healing-hearts (30 page)

Yasmine knew instantly who it was. “Raquel. I must have misdialed. Sorry—”

“No, you’ve got the right number if you were trying to reach your husband. We were just finishing up.”

Yasmine could have sworn Raquel’s voice dropped an octave as she’d finished her statement.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to be in his office at this time of night,” Yasmine commented.

Raquel’s voice seemed to push out each word slowly. “Oh, Jason needed my assistance…in a matter. Over the years he has learned he can count on me…whenever…he’s in need. Besides, we’ve been hitting the job hard…after hours for years, it’s like second nature.”

Second nature or second skin, Yasmine was too tired to try and decipher the other women’s declaration. Raquel always talked with innuendoes and Yasmine could never quite figure out what was factual and what wasn’t.

“So where is he now?” Yasmine asked.

“He just went down the hall to clean up some things with his staff.” There was a dramatic pause and Yasmine heard even more paper rustling, Raquel continued, “Jason is going to be so upset when he sees what a mess there is on his desk and floor.” Then as an afterthought she said, “I’m sorry, I was just rambling on to myself. Do you want to hold, he should be back any second?”

Yasmine would be damned if she were going sit on the phone like an idiot while her husband
cleaned up his staff
. She struggled to keep her voice calm and even. “No, Raquel, I don’t want to hold—just tell him his son is sick.” Then without saying another word, Yasmine hung up.

She took three deep breaths before she felt calm enough to let go of the phone. Yasmine wondered how many of the nights that Jason had been
working late
had involved Raquel. On some level, Yasmine felt as if she had been fooling herself to believe that she and Jason could possibly make this last.

But, she couldn’t deal with the Raquel’s that lived in his world. She had lived with the constant fear of being physically abused in her first marriage, but being hurt by infidelity or supposed unfaithfulness hurt. The bruises eventually went away, but the internal pain she was feeling now was worse, much worse.

She decided not to put herself through this any longer. Yasmine didn’t want to think about how her hurt feelings meant that she had already fallen for this façade of a life.

Tomorrow they would meet with Mrs. Julinda and find out if her report was going to be favorable or not, and then Jason would be gone. She knew that her part of the deal still had to be upheld and she would do that, but she couldn’t be with him every day and keep her heart safe.

Besides, it was time for her and the kids to adjust with how life was going to be without Jason. The sooner the better.

~ML~

“Who was that on the phone?” Jason asked minutes later, stepping back into the office to see Raquel hang up the phone.

She turned her head to the side and spoke over her shoulder to him. “Your wife.”

Jason didn’t even acknowledge the view of her derriere presented so artfully toward him and asked, “Did you tell her I was out in the hall?”

Standing up, she smoothed her hands down the short length of her skirt. “I told her you were cleaning up some things with your staff, but she didn’t want to hold.”

Jason walked around his desk and picked up the fallen articles Raquel’s body had knocked to the floor. “Did she say what she wanted?”

“Just tell to you that your son is sick.” Raquel turned around to face him, as he sat behind his desk. “Son? I didn’t know you had a child, Jason. Why the secret?”

Jason could sense the note of displeasure in her voice. Raquel and children mixed worse than her and marriage. She didn’t understand the concept of sharing. As an only child, she had gotten everything she wanted given to her. She probably would have been another spoiled brat if it hadn’t been for her parent’s strict rules about making her own place in the world—they were lawyers, intelligent and driven.

Leaning back in his chair Jason looked at her directly and replied, “It’s children, and there is no secret. We are adopting a set of twins, who are three years old and sweet as pie.”

“Adoption—should I be concerned?” Raquel asked with a not so quick dart of her eyes down to his groin area.

He emitted a small laugh. “No.”

Shrugging her shoulder, Raquel leaned over his desk. “Wow, Jason the family man, quite the switch.”

A lopsided grin appeared on his face. “I guess it is.”

Dropping her voice, Raquel asked, “Tell me, Jason, is this life you’re creating for yourself really what you want?”

“Yes.” Jason confirmed, and was amazed when he realized internally it rang true for him. In the beginning he went through the motions, but at some point, he wasn’t sure when, it had became his life. He thought of Joshua and Jessica as his children and Yasmine as his wife—in every sense of the word, and he was happy.

“Jason, I could beat around the bush, but you know that has never been my style.”

“True.” He raised an eyebrow in her direction, he wondered where this was leading.

“I miss us, Jason.”

Oh hell
, he was hoping they would never have to have this conversation. “There wasn’t ever an
us
. It was just sex.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” she replied bluntly. “I just want you to know. Marriage or not...I have no qualms about it continuing.”

Damn
, that was a proposal he wasn’t expecting. “Happy to say I’m quite satisfied at the moment, Raquel.”

“You may be.” She straightened to her full height. “Just keep my offer in mind.” Then with one last sultry look, she was gone.

Jason laughed to himself, then picked up the phone and dialed his home number. There wasn’t any answer so he straightened up his desk, locked up his files and went home to his family.

When Jason arrived home the house was dark except for the hallway light upstairs they kept on for the kids to use the bathroom at night. He could have kicked himself for allowing the meeting with his staff to go on too long and miss the opportunity to spend time with the kids and Yasmine.

He walked quietly into his room and disrobed, and so he wouldn’t awaken Yasmine, he left off the lights. When he crawled into bed beside her, he received the first sign that something wasn’t right. As was his habit for the last couple of months, since they had allowed the marriage to move beyond name only, he wrapped his arm around her waist so they laid in the normal spoon-like fashion. But, Yasmine didn’t snuggle her bottom backward toward him as was her custom.

It was a simple intimate gesture between a husband and a wife, something that was shared between lovers, and it spoke volumes when it wasn’t there. Jason didn’t remove his arm, but it took his mind a while before it could settle down its questions and doubts; before he could relax and fall asleep.

“Kids, can you go upstairs and play in the playroom until Mrs. Julinda gets here?” Yasmine asked the children when she walked into the house.

Jason had taken off half of his day to be with the kids, so Yasmine could go into her office and see some clients she couldn’t get a hold of to cancel their appointments.

“Okay,” they chimed together and both got up from the couch where they had been watching one of their movies with Jason and eating what appeared to be ice cream.

Yasmine raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“It’s frozen yogurt,” he reassured her, as he collected the bowls and headed toward the kitchen to place them in the sink. “Joshua’s fever is gone and he stopped complaining that his stomach hurt.”

“Amazing how wanting a bowl of ice cream can cure what ails you.” Yasmine looked over at Joshua and smiled.

“I love ice cream.” Joshua hugged Yasmine, who stooped down to feel his head for any signs of a fever.

He was cool and the color had returned to his cheeks.

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come back up later on.”

“Eww.” Jessica’s response resembled the one she’d given last night when Joshua had thrown up.

Yasmine reached over and included Jessica in the hug. “So, what about you, do you love ice cream?”

“I love you more.” Jessica planted a loud kiss on the Yasmine’s cheek.

It was followed promptly by one on the other cheek from her brother saying, “Me, too.”

“I love you both. Now, up the stairs,” she ordered, giving them both pats on the bottom in the direction of the steps.

“I miss the half baby talk they used to speak,” Jason’s voice floated from the direction of the kitchen.

“Me, too.” She raised her voice to be heard in the other room.

Yasmine watched them walk up the stairs, missing Jason coming out of the kitchen and heading straight for her.

She barely kept herself from jumping as he wrapped his arms around her waist and began leaning in for a kiss. Purposely she turned her head to the side so he would fail to hit the mark of her lips and get her cheek instead.

She knew that if she allowed him to give her one of his mind-blowing kisses she would never get around to telling him about the decision she had made last night.

“Jason, we need to talk.” She slid out the circle of his arms and walked deeper into the living room.

Jason, who didn’t retake his seat, asked, “About what? You’re not still nervous about our meeting with Julinda, are you?”

Yasmine had gone over this discussion in her head a million times, but she still found it hard to begin.

“You look serious, Yasmine. What is it?” Jason queried.

Yasmine figured the only way to handle this was to come right out and say it.

“Jason, whatever the outcome is today with Julinda, I think you should move back to your place.” Yasmine focused on her hands or on the wall behind his head. She couldn’t look at him.

“Why?” Jason’s voice sounded calm.

Yasmine couldn’t tell whether he was relieved to have his burden lifted or not. When she got enough courage to look up at him she still didn’t know how he was feeling—he wore a blank mask.

“Because, Jason, I never thought it was good for the children to become too attached to you. Besides, it was only a temporary arrangement anyway. I wouldn’t have been surprised if you brought it up.”
No, but you would have been hurt.
Her heart told her.

“Well, that’s great for you, because I sure as
hell
am very surprised. I thought things were going well.”

“Well enough for what? To last until after your promotion or maybe after the adoption was final...and then what?” Yasmine could feel the tension begin to enter into her shoulders. She fought a hard battle to keep herself calm.

Jason took on one of his relaxed positions as he sat on the couch with both of his legs spread and his hands bridged in his lap.

I’m really beginning to dislike that pose
, Yasmine thought to herself.
He only does it when he’s trying to prove I’m wrong in my assumptions.
But not this time
.

“I don’t know what, Yasmine. But, I do think that you’re being a bit hasty with this whole thing.”

“I’m being
hasty
? So, I guess you’re trying to tell me that you’re not missing your old life.”

That got a rise from him. Jason leaned forward and now was sitting with his elbows on his knees. “Missing my old life. What kind of question is that?”

“It’s a question you’ve yet to answer.”

“I can’t answer the question if I don’t know what you’re talking about. I feel like I walked into the middle of a conversation and completely missed the beginning of it.”

She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. “Listen, Jason, I don’t want you to feel trapped in this...this...thing or marriage, whatever it is.” Yasmine struggled to find the word to describe what she and Jason had together.

“Why would I feel trapped, Yasmine? I signed on for this, remember? I’m the one who proposed it to you,” he reminded her.

“Jason, you didn’t sign on to give up your bachelorhood and be a full-time father and the husband thing...that wasn’t even part of the agreement,” Yasmine finished in a quiet voice.