Southern Admirer (Southern Loving Book 2) (4 page)

“Why not?” he said, looking at her with curiosity
in his eyes.

Jasmine sat there and tried to think of a good
excuse to use, but nothing came to her mind. “Nothing,” she said reluctantly.

“Then that solves it,” he smiled. “I’m sleeping in
here.”

“Whatever,” she said, pounding her pillow with her
small fist and laid down with her back toward him.

“Good night,” he said, snuggling up against his
pillow.

***

Small kids were running around the doctor’s
office, their laughing and smiling were contagious. Shane remembered when he
was a kid who would be crying when it was time for a visit to the doctor’s
office. But this office was like no other, he’d ever been to. It was decorated
like a rainforest, complete with monkeys, birds, and a walk-in indoor tree
house.

“Shay McBride,” a medical assistant called from
the doorway.

Jasmine stood up, and reached for the car seat
that held their baby girl.

“I’ll get it,” he said. “You’re still not cleared
to be lifting.”

Standing in the jungle theme exam room, he placed
the car seat on the table and removed Shay from her safety restraints as
Jasmine looked on. The last time they were in the pediatrician’s office was two
weeks and one day ago, when they first brought Shay home for the first time.
Shane had a sneaky suspicion that Jasmine made this appointment to stop from
traveling to Texas, but little did she know that he was prepared to drive them
to Texas if flying wasn’t an option. There was no way in hell that he was
leaving Shay behind in Colorado. He loved his baby girl and she was the number
one priority in his life.

“I’m just making sure,” Jasmine said as if she was
reading his mind.

“I didn’t say anything,” he smiled, showing a
mouth full of pearly white teeth. Shane noticed how Jasmine would stare at anything
and everything around the room except at him. Did she have a crush on him? He
tried to think back to the time he would visit Benjamin at the house, Jazz
never exhibited any type of show and tell signs that she was attractive or
interested in him but then again he was married up until one year ago. A slow
smile spread to his lips as he stared at her from his side of the room. Jasmine
was pretty when she wasn’t pouting. Motherhood had enhanced her curves. Shane
wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to do sit ups and lunges at night to
regain that petite figure because she looked good with the few extra pounds she
packed on. Her curly hair was pushed back with a hair band that matched her
navy striped sleeveless, short dress.

“What?” she said, looking at him.

“Huh?” he said, looking at her.

“You’re staring at me.” Jasmine frowned, her hands
immediately went to her breasts. “Do I have leakage?”

Shane shook his head repeatedly. “No, No.”

“Then stop staring,” she said, and went back to
looking at everything in the room except for him.

“We have a lot… to talk about,” he said looking at
her. “We haven’t talked about…You know what.”

Jasmine laughed and shook her head. “You want to
know if you were good or something?”

“What? No!” He was flabbergasted that she would
say something like that.

“You wanted to talk about it. So I just assumed
that you wanted to know if your plumbing was working right,” she smirked.

“Actually, no.” The comment she just made him had
thinking. He self-consciously looked down at his midsection. “Was it…good?” he
asked shyly.

Jasmine laughed and clutched her stomach.
“Wouldn’t you want to know?”

“Sort of.” He smiled.

“I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of knowing.”
Jasmine turned around and looked out the window that had a clear view of the
parking lot.

“Curiosity is killing me,” he said, with the click
of his tongue.

“It’s also killed the cat.” She turned around and
looked at him.

Shane’s heart nearly stopped in his chest. Was
that smile on her face just for him. “I thought satisfaction brought him back.”

“Indeed it did.” She managed to say before for the
door to the exam room was opened.

“My favorite new patient has returned,” Dr. Adan
said with a Middle-Eastern accent.

When Shay was born, Shane didn’t think he would
like any pediatrician caring for his daughter, especially a male doctor. Dr.
Adan was an intelligent man who knew what he was talking about. Shane
understood why Jasmine picked the middle-aged Indian man with the upbeat
personality to handle their daughter’s medical care.

“Nice to see you again, Doc,” Shane said, shaking
Dr. Adan’s hand. “We’re bringing Shay back today to give her mother peace of
mind about us traveling back to Texas.” He laid Shay on the exam room table and
watched as Dr. Adan looked over Shay.

“How do you plan on traveling?” Dr. Adan.

“By private jet,” Shane answered quickly.

“There is no jaundice or any heart problems.” He
turned and looked at Jasmine, who was watching the doctor closely. “How is she
feeding, Mom?”

“Great,” Jasmine replied.

“It won’t be a problem that you traveling via
private airlines. Remember germs and make sure you sanitize hands before
touching this little one. Her immune system is still fragile, but baby Shay is
safe to travel,” Dr. Adan said.

“Here I’ll get her,” Jasmine said, nearly pushing
the two men at the way when Shay started to cry.

“Sorry, Jasmine has become like a lioness.” Shane
watched as Jasmine dressed Shay back in her cute yellow and white onesie with
leggings.

“Don’t worry I’ve seen this a lot, by the second
child everything will come with ease.”

When Dr. Adan made that comment both Jasmine and
Shane’s heads went up so hard it caused Dr. Adan to laugh. “Sometimes the
second child comes along really quickly.”

“Not for us,” Jasmine replied.

“We’re going to be in Texas for six months, Shay
will be seeing a pediatrician in Dallas,” Shane said, looking at the doctor.

“I have a cousin who is an exceptional pediatrics
physician.” Dr. Adan wrote down the address and number. “Tell her I sent you.”
He smiled and handed over the business card to Shane.

“Thank you,” Shane said, before Dr. Adan walked
out the room.

“You can say ‘I told you so’,” Jasmine said as she
placed Shay into the car seat.

“I would never tell you that darling.” Shane
grinned from ear to ear.

“If you say so.” Jasmine made sure she strapped
the baby into the car seat.

“Jazz, I’ll get Shay,” Shane said as he took the
car seat from her.

“You know if I was a single mother, I would be
lifting this car seat without your help,” she said, with a smug look on her
face.

“Well, stop acting like you’re a single mother
because you’re not,” he snapped. Shane didn’t mean for his tone to be harsh,
but it was.

“I will be in six months,” she said, leaving him
standing in the exam room holding the car seat.

Something hit him as he stood there in the
pediatric office. He wanted Jasmine St. Clair, but not because she was the
mother of his child. Jasmine made his blood boil like no other. They probably
wouldn’t admit that they were attracted to one another and the fact that they
had more chemistry between them even John Dalton could solve.

Chapter Three

I’m going crazy, Jasmine thought to herself. For nine
months, she’d been keeping secrets and deceiving her family from afar. Well,
really she technically didn’t deceive them if you thought about it, she just
failed to mention certain things about her everyday life. Sighing, Jasmine
looked out the window of the truck as they approached McBride ranch. Her mouth
nearly dropped when the black iron gates opened slowly to allow them to enter.
Jasmine had only been to McBride ranch one time and that was at nighttime.

“Who the hell stays here? The Bush family,” she
said, rolling down the window slightly to get a better look at the pristine
white fences that kept the horses in the green pastures.

“No,” Shane laughed. “McBride ranch has been in
the family for years. When Austin made it big in the music business, he wanted
to update the ranch in a rustic but modern look.”

“And he doesn’t live here anymore?” she asked.

“He lives in Nashville with his pregnant wife,
Farrah,” he replied. “I think you will like Farrah and vice-versa.”

“Okay,” she said simply.

“This is all us right here.” Shane pointed out.
“When I got married, I moved off the ranch, and Sarah and I purchased our first
house. I remember Sarah stressing that our offer would be accepted, and then
the realtor called and told us the good news.” His voice started to break up.

Jasmine had to wonder what he meant by saying
“This is all us right here?” Was he referring that ‘us’ to Shay and him? What
he called a cottage was more like a mini mansion. Shane seriously was
delusional when it came to his house which could rival any home in the
Architectural Digest. The stone grey and white stone brick house, was utterly
amazing.

“See your new house,” Jasmine held Shay, as she
stood there like an idiot looking up at the house.

“It’s your home too,” Shane said as he stood next
to her, instantly his arm draped across her shoulder.

Jasmine moved away from him. “We… should get…Shay
settled in,” she stuttered.

“The door is unlocked, go right on in.” Shane went
to the car and grabbed the luggage.

Jasmine walked through the front door and was
instantly greeted with the smell of vanilla and cinnamon. Her sandals clicked
on the hardwood floors as she checked out the house. She loved the wide-open
space of the house and the two white columns that lead to the living room.
Shane had great taste, he decorated the living room in black modern furniture,
and the only thing she noticed was family pictures were neglected from the
house instead of a home it was more like a museum. Jasmine tapped her fingers
on the granite countertop in the kitchen, which was a chef’s dream. Too bad she
didn’t cook.

“Nice,” she said, turning around when she heard
Shane dropping the luggage by the entry way.

“Thank you.” He smiled sheepishly.

“So what room will be ours?” Jasmine didn’t realize
her blunder until it came out her mouth. “I… meant my room,” she stammered over
her words.

“Chill, Jazz,” Shane laughed “You can have the
bedroom that is next door to the master bedroom, I think you would like it.” He
waved his hand for her to follow.

Jasmine walked behind Shane and stopped directly
in her tracks in the glass hallway. She had to stop and soak in the beautiful
scenery of the lake in the distance and horses grazing in the pasture.

“This is my favorite spot in the house. In the
morning, I come right here and stare out the window while drinking my coffee.
Helps me get the day going,” he said.

“Wow.”

They stood there for a minute until the silence
became uncomfortable for the both of them.

 “So let me show you the room, and we can
make a list that we need from the store,” he said.

Jasmine nodded her head and allowed him to guide
her to the bedroom at the end of the hall. The room was practically bigger than
hers back in Denver. She absolutely adored the rustic, chic, natural style. The
exposed wooden beams on the ceiling were a nice added touch, and the many
ceiling to floor windows allowed sunlight to shine into the room.

“I take it that you like the bedroom?” Shane sat
the luggage down on the chest in front of the bed.

“Yes,” she said simply with a shrug. “Why don’t
you take Shay and I’ll unpack quickly then we can go to the store.”

“Alright.” Shane reached for the baby; he was
still learning how to properly hold her carefully after three weeks.
“Pacifier?” he asked when Shay started to whine.

“It’s in the diaper bag. I left it in the
kitchen,” she said, and started to unpack.

“The French doors lead to the terrace and to the
pool, also you bathroom is right through that door,” he said, pointing before
walking out the room.

Jasmine put away a few of her clothes before
walking to the French doors and opening them. She stepped into Texas hot, humid
afternoon air. Jasmine understood what Shane meant when he said this was
supposed to be a retreat. The pool area looked like something out of a
magazine. There was even a small rock waterfall. Turning around, she spied the
door that led into Shane’s bedroom.

For the first time in her life, Jasmine felt bad
about having a crush on Shane when he was married to Sarah. She used to remember
everything about him, the way he smelled and what he wore. Yeah, she had it bad
for him. Those nights of sitting in her bed wishing that there were a way they
could be together. When Sarah was killed, Jasmine thought it was her fault,
especially since she asked for that favor after Shane was a no show to her
college graduation party.