by Dani Wade
“What about now?”
Now, Royce was determined to make Jasmine the happiest woman on earth. If he had to give up every dime to do it.
But instead of saying that, Royce simply smiled and returned to the original subject. “The truth is, we made far more than our goal at the masquerade.”
“Oh?”
“It will mean you’ll have more to work with when you build the men’s sleeping quarters. But I have an idea I would like to propose.”
Francis beamed at Royce as he explained his plan. The money he gave wasn’t going into this man’s pocket, yet it still made Francis happy because it meant he could help more people every day. That humbled Royce.
“There isn’t enough to cover all I’m suggesting, but I’m willing to donate the additional funds myself,” he said, waving away Francis’s protests. “But I have a confession to make.”
Francis was all ears.
“I’m going to need your help.”
Thirty minutes later, Francis was more than on board.
Twenty
Jasmine watched the men approach, her mouth dry and her heart pounding. Her hands shook as she tried to maneuver the hot pan of food into the empty slot on the steam table.
They sure looked chummy.
Not that she wanted Francis to be angry at Royce. She’d deliberately told no one except her sisters about the break because the responsibility was hers. Royce had told her, warned her in many different ways, that he wasn’t built for family or forever. She’d chosen to listen to her heart, instead. And she’d paid the price.
Now, part of her felt violated that he was here, in her space, her territory. Not that she owned the mission. The feeling was ridiculous. But it was there, nonetheless.
She also needed to face the fact that she might be seeing a lot of Royce during the upcoming construction. Or maybe not. Certainly if he returned to his normal way of conducting business, it wouldn’t be a problem.
He’d just put someone in charge and go on his way.
But she never would have imagined him coming to the mission of his own accord, so anything was possible. And something in his expression told her that he was going to choose a hands-off approach.
“Jasmine,” Francis started, “Royce brought delightful news today.”
Her smile felt unnatural, like hard plastic. But it was better than crying.
In contrast, Francis looked ecstatic. “We’re not getting just one new dormitory, but two.”
Shock rippled through her. “Excuse me?”
“Royce himself is donating the cost of a new women’s dorm—in full. We will be able to provide better accommodations and turn the original housing into small private rooms so families can stay together while they’re with us.”
“Um...” Speechless didn’t begin to touch it. This was a dream she and Francis had discussed for several years but they’d figured it was forever out of reach.
“And he wants you to work with him on it.”
Whoa. What? “I do events, not buildings.”
“But you know more than anyone what these women need,” Francis pointed out. “You could offer great insight into planning and utilization of the space to meet those needs.”
Why wasn’t Royce saying anything?
“You two talk about it. Then come see me.” Francis laid a hand on Jasmine’s arm and gave her the same comforting smile he’d been offering since she first walked through the door at fifteen. “Just consider it.”
Jasmine forced herself to tell the woman working next to her that she needed to take a break. Then she stripped off her gloves and headed out the back door to the small lawn where Francis maintained his beloved rose bushes. Royce could follow if he wanted.
Her thoughts whirled ninety to nothing. When she couldn’t stand the chaos anymore, she turned on him. “Seriously? What is this? Some kind of ploy?”
“Actually, it’s an apology.”
Surprise left Jasmine speechless for a moment. There’d been way too much that left her speechless today. She crossed her arms under her breasts and summoned the firm tone she used when the boys in the afterschool programs decided to act the fool. “Explain.”
“It’s an apology from me to Francis...and to you. And a decision my father will hate—so it’s a win-win.”
She raised a brow, completely uninterested in talking about John Nave.
Royce stepped closer. Jasmine was glad she had her arms crossed in front of her. It lessened the temptation to reach out and touch him. “It’s an apology for acting out of greed.”
Jasmine found herself holding her breath as he met and held her gaze. “I started all of this in an effort to make money, Jasmine. Now, on the other side of it, I realize how wrong that is. You were right. I wish I could say I did the masquerade in an effort to help people, to help the mission. But I honestly didn’t care about the mission’s needs.”
His next step brought him just inches from her. “But I was right about one thing.”
“What’s that?” she whispered, then cleared her throat.
“You were the heart of all we did together.”
She couldn’t push him away when he leaned down to kiss her, but she couldn’t pull him closer, either. The conflict inside of her refused to die.
And he refused to move away. “Now, tell me what happened, Jasmine.”
This time she was silent because she wasn’t sure what to say, not because of sheer stubbornness.
“I’m used to the sexy, strong woman who set me straight in her own sweet and sassy way. This silence is scary.”
“Well, it’s easier to be sassy when there’s nothing big at stake.”
“Is there something big at stake now?”
Jasmine turned away. She just couldn’t bear to face his intent gaze. “Just leave it alone, Royce.”
“I didn’t get where I am by walking away.”
That sparked her temper. “I’m not a business deal.” Her voice rose as she tossed the words back over her shoulder.
“And I’m not a robot. Next to losing my mother, nothing has impacted me like losing you.”
She wanted to believe that, but she couldn’t ignore what she’d heard. “Then why would you do it?”
“Jasmine, I’m afraid I need more to go on.”
“I overheard you with your father, Royce!” Jasmine whirled around to confront him. “How could you shake that man’s hand and say ‘I have never let anything stand in the way of my success. I’m not about to start now’?”
“Because I needed to speak in a language he understood.”
The confusion on his face frustrated her. She groaned, then stomped away. How could he dismiss this so easily?
“I’m going to guess from your reaction that you didn’t stick around for anything further?”
This time she faced him from the safe, much more comfortable distance of a few feet. “What more could be said after that?”
“How about—I’ll do whatever I can to achieve success...but my definition of success has changed?”
His answer was so unexpected, she almost couldn’t get her question out. “To what?” she whispered.
“Jasmine, you’ve taught me so much over the last couple of months,” he said, shaking his head as if he still couldn’t believe it. “Not just you, but Don and Marilyn, Dominic, your family. The problem with immersing yourself in business is that, after a while, that’s all you see.”
And that described the Royce she’d met that first day.
He went on, “My mother tried to warn me, but I refused to listen. I just knew that I had to prove myself, and my father’s measuring stick was money.”
“But you had your mother.”
“I did,” Royce conceded. “And I took care of her as b
est as I knew how. But emotionally...emotionally, Jasmine, I’m not nearly as savvy as I am at business.” He stepped carefully into her personal space. “Actually, I’m in desperate need of someone to teach me what I need to know.”
“Teach you?”
He nodded, but it was the look in his eyes that took her breath away. “I think it’s time I conquered a new arena.”
“What’s that?”
“Love. Family.”
Was this really happening? Jasmine was almost afraid to believe.
“Would you and Auntie and Rosie and your sisters be willing to take on a workaholic CEO and teach me how to be...human?”
Yes, this might actually be happening. “I think your mother would have liked that.”
“I know she would.”
With the gentlest of touches, Royce cupped his hands around Jasmine’s face. As his lips touched hers, she again felt the magic of connecting with him.
After long minutes, he murmured against her lips. “I need you, Jasmine. Please help me become the man I should be. A husband. A father.”
Was it possible for your heart to explode, simply from emotion? But Jasmine couldn’t give in to the mushiness too fast. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
Jasmine dragged in a deep breath before she said, “That whatever we do...we do it together.”
“That’s a deal I’ll never turn down.”
* * * * *
If you liked this story
pick up these other novels from
Dani Wade!
HIS BY DESIGN
A BRIDE’S TANGLED VOWS
THE BLACKSTONE HEIR
THE RENEGADE RETURNS
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BILLIONAIRE BOSS, HOLIDAY BABY
by Janice Maynard.
Available October 2017!
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Can't Hardly Breathe
by Gena Showalter
CHAPTER ONE
DANIEL PORTER SAT at the edge of the bed. Again and again he dismantled and rebuilt his Glock 17. Before he removed the magazine, he racked the slide to ensure no ammunition remained in the chamber. He lifted the upper portion of the semiautomatic, detached the recoil spring as well as the barrel. Then he put everything back together.
Rinse and repeat.
Some things you had to do over and over, until every cell in your body learned to perform the task on autopilot. That way, when bullets started flying, you’d react the right way—immediately—without having to check a training manual.
When his eyelids grew heavy, he placed the gun on the nightstand and stretched out across the mattress only to toss and turn. Staying at the Strawberry Inn without a woman wasn’t one of his brightest ideas. Sex kept him distracted from the many horrors that lived inside his mind. After multiple overseas military tours, constant gunfights, car bombs, finding one friend after another blown to pieces, watching his targets collapse because he’d gotten a green light and pulled the trigger...his sanity had long since packed up and moved out.
Daniel scrubbed a clammy hand over his face. In the quiet of the room, he began to notice the mental chorus in the back of his mind. Muffled screams he’d heard since his first tour of duty. He pulled at hanks of his hair, but the screams only escalated.
This. This was the reason he refused to commit to a woman. Well, one of many reasons. He was too messed up, his past too violent, his present too uncertain.
A man who looked at a TV remote as if it were a bomb about to detonate had no business inviting an innocent civilian into his crazy.
He’d even forgotten how to laugh.
No, not true. Since his return to Strawberry Valley, two people had defied the odds and amused him. His best friend slash spirit animal Jessie Kay West...and Dottie.
My name is Dorothea.
She’d been two grades behind him, had always kept to herself, had never caused any trouble and had never attended any parties. A “goody-goody,” many had called her. Daniel remembered feeling sorry for her, a sweetheart targeted by the town bully.
Today, his reaction to her endearing shyness and unintentional insults had shocked him. Somehow she’d turned him on so fiercely, he’d felt as if years had passed since he’d last had sex rather than a few hours. But then, everything about his most recent encounter with Dot—Dorothea had shocked him.
Upon returning from his morning run, he’d stood in the doorway of his room, watching her work. As she’d vacuumed, she’d wiggled her hips, dancing to music with a different beat than the song playing on his iPod.
Control had been beyond him—he’d hardened instantly.
He’d noticed her appeal on several other occasions, of course. How could he not? Her eyes, once too big for her face, were now a perfect fit and the most amazing shade of green. Like shamrocks or lucky charms, framed by the thickest, blackest lashes he’d ever seen. Those eyes were an absolute showstopper. Her lips were plump and heart-shaped, a fantasy made flesh. And her body...
Daniel grinned up at the ceiling. He suspected she had serious curves underneath her scrubs. The way the material had tightened over her chest when she’d moved...the lushness of her ass when she’d bent over...every time he’d looked at her, he’d sworn he’d developed early-onset arrhythmia.
With her eyes, lips and corkscrew curls, she reminded him of a living doll. Blow her up, and she’ll blow me. He really wanted to play with her.
But he wouldn’t. Ever. She lived right here in town.
When Daniel first struck up a friendship with Jessie Kay, his father expressed hope for a Christmas wedding and grandkids soon after. The moment Daniel had broken the news—no wedding, no kids—Virgil teared up.
Lesson learned. When it came to Strawberry Valley girls, Virgil would always think long-term, and he would always be disappointed when the relationship ended. Stress wasn’t good for his ticker. Daniel
loved the old grump with every fiber of his being, wanted him around as long as possible.
Came back to care for him. Not going to make things worse.
Bang, bang, bang!
Daniel palmed his semiautomatic and plunged to the floor to use the bed as a shield. As a bead of sweat rolled into his eye, his finger twitched on the trigger. The screams in his head were drowned out by the sound of his thundering heartbeat.
Bang, bang!
He muttered a curse. The door. Someone was knocking on the door.
Disgusted with himself, he glanced at the clock on the nightstand—1:08 a.m.
As he stood, his dog tags clinked against his mother’s locket, the one he’d worn since her death. He pulled on the wrinkled, ripped jeans he’d tossed earlier and anchored his gun against his lower back.
Forgoing the peephole, he looked through the crack in the window curtains. His gaze landed on a dark, wild mass of corkscrew curls, and his frown deepened. Only one woman in town had hair like that, every strand made for tangling in a man’s fists.
Concern overshadowed a fresh surge of desire as he threw open the door. Hinges squeaked, and Dorothea paled. But a fragrant cloud of lavender enveloped him, and his head fogged; desire suddenly overshadowed concern.
Down, boy.
She met his gaze for a split second, then ducked her head and wrung her hands. Before, freckles had covered her face. Now a thick layer of makeup hid them. Unfortunate. He liked those freckles, often imagined—
Nothing.
“Is something wrong?” On alert, he scanned left...right... The hallway was empty, no signs of danger.
As many times as he’d stayed at the inn, Dorothea had only ever spoken to him while cleaning his room. Which had always prompted his early-morning departures. There’d been no reason to grapple with temptation.
“I’m fine,” she said, and gulped. Her shallow inhalations came a little too quickly, and her cheeks grew chalk white. “Super fine.”
How was her tone shrill and breathy at the same time?
He relaxed his battle stance, though his confusion remained. “Why are you here?”
