“What are we doing, Cameron?”
“Debating an issue.”
Jasmine untangled their limbs. “I’m going back to my suite. You can come if you want. If not, then I’m not going to hold it against you.”
Cameron scrambled off the bed, bringing her with him. “One of these days I know I’m going to regret spoiling you.”
Jasmine covered his bare buttock with her hand. “Not as much as I’m going to enjoy spoiling you.”
“We’ll have to see about that.”
They walked into the shower stall in the adjoining suite and began a slow and sensual exploration of each other’s bodies until they were forced to stop before making love again. Cameron knew it was imperative that Jasmine eat before she felt lightheaded. After breakfast he would sample her delightful body again. It was Saturday and they had all day to make love, sleep, and hopefully make love again before they had to get ready for the wedding later that evening.
* * *
Jasmine shared a smile with Cameron as he helped her out of the car, after he’d tossed the fob to a valet. Gage Toussaint had arranged for his guests’ vehicles to be parked in a lot around the corner from his house.
He couldn’t pull his gaze away from the swell of her breasts rising and falling above the revealing décolletage of the gold strapless gown clinging to Jasmine’s midsection and flaring out around her feet. The narrow black satin ribbon accentuated her narrow waist and hem of the gown matched her black silk stilettos. Jasmine had admitted when she first tried on the dress the neckline was modest; yet that was before the increase in her bust size. The South Sea pearls resting on her chest shimmered like liquid gold on her satiny skin.
Cameron’s intent to wear a white dinner jacket and black tie changed when he caught a glimpse of Jasmine’s gown, opting instead for a black tuxedo, white shirt with a spread collar, and a gold silk tie. And it wasn’t for the first time he applauded himself for approaching Jasmine at another wedding to let her know he was interested in her.
A slight smile tilted the corners of his mouth as he recalled the amazing morning and early afternoon in their suite. They’d made love, ordered room service, slept, and then made love for a second time and lay together holding hands each lost in their private thoughts. Cameron had admitted to Jasmine that he loved her, and he would even if she wasn’t carrying his baby. He knew a new life was growing inside her, yet it still wasn’t a reality for him, and wouldn’t be until he saw her belly swell.
“Are you ready, darling?”
Jasmine nodded. “Yes.”
Cameron cradled her hand in the bend of his elbow as he led her through the narrow alleyway to the courtyard ablaze with countless strings of tiny white lights. He stole a glance at her profile. She’d styled her hair in a mass of curls similar to the style she wore when meeting him at Cipriani 55. He’d asked himself if his obsession with her beauty was the result of masculine pride when other men gawked at her.
A young man escorted them to a row of cushioned chairs set up theater-style. Cameron seated Jasmine, and then folded his body down beside her. Pre-recorded music filled the open-air space. “This courtyard is incredible,” he said in her ear. Jasmine’s idea of a loggia where they could dine al fresco had aroused his interest in different types of gardens.
“It is. We have enough property in the back of the house to have something similar. A landscape architect can put in trees, shrubs, flowering plants, and a waterfall with a koi pond.”
Cameron managed to conceal a smug grin. Jasmine had said we instead of you, which translated into she thinking of the house as theirs and not his. Reaching for her hand, he laced their fingers together.
“Fancy meeting you two here,” drawled a familiar female voice.
Letting go of Jasmine’s hand, Cameron came to his feet when he saw Hannah and St. John coming down their row. “Good evening, folks.” Leaning over he shook St. John’s hand.
Jasmine pressed her cheek to Hannah’s. The former corporate attorney looked incredible in an emerald-green sheath dress ending mid-calf that was an exact match for her eyes. “How is it to get your husband back?” she whispered.
“Unbelievable. Look at you, Jasmine. You are absolutely glowing.”
“It’s the gold color.”
“It’s more than the color,” Hannah argued softly. “You look very content.”
“I am.”
It had taken Jasmine only twenty-four hours to get a glimpse of how life would be living with Cameron. She would share his suite at the hotel, while decorating their home and once the renovations were completed, she would assist Hannah in hiring the employees for the inn when those renovations were close to completion. All the while keeping her doctor appointments and preparing for the birth of her baby early next year. She knew she had a lot on her plate and had to make certain to prioritize all of the things going on in her very busy life.
The chairs were filling quickly as guests continued to arrive to witness the wedding of one of the Big Easy’s native sons. Jasmine recognized Samara, Tonya’s daughter, clinging to the arm of a young man who looked at her in adoration. Jasmine smiled when she saw the diamond ring on her left hand. It was apparent the young woman had two things to celebrate: her graduation from Spelman College with a degree in economics and political science and an engagement.
“I didn’t know Samara was engaged,” she whispered to Hannah. Samara had come with Jasmine, Nydia and her mother when they’d driven from New York to New Orleans to spend time with Hannah last summer. Samara was not only pretty but also incredibly intelligent.
“Tonya didn’t know either until Samara arrived yesterday with her young man in tow. He’s a recent graduate of Morehouse School of Medicine. That’s Gage’s son, Wesley, in the tuxedo with the boutonniere,” Hannah whispered again.
Jasmine stared at the tall, young man with sun-streaked hair fashioned into a man-bun. He looked nothing like Gage, so she assumed he resembled his mother, Gage’s first wife. Jasmine knew if she wanted to know anything about people in New Orleans she just had to ask Hannah or Hannah’s cousins. They were founts of knowledge about the city’s history and its inhabitants.
