So finding himself in a constant state of limbo when it came to Jasmine was as unsettling as it was exciting. The adventures he was accustomed to were all external in nature. This was the first time he’d ever faced an internal adventure. He was so far out of his comfort zone, if it were the shore and he was in a boat, he’d be deemed lost at sea.
There was nothing black and white about his relationship with Jasmine. There was only gray, and he wasn’t used to dealing in grays.
Should he turn around and go home?
Leaving was probably the smartest thing to do, which normally would put an end to his deliberations. But in this case, if he did that, he knew that he’d spend the entire night regretting it. He’d be in his house, pacing like a lion in a cage in front of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
One thing that trumped doing the right thing was regrets. Maybe the only thing. Leo didn’t live a life that would result in regrets.
So, after a moment’s hesitation, he decided to go for it. He lifted his fist and knocked twice. There was some commotion before the door flung open.
Leo was expecting to see Jasmine standing on the other side, but instead, there was no one there. At least, not at eye level. When he looked down he saw a little girl with long blonde hair and huge blue eyes.
“Phoebe!” Leo heard Jasmine’s voice. “I told you not to answer the door to—”
Her words trailed off when she rounded the corner and saw Leo standing on her porch. She was holding not one but two toddlers. One on each hip. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and her face was scrubbed clean of makeup. She had on loose fitting sweatpants and a white V-neck shirt.
He’d never seen a more beautiful sight in all his life.
“Hi.” Leo lifted his hand in a lame greeting. He couldn’t help it. Every time he saw her she rendered him speechless.
“Hey,” she smiled and her head dipped slightly as a blush filled her cheeks.
“You look…” The word beautiful was on the tip of his tongue, and somehow he managed to keep it there. “—busy.”
“Oh yeah, um, Meg is in labor and Cam’s mom isn’t getting into town until tomorrow, so I have the girls tonight.”
He felt a tugging on his leg and he looked down.
“My mommy is going to have a baby come out of her vashina.” The girl with the bright blue eyes filled with earnestness explained.
“Is that right?” He grinned.
“Yeah, it’s not coming out of her butt.” She lifted her tiny finger and shook it at him. “That’s where poop comes out.”
“Good to know.” Leo chuckled.
“Phoebe, why don’t you finish watching your movie?” Jasmine shifted, lifting the twin on her right hip higher.
“Do you like Elsa?” Phoebe asked Leo.
“I don’t know who Elsa is.”
“She’s Anna’s sister!” she enthused flinging her arms forward.
“Oh.” He still had no clue.
“It’s from Frozen, the movie.” Jasmine shifted her weight when the baby on her left started to slip.
“Ah.” Leo had heard of the movie, but didn’t know anything about it. “Need some help?” He stepped into the house and reached out his arms.
When he did, the twin whose face wasn’t buried in Jasmine’s neck lunged toward him and he took her in his arms.
“What’s your name?” he asked the girl who was now patting his stubble-covered chin.
“That’s Penny, this is Poppy. And you met Phoebe already.” Jasmine made the introductions.
“Come watch Frozen.” Phoebe tugged on his jeans again.
“I don’ think that Leo can stay.”
“I don’t mind.” Leo adjusted his hold on Penny, whose chubby hand was now exploring his nose. He took another step inside and closed the door behind him.
It looked like a toy store had exploded in Jasmine’s living room. He stepped on something that made a whistling sound, and then another thing that squeaked.
“Watch your step,” Jasmine warned as she easily navigated the mine field of dolls, Legos, Barbies, tea sets, and other assorted toys.
“Come see Elsa!” Phoebe continued to lead Leo until he sat on the couch.
Jasmine stood where she was and he noticed she was biting her inner lip. He hoped it wasn’t making her nervous that he’d basically just barged in on her. Technically, he’d been invited but he wasn’t sure if the request of a four-year-old actually counted.
“What’s wrong?” He felt himself holding his breath, hoping that the next words out of her mouth weren’t going to be asking him to leave.
“Um, well, I need to give the twins a bath and it’s a lot easier one at a time.”
Thank God. She was asking for help, not kicking him out.
“If you’ve got her, I’m going to run and get this one in the bath.”
“We’ll be fine.” He smiled, happier than he’d felt all day.
The next few hours passed in a blur of coloring, bath times, dinner, and beauty parlor. When Jasmine announced it was bedtime, Leo was at the tail end of his makeover. Phoebe put the finishing touches on his manicure, which consisted of pink nail polish, and asked if he would read the bedtime story. Jasmine tried to give him an out, explaining to Phoebe that it was time for him to go home, but he insisted that he could stay.
The truth was, it wasn’t just because he’d take any excuse to be near Jasmine, he also felt honored to be chosen for the nightly routine.
Both twins were sound asleep within minutes of him cracking the first page. It took a little longer for Phoebe to crash out. When he heard her breathing pattern change, he looked down saw her eyes were shut and her mouth was open. He slipped out of the room, careful not to disturb the trio of sleeping beauties as he shut the door quietly behind him.
He tiptoed down the hallway and noticed that all of the toys in the front room were picked up. Jasmine was in the kitchen, standing at the sink with her back to him, rinsing out sippy cups. Tiny wisps of hair fell on the nape of her exposed neck. He had the biggest urge to walk up behind her, slip his arms around her waist, pull him to her and kiss just below her ear in the sensitive area that he now knew made her body shiver with pleasure.
He must’ve made a noise, or maybe she just sensed his presence, because Jasmine turned her head, looking over her shoulder. When she saw him standing there, a wide smile spread on her face. “Hey, are the girls asleep?”
“Yep.” He heard the gravelly tone in his voice that only she inspired in him.
“How many books did it take?”
“Four. We started with Monster at the End of this Book, then we went onto The Giving Tree, and we finished with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”
Her nose scrunched, and she lifted her arm and wiped beneath it with her forearm. “That’s only three.”
“Cloudy had an encore presentation.”
She chuckled. “Ahh, I see.”
“Do you need some help?” he walked into the kitchen.
“No, I’m almost done here. And you’ve done enough.” She turned back and finished rinsing off the plastic cup before shutting off the water and placing it on a drying rack.
When she spun back around, she froze in surprise to find him standing right in front of her. He couldn’t help it, he was drawn to her like a magnet. She had an invisible field around her that kept pulling him in, and it was stronger than the tractor beam on the Death Star.
“Hi.” She grinned up at him.
Not able to help himself, he lifted his hand and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “You must be exhausted.”
Her eyes dropped to the ground as she grinned. “Is that a nice way of saying that I look tired, which is code for I look like crap?”
“No.” His voice was so much more forceful than he meant it be. “You look…beautiful. You always look beautiful.”
She shook her head still lowered to the ground and chuckled. “You don’t have to say that.”
How she could look in
the mirror and see her reflection staring back at her and not have any idea just how fucking beautiful she was both blew his mind and broke his heart. And how any man could be with her and not constantly remind her of it baffled him, too. He’d had to bite his tongue to stop himself from telling her just how gorgeous she was every single second they were together.
The back of his knuckles brushed along her jaw, stopping when he got to her chin and tipping it up. Her large hazel eyes lifted to his and when their gazes locked, he breathed, “You’re perfect. You’re just perfect.”
He started to lower his head down, his mouth like a heat seeking missile. But before he made contact, her head fell back and she started laughing.
It wasn’t exactly the reaction he’d been expecting.
“I’m so sorry!” she apologized through fits of giggles. “I just can’t take you seriously.”
She put her hands on his shoulders and turned him around. When he caught his reflection in the kitchen window he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His hair was sticking out in a thousand crazy directions thanks to a dozen or so tiny clips that Phoebe had styled his hair with. He also had on blue eye shadow and pink something on his cheeks.
He’d completely forgotten about his visit to Phoebe’s Beauty Salon. That was how crazy and exhausting the night had been.
“I mean, I think it’s an improvement,” he teased as he began taking the tiny clamps out. It was harder than he expected.
“Sit,” Jasmine instructed pointing to the kitchen chair.
He did as she asked and she began carefully removing each one. She was standing in between his legs and her thighs kept rubbing against his. He wanted so badly to reach out and pull her onto his lap, but he knew that was not the relationship that they had.
“Shoot, this one is really tangled,” she said as she bent over his head. When she did her shirt fell open in the front, exposing her breasts, which were covered in a white lace bra.
“You’re killing me,” he gritted out.
“What?” She looked down at him and when she realized what was at his eye level she chuckled and covered her hand over her chest. “Oops, sorry. Well, at least it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“That just makes it worse.” Now he knew the texture of her nipples when they hardened beneath his tongue. He knew the exact pressure to use as he bit down on them between his teeth to make her gasp with pleasure. He knew the way her back arched when he pinched her hardened nubs between his fingers as he drove in and out of her.
She ignored his comment and continued removing the tiny plastic clips. Then, her knee brushed against his erection, straining beneath the cotton of his scrubs.
Her eyes widened as they shot down to his crotch. “You cannot seriously be turned on with me looking like this.” She ran her hands up and down her body. “Look, I have Spaghettios stuck to my shirt.” She picked one off.
“I think you seriously underestimate your effect on me.”
His hand lifted and spread on her hip and he guided her down to his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her mouth to his. There was something different between them than there’d been the first time they’d kissed. There was something…more.
His tongue had just slid into her mouth when her phone rang and she sprung off of him like a Jack in the Box.
“My phone. Where’s my phone?” she asked looking flustered.
“Here,” he picked it up from the counter.
“Hello, how ar—”
“The girls are fine, they’re all sleeping. How are you?”
“You did!” Her face lit up. “You had a boy!”
Leo smiled, happy for his friend. He knew that Cam would’ve been over the moon for another daughter, but he was really hoping to have a son.
He wondered who would be the first person Jasmine called after she had her baby. Who would be with her in the delivery room? Would Corbin? Would Meg? What support system did she have?
“We’re good. Everything’s good. Just get some rest. Okay, see you soon. Congratulations!”
Jasmine hung up the phone smiling from ear to ear. “She had a boy.”
Leo was just about to ask some of the questions that had been going through his mind when he heard one of the twins crying.
“Oh shoot,” Jasmine covered her mouth. “I woke her up.”
Leo stood. “Do you want me to help?”
“No. You should go home. I’m fine. Thank you so much for all your help,” she said as she made her way down the hall.
Little did she know, she was taking his heart with her.
Chapter 18
“Is it true that that piece of s-h-i-t adopted a dog?!”
“Hello to you too, Meg.” Jasmine smiled as she held her phone to her ear.
“I saw on Instagram that that f-u-c-k-e-r adopted a dog!”
“Oreo,” Jasmine confirmed.
“You want cookies?” her friend asked, clearly confused.
“No, that’s the dog’s name, Oreo. Corbin had him with him when we met up in the park.”
“Are you serious? Every time I think that POS can’t stoop lower, he does. First the ring, now this!?”
“I know.” Jasmine had to admit that she was more upset about the dog than she was about the ring, which made zero sense. Thinking of Corbin and Jessica being engaged didn’t really bother her. Thinking about them going on walks with Oreo, snuggling with Oreo, playing catch with Oreo. Those were the things that she was actually envious of.
“Anyway, enough about that loser, how are you? How are things at the office?”
“Good.” Jasmine hoped that Meg wasn’t able to detect the underlying emotion in her answer.
As much as she missed her friend, she was a little relieved that she hadn’t been around to witness whatever was going on between her and Leo. It had grown exponentially since the night they’d shared together and exploded after they’d babysat together.
She’d always maintained that one of the sexiest things in the world was watching a man care for babies and toddlers, and that was before she’d been expecting. Now, Leo was hotter than Charlie Hunnam in a shower scene from Sons of Anarchy, which she’d previously deemed the sexiest thing on earth.
If she hadn’t already been with child, she was pretty sure that the night they’d spent watching the girls would have caused her to be spontaneously impregnated. Not that that would have been her preferred method of getting knocked up by Leo.
A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of their night together.
Jasmine had tried to convince herself that the sex was so amazing, so mind-blowing, so out of this world because of the fact that she was pregnant. She had a lot of blood in her nether regions, and she was really doing her best to attribute all the new and exciting sensations to that…but she wasn’t exactly buying it.
Over the past couple weeks, besides showing up like a hero with a cape on the night Jasmine had watched the girls, he’d also stopped by with dinner several times and he’d “happened” to be going on a run at the same time as her.
She knew that he wasn’t truly interested in her, not in any real way. How could he be? He was…well, him. Every single woman in town wanted him. And she was a newly separated pregnant woman. Not to mention, he was leaving in just a few short months. He might be interested in a fling with her, but she had to remember that was all it would ever be.
“Angie said the parade of housewives has slowed down.”
“Yeah, it was really only bad that first couple of weeks.” Jasmine didn’t want the conversation to end up on Leo so she changed the subject. “How’s CJ doing?”
“He’s good. Sleep, poop, eat, repeat. That’s all babies do.”
Jasmine had heard that before. And pretty soon she’d be testing that theory. “And how are the girls?”
“They are getting a crash course in anatomy.” Meg lowered her voice. “Phoebe was helping me change CJ and he peed in her face.”
“Oh no!”
Jasmine couldn’t help but laugh.
“She wasn’t happy about it. She screamed that she hated boys’ pee pees. Cam was thrilled. He grabbed his phone, had her say it again, and he filmed it. He said he’s going to keep it as evidence for when she’s a teenager and dating.”
Teenager? Dating? Jasmine hadn’t even begun to process that she would be facing those milestones with her own nugget. She placed her hand over her newly formed pooch. It wasn’t a bump just yet. It was more like she’d eaten a big dinner.
“I’m so bummed I’m not going to be able to make the wedding. I bet Leah is going to look gorgeous. Send me a text of her in her dress.”
“I will.” Leah’s style was something Jasmine always had envied. She changed her hair color as often as most people went through a tube of toothpaste. Jasmine had never been that brave. She’d straightened her hair once, but it was too much work, so she’d never done it again. She could have it done professionally but that would take far too much upkeep and expense. Jasmine was too frugal and busy for that.
“What are you wearing?” Meg asked. “I want to live vicariously through you.”
“I’m wearing a dress.” Jasmine held the phone to her ear as she stared, swaying back and forth in front of the mirror. The deep emerald shade of the wrap dress brought out the green in her hazel eyes, and complimented her caramel complexion. The silhouette highlighted her ever-expanding bust but was also forgiving and hid a number of sins. Namely, her growing belly.
“Ooh, your red one? That color looks great on you!”
Jasmine had never been a clothes horse, but it was sad that Meg only had two options to choose from when Jasmine told her that she was wearing a dress—and one of them was black, which she’d gotten for a funeral.
“No, actually. It’s new. I got it at Bella.”
“A new dress! Yes! Yes, girl! I was waiting for the post breakup glow up. Not that you needed a glow up. You were already glowed up enough.”
Buying it hadn’t exactly been a choice. Her cup size had doubled in the past couple weeks, making everything in her closet, including her red dress, far too tight and revealing. So this morning she’d taken a trip to Bella, a boutique owned by Amber Sloan, who coincidentally was almost exactly as far along as Jasmine.
Just One Touch - Leo & Jasmine (Crossroads Book 16) Page 17
