Then Comes Love

by Candice Poarch

  Casey’s eyes blazed. “All summer? Oh…”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”

  “He did say he had a surprise for me. Don’t tell him I already know.”

  “My lips are sealed.”

  “How old is your brother?” Jasmine asked.

  “Gregory’s twenty-one.”

  “And is he a geology major?”

  “Yes, my maternal grandparents left him a cave on their property. He’ll probably go exploring there sometime.”

  “And they left Noelle a summer camp that she’s opening this year,” Casey said.

  “How nice,” Jasmine said. “Are you a teacher?”

  “No, but my maternal grandparents were. I was a computer-science major.”

  “Now I know where to go if I have any problems with my computer,” Jasmine said with a smile.

  “I’m the one.”

  Jasmine was enjoying herself. Emotions she’d hidden behind a locked gate in her heart found a hole and tumbled through. It was obvious that Noelle had adjusted well to her new status.

  She smiled. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast. The buffet is calling my name.”

  “Mine, too. I skipped lunch,” Casey said. “Mrs. Leila’s food is to die for.”

  Drake closed the door to the house behind him. Colin was leaning against the truck gazing toward the mountains.

  He glanced at Drake. “You got roped into coming, too.”

  Drake shrugged.

  “I was trying to think of a way to escape to the stables.”

  “Why don’t we?” Drake asked, glancing back at the house. “We won’t be missed.”

  “We’ll use the excuse of checking on Maggie Girl. Noelle can’t complain about that, now, can she?”

  Drake chuckled. If ever a man was besotted it was Colin. Drake couldn’t see himself being lovesick. He didn’t know Colin very well. Met him at the engagement party in March. They’d mentioned the wedding date, but he’d forgotten. Mr. Avery had barbecued a hog and the spread of succulent food had taken every thought out of his head. A single guy got tired of restaurant fare and Drake’s own cooking was a far stretch from gourmet cuisine.

  “When’s the wedding?” Drake asked.

  “In a few months. Seems to take forever to plan these things.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Trust me. I’m becoming an expert. At least, Noelle is. Talk of gowns, invitations and flower arrangements just goes over my head.”

  Drake chuckled, feeling a little kick in his stomach. Marriage. Maybe one day he’d marry a woman with a couple of children. But that was in the future. Except Jasmine’s pretty face suddenly floated in his vision.

  At the stable, some of the men were playing cards in the kitchen.

  “Thought you were going to the party,” Burt said.

  “We were. Too many women chatting away.”

  “No place for a man, that’s for sure.”

  The men laughed and agreed.

  “Once you’re hitched, you’re not going to be able to get away so easily. You’ll really be roped then,” one of the men said.

  “Oh, stop teasing him.”

  “May as well let him know the lay of the land.”

  “Then what are you doing here instead of home with the wife?” Colin said.

  “It’s Saturday night. She went to D.C. with her sisters.”

  Burt punched him in the side. “He can’t play cards unless the wife goes off with the sister. She’s put the pants on you. You haven’t played cards in how long?”

  “I can play anytime I want. Women don’t tell me what to do.”

  Everybody knew it was all talk. He loved his wife. A few were a little jealous.

  “How many grandbabies you got now?”

  “Five. Should have another any day now.”

  “Isn’t that something.”

  “You’re going to have a basketball team if they keep going.”

  “Already got that.”

  “Colin, when are you going to start?”

  Colin wiped the sweat from his brow. “Man, let me get through the wedding first.”

  “George is going to want some little feet running round that big house. Man don’t settle down till he gets some kids. You got to get to work.”

  Drake felt as if ice was spreading through his stomach jabbing him with pointed shards. He wished he’d stayed at the house with the women.

  “Enough talk about kids. Got food on the counter,” Burt said. “Leila sent down some platters for us. Help yourself.”

  Drake glanced at the countertop for the first time. She’d sent some real sandwiches, not those tiny things just big enough to tease a man.

  The party was almost over. When Mr. Avery left Jasmine’s side to walk a guest to the car, she was wondering when she could leave discreetly.

  “The party was lovely,” she said to Noelle. “I had a great time.”

  “Ready?” Drake asked before Noelle could respond. “Had a great time, Noelle,” Drake said, kissing her on the cheek.

  “Me, too. We enjoyed having you. See you soon, Jasmine. Maybe we can have lunch or go shopping or something.”

  “You’re talking to a confirmed antishopper here,” Drake said.

  “We all like to shop,” Noelle countered. “I’ll call.”

  Jasmine waved goodbye as Drake led her to the car. He kept giving her strange glances, but she was suddenly too full of emotions to talk.

  Chapter 4

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Drake asked in the silence of the car.

  Jasmine started to speak. She’d spoken too freely with Drake lately. He was Steven’s friend, not hers, but his kindness made that important fact easy to forget.

  Silence strained between them. “You don’t trust me, do you?” he finally asked.

  She gauged her response.

  “Our conversations stay with us. You don’t have to worry about me carrying tales to Steve.”

  “You’re his friend,” Jasmine hedged.

  “I have many friends. And I keep their confidences.” At the stop sign, he paused longer than necessary. His raven eyes pierced her, drilling her with heat until she shifted uneasily in her seat. Reaching over, he lifted her chin with his fingertips. Her skin tingled at his touch. She breathed in deeply, trying to decrease the increasing thumping in her chest. It was pitch dark, with the only illumination coming from the dashboard display. It highlighted his profile and the strong lines of his face. “Do you think you can grow to trust me? Just a little bit?” he teased. His steady gaze bore into her in silent expectation.

  Jasmine released a pent-up smile. She wanted to trust him. She’d been tense all evening, before the party and during. Her friends always commented on her serious demeanor, told her she needed to lighten up some. But was this the time? “I don’t know.”

  “I wouldn’t hurt you, Jasmine.” A car stopped behind them, the headlights shocking them with their intensity. Drake released her and turned right onto a deserted road.

  Jasmine pressed a hand to her chest. What was going on here? Could she trust him? Jasmine rubbed her forehead. She simply didn’t know.

  “It’s hard to keep all that stuff bottled inside. Haven’t you heard? Stress will make you sick.”

  All her loneliness and confusion welded together in an upsurge of yearning. She wanted to trust him. “Why are you so concerned about me. Don’t start with the false pretenses.”

  “What I feel isn’t false. Have I ever hurt you? Have I given you a reason to distrust me?”

  “No, but…”

  “What have I done to make you question my motives?”

  “You’re Steven’s friend.”

  “I’m also your coworker. I’d like to be your friend, too. If you’ll let me.”

  He was smooth, too smooth. “My family’s coming to town,” she said. “I moved here to get away from them. I’m on my own now. If only my family would leave me alone.”

  “Was it reall
y that bad growing up?”

  “What does it matter? It’s over.”

  “You’re talking geography. It’s not over in your mind. You still have bad memories about the past. So until you come to terms with it, it will continue to be a problem.”

  “Who are you, my analyst?”

  He chuckled in a deep, rich-timbered voice. “Dr. Drake Whitcomb at your service…So what did you think of Mr. Avery and Noelle?”

  “I spent more time with Noelle and I really enjoyed it. I feel ridiculous for saying this, but I feel the kinship between us. Isn’t that silly? She doesn’t even know me.”

  “I don’t think it’s silly. Did you spend any time with Mr. Avery?”

  “Just a few minutes.”

  “As time passes, you’ll have to get to know him better.”

  She changed the subject. “So what did you and Colin do? You disappeared right after we arrived, until after the party was over.”

  “We hung out at the bunkhouse, played cards with some of the guys down there. Mrs. Leila fed us real food, not those tiny sandwiches you all nibbled on.”

  “The sandwiches were delicious. You should have tried them.”

  “We would have all looked like pigs. We’d have had to eat a million of the things to fill up.”

  Jasmine laughed. He had the skill of relaxing her and sending heat zinging through her blood at the same time. Nothing had changed. She still liked him. The thought was sobering. This wasn’t the direction in which she wished to go.

  When they arrived at her home, he got out of the car. She was still thinking about the evening when she realized her door was open. Slowly, Jasmine twisted in the seat. Standing, she wondered if she should even invite him inside or send him on his way. Not to invite him in would be ungracious, even rude. Inviting him inside was tempting fate. She could feel danger coming like an old woman’s aching bones predicted rain.

  “Would you like a nightcap?” she asked against her better judgment.

  “Sure.”

  What a stupid question. She needed to think this thing through. She was very aware of him as they walked side-by-side to her door. With her mind wrapped around Drake’s nearness she was incapable of rational thought. Her mouth had already gotten her into trouble. “I only have wine.”

  “Sounds good.” Drake hadn’t expected her to invite him in or to remain seated in the car long enough for him to open the door for her. She must be really out of it. Which made him feel like a heel because all he really wanted to do was kiss her. Her subtle perfume whirled around him, enticing him to the edge of his sanity. She looked like a dream. Why was she so appealing to him? She was so not his type.

  Jasmine took the keys out of her purse and fumbled with them. Then unlocked the door.

  Drake shook his head. He should get in his car and drive away before it was too late to save himself.

  Inside, Jasmine poured wine as efficiently as she did everything else. For her, the electricity in the car may as well have never happened. Just once, he wanted to rock that efficient barrier.

  She handed him the glass. He sat in one of the club chairs, stretching out his long legs, wishing for a sofa. She eased on the edge of the chair across from him. He was making her nervous. Maybe he should leave. Neither of them was ready for a relationship deeper than friendship. That was, if he could get her to trust him that much.

  Drake finished his drink and stood. Happily, Jasmine stood, too.

  “Early day tomorrow,” he said.

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  At the door, they stood close and the aroma of her perfume filled his senses once again. She was nearly touching him. His gaze roved lazily over her. He had only to bend a little to taste her soft lips. He never realized before how soft they looked. Most of the lipstick had rubbed off.

  A force he was powerless to resist pulled him to her. Drake slid his fingers through her hair and slowly trailed down to her soft cheek and her neck to gently grip her by the shoulders. Drawing her closer, he kissed her lips.

  Even though he gave her plenty of time to resist, he couldn’t have stopped if his life depended on it. She opened her mouth beneath his teasing lips. Waves of desire rushed through him and he pulled her tightly against him. His lips touched hers again. His whole being was filled with her essence. It was an incredible kiss, a potent kiss. And it was sweet, too. So sweet, he wanted to lose himself in the softness.

  He expected her to jerk back, but her hands eased beneath his jacket moving slowly on his waist. Their tongues dueled to a magic all their own. He sighed with regret when she stirred, pulling back. Drake’s first impulse was to drag her into his arms, but he didn’t touch her. If he did…

  He released a long pent-up breath, trying to ease the ache in his loins.

  Jasmine looked away from those amazing eyes. They amplified all the heat she’d seen in them in the last two weeks. Had it only been that long since she arrived? She felt as if she’d known him a lifetime and that she’d wanted him at least that long.

  She trained her eyes on his hands. If she didn’t look away she’d do something stupid like drag him into her arms this time.

  She swiped her tongue over her lips. Drake wanted to outline her lips with his own tongue. Taste the sweet nectar of her again. Who would have guessed such a prickly woman was so soft and tender underneath?

  “I thought we were friends,” she said in a husky tone, so unlike her natural voice.

  Drake cleared his throat. “Yes, well, I’m not feeling very friendly right now.”

  “Drake…”

  “I know. I know. I won’t take this where you don’t want to go. Even if it kills me.”

  “I don’t want to go there.”

  He smoothed her hair back from her face.

  “That’s not what your kiss was telling me,” he said quietly.

  “Yeah, well, I lost my mind for a second there.”

  “Hmm.” He wouldn’t pressure her—not now. They worked in the same office. And there was too much baggage to sort out there.

  He kissed her on the cheek and slid his lips an inch over and kissed her again, deeper this time. He swept his tongue into her mouth. It was a kiss that promised her the likes of nothing she’d clearly felt before, and then she moved out of his reach.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ll see you Monday.”

  She only nodded.

  The hardest thing he ever did was walk through that door and down the steps. He heard it quickly close behind him. Drake stood there a moment, hearing her footsteps in the family room. He strolled to his car, started the motor and sat staring at the house. The downstairs lights went out. Seconds later the bedroom light came on.

  He moaned and drove off. Before he could get even halfway home, Drake’s cell phone rang. He could only hope it was Jasmine, but knew it wasn’t. He glanced at the number. It was Steven. He ignored the call. He wasn’t ready to talk to Steven yet. And he wasn’t going to carry stories back and forth between Jasmine and him.

  Steven was his friend, but he wouldn’t betray Jasmine. She was as far from his ideal woman as she could possibly be. Yet there was something between them he just couldn’t ignore any longer.

  Drake visited his parents in Vienna the next morning. Knowing his parents would drag him to church, he’d worn his suit, leaving a change of clothing in the car. He needed this opportunity to give him a chance to clear his mind.

  Usually he listened to the sermon, but his mind kept straying from the message. Jasmine’s anguished face disturbed his concentration. Everything about her made him uneasy. Before he knew it, the Benediction was over and the congregation started pouring out of the church.

  It gave him an opportunity to see a few old high-school friends he hadn’t seen in years. One was an assistant pastor. They talked for ten minutes before Drake left, feeling a lot better than he had before he’d come.

  Early that morning, his mother had gotten up to prepare a feast. The food was all done by the time they all piled into the ho
use, the aroma enticing them to the kitchen. Drake started taking tops off the pots.

  “Food will be on the table soon,” his mother said. “Get out of my kitchen.”

  His sister and brother were there. So were his uncle and aunt, and their daughter with her husband and toddler. Drake sighed. Less food for him to take home as leftovers.

  “It’s certainly nice to have my family home for a change,” his mother said as she sat at the table. “I don’t see you enough.”

  There was very little talk as they were gobbling fried chicken, barbecue meatloaf and macaroni and cheese, collard greens and candied yams.

  “Ma’am, this food sure is good,” his cousin’s husband said. “Don’t get food like this every day.”

  His cousin gave him the look that said it’d be a cold day in hell before he got a meal like that again. Drake shook his head. He should know better, but he was young. Their little girl banged the spoon on the high chair situated between the couple.

  “Son,” his uncle said. “I don’t get too many meals like this, either. Drake, you need to know this, because we expect you to be the first to marry. Better live close to home or else learn to cook. Women don’t cook the way they used to. I’ve had my share of boxed dinners. Boxed macaroni and cheese isn’t the same.”

  “You’re all talk,” his aunt said. “We work, too. What do you think we are, machines? We have to work all week and all weekend. Who’s going to stand in a kitchen for hours to cook? You men are too spoiled. You expect everything out of a woman. Better stop watching those TV programs and come back to reality.”

  “I’m eating a good meal now, aren’t I?” his uncle rebutted.

  “I’m so glad you’ve moved closer to home, Drake, but I don’t see very much of you,” his mother injected to end what was quickly escalating into an argument.

  “Work doesn’t leave very much free time.”

  “Maybe your office needs more vets,” his mother added.

  Drake shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Didn’t you say the sister of a friend of yours was coming?”

  “She’s here, but she works mostly with horses. Most of her work is in the field.”