healing-hearts (11 page)

“I plan on taking Yasmine to Charles, the seafood restaurant that’s about a block from here.” Jason focused his eyes on Yasmine with a pleading look, hoping that she wouldn’t turn him down. He knew he was taking a chance, remembering how hard it had been to convince her to come to the party. If she said no in front of Raquel, who he had rejected for Yasmine, it would be very ugly.

Yasmine didn’t miss a beat. “I haven’t had good seafood in a while. I can’t wait to get there.”

Looking back at Raquel with what he hoped was an apologetic smile. “So, what are your plans, Raquel?”

“A few of us were talking about hitting this club that’s supposed to be the rave at the moment. So, I’m on my way to go change for that. I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to be sitting around the hotel bored.” Recovered fully, Raquel gave one of her sexy smiles. “Since you’re all taken care of, I’ll be on my way.”

“See you Monday, Raquel. Try not to do anything I wouldn’t.”

“Delicious...that just leaves so many areas of possibility.”

Jason laughed at Raquel’s comment as she walked away.

“You know you’re stuck with going to dinner with me now, Yasmine.”

Jason noticed the hesitant look on her face.

“What else were you going to do tonight?” Jason insisted, not willing to let her go.

“Leigh and I were supposed to have dinner together, but she went out.”

Jason loved the sight of the slight blush that tinted her cheeks.

She continued, “I kind of figured I was trapped.”

“Pretty much.” He gave her a confident smile. “Let me say a few words to my boss and the owner of Scorpio and I’ll be ready to go.”

“I’ll be right here.”

Jason spoke to the two men in record time. He made sure he didn’t give Yasmine a chance to escape, or change her mind.

Less than an hour later, as they sat at a table in the restaurant with their drinks ordered, Jason secretly observed Yasmine from behind his menu, and he was glad he had rushed. He liked the way she was dressed tonight. She wore a long, form fitting, but definitely not snug, maroon dress that stopped about mid-calf on her and was held up by what he’d heard his sister refer to as spaghetti straps. What he had liked most about her outfit was that her legs and feet were bare of stockings and accentuated by a pair of sexy black sandals she wore. It had been a long time since he had been out on a date and he was feeling a bit anxious about the whole situation.

“So, what do you recommend?”

Yasmine’s voice cut into his thoughts.

“I’ve only eaten here a few times for business meetings.” He scanned the menu attempting to decide on a selection. “I can never resist starting with the lobster bisque and the special looks good.”

“A combination of seafood over pasta with a creamy Alfredo sauce—yum. I think I’ll have that also. But, I don’t want you to have illusions that this in
any
way is a good representation a recommended diet. If it gets out, I’ll have to turn in my health food card.”

“I promise not to tell. Besides, every good diet plan has to give room for cheating.” Aiming one of his wickedly sexy smiles at her, he signaled the waiter to let him know they were ready.

The waiter arrived, placed their drinks in front of them, then took their identical orders.

Jason watched her take a small sip of her drink, then attempted to brush back her short bangs behind her ears, which rebelliously slid back over her eyebrows.

“Are you nervous?” Jason asked her after the waiter had gone.

“Is it that obvious?” She countered, idly drawing pictures in the dew on the outside of her glass.

“Only because I’m just as nervous.”

“You’re about as nervous as this tablecloth. I watched you at the promo and you’re like a cucumber.”

“That was easy. It was work. For instance, you didn’t appear nervous when I first met you.”

“True, I can do briefings on auto-pilot,” Yasmine confirmed. “When you came by my office you weren’t anxious, so what’s different now?”

Most women Jason knew would have been fishing for compliments, but with Yasmine everything seemed different. “No, I wasn’t apprehensive then, but this...is personal.”

There was silence at the table as both of them stared at each other for a long moment. Jason watched, and Yasmine was the first to divert her eyes.

“Well, still, this must be old hat for you? You’re a nice looking guy and I’m sure the women are tripping over each other to meet you.”

“I’ll just say that I’m not blind about my looks.”

Jason laughed when he saw the slight smirk cross the sexy little cinnamon-colored mouth and the quick flick of her coffee brown speckled gold eyes toward the ceiling. She had nice eyes.

“I’m not conceited. I’m just honest.” Jason folded his arms over the table and leaned in toward her. In a semi-whisper he asked, “What would you say if I told you it had been almost two years since I went on a date?”

“Riiight...” Yasmine voice laced with sarcasm. “So you want me to believe that you’re lacking companionship.”

Jason noticed the lift of the perfectly arched eyebrow.

“To be completely frank with you. If the
need
arises, so to speak, then I have means to have it taken care of outside of myself, but I’ve chosen not to
go
out
with anyone in a setting like this.”

“I believe the politically correct term for those kinds of arrangements is booty-call.”

Jason laughed at her quick wit. “
Touché.
”

“So, I’ll bite. Why me?”

“That’s what I keep asking myself.”

Jason could see something flicker in her eyes, but it disappeared too quickly for him to read it. She had a way of staring at him intently that seemed as if she were analyzing him.

“So if neither of us knows, then what are we doing here?” Yasmine asked.

“Getting to know each other. Besides, everyone keeps telling me how I need to make changes to my life.”

“So, you’ve decided to do that by dating.”

“Let’s just say I’m exploring my options.”

There was a pause in the conversation as the waiter arrived at the table with their bowls of bisque and bread.

Jason waited a moment while she tasted her soup.

He noticed the small smile of satisfaction on her face. “See, that is proof I have excellent selection skills.”

“In appetizers, yes, you do.”

“Now, that I’ve got a point for taste, tell me about Yasmine.”

“I always hate when people ask me that.”

“Why?” Jason asked before sampling his own soup.

“I never know where to start or what to say.” The tint returned to her cheeks.

“Okay, where are you from?”

“Originally, New Jersey.”

“Wow, I never would have guessed that—where did your accent go?”

“I lost it years ago. I’ve lived in Florida since I was nine and I moved to Virginia when I started college. My parents lived here for a year during my senior year, then gave me the house as my graduation gift. I’m told the accent comes out occasionally with certain words.”

“So, you like to travel?”

“Yes, do you?”

Jason recognized the focus change, and grinned. “I enjoy it. Even though I frequently forget how much, with my workload.”

“With workaholics, I never know if their workload is heavy or if they just allow themselves to be totally consumed by it.”

Jason could tell she was relaxing as a soft smile touched her lips.

“When you find out let me know.”

When the waiter brought out their main course, Jason was happy to see that she had eaten most of her soup. He liked a woman with a healthy appetite and enough confidence to be herself, even on a first date.

“Do you have siblings?”

“One older sister, she still lives in Florida, but the opposite coast of my parents—they live in Palm Coast and she moved to Tampa to teach.” She paused, then added, “Because people always ask me, my mom is Portuguese and my dad is black.”

Jason acknowledged the information about her ethnicity with a nod. “Are you all close?”

“At times. What about your family?” She took a bite of her pasta.

Change again,
Jason thought to himself as he caught her doing it again
.

“Okay, I’ll let you off the hook for a moment. I have an older brother, who we affectionately call Teddy, short for Theodore, but more because he’s short and stocky like a bear. I have an older sister, by ten months name Lisa.”

“Ten months...”

“I know, we kid our folks about it all the time.” He chuckled.

“It sounds like you all have a very good relationship.”

“That we do.”

She stared at him for a moment. “So, who won?”

He sat staring at her confused. “Won what?”

“The fight.” She brushed the bridge of her nose. “You and some guy get into it at a club over a girl?”

Laughing with understanding, Jason rubbed the miniscule bend to the bridge of his nose. “Nothing that interesting. It’s just a slightly deviated septum.”

“Oh...so you’re a snorer?” Yasmine commented offhanded.

“Only when I’m exhausted.”

“That’s what they all say.” She joked.

“You could always find out...”

Jason smiled to himself when Yasmine chose not make a comment.

The remainder of the dinner passed with small talk, when the waiter brought Jason the bill he asked, “How about a walk along the beach. I think the fireworks are going to start shortly.”

She agreed after a lengthy pause.

~ML~

“Just in case you want to sit on the beach, I’d hate for you to ruin your dress.” Jason snagged a plastic bag from the restaurant.

Yasmine and Jason found a secluded spot on the beach away from the crowd observing the fireworks show. During the beginning, they sat on the sand in silence.

He impressed her. She had forgotten from the years of being with Blake that other men could be thoughtful and considerate. With Blake, everything had revolved around him and his needs. He would have made her walk back to the main strip and find him something to sit on.

Yasmine inhaled a deep breath and did one of her mental exorcisms to remove the thoughts of Blake from her head.

Jason sat next to her, close enough that she could feel the heat emanating from his body, but he didn’t touch her. She kept a tight lid on the tingly feelings she experienced being near him. Use to having those types of emotions lay dormant, it was
almost
effortless. She thought back to the conversation earlier at dinner. “So, why didn’t you decide to go into the military like your father?”

“After all of the moving around I did as a military brat, I was just happy to find a job that would allow me to stay in one place. I didn’t think I could get Uncle Sam to add that to my contract, so I went to college.”

Colors continued to burst above the ocean, when Yasmine heard Jason ask.

“So tell me, Yasmine Sousa. Why aren’t you dating anyone?”

This was the part of the evening she had dreaded. The reason she had kept herself away from dating and had attempted to stay away from this moment with Jason.

“Well, dating is just not what I want for my life right now.”

“What do you want? And why is it when I look at you I see sadness in your eyes?”

For a moment, she thought about making up some fictitious answer, but for some reason she told him the truth. Maybe it was because he was a stranger and what she revealed to him didn’t seem real. He was just a sounding board. She needed to talk about it and he was there.

“Have you ever wanted something that you couldn’t have?” Yasmine looked directly into his vivid green eyes as they reflected the sparkle of the fireworks show.

“Like what?”

Yasmine turned her focus back to the exploding lights overhead. She couldn’t continue to look in his eyes as she revealed a part of herself, it was too much for her to handle.

“There are these two precious little angels that I want and I can’t have.”

“Angels—like from heaven?” Humor was evident in his voice.

Turning back toward him she smiled. “You would think so as much as they have touched my life.” Casting her eyes down to the sand she took her time to finish. “They’re orphans—Joshua and Jessica. They’ve been in the custody of the state for about five months now.” She looked back at him. “I fell in love with them the first time I saw them.”

He sat silently beside her. Yasmine was too afraid of what she may see in his eyes to look at him.

“Wow, two children. Are you ready to be a mother and take on that kind of responsibility?”

Yasmine watched the waves shimmer under the glow from the moon and crash repeatedly onto the shore. “In more ways than one. I feel like my life is empty. I probably need to be a mother to the two of them more than they need me.”