Read With Honor Online

Authors: Rhonda Lee Carver

Tags: #Romance

With Honor (18 page)

BOOK: With Honor
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“Don’t mention it.”

“I’ll wait here for you,” she said.

“Sure.”

Jasmine sucked back her irritation. Would she ever understand this man?

 

 

Chapter 13

 

Shawn woke up from a deep sleep. Hearing a knock on the front door, he’d rolled over and tossed a glance at the digital clock on the nightstand. Eight-thirty AM. He wasn’t sure who the hell would be visiting him at this hour, but he wasn’t interested. He’d gotten in that morning from out-of-town training and he’d been down for the count in exhaustion. Jasmine had already left. He guessed to work.

Whoever knocked would go away.

Burrowing back into the pillow, he closed his eyes, on the brink of sleep again when another knock sounded, louder this time.

“Oh fuck!”

Sliding from the mattress, he looked around for something to use as cover. He dragged the blanket from the bed and wrapped it low around his hips. At the same time, his cell rang from the pants pocket of his ABU pants strung across the back of the chair.

He grabbed the phone on the way to the door.

Stomping down the hallway, into the living room, he almost fell over the corner of the cover before he reached the door. He flung it open, at the same time clicking
Answer
on his cell.

Seeing who stood on his doorstep made every muscle in his body tense. “Denise? What the hell?”

Her kohl-lined eyes narrowed and her red painted lips curved downward. “Is that the welcome you give to an old friend?” she asked saucily.

Damn. He’d gotten out of bed for this? “I’m sleeping, Denise.” He practically groaned the words. He’d have shut the door in finality, if she hadn’t crossed the threshold.

From his view about six inches higher than her, he got an eyeful of uplifted breasts encased like a sausage in a too-tight bra. She purred like a satisfied kitten as she scooted her glance down his naked torso. A few years back he may have gotten a hard-on from hell with that promise of hot sex, but now all he felt was a roiling of disinterest.

This was his brother’s lust interest, not his.

“Oh my, my, my…you do get better with age, Shane Conner.” Her wide smile reminded him of the cat who ate the mouse. Her heated gaze skewered him like a chicken kabob as she took a slow visual stroll back up his body and settled on his lips.

He stepped back, creating distance between them. “To what do I owe this visit?” For a second he wanted to blow his cover and tell her he had different tastes than his brother had. She wasn’t worth it.

“After seeing you the other day, I realized we have some unfinished business.”

“Have you ever heard of calling? I would have saved you a drive.”

There wasn’t any sign that she noticed his offensive attitude. “You always did play hard to get. I don’t mind. I enjoy the chase, as long as I get rewarded at the end.” Her hand swept out and she twirled her nail around his nipple.

Damn, he was amazed. Still no response in the nether region. Jasmine had a hold on him. He could get a stiffy with her from a mere glance. That made him laugh.

Denise must have taken it as a welcome sign, because she pulled her shirt off, scooted closer to him and rubbed her chest against his. Placing his palms on her shoulders, he held her steady, as he looked down at her, “Go home. I’m not interested.”

“Is this because of the chick I saw you with at the restaurant?” Her lip curled. “She’s not your type. I am.” Denise stood on tiptoe and brought her mouth to his.

A loud gasp cracked like thunder. But it wasn’t from a storm; at least not in the sky. Shawn popped his head up and his gaze connected with a pissed-off Jasmine. “Oh shit!” he cursed.

Jasmine stood on the doorstep, mouth agape.

Denise stepped back, holding her shirt to her chest, looking from Shawn to Jasmine with fear in her eyes. She darted past Jasmine, down the steps and disappeared, leaving a silenced Shawn shaking his head.

“I called, but you didn’t answer.” Jasmine stayed on the step.

Shawn felt his ass pucker. A man knew when he was in deep shit and right now he knew no explanation in the world, not even the blatant truth, would take away the hurt he saw in her expression. He tried anyway. “This is not what you think,” he muttered.

“Not what I think?” One thin brow curved questionably. “What am I thinking, Shane?”

“You’re thinking I invited her here.”

“I interrupted something very cozy.” Her voice was cold, indifferent.

“I thought you were at work.”

“Oh, I’m sorry that you weren’t expecting me home and I ruined your plans. Should I ask for forgiveness?” She brushed past him.

“Hell. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“No worries. I’d have to care–and I don’t.”

“What you saw wasn’t what it appeared to be.”

“None of my business.” She jetted off down the hall and into her bedroom.

Taking a deep breath, he followed her. “Let’s discuss this.”

“There is nothing to discuss. She seems like a…” There came a slight pause. “Lovely young woman.”

Jasmine definitely had him in her clutches. He’d never chased after any woman before.

He darted a quick glance down her green Woodstock tee and tight dark denims like a fix to a druggie. His body came alive. As inappropriate as that was at the moment, he couldn’t control himself. Three days had passed since they’d made love at the waterfall and his body had been edgy. He didn’t just want a tumble in the sheets, but to talk to her. He wanted to hear her laughter and see her smile.

“There is nothing between Denise and myself. You know this.” His voice sounded harsher than he meant it to.

“You could have tried honesty. Apparently you two have a history, a recent one.” Her voice contained an arsenal of accusation. “But that’s okay. This is just your way, right?”

He gripped his hand on the blanket. Damn, he was done being compared to the man she’d met in Florida. She had no idea who he was. “I pushed her away. If you’d come a second sooner you’d have seen the truth.”

“Drop it,” she snapped.

“This is the time to listen to reason.”

“Reason? That’s rich.”

“Jasmine, you’re being unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable? Good one.”

“Are you going to repeat everything I say?” He huffed. “Why aren’t you working today?” He watched as she grabbed a small suitcase from her closet.

“I told you before you left that I was leaving today. After my doctor’s appointment.” She began tossing clothes from her drawer into the bag.

“Leaving?” His heart sank. “And you had a doctor appointment? Why?”

“You never listen, do you?”

Frustration skidded down his veins. “Just answer my questions.”

“The doctor appointment was a check up. And I’m going to see the writer I told you about.”

“Why?”

“Is that any of your business?”

“I’d say it is, to some extent.”

“You should be happy. I’ll be out of you hair and you can romp around with Ms. Double D’s.” She shut the lid to her case, lifted it and headed past him.

“Jasmine!” Stomping off after her, he paid little heed to his lack of shoes.

“Go back inside,” she snapped.

He reached her before she had the car door open. “You’re jealous. When people are jealous, they see things different.”

Turning on him, she poked her finger into his chest. “I am not jealous. I have no reason. You made it clear the other day what our relationship is.”

“No, I wasn’t clear enough.” Before he doubted himself, he brought his mouth down onto hers in a heated kiss. When she parted her lips, he thrust his tongue deep into her, tasting her.

She moaned as she relaxed into him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her body against his. Spirals of passion escalated through him. Every sweet fiber of his being came alive. He pulled his head up. His heart thumped in his chest and he paced his heavy breathing.

She opened her eyes and they shone like jewels. “Shane…”

“Come back in,” he said.

Hesitation and uncertainty skittered across her features. She pushed her palms against his shoulders and he placed her on her feet. “You know what I find interesting about some men?” Her voice was raspy.

“What’s that?” He grew harder against the blanket and quickly glanced around the parking lot. If he wasn’t careful, he’d announce to the world what he felt.

“When they forget the wrath of a scorned woman because they can’t think past the muscle between their legs.”

“Huh?” He narrowed his eyes. How could she still be angry after that passionate kiss?

“And sometimes, they need to be taught a serious lesson.”

Her eyes turned a distinct color that warned him of her inner turmoil. “Jasmine–” He reached out, but she sidestepped him.

If he hadn’t been so caught up in his sexual need, he could have prevented the next event. Catching him by surprise, she grabbed the corner of the blanket and tugged hard. Standing there, he was naked as the day he was born and as hard as a teenage boy. The cooler air breezed across his woody and it took a nosedive.

He grabbed for the blanket, but she jerked it out of his reach.

“Shit!”

Jasmine’s leer was that of a revengeful woman. No doubt she appreciated the fact that he was naked and vulnerable.

“Come on, give me the blanket.” He took a step forward.

Shaking her head, she jetted toward her car door, opened it and jumped in, locking it behind her. With a devil’s grin and a waving of the blanket, she tossed it into the passenger’s side. He stood there for only a second longer before darting back up the sidewalk and into the house. He looked around the neighborhood for good measure. Thank God no one was watching. He could see the incident written in his airman’s record, or worse, getting arrested for indecent exposure.

He pulled back the curtain at the window as Jasmine drove down the street.

When she was completely out of sight, he burst into laughter.

He shouldn’t laugh, but the scene was funny. “Well played, Jasmine. Well, played.”

* * * *

Jasmine pulled away from the house and denied herself the enjoyment of flipping Shane off as he watched her drive away. She wasn’t one to lower herself to dirty hand gestures, but the man drove her to loony levels.

She’d been speechless when she’d walked up to find that bimbo Denise snuggled up nice and cozy against Shane’s naked chest. Jasmine had been bent out of shape, twisted in jealousy, until she’d taken a deep breath and realized Shane had been actually trying to push the other woman away. She’d seen enough to understand the truth, but she hadn’t allowed Shane the privilege of removing himself from the blame…completely.

Jasmine knew Shane wasn’t still interested, or seeing, Ms. Double D’s. At one time, he’d obviously been. Although it might be none of her business, she wondered how far he’d come up on the womanizing scale these days. Had he changed? Could a man change?

No way would she share a man, no matter how good he made her feel or how deeply she cared for him.

In hindsight, removing the blanket may not have been the most mature thing to do, but it’d felt good all in the same. She hadn’t done it in anger. Hell, yes she had. Her emotions were out of control.

She pushed her fingers through her hair and dropped them to her swollen lips. Shane had kissed her, with unrelenting passion, leaving her questioning what her relationship was with him.

Relationship? An awfully big word for what little they had.

She drove off base and toward the airport. Guilt plagued her. She’d left out important information when she’d told Shane her plans of leaving. He’d want to know that her boss headed with her to Colorado to speak to the writer. To her, it didn’t seem a big deal. Her interest for Jason remained only professional, but Shane didn’t like the man.

Jasmine shook her head. Shane didn’t own her. And the trip was business.

BOOK: With Honor
3.37Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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