healing-hearts (27 page)

~ML~

“Can we go to Juicy Burger’s?” Jessica asked from the back seat of Jason’s Lexus.

The entire family had been out since ten o’clock that morning at the Marine Science Museum. They’d had a great time and it was now almost five.

“Well, you have to ask Yasmine, because she’s in charge of food intake.” Jason smiled at Yasmine.

She returned the expression. “That was cute, I’m going to have to use that for my clients one day.”

“Pleeease, can we go?” Joshua echoed.

“We’ve been eating junk all day, we might as well add to it,” Yasmine agreed.

“Yeah!” Joshua shouted.

“Yippee!” Jessica exclaimed.

“Just so you know we are willing to compromising here, Yasmine, we’ll wait until we get home for dessert and have sherbet.”

“Oh...I can see how painful that’s going to be for you. It’s your
favorite
.” Yasmine laughed at Jason’s antics. Through the months they’d been living together she had come to realize that Jason was not a big sweet eater. In the family, she and the kids were the ones battling their sweet teeth.

Jason held a look of innocence as he pondered for a moment. “Why you’re right, it is my favorite.”

Yasmine gave him a playful slap on the thigh as he pulled into the fast food restaurant and found a parking space.

They all filed inside, gave their order to Jason as he went to the counter, and the kids and Yasmine sat at a table in the playroom.

There were kids already in there playing and the twins slipped off their shoes quickly, on their way to play when Yasmine’s voice stopped them.

“Joshua. Jessica. You guys need to eat first and then you can play.” Yasmine knew that if she allowed them to get in and play, they would never want to come out and eat, then the food would be cold and they wouldn’t want it. Then she would still have to cook when they got home.

“Can’t we just do the slide one time?” Joshua asked with a sad look on his face.

“No, we’re going to eat first.” Yasmine declared firmly.

“Okay.” Jessica’s small voice chimed in as she and her brother walked slowly to the table with their heads down.

When Jason arrived minutes later with the food, they began to cheer. The twins tore into their chicken nuggets and fries, drank half of the orange drink, then asked, “Can we play now?”

Jason and Yasmine looked over at the scraps of food they had left in amazement.

“Yes,” Yasmine told them.

Quickly the twins took off and joined the rest of the children, screaming down the slide, colored balls, and tubes.

“Wow, you would think they would’ve been tired after all the walking we did today.” Jason commented, as he ate his grilled chicken sandwich.

“Kids always keep a reserve pack of energy. Sometimes I wish I had one.” She nibbled and picked through her Caesar salad. “By the way, I noticed you didn’t get kids meal packs.”

“Oh, no. I hate those little toys. When I’m around my sister’s kids, the pieces get thrown all over the house and I always end up stepping on them.”

“With that toy room you did for them, it’s not like they will miss them.” She observed the twins’ interaction with the other children in the room.

“My thoughts exactly.”

~ML~

“How about we top the night off with sherbet and a movie?” Jason asked the family an hour later when they had arrived home and the twins were on their way to the bath.

“Can we watch the one with the birds?” Jessica asked.

“The big, yellow bird,” Joshua added.

“We sure can, right after you all finish your bath and get your PJs on.”

That was like the magic word. The twins didn’t try to play at all in the water, nor did they beg to stay longer as Yasmine and Jason washed them up in record time.

Yasmine followed Jessica to her room and Jason followed Joshua, both adults lugged dirty clothes of the day as they trailed behind the little toweled bundles.

Ten minutes later they were all sitting on the couch with bowls and spoons in laps and Sesame Street playing from the DVD.

The twins had barely finished their dessert when Yasmine noticed both of them had fallen asleep.

She and Jason turned off the program and carried them up the stairs. Yasmine took Jessica into her room and tucked her into bed, when she stood up to leave Jessica opened her eyes for a brief moment. “I love you, Mommy.”

Yasmine’s heart and feet stopped simultaneously.

“I bet its torture not to run over and wake her up and tell her to say it again,” Jason whispered from the door.

He had read her mind. Yasmine turned around to him and asked, “You heard her?”

“I heard her, sweetheart.” He walked over to her, brushed the fallen tear away with his thumb, and wrapped his arms around her.

“Jason, how did I ever live without them?” she asked rhetorically as she took one last look at the sleeping girl and allowed Jason to lead her from the room.

“When I find an answer for myself, I’ll get back to you.” Jason told her with light laughter in his voice as they entered their room.

“My life feels so complete right now.” Yasmine looked up into Jason eyes.

“Mine, too.” Brushing her bangs back from her forehead he asked, “Do you want to know what I have been thinking about all day?”

“Only if it’s kissing me,” her words honest and bold.

She noticed the look of shock flash through his eyes.

“I guess that makes two of us shocked tonight?” She smiled up at him and linking her arms around his neck.

“Yeah, it does. Yasmine, you need to be sure about what you’re asking me.”

“I’m very sure.” She used her short, neat nails to graze the nape of his neck.

Jason’s eyes closed as if he were praying, then he opened them and his gaze locked on hers. “If I kiss you, Yasmine, I won’t be able to stop there. You see I haven’t only being thinking about how much I want to kiss you, but other things that I want to do to your luscious mouth and body.”

“I’m yours for tonight, Jason.”

Yasmine could see the sincere look in his green eyes.

He continued, “You need to understand I’m not just talking about for one night and you wake up with regrets in the morning.”

Yasmine stepped back out of his arms and turned away from him. “Jason, I’m very attracted to you and I thoroughly enjoy our times together, but I can’t give more than that, this can’t be permanent.”

Jason walked to her and aligned his body to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist, and placed his lips next to her ear. “I don’t want forever. I’m satisfied with just until this is over. Yasmine, I long to know that every night I lie beside you and feel your body next to mine I can reach out and touch you; without fear of you stopping me. I desire the authority to be able to make love to you until the sun rises.”

Yasmine answered his request by turning around and pulling his head down until she could place her lips against his. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, tasting, feeling, and Jason joined her in the oral play.

Just like the other times they instantly went up in flames of passion, but they took their time disrobing and kissing each other in newly revealed places. By the time they reached the bed, heated bare skin rubbing along each other, Yasmine was on fire. Sliding her hand down Jason’s chest, abs and groin, she grasped his hot steel length.

She loved the sound of his breath hitching as she stroked him. His deep groan was music to her ears as she guided him to her wet opening and arched her hips, taking him deep inside.

Bodies quivering on the edge of release, Jason rolled them over to their sides, bodies and gazes intense on each other as they began a rhythm to ecstasy.

Their lovemaking was slow and passionate, with soft whispers of each other’s name. This time it wasn’t a quickie on a countertop, nor was it done in the disguise of darkness, but in full light, revealing the honesty of the depths of the mutual need for each other.

~ML~

The next morning Jason awakened before Yasmine. He began brushing his lips across her bare shoulder above the blanket. He couldn’t believe how he felt when he was with her. She seemed to complete him in so many ways. He knew he had told her last night that he wasn’t looking for a lifetime commitment, but he knew in his heart how easy it would be to wake up every morning like this, with Yasmine wrapped in his arms.

His kisses began to trail up the side of her neck, when he heard Yasmine say, “I would tell you not to stop, but I’m afraid that the kids will walk in and have some interesting stories to tell Julinda at her next visit.”

As Yasmine rolled toward him humor lighting her eyes, her lips turning up on the corners and suggested, “I could always get up and lock the door.”

“Hmm, that’s a thought.”

Jason kissed her on the smiling lips.

“Any regrets?” Jason asked, holding his breath awaiting her answer.

He didn’t have to hold it for long, because she quickly placed his mind at ease, “Not a one.”

“Good.” Jason leaned down and kissed her.

Bursting into the room unaware of the intimate moment they were interrupting, the twins ran over to the bed and Joshua asked, “Can we eat now?”

“I’m hungry,” Jessica echoed after her brother.

Jason, who hadn’t moved, told them, “Sure, how about some turkey bacon, wheat pancakes with, fat free, sugarless syrup?”

“Yeah.” Joshua launched himself into the air beside the bed.

“Pancakes, pancakes,” Jessica chanted.

Playfully, Yasmine swatted Jason on the arm. “
Ei
Senhor
, I don’t buy fat free syrup, it’s light and there’s plenty of sugar in it.”

Giving her a quick kiss again, he got out of the bed. “Sorry, honey, it just tastes that way.”

“
Meu
amor
, I’m always amazed how you managed to put on your T-shirt, boxers and socks during the middle of night.” Yasmine commented, referring to his traditional sleeping apparel.

Jason smiled at Yasmine, clutching the sheet to her still nude form, protecting both her and the children’s modesty. He refused to let his heart flutter at the term
my love
she had used in her mother’s native tongue. He figured it was more a term of endearment, than a sign of her feelings for him.

“Women have secrets and men have secrets.” He went to his dresser and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on. “Come on kids lets go get breakfast.”

The trio exited the room, giving Yasmine her Saturday morning peace.

~ML~

“
Signature.
” Jason observed the faces in the room. “What does that word mean to you, team?” he questioned.

Clarence, Anthony, Carlos, Louis, Cassandra, and Jeannie, who was taking notes, all gathered around the boardroom table with Jason. He had just called a meeting with them, about a new project they would be working on.

“Something you put on a check,” Anthony chimed in first. He was the funny one of his team, always in the mood for a good joke.

The rest of the team smiled but shook their heads.

“Cute, Anthony. You all know Terrance Jordan, the owner of Scorpio, is a multi-talented businessman who has his hand in every jar. Well, he just bought into a new chain of luxury hotels—it’s actually a branch of another company, but they don’t want to market it that way. So, it’s a whole new project. They want this new hotel to be a resort, just like overseas. Too include total body spas; from the hair to the toes, saunas, hot tubs, swimming pools and mineral pools. A top of the line workout center; with yoga, tai chi, a quiet room for personal prayers, personal toning trainers only, masseuses, kelp wraps, mud baths and other things, and health food bars and low calorie cuisine restaurants.

“Wow, it just makes me want to call and make my reservation, now.” Cassandra pretended a shiver ran down her spine.

“Well, if it already appeals to you then Mr. Jordan and his silent partner are on the right track.” Jason passed out packets of information to the group. “Inside the file you will see information about the locations of the hotels. A total of five in all will open on the same day and at precisely the same time. No rippled effect, like New Year’s Eve celebrations. They want it all to happen simultaneously. This means on that day we’ll be stretched
very
thin. You know how I feel about someone from the team being there during the actual function. Also, a description of all the facilities and treatment centers are in here. Any initial thoughts?”

“How do you feel about us consulting your wife?” Carlos asked.

“I’m assuming you mean for the food at the restaurants and what you should be looking for or who?”

“Yes, sir,” Carlos confirmed.

“I think she’d be honored to help you out. But, I must warn you, you’ll probably be converted after she finishes with you.” Jason chuckled as he thought about his own eating habits.

“Me...never. You won’t see me nibbling on soy nuts and drinking barley grass in my water.”

“You’d have to drink water first, Carlos.” Louis called out from the other side of the table.