Secret Words (Secret Dreams Contemporary Romance 1) (9 page)

"No. I just hope everything works out for all of you in the end. And don't toy with Jasmine's feelings! Or Jess wouldn't be happy with me for helping you move into her house with Jaz for two weeks."

"I have no intention of ever hurting Jaz. If I do, it won't be deliberate."

~~~~~~~

Kane's annoyance came back ten-fold when he spotted Jasmine laughing with Dylan. Wasn't Dylan supposed to be playing pool, not chatting up his girlfriend?

He'd never been in this situation before, where one of his brothers was also keen on the same girl and he didn't know how to handle it. Well, the sooner Dylan knew Jasmine was his, the better. He couldn't afford Dylan—or Brad—falling in love with Jasmine. That would be disastrous. At least Brad appeared to have given up.

"Dinner's ready," his mum called.

As everyone started heading off to the dining room, he stood at the threshold and waited for Jasmine. She was still engrossed in a conversation with Dylan, and they were walking ever so slowly.

"Dylan! Dinner!" he called to them. "Jasmine's ears are gonna fall off if you don't stop yapping."

Dylan grinned at him and walked faster. Jasmine gave him a smile that made his heart dance in his chest.

"Jasmine, would you sit next to me?" Linda asked. "I'd love to talk to you about a dish Jessa mentioned you cook really well."

"Oh, I want to know about that, too," Faye said as she chose the seat on the other side of Jasmine.

Great. He couldn't even sit next to his girlfriend. Worse, Dylan beat him to the chair right opposite her.

Grudgingly, he sat next to Dylan. He glanced at his dad, who appeared engrossed with discussing the state of the economy with Ray and the twins. With his mum and Faye busy chatting about food with Jasmine, he could have a serious talk with Dylan without being too conspicuous.

"Dyl, what were you and Jaz talking about?" he whispered.
 

"Oh, you know. The usual," Dylan said with an enigmatic smile.

"What usual?"

"We were exchanging notes, talking about things we like and don't like. Turns out we both enjoy similar things," Dylan said as he dug into his food enthusiastically.

Kane glanced at Jasmine. Surely she wouldn't have led his brother on? Or was she so concerned about hiding their relationship from his family that she was using Dylan's interest in her to cover it up?

"You do know she has a boyfriend," he said with a frown.

"Yeah, I heard her say she was
afraid
so."

"That's not what she meant," he bristled.

"Oh? What do you think she meant?"

"Dylan, don't be obtuse."

"Kane," his dad called.

He turned his head to his father who wanted his opinion on how the current level of demand for new housing was affecting the economy. He sighed and reluctantly dropped his conversation with Dylan. They'd have to continue it later.

~~~~~~~

"Make sure you join us again for dinner before you go back to Melbourne, Jasmine."

"Thank you, Linda. I'll do that. I really enjoyed tonight. Thank you for having me."

"It was a pleasure. Kane, are you heading off, too?"

Kane nodded. "I'm driving Jasmine home."

"Oh, I thought she drove here," his mum replied.

"No. I picked her up," he responded.

"Maybe Dylan can drive Jasmine home and you can sleep here tonight. You can start staying at Faye's tomorrow. Your dad hasn't had the chance to talk to you, and I know he wants to."

He tried to keep an impassive expression. "You can tell Dad what we talked about, Mum. I'm kind of tired of the topic. I want to give it a rest for tonight."

"Oh, okay, darling. No problem."

They said their goodbyes to everyone. To Dylan, he said, "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Sure. What about?" Dylan asked innocently.

"Tomorrow," he replied.

Kane's eyes narrowed as Dylan hugged Jasmine goodbye. It was, again, far too long for his liking.

CHAPTER NINE

Jasmine peeked at Kane's profile as he drove them back to Jessa and Rob's. He seemed introspective – cranky, even.

"Kane, is everything okay?" she asked, placing a hand on his thigh.

He glanced at her. "You seemed to enjoy tonight," he commented.

"I did," she said with a smile. "Your whole family's great."

"Dylan really enjoyed your company, too."

She frowned at the tone of his voice. "Why did that come out sarcastically?" she asked.

"Did it? I didn't notice," Kane replied, still full of sarcasm.

"Don't tell me you're jealous, Kane," she said, horrified.

"My brother was obviously keen on you. Didn't you think how messy it would be if he thought you were interested in him, too? I know you didn't want my family knowing about us yet, but did you have to flirt with Dylan to hide what's going on between us?"

"Oh my God! Kane! You can't seriously think I was leading Dylan on! How could you even think I'd do something like that?" she asked in disbelief.

Kane's expression changed from stony to uncertain as he took in her outburst. "The two of you seemed to hit it off," he said defensively.

She gasped in shocked disgust, then crossed her arms tightly across her chest and stared straight at the road ahead. Did he think she was an insensitive bimbo? How could he accuse her of flirting with his own brother at his parents' place? He mustn't think much of her at all!

Kane remained silent. Well, she was fine with that. She didn't have anything to say to him.

She worked to hold off the tears that threatened to spill. She had been understanding of his situation and had trusted him even when he still chose to attend to his ex-fiancée's needs. All she did was relax in his brother's company and he had the hide to accuse her of flirting with Dylan when all she wanted was to be close to him and feel his touch.

Well, he could keep his goddamn hands to himself!

They got to the house and she was out of the car even before Kane had switched off the engine.

"Jasmine," he called out exasperatedly as he hurried after her.

She turned around to face him.

"Your mum wanted you to sleep at their place tonight. Now that seems like a good idea to me," she said crossly before heading into the house.

Kane locked the door behind him and caught up with her, pulling her into his arms and burying his nose in her hair.

"Jaz, explain to me what I saw tonight. I need to understand," he pleaded softly.

She took a deep breath, slightly pacified by his changed demeanour.

"How could you think I was flirting with your own brother, Kane? In front of you?" she asked.

His arms around her tightened, thawing her some more.

"When I was talking to Dylan, he seemed to be really enamoured by you," he said, kissing her temple. "I don't want him to fall for you, Jaz. That would be a nightmare of a situation."

She looked up at him in surprise. "I think Dylan was pulling your leg," she said. "When you went to the kitchen, he quietly asked me if you and I were together. He said he could tell you were being jealous and possessive. I said yes, we're together, but that we didn't want anyone to know yet because of Hannah and the fact that I didn't want your family to misinterpret the situation. He said he was happy for us—and he looked it, too. For the rest of the night, we mainly talked about you. He told me stories from when you guys were kids."

Kane stared at her in consternation and shook his head. "I wanted to deck him. Maybe I still will after that stunt he pulled on me. Even when we were having dinner he still made it out as if he wanted to make a play for you."

"He was definitely teasing you then," she said. "You guys seem really close."
 

"We are. And yes, sometimes we enjoy pushing each other's buttons. I'll get him back for this," he said fondly. Kane cupped her face and kissed her lips. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"Okay."

"I'm still staying with you tonight, right?"

She smiled. "If you still want to."

"God, I more than want to. I'm dying to," he said as he re-captured her lips for a searing kiss.

~~~~~~~

"Mmmm, again?" Jasmine giggled as Kane's tongue played with a nipple. She was still coming down from the clouds from their stunning orgasms and her man was raring to go again.

"We haven't even done everything that was in chapter nine yet. Or was that chapter ten?" he said seductively.

The onset of anxiety made her freeze. Was this the time to tell him? How would he react?

"Baby? What's wrong?" Kane lay on top of her, bracing himself with his elbows.

"I have something to tell you," she said apprehensively.

"What is it?"

"Um, actually, it would be better if I show you. I need my laptop."

"Now?"

"Yes … unless you think I should do it later?" she asked hopefully, close to chickening out.

Kane's eyes narrowed. "You've intrigued me. Let's do it now." He got up and fetched her laptop sitting on a chair near the bed.

She opened it and went to her writing software. Her unfinished fourth book filled the screen. She scrolled to the last sex scene she wrote and looked at him gravely. "Read this," she said, placing the computer on his lap.

She watched his expression as he did so. An eyebrow rose just as his lips curled into a sensuous smile.

"Is this another book from J.A. Nell?"

"Uh-huh."

"So you want us to do this scene?" he asked with a grin full of carnal promise.

"Um, if you want," she replied, her whole body heating up from desire as well as discomfort. "But that's not why I showed that to you."

"Oh. Why then?"

"If you scroll through, you'll find that it's not finished yet."

He frowned as his fingers moved over the trackpad. "So how did you get this then?"

"Well, it's mine."

He looked at her, perplexed. "Yours?"

"Yes," she responded, swallowing visibly. "I'm not finished with it yet."

His jaw dropped. "You're writing this?"

"Uh-huh."

"You're J.A. Nell?" he asked, his eyes wide.

She nodded.

His face slowly broke into a smile. "Wow," he breathed.

She let out a nervous snort. "Wow?"

"My girlfriend's a writer. Wow."

She lunged herself at him, laughing with relief.

He moved the laptop out of the way and held her tightly. "Were you scared of telling me about it?"

"A little."

"Why?"

"You might feel uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? Why? Because of the sex scenes?" he asked, bewildered.

"Yes. Sex is a very private thing and some people don't want to be too open about it. Also, some people may think that what I write is based on my real sex life. If they find out I'm J.A. Nell, they might feel I've practically discussed my sexual activities with them because of what they've read. And since you're my boyfriend, you may not feel comfortable with it."

"Well, it doesn't bother me," he said, caressing a strand of hair off her forehead. "I think it's amazing you've written novels. I wouldn't even be able to write a ten-page story fit for reading, to save my life. And I must say, the one book you got me to read was really good. I already planned to read the other two. Besides, you're using a pen name. I love the idea of having a big secret," he said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you," she said with quiet sincerity.

Kane shifted suddenly and she found herself on her back, with his head poised between her legs.

"After our enactment, I want to know everything about J.A. Nell."

She moaned in response as he let loose his talented mouth on her clit. All thoughts of J.A. Nell flew out the window, replaced by the notion that Kane's expertise in bed surpassed anything she'd ever written.

~~~~~~~

Jasmine lay contentedly in Kane's arms. Sleep threatened to take over but she resisted. She'd just been thoroughly made love to and she wanted to revel in the afterglow.

There were twelve short days to go before she had to go back home. Yes, she would be coming back to Sydney two months after that but still, they would be apart for a long time. For the next few days, she was determined to simply enjoy being with him before they were forced apart by distance.

The tranquil silence was broken by Kane's ringing phone.

He stretched his arm towards the bedside table and reached for it.

When he held the screen up, she saw who the caller was. She held her breath as he answered the call.

"Hannah, what's up?"

Kane sat up on the bed at Hannah's response.

Her heart raced. What did she want?

"Calm down," Kane said soothingly. "It's just another bad dream."

She could hear the indistinct sound of an upset woman as Kane listened to Hannah, but she couldn't make out any of the words.

"Okay," Kane said with a loud exhale. "I'll be there soon."

"What's wrong?" she asked as she flicked the lamp switch on.

"She had another nightmare. She's pretty upset and said she's scared to be alone in such a big house. I have to go there and help her calm down."

She stared at Kane as mixed emotions whirled inside her. "Is she really that vulnerable?" she asked him gently. "A grown woman scared of a bad dream and of being alone in a house?"

"I know, but Jaz, she's just been through so much. I guess that's where her emotional frailty is coming from."

"I suppose so," she responded. Her compassionate nature was willing to see that viewpoint but her feminine instinct was telling her something wasn't right.

"I'm sorry about this, baby," Kane said. "I'll try and talk her into getting help from her other friends. I know I shouldn't encourage her to rely on me anymore."

She gave him a comforting smile. This wasn't easy for Kane, either. In fact, it was harder for him and he needed her understanding right now. "It's okay. When do you think you'll be back?"

He pressed his lips in a straight line. "I might have to stay there tonight. I want to talk to her about her other options once she's calmed down.

"Okay," she answered. "Do you think you should tell her about us? I know we said it wasn't a good idea before but it might help her have closure if she knew about me."