Southern Admirer (Southern Loving Book 2) (20 page)

He didn’t want to barrage Jasmine with a lot of
questions after the night she had. He sat up and gawked at Jasmine as she slept
peacefully. Sliding out the bed, carefully not to wake her, Shane strolled to
his dark office, turning on the computer he sat down and checked his email for
the incident report involving Jasmine.

Victim experienced flat tire.
Shane sat at the computer
for hours going over every detail thoroughly. He started go to the next photo
when something caught his eyes. The tire look like it was slashed.

“What are you doing?”

Shane looked up from his computer to see Jasmine
standing in the doorway. “Nothing.” He quickly turned off the computer as she
walked over next to him.

She sat on his lap and yawned.

“I’ve been thinking that we should go on another
date…I will even announce it on Facebook,” he tugged her hair.

“You don’t even have a Facebook,” she chuckled. “Plus,
I don’t want those old clichés, something happens and you're confessing your
undying love for me.”

“See you got a
brother
singing a new tune,
since the day you rescued me from my sorrow.”

Jasmine cracked up, turning she looked up at him.
“You’re not a
brother
.”

“Hey! I have a sister and plus I was in a
fraternity!” He wrapped his arms around her tightly. “We’re losing focus.”

“Fine,” she smirked.

“Like I was saying before I was rudely
interrupted,” he said looking at her squarely. “It has taken me a minute—”

“A minute!” she started to say when he poked her.
“Sorry, geez go ahead.”

“Like I was saying, I haven’t dated after Sarah’s
death because I wasn’t in a good place to be in a relationship. But it’s that
old saying that my aunt Charlene use to say, ‘things happen when you least
expect it.’” Shane cleared his throat, for the first time being with Jasmine he
was going to be honest with her. “I may have a good life and everything appears
to be fine but I wasn’t always lucky in the love department.”

Jasmine moved off his lap and sat on the edge of
the desk staring at him. “You don’t have to tell me about…”

“We always had a great friendship. It’s so easy to
be with you that it scares me. I feel more certain of myself than I have in a
very long time.” Shane thought about those long arguments and fights that Sarah
that would have him battling insecurities. It didn’t matter that he was
successful and nice looking—he couldn’t get rid of the scars that Sarah left
him with. Every day he had to mentally tell himself that he was a great man.

“Are you afraid that this may be too good to be
true?” she asked, snapping him out of this thoughts.

“I didn’t freak out at the picnic because you
wanted to know exactly where our relationship was going. I freaked out because
I don’t want us to last for only a minute, second, hours-I want longevity.”

Jasmine reached out and held his hand. “We’re not
great when it comes to these types of conversations…but I’m willing to do what
it takes to make this work.”

Shane stood up and cradled her face in his hands.
“Back on the picnic I was scared and brushed you off.”

“Don’t say anything you don’t mean,” she
interrupted.

“If I didn’t want to be here. I wouldn’t. Today at
12:04 a.m., I’m choosing you. I’m standing on my own two feet and telling you
this is what I want, and I don’t want this life that I’m building with anyone
but you. Yes, Jasmine Bly St. Clair, I want a life with you…I think this could
be something amazing.” Shane kissed her softly before pulling back in gazing
into her eyes. “We’re not going to know unless we take a risk and jump.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I will catch you.”

“I’ll promise I’ll catch you too, baby.”

He had a few weeks to think about their
relationship; right now to this day he was choosing her. He was choosing
everything that came with her, even her annoying habit of cracking her bones.
He knew that she accepted him of all his baggage. There were fears that things
might go wrong, but he didn’t care because he still chose her.

Chapter Nine

Shane stared in the distance at the sky and the
white clouds that moved in a blur of movement. He grunted and threw another
bale of hay to Hank.

“Dang boy, don’t you have some ticket to write people
or an arrest to make?” Austin sing-songed, as he pulled up in his old, white
Ford pick-up truck.

“Hey, I don’t tell ya how to write those damn
country songs.” Shane tone was full of sarcasm.

“Since we’re talking about working,” Hank said,
tossing a bale to the side. “I ain’t never seen you fixing anything Mr. High
and Mighty.”

“Hey! That’s why I’m here now,” Austin pouted, as
he put on his gloves.

“You must have been getting on Farrah’s nerves,”
Shane mumbled, as Hank slapped Austin on his back.

“Now we will get done quicker,” Hank whooped. “I
plan on taking Natalie to dinner in the city, since she’s been hollering I
don’t do nothing with her.”

Both guys looked at each and shook their head.

“By the way, I heard your remark and I can assure
your ass that Farrah is not mad at me…I heard through the grapevine that a
certain hot mama is looking to buy a house and my little suga just offered her
the townhouse.”

Shane heaved the last bale of hay off the truck,
he wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. “Get the fuck out of here?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I heard them
chitchatting all week long about painting the new nursery pink.”

Shane could tell that his cousin was having
pleasure and watching him squirm. “It’s my fault that she’s planning on
leaving.”

“Oh really? How is that?” Austin sat on the
tailgate of the truck, looking very much amused.

“Remember when you guys babysat Shay, well Jasmine
wanted me to define our relationship—”

“You didn’t,” Hank interrupted, leaning against
the barn.

“Yep, I heard them yacking about how this dummy
said ‘what you want me to change my Facebook status.’ Shit man, no wonder you
got Jazzy running for the hills.”

Shane sat there silently drinking his water,
listening to his cousins bantering back and forth.

“Man why is it hard for her commit? Jazzy is not
like Sarah…stop giving Jasmine these mixed signals. One minute you ready to
start anew with her but you not ready to commit…she is good enough to push out
a five pound baby but not good enough to marry.”

“Is that how she feels?” Shane asked.

“Told Farrah she felt like you can’t commit to
love. Shit man, you don’t know whether to check your ass or scratch your
watch,” Austin tsk-ed.

“Leave him alone.” Hank stepped in and looked over
at Shane. “Do you love her?”

“With all my heart,” he replied.

“Then the real commitment is to love itself,” Hank
said simply. “Love is about growing, maturing and evolving. Because when you
make a commitment to love you commit to what is real.” He stopped talking when
he realized his cousins were staring at him with their mouth ajar. “What?”

“Well, I’ll be damned, Shane it looks like our
little Hankie has grown up,” Austin slapped his head.

“Hey, just because I don’t be with all that love
conquerors all bullshit doesn’t mean I’m not attune with my feelings,” Hank
tried to appear hurt by holding his heart he said. “Don’t ruin a good thing
with Jasmine, she’s a good gal.”

“We’re all afraid that it won’t work or we can’t
be with one person,” Hank continued.

Shane stopped listening to his cousin when he
heard Jasmine’s melodic laughter coming from the down the street. He licked his
lips as he watched her jogging as she managed to push the stroller.

“You got a fine gal,” Hank followed Shane gaze.
“Appreciate what you have at home before it becomes what you
had
.”

***

Jasmine did a happy dance as she waltzed into
Shane’s office. After a few weeks of putting in job applications, she finally
had an interview for a teaching position in Dallas. Opening up the drawer, she pulled
out a piece of paper and wrote down the directions and time of the interview,
she was about to return the pen and closed the cabinet when something caught
her eyes.

With shaky hands, she took the manila folder out
the drawer. Running her fingers across the worn file with the name Sarah
McBride written across the center and a red stamp that said confidential
imprinted. Jasmine shook her head no and placed the file back in the cabinet
and stood up.

There was something pulling her to read the
contents in the folder. She hesitated for a moment before sitting back in the
chair, opening the drawer and pulling out the file with many stains on it.

Jasmine finished reading the report on Sarah’s
death. Dallas Police ruled her death a suicide. Sarah purposely veered off the
road and plowed through the concrete barriers.

Running her fingers through her hair, Jasmine
stood up quickly knocking the file to the floor sending papers flying
everywhere. It felt like the walls were closing, rushing to place the paperwork
into the file. Jasmine ran out the room and bump into something solid that send
her crashing backward. She would have fallen to the floor if it weren't for the
strong arms that held on to her.

“Where’s the fire darling?” Shane asked.

“I was just…” she stammered, and moved away from
him.

“Just what?”

“Taking a phone call,” she said hesitantly. “I’m
meeting Farrah for an early dinner and we’re going shopping at this baby
boutique.”

“Are you alright?” Shane asked carefully, and
Jasmine looked like she seen a ghost. “You don’t look well.”

Jasmine plastered on a fake smile and tucked a
strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m okay…I need to get Shay ready for our
outing.” She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed Shane on the cheek before
she disappeared down the hallway.

An hour later, Jasmine sat in front of Farrah at a
small café. Her hands were still shaking from the information she found out
today.

“Jasmine, what is wrong?” Farrah asked as she bit
into her appetizer.

She looked down at the garden salad in front of
her, her stomach growled but the hunger that Jasmine once had was ruin by the
file she read before lunch. How could Shane keep such a big secret from her?
“Nothing’s wrong.” She pushed around a cherry tomato with her fork.

Farrah lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure? It’s not
like you not to eat.” She teased and reached across the table and touched
Jasmine’s forehead like she was taking her temperature. “For weeks, you have
been eating none stop.”

Jasmine ignored that comment and wiped her mouth
with a napkin. Since Farrah arrived on McBride ranch the woman became a sister
to her. “Did you know the last time I saw Sarah McBride was a few hours before
she died in a car accident.”

“Hold that thought?” Farrah asked, as her phone
started to ring.

“Okay,” Jasmine replied, picking a fussy Shay up
from her stroller. She hummed a soft tune low enough for her daughter as she
sat at the table, trying to banish Sarah from her thoughts. But it wasn’t easy
for her to stop thinking about Sarah, Shane’s deceased wife. Sometimes in the
dead of night when she was at her most vulnerable, she would dream of a woman
who hated her.

Jasmine was too deep in her thoughts that she
didn’t see a stranger sitting behind the table she sat at-glaring at her.

“Sir, may I take your order?” a hostess asked.

“I’ll just take a glass of water,” the man
replied.

She stiffened instantly hearing the familiar voice
that she tried to forget the night her car sustained a flat tire on the side of
the road. Jasmine shook her head, and told herself that she was mistaken. She
turned around slowly; she met a pair of familiar brown eyes.

Jasmine breathing became slightly labored, as the
man observed her and winked at her before picking up his glass of water and
saluting as he took a drink. Placing Shay back in her stroller, Jasmine tossed
a few bills on the table to cover their lunch. She quickly stood up and pushed
the stroller to the entrance, as she moved past him she heard his deep sinister
laughter that caused goose bumps all over her.

“Jasmine? What is wrong?” Farrah rushed toward her
with a worried look on her face.

Standing on the sidewalk, Jasmine looked back into
the restaurant to see the man openly staring at her. “Nothing.” She looked back
at Farrah. “I’m…just feeling slightly under the weather.”