With Honor (14 page)

Shawn clenched and unclenched his hands. He saw it again, the way McKeever dropped his gaze over Jasmine’s chest, lingering a little too long. Hell, who could blame her boss for staring? She looked stunning in a sequined red dress. The neckline dipped low enough to be called a teaser. The style didn’t reveal too much cleavage, yet it made a man wonder what it’d feel like to pull the top down to her waist.

When McKeever touched Jasmine’s wrist, Shawn’s protective nature came to a head. Torment, he thought. Damn, he had to get his attention onto something else. He dragged his gaze away from Jasmine to the man sitting to his right. Shawn snickered. McKeever got Jasmine as a dinner companion and Shawn got a bald man with a hairy chest, revealed by a shirt unbuttoned past where he’d consider tasteful. The man, who introduced himself as Leonard, proudly anti-war, made clear by his snide remarks about the military. Shawn let the man’s attitude roll off his back. Everyone had a right to his opinion. Shawn listened to Leonard discuss tax reform with another guest. This was more Shawn’s kind of conversation, but he had a feeling Leonard couldn’t handle the truth of politics.

Turning to his other side to the voluptuous woman, he was hesitant to show her any attention. Earlier she had talked his ear off about her five pet poodles and how difficult it was to breed them. He’d tuned her out once his head started pounding. Ignoring chattiness was easy, but a drunk was a different matter. On her fifth glass of Merlot, sixth if he included the one she’d spilled onto her lap, she couldn’t stop placing her diamond studded, false-fingernailed hand on his leg. With each end of her sentence, she’d squeeze his inner thigh as if to push her words home. He’d have bruises–and a scarred libido.

Eating was his best alternative to conversation. He speared another bite of chicken and popped it into his mouth. The meal was decent, but he could do better. The meat was slightly overcooked and the potato had gotten cold. He couldn’t even enjoy the wine, which he knew carried a hefty price tag. He’d rather have a beer.

He reminded himself that this was Jasmine’s night. He’d keep that in perspective. If it made her happy that he was there, he could tolerate the crowd. In fact, seeing her beautiful smile and bright eyes made his surroundings pleasant.

“What do you do in the Air Force?”

Shawn brought his gaze around to Ms. Clingy. He couldn’t remember her name. “I’m a pilot.”

Her red painted lips rounded on the corners and one thin eyebrow lifted. “My, my. A pilot.” The way she said pilot sounded as if she’d orgasmed the word.

Jasmine’s laughter made him look at her. Ol’ Boss must have said something funny…again.

What was wrong with him? He’d never been the jealous type. Jealousy was an absurd emotion originating from insecurity. There was no reason to feel this way, and yet, he was getting more pissed by the second. And having Ms. Clingy slithering up to him and rubbing her double D’s against his arm annoyed him.

“So, are you and the young lady together? Jasmine, I mean.” She batted her lashes.

How could he answer that? If he said yes, she could very well prove him wrong. He wasn’t even sure of the answer himself. He had sex with Jasmine, but beyond that they shared very little, besides a baby, of course. If he said no, he was damn sure this woman would pull out all her feminine wiles to gain his attention. The woman wasn’t ugly, but his fixation was on the woman who filled his every thought since she’d cornered him in the bar bathroom.

Going with his first instinct, he said, “Yes, we are an item.” He’d take the risk.

Disappointment turned her cheeks pink. She pulled back and smoothed her skirt over plump thighs. “Mr. McKeever certainly seems to have taken a liking to her. Not unlike him. He wouldn’t have hired her unless he felt some sort of attraction.” Ms. Clingy sniffed loudly. She then twisted in her chair and gave all her attention to the bushy haired attorney on her other side. The poor man. He had a feeling Ms. Clingy had hooks ready and waiting to catch any man that passed her fish line.

Thank God
. At least now he could concentrate on Jasmine. However, he couldn’t shake what she’d said about Jasmine’s boss, and that he wouldn’t have hired her unless there’d been another reason besides professional.

Shawn swallowed bitterness as he kept his gaze steady on the man.

McKeever finally turned his attention to someone who didn’t have breasts. And a few seconds later he not-so-subtly connected his gaze with Shawn. No doubt the man knew Shawn had been watching him through dinner. McKeever didn’t even begin to understand what length Shawn would go to protect Jasmine. After all, she carried his child…whoa, no, she carried Shane’s child. Shawn’s stomach lurched.

McKeever got up and moved toward him.

“Shane, right? I can call you Shane?” McKeever asked.

Shawn shrugged. “Don’t mind at all.”

McKeever smoothed his wiry goatee. “Jasmine tells me you’re a pilot. How interesting.”

Shawn had no desire to share any information with this man, but for Jasmine’s sake, he answered as politely as he could. “I guess that all depends on who you ask.”

By this time, twenty pairs of eyes had turned their attention to listen to the conversation. Shawn guessed they were surprised McKeever conversed with someone who didn’t have a vagina. Or, maybe they’d caught the lace of sarcasm to Shawn’s tone. He’d noticed Jasmine’s gaze narrowed slightly.

“I’d say it’s a real treat to sit in a fifty billion dollar machine and fly it at full speed through the sky. Although…” McKeever joined his fingers together to make a diamond shape. The man’s shrewd expression told Shawn this headed in a sour direction. “I bet taxpayers would like to know how our government can afford such luxuries when we have homeless people still living on our streets.”

Shawn smiled. He’d heard this argument before. “I’d like the answer to that myself.” He glanced down the table at Jasmine, who gave him a supportive smile.

McKeever’s eyes widened. “Are you saying that you don’t have an opinion? Ahh, a well-behaved military man.”

Shawn eased back into his chair. “I have plenty of opinions, but somewhere along the line I’ve realized that too many assholes in one room can make others uncomfortable.” Gasps floated around the room.

Someone said, “This is getting good.”

“In other words, you’re dodging the question. I understand.”

Shawn knew not to allow the man to ruffle his feathers, but because he didn’t like McKeever, he decided to play for awhile. “I bet that Alfa Romeo I heard you bragging about is worth what? Fifty? Sixty thousand dollars? Imagine how much food that would buy for the hungry.” A loud chuckle erupted from someone at the end of the table. Not Jasmine; she frowned.

McKeever didn’t blink an eye. “Surely, fifty thousand is only a slice in the pie compared to fifty billion, wouldn’t you agree Shane?”

“Well, Jason.” Shawn believed if they were on first name basis, he should be able to use the other man’s too. “Depends on how much you think freedom is worth to you? Most people say it’s priceless.”

McKeever gave a tight shrug underneath his Armani jacket. “My freedom is priceless.”

“That’s why I climb into my fifty billion dollar plane and risk my life to assure your freedom.”

Not a sound could be heard in the room. Shawn knew everyone waited to see how boss man would answer. With an uplift of his wine glass in salute, McKeever stated, “Thank you, Sergeant. There is no argument that we owe our freedom to men and women who do risk their life.”

“Cheers to that.” Ms. Clingy followed by lifting her glass, compelling everyone else to do the same.

Jasmine didn’t seem as cheerful. Her lips were set in a tight line and her gaze was on him. How could she be angry with him? What the hell had he done? Because he didn’t allow Boss Man to win?

* * * *

“Shane, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have defended your duty in the military.” Jasmine tossed her purse down onto the coffee table as they entered the house. She turned to him, hands on hips. “Two men going at each other like they need to test their testosterone never made sense to me.”

“Not a testing of testosterone. Maybe a test of who has the biggest balls.” He pulled off his dress blue jacket and laid it over the back of the rocking chair. “McKeever wanted to come across as the big guy with big brains. I know his kind. He’s never worked a hard day in his life.”

“His kind? Shane, he’s my boss.”

“How does a man in his career afford a fifty thousand dollar toy? One guess–rich parents.”

Jasmine breathed in deeply, feeling as though she pounded her head against a brick wall. “Whatever his kind is doesn’t matter, or the price of his car, but he does pay my salary.” She slid out of her heels and tossed them beside the couch.

“Sure, he’s your boss, Jasmine. Nothing more. That is, unless you’re interested in him.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. Had they just uncovered the core reason why he was so tense that evening? “What?”

“The man is obviously a womanizer and you ate up his cheesiness all evening.”

He looked at her and there wasn’t a sliver of humor. “I beg your pardon.”

“Obviously we know why he hired you.”

“That’s an awful thing to say.” She wouldn’t have been more hurt if he’d punched her in the stomach and called her worthless. “Shane, he hired me because I’m good at what I do,” she said through trembling lips. Sucking in a leveling breath, she didn’t want to cry.

“I’m just saying it like I see it.”

This was a lose-lose situation, she could tell by the stubborn tilt of his jaw. “I don’t know what has crawled up your ass and died, but this is your issue, not mine.”

“Issue? I’m not the one with the issue. I’m not the man who sat across from you all evening and stared at your chest.”

Closing the distance between them, she pointed her finger into his chest. “I think I know what your problem is.” One brow raised on his otherwise bank face. “You think you own me. You think that just because I’m carrying your child, I am the oven baking your favorite cookies. Well, let me tell you something. I am my own person.”

One corner of his mouth curved up. “The oven baking my favorite cookies? If I must remind you, we’re a little more than friends. If you’re carrying my child, I certainly have a right and obligation to watch over anyone who is around now and will be brought around the baby in the future.”

She crossed her arms, readying herself for a battle of wills. “For your information, Shane, I am a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of myself. You have no right, or say, over whom I talk to or see. If you think you do, then you woke up on the side of crazy this morning.”

He squinted. “Crazy? I find it disrespectful when a boss stares at an employee like she’s his next conquest. For your information, I have been a man for thirty-nine years and I know when someone has one thing on his mind, and it’s not how well a woman does her job. If you can’t see that, then you’re blind.”

“Are you jealous?” The words sounded almost comical.

“Jealous?” He chuckled and snorted. “Never.”

“Then why would you care that he stares at my chest? As long as I’m doing the right thing, that’s all that matters. And apparently you don’t know me very well if you think I’d be having sex with you and looking for another man. Not to mention that I’m having your child.”

His face softened. “This is who I am, Jasmine. I’m protective.”

“And jealous?” she added.

“If you say so, but I’ve never been jealous over anything in my life.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” She could see right through him. Jealousy was his downfall. “You’re a secure man. Why would you let something so little ruffle your feathers?”

His expression softened. “Just watch the guy, okay?”

“If it’ll make you feel better, he isn’t my type.”

“Not your type?” He laughed. “I thought all women like handsome, rich and debonair.”

“Someone’s been lying to you.” She shook her head. “Not all women are after those characteristics. Some like heroic men who have a penchant for always being right.”

His laugh told her his earlier irritation had vanished. “Is that right? You mean you’d settle for a man who works all the time, who gets deployed at the drop of a hat and wears a tough man badge?”

“Yeah, I’d say I’d find him very appealing. The only problem is, he needs to remove his anti-social persona every now and then.”

Reaching out, he snagged her waist and tugged her against his chest. “Did I forget to tell you how beautiful you looked tonight?” His breath swept against her cheek. He brought his hand up to her shoulder and traced the strap of her dress.