as their home. He knew once she relocated, she did not want to impose on Hannah and St. John by living in their house. And that meant she needed a place to stay; and that place would be an adjoining suite at the hotel and subsequently the home she would decorate, hopefully for their family.
* * *
Jasmine waved to Cameron when his car came to a stop in front of the house. The weather had cooled considerably which allowed her to sit on the porch and read for hours. She had gone online and ordered two books about pregnancy. Cameron was out of the car before she could gather her purse and come down off the porch.
Her pulse quickened when she realized just how much she’d missed him. Talking to him on the phone was one thing, but seeing him in the flesh was entirely different. Their brief time off from each other allowed her the time to reexamine her feelings about the soft-spoken, reserved man who’d come into her life and turned it upside down.
She’d slept with him after their third encounter, something she’d never done with any other man, without experiencing a modicum of guilt. After all, she was over forty, divorced, and in control of her life and her future. Being the object of a man’s attention, even for a few days, had allowed her to forget her past and enjoy his company. What Jasmine hadn’t planned, and neither had Cameron, was that the intimate act they’d shared would result in her becoming pregnant.
Jasmine couldn’t see Cameron’s eyes behind the lenses of a pair of sunglasses but his smile was enough. He was as pleased to see her as she him. Going on tiptoe, she pressed her mouth to his. “Did you go to work today?”
Cameron glanced down at his khaki walking shorts, short-sleeve white untucked shirt, and tan woven sandals. “Yes. I left the office at three. You look rather businesslike.”
