“But—”
“I’m not going to argue with you, Cameron. I have enough on my plate trying to carry this baby to term, decorate our home, and staff the inn once it’s up and running, and not in that order. So please don’t try and pressure me about something I’ve invested my hard-earned money into and have no intention of backing out of.”
“I’ll give you the money—”
“Enough!” She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She opened her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Jasmine had enunciated each word.
Cameron glared at her as he struggled to control his temper. “Okay.” He’d only conceded because he saw the vein throbbing in her neck.
She set the tube on the table, stood up, closed the distance between them, and held his hands. “I don’t want to fight with you, Cameron. But I want you to understand I’m committed to working with Hannah at least until the inn is fully operational. My agreeing to become an innkeeper isn’t something that just came up. We talked about this more than a year ago and even though I wanted to go in with her, there were other circumstances that would not permit me to do it. Now that my parents are settled and my cousin has agreed to move into my condo everything has worked out for the good.
“I sent building management a certified letter a couple of weeks ago to inform them I’m traveling and my cousin will be staying in my unit until I either return or sell it. I made a copy of the keys to the apartment and my vehicle and sent them to her by an overnight carrier. She sent me a text yesterday to let me know she’s moved in and loving it.” She rested her forehead on his chest. “I left one life behind to start over as an innkeeper, not knowing you’d become a part of that new life. I know you don’t hear me say it enough but I love you, Cameron. And if I didn’t I wouldn’t be carrying this baby, although I’ve always wanted to be a mother. I knew I had feelings for you from the time I picked you up to introduce you to my aunt and uncle. You’re the first man I’d ever slept with after a third date. I think about what would’ve happened if I’d sent you back to your hotel that morning.”
Cameron cupped her belly. “You never would’ve looked like this.”
“No, I wouldn’t have. Neither of us even knew I’d been moving down here.”
He stared at Jasmine, unable to believe he’d been blessed to have found someone like her. He loved her and she loved him. They were engaged, expecting a baby, and planning to move in together, yet hadn’t talked about marriage.
“How much do you love me, Jasmine?”
Her eyelids fluttered. “More than words can express.”
“Do you love me enough to become my wife?”
An emotion he interpreted as fear flittered over her features. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“Isn’t it the same as asking you to become my wife? Yes. I want you to marry me.”
“Why?”
“What the f—!” Cameron swallowed the expletive before it came out. “Because I love you, Jasmine,” he said as if speaking to a child. “I love you, I want to go to bed with you and wake up with you beside me for the rest of my life. I want to protect you and our child for the rest of my life. I want . . .”
Jasmine placed her fingers over his mouth, stopping his entreaty. “Yes, Cameron. I will marry you and spend the rest of my life with you.”
Cameron picked her up and carried her over to the bed. He took off her bra and panties, tossing them on the floor. Rising, his eyes held her captive as he undressed, watching her eyes move lower when blood pooled in his penis.
Moving over her and mindful of her belly, he supported his weight on his forearms. “I love you,” he murmured as his mouth barely touched hers. He said it over and over until it became a litany. His hand searched her inner thigh, moving up. His thumb grazed her clitoris and her hips moved sensuously as he continued to massage the swollen nub of flesh.
Jasmine’s breathing deepened, coming faster and when he knew she was close to climaxing, he lay behind her, raised her leg to rest on his, angled his body, and entered her slowly until their bodies became one.
His groan of satisfaction echoed in the room as he savored the feel of her hot warmth sending chills throughout his body. Her soft moans were his undoing as he quickened his thrusting until the dam burst and he pressed his mouth to her shoulder and surrendered to the passion taking him beyond himself. He’d just returned from his free-fall when he felt Jasmine’s vaginal walls grip, and then release, his still semi-hard penis over and over until both were mewling in the lingering ecstasy that shattered them into tiny pieces.
They lay joined with his arm over her waist, and as if they’d rehearsed it in advance, they burst into laughter. They were still laughing when his flaccid penis slipped out and Jasmine turned to face him. “When?” she asked once they recovered.
He knew she was asking when he wanted to marry. “August eighteenth.”
“What day of the week is it? And why that day?”
“It’s a Saturday. We’re throwing a fiftieth anniversary celebration for my parents on the seventeenth. That’s a Friday night. I figure if folks are coming in for my parents, they will just have to delay their departure for one day while they get two events for the price of one.”
“But that’s less than three weeks away. How am I going to put together a wedding in that time?”
“You don’t, darling. The planner who’s handling my parents’ party will take care of everything.”
“Where will we hold it?”
“It can be at the hotel in one of the ballrooms.”
